Newer VW reliability

[wavinwayne]

dif,

I highly recommend that you purchase VAG-COM & a Bentley manual for the VW, if your wife indeed buys it. If you are going to do any serious work on a late-model VW, the Vag-COM & Bentley manual will keep you from

Also, use a good VW approved synthetic oil & that 1.8T engine should last for a long, long time.

Best wishes to you & your wife as you motor along.

 

[Tosh]

Good for her, DIF! Throw caution to the wind. Roll those dice. The new car bug can bite pretty hard sometimes, especially if a deal falls in your lap. (Is it red, by chance?) We will cherish your tales of woe, as you try to stay on top of your wife's new mount. You'll also need to be electrically inclined and air conditioning inclined, but you will definitely relive the romance of the good old days....

 

[Jim 5]

I had a 91 VW corrado with the 1.8L supercharged g60 engine. That was a great car...no problems except one power control relay that went and knocked out 1/3 of my electrical systems on a bitterly cold winter day.

The dealer wanted 12 hours to diagnose that one. I raised H*ll and paid 2 hours.

Nothing beats a german car for the feel of driving a tank when you're at high speeds. My 02 BMW 330ci feels the same way, but even better.

My dad had an audi 5000. He had plenty of issues with that car..although they were all covered.

I wouldn't want to own an audi outside warranty though. My wife wanted one, and since I'm always the dealership "negotiator" I talked her into an Acura 3.2TL instead of an A4. The acura's bulletproof but slightly boring. I still prefer a german car, but I've got zero hours invested in dealership negotiations for my wife's car..and I like it. It's basically a fridge to me...I just want it to run.

I'm willing to put up with more hassle for the BMW...but there hasn't been any.

I own a factory service manual for every car i've owned including the BMW but not the Acura. It's a fridge..nothing will go wrong..I hope.

 

[Jim 5]

Oh yea...

I considered the 1.8T vw gti. I love the fact that there's so much potential in these cars. You can get a ton of cheap horsepower with little work.

I think a simple $300 chip change can get you up to 50 horse...add an intercooler and a few other goodies and you're getting even more HP fast. There's a zillion aftermarket upgrades for these cars. Maybe you can renew your interest in hopping up cars...this time with a blown 4 banger!

It's a great platform for mods...enjoy!

 

[The Critic]

Jim,
But now, I'm sure that TL is giving you tranny hassles.

Michael

 

[Mr Nice]

VW/Audi's can be enjoyable cars. The obvious downside is that they can be relatively expensive to repair.


I had a friend that had a VW Jetta and he accidentally got the jumper cables mixed up when he tried to jump start his dead battery and he fried the starter.

The VW parts Dept at the dealership wanted $625 for a new starter.

 

[cousincletus]

I'm still driving my 2002 Cavalier without a single reliability issue. Only repair done was a front brake job and the passenger side sunvisor (covered under warranty). You don't have to buy foreign to get reliability. Keep jobs in America. Cavalier has a domestic parts content of 86% for 2002 plus union made in Ohio where workers are paid fairly. Parts for GM are dirt cheap too.

 

[FowVay]

But Cletus, what about the 'Fahrvergnügen'? Anything will get you from point "A" to point "B", the idea is to drive something where you WANT to cover the rest of the alphabet before you end your journey.

It amazes me how nobody seems to care about driving dynamics anymore. They buy cars just like they buy lawn mowers with the only two criteria being the deck width and the engine power. There's much more to it than that.

 

[Boaz]

I had a 03 Jetta GL 1.8T OMG it had gremlins....When I sold it with 55k on it, I crossed my fingers that nothing would go wrong during the test drive! I traded it in, and never looked back. It seemed like everything went south on that car the moment it was out of warranty.. jeez

 

[Jim 5]

Michael,

We haven't had any tranny hassles on the TL, but I'm aware of the problems.

Acura extended the warranty to 100k miles on the transmission. I'll probably do a little research and report the typical transmission failure symptoms before 100k miles just to get it on record. In the mean time, I'm having the dealer change the transmission fluid every 35k miles.

I'll try to work the transmission hard in the 70 -100k miles time frame with hopes it goes or shows bad symptoms before then.

I agree with FowVay, the overall feel of a car means alot...although there's a ton of cars on the market now giving germany a run for its money in this area...mostly from Japan..but I still prefer german cars and North American (designed) full size trucks.

I might have to change my thoughts though..that Nissan Titan looks pretty good, and its not a 7/8ths full size..It's a full=full size!

 

[bar1]

quote:

---

Originally posted by drive it forever:
Anyone know what to expect with these cars as they age?

---

VW/Audi's after year 2000 don't have the same problems as they used to. Quality is better, maybe not on Toyota level, but improving.
If maintainance is done the car should be a safe choice. The 1.8T sludge problem is an American phenomena. In Europe no one would think of using dino oil in a turbocharged engine

 

[Big O Dave]

quote:

---

Originally posted by vicmackey:
Sounds like VW's are some pretty crappy cars.

---

From a reliability standpoint, BINGO!!

 

[Willy_G]

What's the score??

Honda - 15
VW - 2

 

[vwoom]

Well my '00 B5 is actually holding up well for a German car..I mean have you checked out the newer MBZ for their notorious electronic gremlins lately...like my boss had his S-Klasse stall midway on the freeway when all the dash lights/sensor indicators lit up..all because of a nearly dead battery...

My Passat still has the orig coilpacks on(Japanese). I also replaced the coolant temp sensor myself($7 dealer); vacuum hoses(wear item, replaced with reliable silicon), dv valve(plastic Bosch 710A/regular wear/maintenance item; now billeted Forge), MAF sensor all orig..same goes for the other sensors/switches...and no, my Passat did not stall nor dash lights lit up when I replaced the orig 4yr old German Moll battery that was nearing its last spark...

[ July 30, 2005, 05:03 AM: Message edited by: vwoom ]

 

[Jonny Z]

FWIW:
http://www.detnews.com/2005/autosinsider/0506/30/B01-232784.htm
Brand Problems per 100 vehicles
Lexus 139
Porsche 149
Lincoln 151
Buick 163
Cadillac 175
Infiniti 178
Toyota 194
Mercury 195
Honda 201
Acura 203
BMW 225
Ford 231
Chevrolet 232
Chrysler 235
INDUSTRY AVERAGE 237
Saturn 240
Oldsmobile 242
GMC 245
Pontiac 245
Mazda 252
Hyundai 260
Subaru 260
Volvo 266
Jaguar 268
Dodge 273
Nissan 275
Mitsubishi 278
Mercedes-Benz 283
Saab 286
Jeep 289
Suzuki 292
Audi 312
Daewoo 318
Isuzu 331
Volkswagen 335
Mini 383
Land Rover 395
Kia 397

 

[Drew]

go to www.myvwlemon.com forums and spend several hours reading the horror stories about VW's.

Now with that being said, I would only recommend a NEW VW. There is too much risk in buying a used VW. I would never buy a gasser VW anyway because the gassers seem to have more engine problems than the diesel ones (TDI)

I bought a 2004 TDI last year for the fuel economy and have had the following problems in the past 30,000 miles:

1. Sunroof motor failed and was replaced 9 months ago.

2. Chrome trim circle on shifter knob is peeling and I hope it will be replaced under warranty.

3. Rough idle when cold, TSB fixed the problem under warranty with addition of an extra ground wire to ECU.

4. I crushed a seat belt receptable plastic cover when folding the rear seats down in my VW wagon.

5. Wind blew gas filler lid off and was replaced under warranty. The hinge is plastic.


Here are my positive experienced with my VW TDI
47-51 mpg highway fuel economy (70-85 mph)

750 miles on 1 tank of fuel

10,000 mile oil changes verified by oil analysis.

No need to downshift on steep mountain passes to maintain highway speeds. Easily keesp up with 8 cylinder motors on steep highway mountain passes in Colorado with NO problems.

No problem with cold weather starts even down to -20 deg F in the mountains. When at home, I do plug it in the winter using a zero start heater to have instant heat when I drove off. A coolant heater is not needed to get a reliable start in cold weather with this engine.

Use of B20 fuel so I can do my slight part in reducing imported oil consumption and help our country's soybean farmers.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I would only buy a new VW not recent vintage. # of problems recorded are severly skewed by coilpacks, etc. imo, the much older cars are better. Take our I-5 1987 Audi Coupe GT: Original Timing belt, clutch, rad, water pump, wheel bearings, axels, digidash, everything works...203k. Other than dings, car look new inside and out. Regular maintenance makes a big difference and frankly, many buyers of new Audis and VWs are not prepared for self-diagnosis and owner involvment...lessors are the worst. Reliability aside, look at crash tests. Occupant safety tests by CR lists VWs on top. More interesting are low-speed damage cost tests. A series of low speed bumps..onto the corner...back into pole etc. Damage on Kia Rio or Ford Focus and some Racuras are upwards of $3000-$4500. On VW beetle, A6 et al is ZERO. NOT A TYPO -ZERO DAMAGE or as low as $150 for a SERIES of crashes. How do you fake that? Slo-Mo video of Mazda 6 into corner, it virtually explodes, A6 jiggles and bounces off...no kidding. I can handle carrying an extra $40 coilpack and poping it in on the roadside or using good oil to avoid sludge, soccer-moms cannot. Maybe VWs are for me and not for you?

 

[Tosh]

AJ: You fail to support your own point about regular maintenance making a big difference. What regular maintenance have you done to the original timing belt, clutch, wheel bearings, axles, or digidash? And what are we to infer about every other part that went unmentioned? No doubt you take wonderful care of your car and drive it sensibly, but your experience is not typical for a VW product. (For the record, I really like Audis, but freedom from gremlins goes a long way with me.)

 

[Willy_G]

Junkie,

The slow speed bump test is just that...a slow speed bump test in controlled conditions. Audi and VW build a strong car and use plastics in the right area to minimize slow speed damage. But if that A6 bumper cover is gouged in a real-world parking lot tussle, I'll bet the Mazda will come out on top, regarding a bodyshop repair $$.

Good luck & have fun working on your car on the side of the road! Maybe an Escort GT badge on the side of the Audi would better represent its reliability quotient?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Maybe I am used to discussing cars with people who can comprehend simple statments. Did I claim some sort of timing belt maintenance? I do, however, listen and look at mine, replacing if/when necessary...lets stick-up for all the idiots who don't, that's brilliant. Sludge, a maintenance item, yes. Is there someone here claiming an Escort GT is a better car than an Audi GT, or am I the idiot? Please post your pics of the 20 year old Escorts, better yet, bring them to the track. Here's what my car looks like, I'd feel less an idiot tweaking it on the side of the road than driving a new Escort (or ANY American car) off the showroom floor.

http://www.fourtitude.com/gallery/gallery2.php?

http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Motorsport_News/article_1491.shtml


http://www.fourtitude.com/gallery/gallery2.php?mode=album&album=/Motorsport/DTM/2005/Norisring#


http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_1497.shtml

[ August 01, 2005, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Audi Junkie ]