Considering a VW - How reliable are they?

[hotsoda]

I was in a no-fault car accident the Monday after Thanksgiving. A total of seven cars were involved, five of them totaled, which leaves me without my despised, but missed, '96 Honda Civic. Now I'm in the market for a new car.

I've been researching, and I came across a 2002 Passat GLX with all the bells and whistles, a V6 with a flawless exterior and clean Carfax for $7,900. The only issue is the milage. This car is carrying 83,872 miles. I would like to assume there are some highway miles in there, and engine seems to be in great condition from the pictures I've seen (I've yet to see this particular car in person, and I will make my final purchase decision when I do so).

What's your opinion of Volkswagen's overall reliability? Am I going to regret my purchase from the possible maintenance costs?

 

[woodie1]

Originally posted by: hotsoda
I was in a no-fault car accident the Monday after Thanksgiving. A total of seven cars were involved, five of them totaled, which leaves me without my despised, but missed, '96 Honda Civic. Now I'm in the market for a new car.

I've been researching, and I came across a 2002 Passat GLX with all the bells and whistles, a V6 with a flawless exterior and clean Carfax for $7,900. The only issue is the milage. This car is carrying 83,872 miles. I would like to assume there are some highway miles in there, and engine seems to be in great condition from the pictures I've seen (I've yet to see this particular car in person, and I will make my final purchase decision when I do so).

What's your opinion of Volkswagen's overall reliability? Am I going to regret my purchase from the possible maintenance costs?

From a reliability standpoint VW is at or near the bottom of the heap nowadays. Too bad as they sell some good drivers.

 

[Fenixgoon]

VW's are reliable if you take care of them well.

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
VW's are reliable if you take care of them well.

:thumbsup:

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: BW86

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
VW's are reliable if you take care of them well.

:thumbsup:

This is a used car - so, really, who knows?

I'd say "Another Civic", but you don't like them very much. I'm not much of a fan of Toyota myself. Maybe a Nissan Altima or a Mazda6?

 

[hotsoda]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead

Originally posted by: BW86

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
VW's are reliable if you take care of them well.

:thumbsup:

This is a used car - so, really, who knows?

I'd say "Another Civic", but you don't like them very much. I'm not much of a fan of Toyota myself. Maybe a Nissan Altima or a Mazda6?

I can't say I dislike Civics in general - the newer ones look nice. It's just that the particular car I had wasn't the best option for the money spent, and the purchasing decision wasn't up to me.

I'm in love with the newer Mazda3 and Mazda6, but I've yet to see them at a decent price range. There is a 2007 Mazda6 with 33,805 miles going for $8,995, but I'm not sure if the car is an automatic or manual. I have to call the dealer and find out. Carfax is clean, but I haven't seen any pictures of the car.

I also heard the maintenance charges for Nissans are expensive. Do you think buying one past 80,000 miles would be a wise choice, given my ~$10,000 budget?

 

[Strk]

The problem with VWs would typically be the electrical systems. Mechanically, they're very reliable vehilces. The problem with electrical systems is that it's basically a flip of a coin.

 

[cheesehead]

Originally posted by: hotsoda


I also heard the maintenance charges for Nissans are expensive. Do you think buying one past 80,000 miles would be a wise choice, given my ~$10,000 budget?

I haven't the foggiest. I'm willing to hazard a guess that that a CVT will cost you more than an old-fashioned manual gearbox to service.

If you want a Japanese car, there's always the option of an older Mazda - they really do last a long time. Alternately, consider a low-spec Mazda3 - the interior of the early sedans (at least the ones without leather) was god-awful, but at least they're tough both inside and out and not bad to drive.

You could also look into a Subaru of some sort. You could get a nice Impreza for under $10k. Fuel economy isn't as good as the competition, but if you live in an area with bad weather (like I do), the AWD system is worth it.

You may also be able to pick up a Pontiac Vibe - A.K.A. the Toyota Matrix. Even if GM goes bust, you should still be able to get it serviced by a Toyota mechanic, and they're not bad cars. Cheap, too.

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

To be completely honest with you. I've been into VW's for about seven years now and I've recently gotten out of it. Why? Because I'm sick off all the maintenance that's needed with them. Just as what was posted above, they're great, as long as you maintain them and unfortunately, they need a lot of maintenance. Once one thing breaks, something else does. Most of the time the issues are very minor but they can happen often which can cause a strain on your credit card.

I'll tell you what though, their engines and transmissions are pretty much bullet proof. Electrical is not. Also, 89k is nothing for a VW engine. My 88 GLI has 260k and still going strong. In addition, be careful of the Passats. The balljoints are very expensive to fix. Same thing goes for the Audi's.

 

[jagec]

How shallow is the ocean?

How cold is the sun?

 

[Vette73]

Unless you do 95% of the work on a car, don;t get a VW. Even if you get one that doe snot have a major problem, it will still nickle and dime you to death.

If you want reliable get just about any American/Asian car.

 

[lurk3r]

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
VW's are reliable if you throw lots of cash at them and tell yourself its "maintenance".

Fixed

 

[vi edit]

The Passats, and the V6's in particular *ARE* pretty reliable. The MKIV Jetta/Golfs had lots of issues that brought down the reliability curve as did the coil pack problem that plagued the 1.8T engines in both the Jetta/Golf and Passats.

The 2.8 V6 is a very reliable motor.

That being said, a higher milage VW is NOT a cheap car to own. You are looking at a pile of repair costs.

Timing belt & water pump: $800
CV joints: $1000
Misc suspension stuff - another $1000
A MAF sensor - $500

Be sure you have cash in reserve if you go ahead on the purchase.

 

[Chunkee]

i guess if you like spending money just to drive a VW..then go ahead. I also know numerous people that have them. Always in the shop...WTF... what a pain in the ass...

jC

 

[rdp6]

36K on my 07 2.0T Passat, so far just scheduled service, new tires at 29K and a new multifunction display (basically the whole instrument cluster). New MFD was covered under warranty, took less than a week to get to NE Ohio and was installed in maybe 2 hours. My guess is that there was an overheating problem with the MFD which caused graphical corruption when I had the defroster on full heat/full fan for over an hour (while stationary due to weather/wreck on highway).

I really like my car.

 

[Tommouse]

I have an 02 Passat, the 1.8t version though. She's been great to me. I've had it approaching three years now and yes there have been some stupid issues, but overall it has been a great car. But for the love of god get the TB changed!! My buddy got a Passat and the dealer told them it was a new TB when it wasn't, needless to say, it failed. 5k to fix all the damage. So make sure that thing is pristine.

 

[StageLeft]

If you want an unreliable second car, VW is about as best you can get in that kind of price range.

CV joints: $1000

LOL WHAT?

A MAF sensor - $500

LOL WHAT?

My 00 maxima I can get brand new front axels at $150/piece and a MAF sensor is around $100. The prices you quoted, yikes!

new multifunction display (basically the whole instrument cluster). New MFD was covered under warranty, took less than a week to get to NE Ohio and was installed in maybe 2 hours.

LOL, wtf kind of car has its full instrument panel fail?

The question above, Nissans are not expensive to maintain, although the 3 and 6 are Mazdas, which also are fine on repairs. I'd definitely look for a late model mazda 3 or thereabouts. If you look right, you can get one with a ton of factory powertrain warranty on it (if they're still doing 100k powertrain, that's a huge win).

Anecdotally people have differing experiences with VWs but the grand metrics from consumer reports/ jd power say that they are pretty sh*t quality, so I'd not get one.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Originally posted by: BW86

Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
VW's are reliable if you take care of them well.

:thumbsup:

Here's what I posted in another thread

Currently own:

2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee: 192,000 miles, excellent condition very reliable
(I've been wanting to buy the new generation Gr Cherokee but this one still runs like a champ and everything works so I can't justify getting rid of it)

2007 Hyundai Azera: 17,000 miles, so far no issues (Nice car BTW)

1994 Mercedes C220: 160,000 miles. Cheap transportation, runs good, beginning to show first signs of transmission trouble. If that gets worse its off to the junk yard.

2001 VW Beetle: 70,000 miles, what a f#@king POS. Most unreliable of the lot, most expensive to maintain. My regular mechanic sends me gifts at Christmas ever since I bought that car. Will be looking to replace it in the near future.

My sisters family only buys Honda / Accura / Nissan and for some reason they end up replacing their cars between 70,000 & 100,000 miles.

The VW has had all kinds of problems, ranging from O2 sensors ($300 quote at dealer and my mech did the job for $75) to complete instrument panel replacement, Cat converter (2 times), radiator supports (they're made of plastic!), Engine mounts, numerous bits of plastic inside the car, parcel shelf support, window regulator, wheel well skirting, I could go on. It's been towed 5 times as opposed to once for all the others.

A VW? Never again. :|

Their advertising slogan should be 'Mechanics wanted'

 

[freegeeks]

I don't understand the image that VW has in the USA. If you look at the yearly UK JD power satisfaction survey, the VW group in general scores above average and better then Nissan, Subaru and many others. If you look at the particular VW models, most owner praise their cars for being reliable.

 

[Chunkee]

Originally posted by: freegeeks
I don't understand the image that VW has in the USA. If you look at the yearly UK JD power satisfaction survey, the VW group in general scores above average and better then Nissan, Subaru and many others. If you look at the particular VW models, most owner praise their cars for being reliable.

Simple image really. Fun to drive, but POS.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Originally posted by: freegeeks
I don't understand the image that VW has in the USA. If you look at the yearly UK JD power satisfaction survey, the VW group in general scores above average and better then Nissan, Subaru and many others. If you look at the particular VW models, most owner praise their cars for being reliable.

And if you look at US JD Powers they come up last - just below Land Rover.

 

[desy]

Yeha parts would be cheaper in Europe than here and the dealership structure in NA is poorer dragging down their marks even if some models are good.
Also Europe get different models like the Polo which we don't get here

 

[JulesMaximus]

I can sum up this thread:

1. My family can has 10 of them with a bazillion miles on them and never had to do a single thing to any of them.

2. They are crap and every single VW will break down and leave you stranded on the side of the road and cost you thousands in repair bills annually.

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: GroundedSailor

Originally posted by: freegeeks
I don't understand the image that VW has in the USA. If you look at the yearly UK JD power satisfaction survey, the VW group in general scores above average and better then Nissan, Subaru and many others. If you look at the particular VW models, most owner praise their cars for being reliable.

And if you look at US JD Powers they come up last - just below Land Rover.

they must shipping all the pos then to the US

2007 survey linky

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
I can sum up this thread:

1. My family can has 10 of them with a bazillion miles on them and never had to do a single thing to any of them.

2. They are crap and every single VW will break down and leave you stranded on the side of the road and cost you thousands in repair bills annually.

don't 1 and 2 contradict each other?

or is it

1: your family has a bazillion miles on them
and
2: you think they're still crap


just trying to clarify