Why do VWs have to be unreliable???

[GTaudiophile]

I am here at a conference in Augusta, Maine, and my Hertz rental car this time is a VW Jetta sedan with the 2.5L 5 cylinder engine. I must say, when I compare it to say a Mazda 3, I am impressed. The driver's seat is one of the most comfortable I've sat in. It's roomy, both front and back. It has great fit and finish, high quality plastics, etc. The engine is very peppy. Actually I thought I had a small V6 under the hood. Makes me wonder what the 2.0T 4 cylinder is like, but for my purposes the 5 cylinder is plenty! The car drives well, has good brakes. All in all, it feels better put together than a Mazda 3 (I know because I owned one).

I mean, after this experience, I would even consider buying one...until of course I flip through the pages of Consumer Reports or read online about post-warranty ownership nightmares.

Why do they have to be so unreliable? It would be such a great car otherwise.

 

[ayabe]

I was in Augusta two weeks ago, it was cold and crappy. Are you staying at the Senator?


Anyways, I don't know why they are so unreliable, it's not just mechanical components either. A friend of mine bought a Jetta a couple years ago, 3 weeks after he bought it his drivers side window came out of it track and broke when he was trying to roll it up.

Awesome part is that the glass had to be shipped from Germany so it took 5 weeks to get a new window. That thing was a goat from then on out, he had tranny problem and several electrical problems.

There are a couple guys I work with who have new GTI's and haven't had any problems so perhaps things are getting better.

 

[Gand1]

I'm wondering that myself..... They are sooo comfy, look great and when working perform nicely..... so it seems the factory is run by Oompah Loompahs!

 

[DivideBYZero]

It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

 

[dsity]

blame the mexicans

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: ayabe
I was in Augusta two weeks ago, it was cold and crappy. Are you staying at the Senator?


Anyways, I don't know why they are so unreliable, it's not just mechanical components either. A friend of mine bought a Jetta a couple years ago, 3 weeks after he bought it his drivers side window came out of it track and broke when he was trying to roll it up.

Awesome part is that the glass had to be shipped from Germany so it took 5 weeks to get a new window. That thing was a goat from then on out, he had tranny problem and several electrical problems.

There are a couple guys I work with who have new GTI's and haven't had any problems so perhaps things are getting better.

That mirrors the ownership nightmares my friend had with his Jetta as well. Oh, and my sister-in-law's nightmare experience with her Jetta. VW cars are like that pretty blond you see at the bar, she's attractive but once you get to know her you realize she comes with a lot of extra unwanted baggage. Same with Audi.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

My 2003 Nissan has never left me on the side of the road and I've owned it for 5 years and almost 70,000 miles.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

My 2003 Nissan has never left me on the side of the road and I've owned it for 5 years and almost 70,000 miles.

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

In all fairness, in aggregate VWs are relatively unreliable, and certainly worse than Nissans. Anecdotes can only tell one car's story (and I have plenty of stories about poor VW reliability that I have personally observed), but the overall statistics are damning.

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

My 2003 Nissan has never left me on the side of the road and I've owned it for 5 years and almost 70,000 miles.

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

zing

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: Don Vito Corleone

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

In all fairness, in aggregate VWs are relatively unreliable, and certainly worse than Nissans. Anecdotes can only tell one car's story (and I have plenty of stories about poor VW reliability that I have personally observed), but the overall statistics are damning.

Agreed. I've known many VW owners and not one has nice things to say.

I think the worst was a friend in school who had a Jetta in Miami. Twice he had to get the driver's side window replaced after it stripped the gears. Both times were when he had the window down during the nice Miami sun but then had to put it up during a rainstorm. Both times his inside got soaked.

Personally, I think BMW, Mercedes and VWs aren't worth the reliability hassle.

 

[BornStar]

My wife's old Jetta 1.8T had the coil packs replaced at least twice, a fuse for the radiator fans, the radio (I think twice), and had problems where there were leaks related to the turbos. It also had a problem where on cold mornings it would stall when first started which never got resolved. Despite all of that she decided that she wanted to replace it with a 2.0T DSG which has actually been pretty good. That said, as soon as the lease is up, that car is a ghost because I don't trust it enough to own it without a warranty. Both cars are tons of fun to drive so I can understand why people would desire them but without a warranty, I'm not touching them.

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I am here at a conference in Augusta, Maine, and my Hertz rental car this time is a VW Jetta sedan with the 2.5L 5 cylinder engine. I must say, when I compare it to say a Mazda 3, I am impressed. The driver's seat is one of the most comfortable I've sat in. It's roomy, both front and back. It has great fit and finish, high quality plastics, etc. The engine is very peppy. Actually I thought I had a small V6 under the hood. Makes me wonder what the 2.0T 4 cylinder is like, but for my purposes the 5 cylinder is plenty! The car drives well, has good brakes. All in all, it feels better put together than a Mazda 3 (I know because I owned one).

I mean, after this experience, I would even consider buying one...until of course I flip through the pages of Consumer Reports or read online about post-warranty ownership nightmares.

Why do they have to be so unreliable? It would be such a great car otherwise.

I've had two VW's, one of which we just bought. The first one was a 2003 GTI 1.8T 5 Speed and the current one is a 2007 Rabbit 5 Speed. We've never had one problem with any of the cars. I would mark VW as one of the most reliable cars IMO. I think alot of the problems people had are electrical. That seems to be VW's weak spot for some reason. Luckily, we've never had a problem. I do know that the cars are being built in Brazil and Mexico, which people claim reduces quality... I highly disagree with that. And I do agree with a previous poster that the coilpack/electrical issues are still stuck in reviewers heads. That was years ago! Get over it! Every major car company has had their bad streaks. VW is a solid reliable company IMO. They cost a tad bit more than other companies, but the quality makes up for it.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

I have had a lot of friends with VW's that didn't have coil packs and they were still astonishingly unreliable. It was like this running joke to see which VW wouldn't start up in the parking lot each day. We developed little tricks to get them to run, like jumping on the bumpers, praying, doing rain dances, etc. The girls loved the play the "surprise" game. As in "which warning dash light is going to surprise me today?"

I have rescued stranded friends from the side of the road multiple times with VW's that just flat out turned themselves off while driving. By "rescue" I mean "kept company until the car magically decided to start back up and run again."

Most of the electronic features are "when it feels like it and the weather is right" reliable. The engines are thrashy and weak.

But hey, they use nice plastic.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: batmang

I've had two VW's, one of which we just bought. The first one was a 2003 GTI 1.8T 5 Speed and the current one is a 2007 Rabbit 5 Speed. We've never had one problem with any of the cars. I would mark VW as one of the most reliable cars IMO. I think alot of the problems people had are electrical. That seems to be VW's weak spot for some reason. Luckily, we've never had a problem. I do know that the cars are being built in Brazil and Mexico, which people claim reduces quality... I highly disagree with that. And I do agree with a previous poster that the coilpack/electrical issues are still stuck in reviewers heads. That was years ago! Get over it! Every major car company has had their bad streaks. VW is a solid reliable company IMO. They cost a tad bit more than other companies, but the quality makes up for it.

The statistics simply don't bear this out. In aggregate, VW has consistently been among the least reliable major carmakers selling cars in the United States for the past 20 years. Look at the numbers published by JD Power, Consumer Reports, Consumer Guide, etc. - they don't lie. I find VW cars charming in certain respects, and they certainly have the FEEL of quality by virtue of their excellent interiors, but IMO the reliability and relatively high repair costs make them a hard buy to justify in their niche. I am willing to pay for the predicted higher cost of maintaining, say, a BMW, because of the excellent driving experience it offers, but not a VW. Obviously YMMV.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Most of it is down to luck and servicing. I was left at the roadside by my Subaru and they are at the top of the charts, so meh.

 

[krunchykrome]

I considered buying a new VW Rabbit for a while. I like the interior in VW cars. Everything feels like it's made of quality materials. But, of course, I didnt't buy it because of VW's poor reliability.

It makes me wonder why people buy these cars....for the sake of owning a german car?

 

[Tommouse]

I've had my VW for just over two years now (its an 02) and it has been great to me. Granted I keep it in terrific condition, and it was a Certified Pre-Owned, so it was in good shape before I got it.

I had this debate with myself before I got the car. I was looking at a Mazda6 or my Passat. The Mazda would have had better reliability, but I liked the interior and engine more in the Passat, and that's what ended up winning me over. The interior is great, and I love my 1.8t.

I have heard some horror stories about VWs though. Mostly from the VW boards I hang out on. It seems some people just get bad luck with their VW, while others don't. I'm in the latter camp **knocks on wood**

YMMV ... literally

 

[JulesMaximus]

Ah fuck it...you're not worth my time.

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

My 2003 Nissan has never left me on the side of the road and I've owned it for 5 years and almost 70,000 miles.

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

You don't buy a car like a Lotus Elise for reliability, you buy it for fun.

 

[GoatMonkey]

I test drove a 2007 Jetta GLI with DSG and Package 2 about 6 months ago. It was a lot of fun, good handling, good acceleration, good maneuverability, nice interior with good space for its size, good fuel economy, good safety rating, excellent transmission, comfortable seats (with funky controls), overall it was a nice car. However, reliability ratings and dorky styling caused it to be crossed off my list.

 

[caspur]

edited

 

[theeedude]

I own a Mazda3 hatch, and I had a Rabbit 2.5 rental this weekend. I liked the interior more than the 3, even though I liked the seats in the 3 more since they seem more bolstered. The Golf definitely had a more premium interior feel.
Overall, I liked it, but given the choice, I would buy the 3 again. It just drives and handles so much better than the Rabbit for the type of aggressive driving I do, looks better to me, and is more practical. Also, maybe I am just used to MT, but the auto on the Golf is pretty bad, IMO. It saps power, I had to get out and make sure it was a 2.5L, it just felt so weak. It was slow to respond to throttle, and it felt like a boat. They should ditch the automatic for DSG completely. Overall, Rabbit was a nice car, but among 2.x L hatches, I would take the 3, then the Impreza, then Rabbit.

 

[Kirby]

I haven't had too many problems with my VW 1.8T, excluding when I broke the motor mounts. My sister has a Audi 1.8T, and its been riddled with more problems than I can think of.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: Tab

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
It's really down to the coil-pack debacle a few years ago and people in the US can't seem to get that out of their heads.

Saying that, I had a Mk4 V6 4Motion from new in 2000 and it needed the warranty, but only left me on the side of the road once in four years.

My 2003 Nissan has never left me on the side of the road and I've owned it for 5 years and almost 70,000 miles.

For every story like yours there will be a Nissan owner who will never buy one again. What does that prove?

E.g., Lotus are terrible for reliability, but you'd buy one in a heartbeat.

You don't buy a car like a Lotus Elise for reliability, you buy it for fun.

Why do you feel the need to school me on why people buy cars? We're talking reliability.