- Oct 30, 1999
- 11,815
- 104
- 106
First off, let me say I've had a lot of VW's.
A '74 Campmobile, an '82 Rabbit, an '83 GTi, an '87 Fox and now my wife has an '02 Jetta Wagon (our only working vehicle. I drive the company truck.)
I also travel a lot. I get to drive a lot of different vehicles in the form of rental cars. I also used to work as an "installer" for Wards "back in the day" and replaced batteries, lights, tires, brakes, shocks, struts... your typical "same day turn around" repairs.
So my experience with cars is very multi-faceted. GM, Chrysler/Dodge, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc. You name it.
One thing I do know... I don't always like the way other cars drive. I do like the way all of my VW's drove. Yes... Even my '74.
Some cars come close to the whole experience, but most do not.
That said, I think the downward spiral of VW quality control has finally lost me as a customer.
The bus had almost 200,000 miles on it and had no issues other than old age (rust finally killed it.) The Rabbits had NO problems. Those were U.S. made, BTW. Actually.. the '83 had some fuel problems, but that turned out to be a lose vacuum line that sucked water into the fuel, but once I fixed that the car ran great and it'd still be running today if the guy that bought it from me didn't get it impounded when he was busted for drag-racing. The Fox was everyone's "you're going to be sorry" car. It was an early attempt from VW to import cars from Brazil. Back then, cars simply weren't imported from South America or Mexico. The car was a tin-can on wheels. Loud. Small. But still fun to drive and it held up great.
Then there's the Jetta.....
I bought the car from Kuhn (then Lindell) when the wagon version first came out. Our daughter had just been born and we wanted to have room in a hatch for groceries, etc. and a stroller.
Kuhn was great. When they didn't have the color we wanted; they got it from another dealer. When the car came in, the let me look at it before I signed for it and when I found it didn't have a CD player in it when the one I test drove did, they installed a CD player while I waited.
They've also been quite accomodating with all of my... ahem.... returns.
Keep in mind... My car is made in Germany. The first year of Jetta Wagons in the states were just rebadged Bora Variants. So this isn't a "Mexican quality control sucks" rant.
First: The power window cables were held in place with plastic clips. The clips broke and The windows got stuck on the cables. "Known issue." They replaced the clamps with metal clamps. Problem solved.
Second: Idiot light came on. Sensor came lose. Replaced terminal on sensor and light went out.
Third: There's a "counter-tension" spring on the front seats to help make sliding the seats forward easier (your body weight helps the seat back, while the spring helps the seats back forward without having to "hop your weight up" like you have to with a lot of cheap cars.) One week, I found a very large spring on the floor board under each seat. "Known issue." The weld broke that held the springs in place. They actually replaced both of my front seats.
Fourth: Dead battery. Two years old and the battery was completely dead and would not hold a charge. WTF?!?! Batteries have always lasted me four or five years minimum.
Fifth: The interior has this rubberized plastic material on it. Door handles, trim, etc. Essentually, any hard plstic has the "rubbery" coating over it. Well, the rubbery stuff wears off leaving a half plastic, half rubber finish that is avsolutely butt ugly. Sort of the consistancy of peeling skin. Not covered by warranty. Considered "wear and tear."
Sixth and Seventh: The AC quit working this weekend. I took it in today and the COMPRESSOR needed to be replaced. THE COMPRESSOR?!?! The AC in the '82 Rabbit lasted TWENTY YEARS until the drier blew up and it finally died! This thing lasted three years.
While the car was in there, I pointed out that the lenses were all hazy. The gent at Kuhn stated that he hadn't seen that before, but 99% of the Jetta's have Hella lenses made in Mexico. Mine were made in Germany and that might be the difference. Replace them with Mexican ones in stock? Hell yeah!
Much to my surprise, Kuhn had the car in and out in one day (in at 8, out at 5.) But I'm over it!
I paid too much for this car to have this many problems! IT ONLY HAS 30,000 miles on it!!
I got the car back and I'm happy... for now. The AC is ice cold and the new headlight lenses makes the car look two years newer. But when it's time for a new car, it probably won't be a VW. Here's YET ANOTHER reason why:
Remember how I said that I love the way they drive? I got a 2004 Jetta loaner. It was noisey, the gas pedal was unpredictable and the brakes were spongey. The only redeeming quality was the steering. VW's have this way of having power steering, but still feeling enough like manual steering to make driving enjoyable. I would NOT want to own this car based on it's "drivability" alone. It just wasn't up to par.
A friend of mine that took a 2003 Passat in for service (ironically he had the same problem with his Passat that I had with my '83 Rabbit!) and he got a 2004 Jetta for a loaner (no, not the same one) and he complained that his loaner was the exact same way.
Now I didn't drive a 2005, but the price tags on those START at 25,000 so now they're priced out of my league. I've got alloys, Monsoon stereo, sun-roof... Mine was only $22,000 and it's a WAGON!
*sigh* Ok. I'm done. My mom's been driving Subaru's for the last 15 years and there's a Subaru dealer right down the road. Think I'll give them a shot next time around.
A '74 Campmobile, an '82 Rabbit, an '83 GTi, an '87 Fox and now my wife has an '02 Jetta Wagon (our only working vehicle. I drive the company truck.)
I also travel a lot. I get to drive a lot of different vehicles in the form of rental cars. I also used to work as an "installer" for Wards "back in the day" and replaced batteries, lights, tires, brakes, shocks, struts... your typical "same day turn around" repairs.
So my experience with cars is very multi-faceted. GM, Chrysler/Dodge, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc. You name it.
One thing I do know... I don't always like the way other cars drive. I do like the way all of my VW's drove. Yes... Even my '74.
Some cars come close to the whole experience, but most do not. That said, I think the downward spiral of VW quality control has finally lost me as a customer.
The bus had almost 200,000 miles on it and had no issues other than old age (rust finally killed it.) The Rabbits had NO problems. Those were U.S. made, BTW. Actually.. the '83 had some fuel problems, but that turned out to be a lose vacuum line that sucked water into the fuel, but once I fixed that the car ran great and it'd still be running today if the guy that bought it from me didn't get it impounded when he was busted for drag-racing. The Fox was everyone's "you're going to be sorry" car. It was an early attempt from VW to import cars from Brazil. Back then, cars simply weren't imported from South America or Mexico. The car was a tin-can on wheels. Loud. Small. But still fun to drive and it held up great.
Then there's the Jetta.....
I bought the car from Kuhn (then Lindell) when the wagon version first came out. Our daughter had just been born and we wanted to have room in a hatch for groceries, etc. and a stroller.
Kuhn was great. When they didn't have the color we wanted; they got it from another dealer. When the car came in, the let me look at it before I signed for it and when I found it didn't have a CD player in it when the one I test drove did, they installed a CD player while I waited.
They've also been quite accomodating with all of my... ahem.... returns.
Keep in mind... My car is made in Germany. The first year of Jetta Wagons in the states were just rebadged Bora Variants. So this isn't a "Mexican quality control sucks" rant.
First: The power window cables were held in place with plastic clips. The clips broke and The windows got stuck on the cables. "Known issue." They replaced the clamps with metal clamps. Problem solved.
Second: Idiot light came on. Sensor came lose. Replaced terminal on sensor and light went out.
Third: There's a "counter-tension" spring on the front seats to help make sliding the seats forward easier (your body weight helps the seat back, while the spring helps the seats back forward without having to "hop your weight up" like you have to with a lot of cheap cars.) One week, I found a very large spring on the floor board under each seat. "Known issue." The weld broke that held the springs in place. They actually replaced both of my front seats.
Fourth: Dead battery. Two years old and the battery was completely dead and would not hold a charge. WTF?!?! Batteries have always lasted me four or five years minimum.
Fifth: The interior has this rubberized plastic material on it. Door handles, trim, etc. Essentually, any hard plstic has the "rubbery" coating over it. Well, the rubbery stuff wears off leaving a half plastic, half rubber finish that is avsolutely butt ugly. Sort of the consistancy of peeling skin. Not covered by warranty. Considered "wear and tear."
Sixth and Seventh: The AC quit working this weekend. I took it in today and the COMPRESSOR needed to be replaced. THE COMPRESSOR?!?! The AC in the '82 Rabbit lasted TWENTY YEARS until the drier blew up and it finally died! This thing lasted three years.
While the car was in there, I pointed out that the lenses were all hazy. The gent at Kuhn stated that he hadn't seen that before, but 99% of the Jetta's have Hella lenses made in Mexico. Mine were made in Germany and that might be the difference. Replace them with Mexican ones in stock? Hell yeah!
Much to my surprise, Kuhn had the car in and out in one day (in at 8, out at 5.) But I'm over it!
I paid too much for this car to have this many problems! IT ONLY HAS 30,000 miles on it!!
I got the car back and I'm happy... for now. The AC is ice cold and the new headlight lenses makes the car look two years newer. But when it's time for a new car, it probably won't be a VW. Here's YET ANOTHER reason why:
Remember how I said that I love the way they drive? I got a 2004 Jetta loaner. It was noisey, the gas pedal was unpredictable and the brakes were spongey. The only redeeming quality was the steering. VW's have this way of having power steering, but still feeling enough like manual steering to make driving enjoyable. I would NOT want to own this car based on it's "drivability" alone. It just wasn't up to par.
A friend of mine that took a 2003 Passat in for service (ironically he had the same problem with his Passat that I had with my '83 Rabbit!) and he got a 2004 Jetta for a loaner (no, not the same one) and he complained that his loaner was the exact same way.
Now I didn't drive a 2005, but the price tags on those START at 25,000 so now they're priced out of my league. I've got alloys, Monsoon stereo, sun-roof... Mine was only $22,000 and it's a WAGON!
*sigh* Ok. I'm done. My mom's been driving Subaru's for the last 15 years and there's a Subaru dealer right down the road. Think I'll give them a shot next time around.
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