CR car surveys are based on 250,000 written annual returns. I agree that for some very low volume cars, the statistical number may not reflect accuracy; in that case CR says “not sufficient responses”.
I also subscribe and particate in TrueDelta, a relatively new car survey. It’s results very closely parallel those of CR with the advantage that the survey is quarterly, and reflects current year cars as well.
J D Power’s long term ownership surveys also closely reflect the results found by the two above surveys.
These are about as good as they get; of course there are meticulous owners who don’t abuse or neglect their VWs who have had good luck with them. It’s all about probablility.
If I wanted an accurate report on Chevy pickups, a roadhouse in Texas may not be the most objective location. At the same time, a San Francisco wine bar is probably not a good place the get an objective opinion on Lincoln Town cars.
Not sure if this is true any more. There seem to be plenty of problems with newer Hondas, Toyotas, Mazdas and Fords. And, the newer Passats don’t have that many problems. And, given what has come out about how uncooperative Toyota has been with vehicle information, I wouldn’t keep a new one if you gave it to me.
My daughter has a 9 year old Jetta TDI. It needed a new turn signal switch this year. The cost of the switch was $100 from the dealer. Given my experience with other makes, this doesn’t seem an unreasonable price, and an unreasonable failure after 9 years of use.
Our Passat is a 2008, and has been just fine. It’s fun to drive (much more so than the equivalent Toyota or Nissan at the time), gets great gas mileage (35 regularly on the highway), and has never left me stranded.
I’m not saying that VWs are flawless, just that I must have good ones. But in any case, I’d rather have a vehicle that’s fun to drive than a boring, albeit a bit more reliable, vehicle. Also there really isn’t much difference between the reliability ratings any more. All companies (well, maybe most companies) have improved much over the past few years.
As the mutual fund companies state “past performance is not an indicator of future performance”.
I have owned so many Volkswagen’s over the years and have had so many problems. I have had a long love affair with them. I bought my cars new and they were well maintained and Volkswagen doesn’t care when things go wrong. I’ve heard they got better, but I’m still hearing the horror stories. I hope they do get better, because I really like the cars.
The only thing more “reliable” about the asians is that they are more prone to silently taking care of all the problems with their cars. Silent recalls done w/o the owner even knowing about it, extending warranties, service campaigns etc… they are more agressive than USA and some Euro manufacturers in this regard. This keeps the whining down and the sheeple decieved.
The differences between the reliability ratings in CR that use reader input are but a few % points apart. Though it may make some difference over time, the decision to purchase should be based upon other factors as well.
I’ve heard very bored with their choice Corolla owners and very happy with their choice TDI owners even though they may have made a few more trips to the shop. I feel the reliability differences are over rated and the overall performance and customer satisfaction ratings are MORE important.
You can put up with an extra trip to the shop if your car (diesel) gets 20% better mileage and corners like it’s on rails. Ask all those smiling “unreliable Corvette” owners.
My husband and I have '98 and '00 Passats, respectively, from back in the days when it was CR’s favorite family sedan. We both still have them, and yes, we do have some serious repair bills, but many are normal wear and tear items on 11 and 13 yr old cars. No matter how much we spend on repairs, though, we still LOVE LOVE LOVE driving these cars. We bought them knowing they were less reliable, but we are low-mileage drivers and the driving experience was SO much more enjoyable, we could not refuse ourselves. In addition, they had more standard safety features than the Japanese models. You actually had to get the leather and sunroof package on the Camry to get side airbags, which were already standard on the base Passat. Bottom line, we got the cars we wanted to DRIVE. (Hubby had to get himself one after coveting mine.)
I have owned two minivans that had poor reliability records according to Consumer Reports: 1) a 2000 Ford Windstar; 2) a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander. Both vehicles were quite satisfactory.
That said, I don’t know much about the reliability of VW. I live in a midwestern city that has a University of 20,000 students. The VW dealer is no longer in business. Back in the mid to late 1950s through the mid 1970s, having a VW franchise was even better than having a license to steal gold at Fort Knox. I see a lot of VW newbeetles on the road rolling right along. If I had a yen to own a VW, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one. If a late model VW floats your boat and a mechanic checks it over and pronounces it o.k., it may be the car you should buy.