Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The American (or rebranded Korean) cars sold in Europe are not that good. I think you would be quite mad to buy an Aveo or Matiz/Spark. For instance, European Fords are no better in terms of reliability than VW.
My ex-gf had two Jetta's and '07 and a '12. The one from 2012 looked like a royal POS and the engine was weak. At the time my '04 Malibu looked more cutting edge for styling sake.
She said he family has been extremely loyal to VW through the years. I honestly never understood why anybody would be when Audi only costs an extra few G's over a moderate trim line VW.
i drove VWs for years. I had 5 Beetles, a Squareback, a Bus, and my FINAL VW ever, a 1978 Rabbit. I loved the aircooled VWS, but the water cooled Rabbit gave me troubles from the day I drove it off the showroom floor. VW dealers were inept at fixing the many problems it had.
VW dealers here in Central Illinois are notoriously expensive and difficult to deal with (speaking of their service department) which makes me leery of purchasing this make of vehicle. I found a 2009 VW GTI for sale with only 4,700 miles on it. Leather interior, premium audio, 4 door, and the car is exactly what I am looking for. The amazing thing is it has been for sale for three months (private owner) and I am the only one to test drive it so far. His asking price is 20K, and since I wanted a better than average deal, I offered him 18.5K for it. He eventually came down to 19.3K, but I have not budged. I don't think he will come down any more, and reading threads like these make me wonder if I even want to take the chance at 18.5K.
Most things I can figure out myself, basic servicing I can handle, but if it needs the stealership to work on it, the cost will likely make me ill.
But there simply is not an other car comparable to the GTI that I can find that has the features and performance for that price. And it's a roll of the dice if you will be happy with the purchase or get soaked with high repair costs and strange issues peculiar to Volkswagen.
I'm actually somewhat relieved the seller is standing firm on his price. I may give up on it and purchase a newish Ford Fusion for slightly less. I feel like its a safer bet in the long run, even though it is not my first choice.
i drove VWs for years. I had 5 Beetles, a Squareback, a Bus, and my FINAL VW ever, a 1978 Rabbit. I loved the aircooled VWS, but the water cooled Rabbit gave me troubles from the day I drove it off the showroom floor. VW dealers were inept at fixing the many problems it had.
That's actually kind of odd, because those little engine were bullet-proof. They had some goofy injector issues, but those were easily remedied.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,776 posts, read 58,241,105 times
Reputation: 46273
VW...
Can't do electric windows
Can't do door handles
Can't do Auto Trannies
VW Has less than stellar reputation due to the above ^^^
SO... don't buy one with e-windows, put euro door handles on instead of plastic US / MEX version. ONLY buy a manual tranny.
My $35 Rabbit has been fine. 50 mpg on FREE fryer grease. NO detectible Emissions (On high tech dyno sniffers) ..
Check your Neighbor's Brier Patch (best to do in winter or early spring, tough to find in summer).
Fun and CHEAP to drive. PARTS... dirt cheap if you stay away from the Stealers. Aftermarket shops have the OEM Audi/VW German parts WAY cheap... ($3 for hoses and belts, $6 for wheel cylinders and ball joints)
AND... West coast will suit you far better if VW driver. Seattle seems to be infested with VW's. (and subarus of course).
My VW's ALL leak water in 285 days / rain per yr. Wear your overshoes (while driving).
VW's consistent problem over the decades has been it's inconsistent quality. You never know if you are getting a lemon or a decent car. They also have a bad habit of "Americanizing" which eliminates one of the reasons for buying one. I also think they have a big issue with their dealers who don't understand some of the maintenance issues on VW's higher end and more rare vehicles.
On the lower end you can do much better for the money. On the higher end, why bother. Go to Audi instead.
My first VW was a 1987 Golf GT. Never had a single problem with it and I bought it with 140k on it. As you can imagine I was a teenager so I abused the hell out of it, loved that car.
My second VW was a 1999 Jetta which after buying it for a commuter car found out it had horrible reliability ratings. Again, never had one problem with it. I was putting about 40k on it a year. Loved this car as well.
My current VW is a 2012 Passat TDI. I have just about 30k on it and love this VW as well.
My mom has owned VW, my in laws have owned VW and none of us have ever had any bad luck. Maybe we have just been lucky. We arent "loyal" VW owners either but the ones we have had have been great. Id like to get a bumper sticker that says "id rather push my VW than drive a Honda" after the old bumper sticker from the 80's that said " id rather push a Ford than drive a chevy"
Most things I can figure out myself, basic servicing I can handle, but if it needs the stealership to work on it, the cost will likely make me ill.
This is the one thing I DO agree with on all counts, never heard of a VW dealership with a good reputation for its service department. But then again, I can count the number of dealerships on just fingers (no thumbs needed) of ANY brand with a good reputation from the past ~15 years that I've been paying attention. Not exactly a VW exclusive there.
The solution is easy, find an independent mechanic. For VW, I always start here (but I have a TDI, and most VW owners I know are TDI as well):
Never had issue with any I've used (mostly pre-purchase inspections, but occasionally helping a friend out while on the road away from home or to beg some information/a special tool from). All of them are Enthusiasts, and a good many are ex-dealer grunts who got fed up with being Forced to turn out crappy work just to earn a living. I'm sure that VWVortex (major VW forum) has something similar, I've just never looked.
There are VW owners everywhere, they don't ALL service their own vehicles so there's someone out there doing the work.
I'm pretty sure that I'll never set foot inside a dealership again, they just Won't offer the best service available... be that buying a vehicle or repairing one.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
