Is the VW Golf a Bad Car?

[edyvw]

Technically Atlas is not a stretched out Golf - the MQB "platform" is not a platform per say but more of an engineering consolidation relating to major systems.

Here is a good wiki article (see 2nd paragraph) - and yes it has working citations.

VW MQB

My 7th generation Golf is incredibly built to say the least, tight as a drum with 53k miles on the clock. Only thing on carfax from first owner was a key fob battery x 2 (yes they went to dealer to replace key fob battery). Only sporadic issue that would be hard to duplicate for dealer is the backup camera doesn't work maybe 1 out of 20 times backing up, camera pops out but doesn't display on the infotainment.

The 5th gen Jetta Sportwagen is a post dieselgate special so it sat idle for ~1 year somewhere in the Southeast. Carfax had only routine maintenance from prior owner before VW bought it back with ~42k miles on it. Only issue we have had (covered under CPO) was a leaky panoramic sunroof which is a very common issue with any VWAG pano roof which probably was not helped by car sitting idle for ~1 year. Other than that over 2 years it has been flawless and now has about 60k.

1 year/10k services are ultra easy to remember and plan around. Oil change, inspection, tire rotation and car wash run ~$79-$129 depending on dealer and engine. My dealer runs $79 synthetic oil change specials for gas models, TDI doesn't get any discounts unfortunately and depending on coupon we typically pay $100-$110.

These are my 6th (TDI) and 7th (E-Golf) Volkswagens and very happy with them. My first 4th gen Golf TDI had its issues, my 5th gen Jetta 2.5 had its issues - VW had made great strides in quality since 1999. I continued on with VW despite some issues over the years because they overall just provide a better driving experience vs your typical Honyota.

Technically MQB is platform. It covers much smaller vehicles than Golf. The brilliance of MQB is versatility, but it is platform that is just that good.

 

[Andrew1972]

One way of interpreting this is that the new ones are too new to broke down.

VW tends to iterate their vehicles thru a generation fixing issues and the last few years of generation are quite reliable. It tends to reset with an engine but they become quite decent.

 

[pezzy84]

VW tends to iterate their vehicles thru a generation fixing issues and the last few years of generation are quite reliable. It tends to reset with an engine but they become quite decent.

The 1.4T that dropped in the last gen Jetta in 2016 has not really had any notable issues, guessing it probably had all the kinks worked out over in Europe before they unleashed it in the states. The outgoing Golf had the 1.4T replace the 1.8T in the final year or two - bet there are some good deals on the remaining stock of 2020's.

 

[edyvw]

The 1.4T that dropped in the last gen Jetta in 2016 has not really had any notable issues, guessing it probably had all the kinks worked out over in Europe before they unleashed it in the states. The outgoing Golf had the 1.4T replace the 1.8T in the final year or two - bet there are some good deals on the remaining stock of 2020's.

First generation 1.4T that was introduced in 2005 (supercharger and turbo) had huge LSPI issues. After that they worked out issues and LSPI is very rare event in VW engines.

 

[TiGeo]

The basic Golf or any of the current-gen MK7 MQB platform Golfs and variants (Golf hatch, GTI, R, Golf Sportwagen, Golf Alltrack) are excellent vehicles and mature at this point - nice dependable daily drivers or wild power machines with some software and a few bolt-ons. There are a few areas such as coolant leaks from bad water pump/thermostat housings that plague the platform but other than that, not really a whole lot of issues. I have a 2018 Sportwagen and am deeply involved in the online community and really I don't see much go wrong on them even tuned-out etc. like mine. Also available across the line with manual transmissions and on some, the excellent dual-clutch auto (DSG).