is it expensive to maintain a VW?

[alphatarget1]

test drove the following cars: civic, corolla, focus, sentra (a week ago) and golf... i love the golf!!!

but my dad is reluctant to buy a new car... we also saw a 2000 jetta about 32000 miles on it and it's a stick. I loved that car but one question, are VW parts a lot more expensive than others? The salesman tries to sell us a CRV, saying we need a different car than just 2 sedans... blah blah blah.

 

[PaNsyBoy8]

get a gti, if you're into cars, u might regret it later if you decide to get a golf. they aren't that hard to maintain, there are plenty of online resources, and if you can work with your hands, you can do a lot of stuff yourself. as for parts and stuff, they are all imported so it'll cost as much as any japanese part.

 

[BranzLS]

GTI's are dope, I will admit... my mom has a 2002 VW Turbo Beetle and it's off the hook, I love it. Hasn't been hard to keep up since we bought it, everything is covered under warranty. Gotta use premium gas with a turbo though, but I would say a GTI for VW if that's what you're looking into, though the Jetta Turbo is really sweet too.

 

[yakko]

They do not cost that much to maintain as long as you don't abuse them.

 

[Nemesis77]

In here (Finland), they are among the cheapest to maintain. Spare parts are cheap, warranty is good, service-intervals are long and the quality is good.

 

[Nefrodite]

considering your still suckling at ur parents teet, the smart choice would be either the corolla or civic

 

[SALvation]

Also you only have to get an oil change every 5000 miles instead of 3000 with VW. BTW, I have a Jetta Turbo and it's the most fun car I have ever had.

 

[Otaking]

I've got an '02 GTI 1.8T; it's great fun to drive, and I highly recommend it. The 3-year warranty has been really good to me, as I've brought it back a few times for some misfiring codes on my dash. (Otherwise, it'd be like.. $50 for labor to reset the damn thing). Of course I could have been one of the unlucky few to have gotten a lemon, but I don't think I did.

That's been about the most annoying thing.

One thing to note is that if you're getting a 1.8T or a VR6, you must put 91 octane or higher in your tank. This might run up your bill at the gas station a bit, but if you don't put in >= 91 octane, you'll definitely feel the lack of performance.

I don't have any qualms about the whole "GTI is better than the Golf." There is an R32 version of the Golf (not sure if it's out yet in the UK) that pumps out 241 bhp, and I sure hope it comes to the US. Wow!! :Q

As for your question, what kind of VW parts are you talking about?

Oh yeah, my 10k service is about to come, so that's going to cost quite a penny. Just FYI, my 5k service was about $50. I would have loved to do the maintenance myself, but there's just something about getting the VW stamp in my manual.

 

[purbeast0]

Well VW's aren't that expensive to maintain ... but they are expensive to mod

I have a 1997 Jetta III GLS and I LOVE IT! It was my mom's at first, then I took over payments like 2.5 years ago and am almost done paying it off. Too bad she got the GLS and not the 1.8t. But I really like my car. I like it even more now that this summer I started putting some money into it, as far as modding it and putting aftermarket stuff on it. Here's a list of my mods:

Current Mods:
17" Miglia Mille Evo 5's
20% Tint All Around
Weitec 60/40 Kit
Techtonics EPROM Chip
K&N Air Filter
Techtonics Cat Back w/Borla Muffler
Smoked sides/tails/turns/dummies

Coming Soon:
Golf Hood
JOM 2 Bar Badgeless Grille
Hella Smoked MK4 Style Headlights
Euro Lip
Euro Switch

 

[thawolfman]

I was just looking at the VW website last night, customizing a GTI and such. I never really thought much of them before, but I was one at work in the parking lot and after checkin it out, I was kinda intrigued.....now I want one

 

[daddyo]

I have a '99 Jetta VR6 and I'll say it's more expensive than most other cars in its category to maintain.

One shining example is the oil change. Unless you do it yourself, you will probably end up paying >$35, because it's a special VW filter that falls under "extra fee".

:/

 

[Salvador]

If you're a car guy, go with the VW. If not, buy a Japanese car like a Honda or Toyota. Just about every girl that I recommend a car to (that is not into cars), I recommend a Japanese car to because all you usually have to do is change the oil and put gas in it. The problem with Japanese cars IMO is that they tend to be a little bland and soulless.

Back to VW's.. I've had VW's, Audi's and Honda's over the years. VW had some hard times back in the late 80's all the way through the mid 90's, but I think they got their act together again and build very nice cars. If you ever need to pay for repairs, it won't cost you any more than repairing a Ford or Chevy. The big advantage is that you probably won't have to pay for repairs because you may not need any.

Just to show you how durable the VW's are, I still have my '84 GTI that I bought new. It has 170K miles on it with the original clutch and it was never babied (not abused though). The only type of problems that I had with it were mainly electrical and with the fit and finish. These problems I blame mostly on this being an American made Rabbit though. Previous German made VW's seemed to be built much better.

Anyway.. Hope this helps..

Sal

 

[yakko]

Salvador,

The German made MK 1 cars also had some minor electrical problems. It was usually due to bad grounds. On that note my 77 Scirocco had about 230K on it when it was hit by a Caddy. I ran the hell out of it and it kept going. I really miss that car.

 

[BranzLS]

I drive an Acura Integra, and I absolutely love it... up above I posted on how you should get a VW Jetta Turbo, cause VW's are built very well as long as you treat them well. However, I do not believe Honda's (Honda is Acura for all you non car people) are soul less as said above. Yes changing the oil and putting gas in are the 2 main things you do, but besides that, they are great cars. Very reliable. I am a car guy, I like anything from a 67 Camaro or 71 Cuda to the newer stuff like my Integra, and the GTi so I don't think that just cause you are not a car person that you should get a Honda. With any car you can do modifications, or other such work so even if you're not a car guy, get that VW but don't get a Honda souly because you are not into cars as much as the other guy..