Anyone own a late model VW Rabbit ?

[whitesands]

My wife is looking for a small car and we test drove one the other day...Out of everything we tried, including the well liked Mazda3 we both liked the Rabbit the best...Same nimble handling as the Mazda but the Rabbit was smoother on the bumps, much less road noise, a noticeably stronger engine, more comfortable, and in our opinion a higher quality interior....A really neat little car.

However, my only concern is that despite the heavy duty build of the car is the rumors that some VW's used to have alot of glitches...I also hear they are much improved in recent years in this respect and that the Rabbit/Golf has not suffered the same issues as the Jetta...

Reading consumer reports on the Rabbit they recommended it as a best buy and the reliability rating they showed was quite impressive as well as the road test scores...

So, How has your experiance with the Rabbit been ?

 

[Johnny]

JHZR2 bought one a while back and seems to really like it. Might try to send him a PM. Here is his original post.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1123150&fpart=1

 

[wavinwayne]

I have a 2000 GTI, for what it's worth. It's been a decent car, but it has had it's share of glitches. None that have ever caused driveability problems, just nagging things that were expensive to fix. My GTI currently has the CEL and airbag lights on. I will not be repairing the airbag problem (too expensive), and the CEL is from a problem with the SAI system that could be from one of about a dozen things. I don't know how much, if any, the quality of these components has improved since 2000.

I would only recommend a VW to a person who is capable and willing to do at least minimal routine maintenance and troubleshooting themselves. A person who has to rely on the VW dealer to take care of their VW will be quickly frustrated, IMHO.

 

[BrianWC]

Man that wouldn't be a hard pic for me. Love the Rabbits. Not CRAZY about the fuel econ but it's not horrible.

 

[VK56VD]

The Rabbit does drive nice in its price segment. Some people have had good luck with reliability while many others did not.

If you purchase a VW, I would recommend one that has the full factory warranty attached to it.

 

[Mr Nice]

Is the current Rabbit made in Mexico or Germany ?

 

[Johnny]

I believe the one that JHRZ bought has a name plate that says it was made in Germany. I think it is in one of the photos in the above listed thread.

I just checked and it is. The picture is just under the interior pictures.

 

[Mr Nice]

If we didn't buy a 4 door Civic, I seriously think that we would of gotten the 4 door Rabbit also with 5 speed trans.

 

[rshunter]

They're all made in Wolfsburg. The Jetta is made in Mexico.

My opinion? Look at my sig and take a wild guess...

 

[crinkles]

buy the mazda. your wallet will thank you come service time. down here, they require premium gas though. but so does the rabbit