Are VW's really that bad?

[exar333]

My GF's VW New Beetle drivetrain has been great (2.0L N/A 5MT) but the rest of the car is crap.

-Broken hood release
-Numerous plastic pieces that break in the winter
-below GM quality fit and finish for interior panel assembly, etc.
-poorly made seats
-all 4 VW emblems (glued-on mind you) fell off the tires
-trunk release was replaced 2x by the dealer
-parking break failure
-dash lights intermittently work

She loves VWs and even she doesn't really want to get another one after so many issues.

 

[DVad3r]

I used to be a huge VW fan growing up without knowing any better. I literally went on websites every day and configured cars. Later on, I started hearing rumors about how bad they were. Then my dad's friend got a 2001 Jetta TDI and had massive problems with it. The car was cheap too, he lifted it on a jack and saw the frame bend.

VW is in the same category for me as Kia, Hyundai, etc. I don't even know what lineup's these cars have and could care less.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

My GF's VW New Beetle drivetrain has been great (2.0L N/A 5MT) but the rest of the car is crap.

-Broken hood release
-Numerous plastic pieces that break in the winter
-below GM quality fit and finish for interior panel assembly, etc.
-poorly made seats
-all 4 VW emblems (glued-on mind you) fell off the tires
-trunk release was replaced 2x by the dealer
-parking break failure
-dash lights intermittently work

She loves VWs and even she doesn't really want to get another one after so many issues.

Everything that came out of the mexican factory was shit until like 2005 or so. Thats when they reconfigured systems and whatnot to counter all of the poor build quality cars coming out of the factory.

I will admit the beetles are just crap any way you swing it though, haha

 

[NaOH]

2008 GTI here. 25K miles running strong. Just regularly scheduled maintenance. Also, chicks say it's cute.............

 

[amdhunter]

His has been fine? The only problem he had was with the loose shifter, everything else was a result of the accident.

My 08 GTI was fine through my 2 year lease with 18k on it. My new Jetta TDI is getting 45 mpg 🙂

Yeah, my biggest problem was a loose shift linkage, and it recently developed a strange sound when I turn the wheel left from the center...other than that, It's been pretty good.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Yeah, my biggest problem was a loose shift linkage, and it recently developed a strange sound when I turn the wheel left from the center...other than that, It's been pretty good.

That happens if you don't drive it a lot, your wheel column needs to be lubricated. But I dont think you care anymore, haha

 

[Kirby]

The 1.8T engine generation VWs were shit, that whole drivetrain was crap. There was a shitstorm in management because of that and the newer MKV platform and MKVI platforms are leaps and bounds better. There's a reason why VW sells so many cars in Europe.

If it wasn't for my sister's Audi I'd go into full vwfanboi mode. 😛 I guess I've just been lucky. I've personally put on about 90k miles (I think I bought it at 34k) and it's only stranded me once.

nkgreen, i take it it's just been regular maintenance for you, too?

Yup. And I don't baby it or anything. I drive like a normal 22 year old. 😀

 

[bigdog1218]

VW/Audi fans will say they are fine now but then something else comes up or thats just a couple of small cases and on and on.

I am sure they are better now, but that is not saying much. Kinda like if i said the old car would blow up and kill you. But its much better in the new car, it only blows off your legs, and you don;t die.

There are way to many other good cars out there that are more reliable.

I told my SiL this but she still got a Audi. It has now become MY monthly cycle. Whats that it stop running, ok fuel pump. Whats that its runs like shit, ok coil. Whats that, it makes loud grownign noise, ok replace all steering clamps and bleed system. and on and on.

European cars are no where near as reliable as American/Asian cars. My Saab was the same as was a freinds porsche, etc... let alone all the ones I saw in my shop when I was a tech.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

Hmm, replace coil pack or slam into a tree because my faulty accelarator was stuck. Or maybe I'll buy a pickup truck and have the body rust away on me. Gotta love that Japanese cars are more reliable myth.

 

[punjabiplaya]

How trustworthy are JD Power's ratings?

 

[PhoKingGuy]

How trustworthy are JD Power's ratings?

Look how far apart Audi and VW are, that should tell you how much bunk it is

 

[angry hampster]

Thank you, all, for the response! This is really good stuff.

angry_hampster, could you say it's an isolated issue with your car in particular? The car i'm looking at right now is actually a '10 GTI. So far people just compare it to the MKV which has its share of issues, but again it goes back to my point above.
.

Yeah it is, unfortunately for me. The tech at the VW dealer where I gotit repaired was 100% baffled by it. He'd never heard of the chain failing at such young mileage.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Look how far apart Audi and VW are, that should tell you how much bunk it is

well i think it shows how model-specific it can be. With the scion xa winning a category, while scion as a brand is near the botttom

edit: I don't know if it takes miles into consideration either. If the sample is large enough, driving habits, weather, etc... won't become significant either.

 

[cbrsurfr]

2008 GTI ~26K. I've had 2 issues. 1. A fuel pressure sensor failed and was replaced under warranty. 2. Bad mechatronics unit (valve body/control unit for the DSG trans) from the factory. Symptoms were jerky low speed shifts, near stalling hesitation only when warm.

My only complaint is that it was difficult for dealerships to acknowledge the problem. Had to take it to 2 different dealerships (3 visits total to diag and 4th to fix) and talk extensively with the technicians. VW did replace it (would have been ~$4,200) and extended the warranty to 100K.

Do I still love the car? Yes. It's comfortable, nice interior, decently quick, great handling, good gas mileage.

 

[ulukay]

let's see a german statistic shall we?
http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/0,1518,587068,00.html

 

[Vette73]

Look how far apart Audi and VW are, that should tell you how much bunk it is

Yep. CR has been garbage for a long time and now car makers are finding ways to skew the JD powers ratings.

Look at my SiL. If JD-P called her they find she owns a Audi A4 Cont. all wheel drive V6. She would say its reliable, great, best car ever, etc... So that woudl help Audi

BUT I, the one that repairs it, and everybody else in the family would tell you other wise. But her eyes only see the "high end" name Audi and she loves it and loves to show it off.

 

[DivideBYZero]

let's see a german statistic shall we?
http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/0,1518,587068,00.html

Umm, yeah, I don't speak German so WTF do those numbers mean?

 

[coxmaster]

Umm, yeah, I don't speak German so WTF do those numbers mean?

Google translator is your friend... sorta

 

[exar333]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100126/ap_on_bi_ge/us_toyota_recall

Hmm, replace coil pack or slam into a tree because my faulty accelarator was stuck. Or maybe I'll buy a pickup truck and have the body rust away on me. Gotta love that Japanese cars are more reliable myth.

I don't deny that Toyota is definitely at fault here, but the reliability (historically) has been very good for Japanese cars. It's definitely fallen from where it was 10-20 years ago, but they make some great cars (not great - OK though, trucks IMHO). It's pretty hard to find a real POS car from either Toyota or Honda, albeit they may not be very exicting...

Read the forums here, pretty much the only VW anyone recommends is the GTI. The newer Jettas and Passats are not great cars, and the VW crossovers/SUVs are nothing great either. There really isn't a lot to recommend on the US front for VW. The Jettas have been garbage for 10 years, and I would highly recommend against them for an "affordable" car.

Audis are great cars, but they are expensive for the average user, and come with expensive mainenance you would expect from a more premium brand (BMW, MB, etc.)

 

[angry hampster]

Read the forums here, pretty much the only VW anyone recommends is the GTI. The newer Jettas and Passats are not great cars, and the VW crossovers/SUVs are nothing great either.

The V6 passat is about as reliable as it gets.

 

[PricklyPete]

Are they as bad as everyone says...maybe. It is likely very model specific though.

What definitely seems to be true is that if there is a problem, and if it is not fixed under warranty, it will cost a lot more than a comparable problem in a domestic...or even a Japanese car. If you can do it yourself, that will reduce the costs a good bit...but it will still be pricey for the parts. I think this extra cost inflates how much people make a big deal out of issues that do occur. I think this is understandable. If I have to pay $350 to get a radiator replaced on a Ford Fusion or $1200 on a VW Jetta...you better believe it that I'm going to complain a lot more about my Jetta...and likely forget that I ever even had to do it on my Fusion.

Regardless of all the "horror" stories I heard about VW/Audi, I took the plunge with a '10 A4 and so far we've loved it. I've signed up onto TrueDelta specifically to start recording exactly how my Audi performs. So whether my car does well or goes down in a ball of fire...it will help toward recording the actual reliability and specific repairs that True Delta keeps up with.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Are they as bad as everyone says...maybe. It is likely very model specific though.

What definitely seems to be true is that if there is a problem, and if it is not fixed under warranty, it will cost a lot more than a comparable problem in a domestic...or even a Japanese car. If you can do it yourself, that will reduce the costs a good bit...but it will still be pricey for the parts. I think this extra cost inflates how much people make a big deal out of issues that do occur. I think this is understandable. If I have to pay $350 to get a radiator replaced on a Ford Fusion or $1200 on a VW Jetta...you better believe it that I'm going to complain a lot more about my Jetta...and likely forget that I ever even had to do it on my Fusion.

Regardless of all the "horror" stories I heard about VW/Audi, I took the plunge with a '10 A4 and so far we've loved it. I've signed up onto TrueDelta specifically to start recording exactly how my Audi performs. So whether my car does well or goes down in a ball of fire...it will help toward recording the actual reliability and specific repairs that True Delta keeps up with.

parts are often only expensive if you get OEM parts. here's an example:

OEM hood strut - $125
autozone hood strut - $20

But yes, maintenance will be probably $$ if you're not a DIY person and you have an old german car that needs work done.

 

[smitbret]

As a used car manager at a Honda dealer, we typically assume we'll put $1500 more on any VW to recondondition it vs. any other mainstream manufacturer. Tons of problems like broken cupholders, power window switches that don't work, a/c won't blow cold air, peeling trim. They are pretty much the Chrysler/Dodge of the import world.

I'm sure that there are many VWs that have never had a problem, I have just rarely seen them. I ty to steer family and friends away from them where possible just because the reliabilty is so bad, especially electrical. It's too bad, too. I love the styling and the way they drive, I just wouldn't own one because more often than not it's a gamble how much $$$ you would have to invest to keep it in tip top shape.

 

[Stefan Payne]

Umm, yeah, I don't speak German so WTF do those numbers mean?

IN short: how much you like your car, just look at Subaru...
And the expertations the users have are also in the rating, as you can see with Dacia (owned by Renault), wich has none at all so the buyers are very satisfied.

It's quite the opposite with Mercedes or Volkswagen...

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

1) Everyone always says "The new one is better." Inherently they should be because your reliability problems will usually kick in post 60k with unreliable cars, and even with Japanese cars, you start seeing Toyotas run into problems post 100k. What really separates cars in terms of reliability like Toyota/Honda vs VW is the post 100k mark. Dig up the statistics on Accords/Camrys that run past 100k and the Jettas that make it past 100k. I think you'll see the difference there. It's easy to claim that the new ones are better because not everyone has taken their '06 Golf to 100k yet or their '07 Camry to 100k. Bottom line is when you have 10 years to evaluate a '00 model versus 3-4 years for a more recent model, reliability is based on long term problems. We all know problems usually balloon. They start small, and then they grow bigger as mechanical parts wear out. You will always hear everyone say "the new ones are better." But don't be surprised 5 years down the road when CR finally flags your model with a RED dot. Just look at all the models. Even the unreliable ones and the reliable ones. The older ones tend to get more problems. OBVIOUSLY. How many problems do you want your 1 year old car to have? Hopefully none. And hopefully very few occur in the first year.

2) While CR and JDPower aren't the BEST WAYS to talk about car dependability/reliability, it's better than nothing. It's better than your neighbor telling you he has a 300k mile Passat or his Toyota Corolla breaks down very 5k miles and he's had transmission problems from the start and it never gets better. If VW is at the bottom, I wouldn't completely dismiss it and buy a Golf expecting the reliability of a Lexus ES350... or maybe one of the older Toyotas because it seems Toyota reliability has fallen off a bit in ther recent years. It is also very model specific. The GTIs seem to do better than some of the terrible models like the Jetta. I think there is some truth in CR/JD Power. I wouldn't completely dismiss it. Also, if you think about it, their ratings typically stack up with the horror stories and rumors you hear all the time.

To be honest I love the GTI. I've driven it, I've handled it, it's a nice car. It's nice till it breaks down. I'm certainly concerned and I drive a lot of miles. I don't want to put 20k+ on a car each year that'll start struggling by 100k miles while a Toyota daily driver can hold up for double the lifespan.

 

[43st]

I can understand people ragging on CR's test drives.. but not their reliability statistics. If you've ever subscribed to CR, they send you a million page document every year that asks you about your car. They take those, create an average, and then a vehicle is either above or below average. It's a scientific number whether you like it or not.

I have no idea how JD Power works.. It seems to be an opinion of fit and finish of a new car, which honestly doesn't seem to say much.