Hello,
I am a big fan of German Engineering. Volswagen is the only German car I can afford. I would like to consider buying a new Jetta or used Passat. However, I heard (from multiple, independent people) that Volswagen cars have often transmission and other mechanic problems. As much as I am surprised to hear that, I would like to get a confirmation or disapproval from this knowledgeable community.
and also is it better to buy a brand new Jetta or a not much used Passat.
To be brutally honest, I would stay away from both.
I just logged on to Consumer Reports, and up until 2012, the Passat had pretty dismal ratings.
As for the new Jetta, the base 4- and 5-cylinders are below average.
Perhaps you’d be “happy” in a nice Accord. Those are pretty reliable, hold their value and have pretty decent handling.
I think you can add difficult to repair electronic issues too. But my DIL is a VW fan and never had anything else. She views them as a cut above ordinary and really won’t look at anything else, nor will her parents. She’s always had new though so if you’ve got a warranty and can put up with the hassle, to each their own.
Most Volkswagens that are for sale in U.S are assembled in Mexico, one exception i think is the Golf GTI . Between those two i vote for the new Jetta, more warranty and more simple.
I wouldn’t trust Consumer Reports to give me the correct time of day. You need to talk to people who love VW’s. I can say from my experience that they are a bit more quirky than a Japanese “appliance” like a Honda.
What this boils down to is that VW’s are less tolerant of neglect. I’m driving a 2011 Jetta TDI now. My previous car was a 2001 Passat that I had for eleven years without any problems other than a failed coil pack. I’ve owned Hondas that had more problems. I always do the maintenace on time, or ahead of time.
If you like the VW, buy the VW.
Test drive the new Accord Sport model, you might find many of the performance (handling) aspects you’re looking for in an economical, reliable sedan.
Given the choice between a used Passat and a new Jetta, I’d go with the Jetta any day. With a new vehicle you yourself have control over how it’s broken in and how it’s treated. Used car purposes always are risky. I always wonder “why was this car traded?” There are too many risks for me.
As to the “German Engineering”, there’s no magic there. VW tends to design ion a certain “feel”, but technologically most companies in a given price point have far more consistancies than differences.
VWs handle better than the competition and have excellent interiors. They are less reliable than much of the competitors. Still, a rating of 95% without problems earns a “much worse than average” rating from CR. A Jetta will be a lot more fun than a Corolla, but you will spend less for maintenance and repairs (about 7%) with the Toyota after the warranty is over.
Guess this plot applies here, too, with VW near the top (worst):
@texases, the most impressive thing about your plot is that until 7 or 8 years passes, there are not 100 problems of any sort per 100 vehicles. Even among the least reliable on your graph, there will be at least one driver in 100 that won’t have a repair for 7 or 8 years. Maybe you could post this on the Cars That Last Forever thread as an example that they almost do last forever. All of them.
“VWs handle better than the competition and have excellent interiors. They are less reliable than much of the competitors. Still, a rating of 95% without problems earns a “much worse than average” rating from CR. A Jetta will be a lot more fun than a Corolla, but you will spend less for maintenance and repairs (about 7%) with the Toyota after the warranty is over.”
@jtsanders, Well said! It’s always wise to read between the lines when looking at ratings, reviews, plots etc.
VW’s are a fun car to drive, so that’s a good reason to want to buy one. And they offer some amenities not found in other cars in the same price range. But VW in general wouldn’t the the manufacturer most mechanics would mention first for reliability. See the Car Talk main page, there’s an article from ABC news there today on this very subject, which cars mechanics recommend for reliability.
Still, some VW models have good reliability ratings, esp some of the diesels. Suggest to decide you should go by objective data from the following two sources, rather than personal opinions and anecdotal evidence.
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Consumer Reports magazine rates the reliability of used cars – as reported by owners – sieved by make/model/year.
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Compare the Kelly Blue Book used car prices. If two different make/models of cars sold for about the same price new, but one is selling for considerably more than the other 10 years later, that’s a big clue about how the actual owners of these cars feel about their car’s reliability.
One other thing. You can improve your odds if you purchase a car as close to the base model as you can tolerate. High end audio and other various electronic gadgets and gizmo options are the most troublesome and result in high dollar repair bills. Get as few of those as you can. If you can tolerate a manual xmssion, choose that. Automatics are more troublesome and more costly to repair. And if you can avoid the air conditioning option where you live, that’s another repair trouble source you can avoid.
Best of luck. I think you’ll be able to find a good reliable VW for your daily driver.
The graphs show which cars have better genes. At year 10, only 60 per 100 of Toyotas have probems while there are a number who have 150 problems per 100 cars, nearly 3 times as many!!!. And most of those carmakers have been in business 100 years or so. Why buy from a manufactirer who cannot get their act together after 3 generations of making cars. Honda made no cars before the 60s and Toyota only started in the late 30s.
Within the warranty period there is not a lot of difference between makes. So, if you trade every 3-4 years, you can buy almost anything.
Hyundai has made massive improvements in quality and reliability, and I expect their 10 year curve to be more like Honda and Toyota in the future.
I agree with @GeorgeSanJose . . . CR does rate the VW diesels as more reliable than the gas engines.