My wife had an older Jetta. This is our take on VW’s:
They are unconventional, so if you are looking for something different (unusual controls/features), they will make you happy in the short run.
But, in the long run, you will probably run into problems that other (mostly Japanese) cars won’t bother you with, and some of them are really hard to diagnose and expensive to fix.
Here is our horror story. My wife bought her Jetta in Los Angeles, where it rarely rains. She took it to the East coast and it developed the following:
Windshield Wiper Motor Burned out
Car would stall in the rain. It took a lot of investigation to find that it was a bad coil. It took a lot of money to replace the integrated coil-electronic unit instead of just the coil. Thanks, VW.
The rear window fell into the track and we had to pull it up with pliers and tape it shut until we could get it fixed. Apparently they use flimsy plastic clips to hold the window. The replacement: they just replaced the plastic clips, so we could wait for them to break again.
Moral of the story so far: It didn’t like rain.
During that time, the CEL started to come on. A few expensive tuneups and a converter later, and it was still coming on. Everytime we brought the car to a mechanic for one of the “rain” problems, he would say that he was sure he knew what the problem was, but we would laugh, because we knew that the light would be back on in a day or 2.
Finally, one of the spark plugs broke and smashed the valves and cylinder. Boy was the Check Engine Light flashing when that happened.
I got my first new car in 2000, it was the Jetta. Awesome car! I lease, so I turned around and got an '03 Golf. It was a great car, too. My dealer is great if there are any problems, but I never had anything wrong except the fob stopped working. Gave me a loaner for a day and I had my car back.
Now, I have the '04 R32. This is the very best car I’ve ever had! It’s a BLAST to drive and it definitely turns heads! Everyone I drive around with just raves about it. I’m keeping this one, since they only made 5000 of them. The new Rabbit looks cute, but I’m not too hip on the new body designs of the VWs.
So, out of 3 VWs since 2000, I’ve been more than happy with them. Always great service and very reliable.
I will tell you my best.
I bought in 2000 an 1983 VW Dasher Station wagon with 200K and a 1.7 l diesel engine.
I took it on a road trip from Seattle down to LA to Miami to New York and back to Seattle, 20000 miles in 6 weeks no problem what so ever average mpg 52.
I would buy a new one in a heartbeat.
I wish the Rabbit would come out with a diesel engine.
Boy, quite a few replies. I’ve been attracted to the miles per gallon on the TDI engines and the looks of the new models, particularly the EOS. However, I do believe in the Consumer Reports ratings: I had a Volvo wagon -got a good deal from my uncle. After having problems, I looked in Consumer Reports and ALL of my problems were noted in their ratings. I’m admitedly a diehard Toyota fan (25 of my 30 years of driving have been Toyotas.)
Getting back to the original posting: I may have missed it but I don’t think anyone has addressed the cost of parts and their availability for the do it yourselfer. (Seems like many posts imply difficulty in diagnosing problems on your own.) I’d like to know the answer to this one. I have heard a few people at the auto parts store imply that cost is high and everything has to be ordered. This has kept me away from VW. Can anyone confirm or refute?
One additional comment - I saw posts about (I’ll paraphrase) VW owners with higher expectations that Japanese import drivers in the area of performance - the only 2 people I know who own VWs are women - 1 in her 60’s and another in her 50’s. I haven’t known them to be “speed demons”.
Over the years I’ve seen lots of vw post prolems, and they are expensive. Don’t do it. Toy or Honda…or if you wan’t to work a bit - Ford,Chevy. Good Luck
I don’t think it’s about the gender or age of the owners, or whether they’re “speed demons,” it has more to do with expecting everything to work perfectly regardless of age/mileage. Folks who buy “disposable cars” are going to expect more things to fail and certainly will not fix every little nit on their 100,000 mile/ 5 year old car. These are the people who say their car is in good condition “for it’s age” when it’s falling apart, and are very unlikely to see the inside of a dealership once their warrantee expires. They will gladly junk it when the transmission (with lifetime fluid) fails after 150,000 miles, and go back to buy another one. Of course, these cars are rated as trouble free because they consistently meet the incredibly low standards of their owners. Where can I find clients/customers like this.
A friend of mine actually bragged that he had only spent a few $100 (total) on his 5 year old car (some little POS ricer, I don’t even remember what kind) that he was trading in on a similar new car that he was buying for about $25 or 30K (some kind of mazda, I think). Somehow he thought this was a good deal, it was the ultimate “disposable car” example; buy a new cheap car (with a 5 year loan), don’t maintain it, throw it away and buy a new one just about the time you pay off the original loan (because you’re afraid it may become “unreliable”), brag about how much money you saved. The strange part is; this is a very bright guy, he just thinks that’s how you are supposed to own cars. He would probably be upset at an unexpected $1000 repair bill, but he doesn’t mind paying $25K for some “low maintence” piece of junk that is designed to fall apart after a couple of 100,000 miles. Maybe it’s all about living month to month and having predictable expenses, but I really don’t understand. I just smiled and nodded. This poor guy will be paying $300 (or whatever) per month for his entire life while driving crappy cars, I guess he just doesn’t care as long as he can get from point A to B. Amazing.
I’ve looked over the postings here, and as far as I can tell, I am the only one who actually HAS this car. I’ve had my rabbit for 7 months with no complaints. I switched from an '02 Subaru Outback which had chronic issues starting at 3 months old (peeling paint) and couldn’t stand the local dealer.
As far as other options for a 4-dr hatchback, you certainly can find more fuel efficient models, but for the price and everything the rabbit comes with, plus the 2.5 liter and 5-cylinder engines (I’ve got the manual), for me it was the best choice. I do mostly downtown driving and get 27mph, and on long highway trips more like 30mph, but mileage is my only complaint, but you know that going in. It’s still better than the Outback! The storage space is surprising.
I don’t take my car to the stealership; I hate the one here in town and bought from out of town. I haven’t had any warranty work done, but can’t be worse than Subaru’s.
I was aware of VW’s rep too, but they were the only one who had what I was looking for in a car.
LOL. No, he’s a really nice guy, he just thinks he has to drive a new car because he’s afraid it will break down and cost him some time, money, and inconvenience. I don’t understand how otherwise intelligent people can be so “risk adverse” when it comes to cars. If he crunched the numbers he might discover how much this perceived “reliability” is costing him over the long term. I can understand why my 75 year-old mom insists on driving new cars, but this is a 40 year old guy with an engineering degree. To each his own, I guess.
He is amazed that I would “risk” driving an old car around the country, he doesn’t seem to understand my “what’s the worst thing that could happen?” argument. I guess he would rather make car payments than take the chance of having to spend a couple of $1000 on some hypothetical breakdown. Oh well?
Just one last comment from me about VW vs. Toyota: obviously we all listen to Click and Clack. I’ve heard them recommend a Toyota Camry on numerous occasions, much to my kids’ chagrin - they think my Camry is too practical and not flashy. They’re right but it has been incredibly reliable and cheap to keep. I don’t think I’ve ever heard them recommend a VW other than the joy of owning a Microbus or Thing. I’m being honest and not trying to pick a fight.
I would still be interested in hearing from owners on the availability of parts and the cost. I really wish they were as reliable as Toyota because they have several attractive models.
LOL, nothing against C&C (they are funny guys) but I remember hearing them tell someone that his 912E had a leaky heater core. The point is, they are probably a lot more familiar with toyotas than any euro cars, even VWs. I agree that toyotas are reliable and cheap, if that’s your main criterion they are hard to beat.
I would still be interested in hearing from owners on the availability of parts and the cost.
Just a clarification, what do you mean by “availability of parts”? Obviously, anything you need will be available through the dealer, are you asking about the availability of cheaper parts from “auto parts stores.” Maybe that will help you get an answer.
I don’t know if you bought your rabbit yet but I did 6 months ago. I have the four door white 07 Rabbit with Automatic Transmission. It stalled on me 2 times in the last 2 months. I took it in the second time and despite running their diagnostics tests they could not find anything. Although very polite they did not do anything else for me. In fact I left it there over night and they still could not find anything. My stall incidents happened when I was waiting with my car running in the parking lot and after about 10 minutes I heard the engine click 3 times and it shut down. It restarted without a problem. Second time I was coming to a traffic light and just when I stopped the engine died again. When I was at the dealership one of the employees told me that there was another rabbit 07 in for the same reason. Overall I love this car. I am trying to get them to give me a 5 speed rabbit though I doubt anything will come of it. I am afraid I will be trying to sell it on my own soon. This Brand that I thought was going to be good has dissappointed me severely.
Availability of parts:
Two part question, actually-
Are most parts available at the dealer or do they have to order?
Are parts readily available at auto parts stores?
Thanks.
What do you suggest as a better alternative for new car buying advice and reliability data?
If low reliability ratings are partly based on owners not taking proper care of their cars, do you think the cars with low CR ratings are owned by a disproportionately high percentage of irresponsible/incompetent people?
thanks for the information about the “can’t do rain” Jetta. I have a 98 VW cabrio that also stalls out in the rain or slushy snow. It is a nightmare and no mechanic can figure it out. Had distributor cap and all related stuff replaced- but still would stall when hitting a large puddle. Will have to look into this and see about replacing.