what are your thoughts on VW jetta's

[robertcope]

Originally Posted By: javacontour
I guess we have different definitions of "the only..."


Almost half a million miles with less than three or four (depending on whether you could bad techs at a dealership) minor problems. That's definitely an amazing story. Keep on doing whatever it is you're doing, I guess.

robert

 

[ARB1977]

Our 97 Jetta 2.slow has been great to date. Maintence sucks but thats what you get for German engineering. Doesnt burn or leak, gets about 32 mpg...even the way my wife drives. The auto is holding up, just had the tranny fluid changed about 20K ago and filter.

 

[robertcope]

Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Maintence sucks but thats what you get for German engineering.


I'm curious what that means. It requires too much maintenance? Or maintenance is difficult to perform? Or...?

robert

 

[robertcope]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Civic.


Eh, maybe. I don't really consider them comparable. IMHO, the Rabbit feels like a much more expensive car. My wife had been both a Honda and Acura owner, coming from a family of them, but chose the VW over Honda when we bought her a new car. Obviously, anyone in the market should look at both and decide for themselves. Certainly you cannot go wrong with a Civic!

robert

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: javacontour

When I look at your list and read that you say you've only had a few issues, I have to laugh, that's way more than I've had on my wife's Camry at 212K miles and certainly more than I've had on my 1994 Geo Prizm the last 93K miles and it has 242K miles on the ticker.

I guess we have different definitions of "the only..."


OTOH, was either of them a rewarding in driving experience as the VW? Handling? Performance? Ride?

My buddy bought a 1979 Rabbit. I had a 1978 BMW 320i. The differences, aside from his being less tail happy in turns ..and about 10mph lower top speed ..was that I got more dates than he did.

You're comparing to appliances. That is, I doubt you are going to say that your personality or ego was showing through in those purchases. VW/AUDI owners tend to be different in that regard.

 

[Tosh]

Originally Posted By: Vizzy
Maybe you should look at a 06-07 VW Rabbit 2.5L gas engine.

VWs have really improved in reliability and quality surveys over the past three years or so....

Actually according to Consumer Reports the Rabbit, is MORE reliable than the typical Honda or Toyota model in that catagory and the Jetta is AS reliable.

I wouldn't hesistate to buy one of these years at all. .

Where does CR they say ANYTHING like that?

The following is a current list of CR's VWs to avoid:

Volkswagen Cabrio '99, '01-02; Eos '07; Golf '02-03; GTI (turbo) '02-03, '06-07; Jetta (4-cyl.) '99-00, '03, '05; Jetta (turbo) '01-04, '06; Jetta (V6) '00-01, '03; New Beetle '99-07; Passat (FWD) '99-04, '06-07; Passat (V6, AWD) '00-01, '07; Touareg '04-06, '08

And the ONLY VW on any of the CR 'Used cars to look for' lists, at any price, is the 07-08 Rabbit. Unfortunately, there's a (mysterious?) missing gap in reporting reliability for 04-06 Golfs and Rabbits...
Jettas look like your typical VW as far as CR black dots go (ie plenty).

OP: Run away!

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Originally Posted By: javacontour

When I look at your list and read that you say you've only had a few issues, I have to laugh, that's way more than I've had on my wife's Camry at 212K miles and certainly more than I've had on my 1994 Geo Prizm the last 93K miles and it has 242K miles on the ticker.

I guess we have different definitions of "the only..."


OTOH, was either of them a rewarding in driving experience as the VW? Handling? Performance? Ride?

My buddy bought a 1979 Rabbit. I had a 1978 BMW 320i. The differences, aside from his being less tail happy in turns ..and about 10mph lower top speed ..was that I got more dates than he did.

You're comparing to appliances. That is, I doubt you are going to say that your personality or ego was showing through in those purchases. VW/AUDI owners tend to be different in that regard.


Well I've owned an 81 Rabbit diesel and I'd say the Prizm is much more fun to drive. The Rabbit probably was one of the least expensive cars I've owned, but it had all sorts of issues while I owned it.

Leaky windshield, sketchy electronics, window regulators that would break/fail, and acceleration measured with a calendar.

So it certainly wasn't any more fun than my '94 Prizm.

I'm at that point in my life with 3 kids where I value value over most everything else.

I've had fun cars, and now it's time for appliances for a while.

If one of my kids totals a Camry, I'm not going to get to bent out of shape. If they total a "fun" car, that might hurt a bit. So I choose the appliance.

Ditto for oilBabe. She had her fill of Escorts and Taurus's (not really fun) that would spend more time at the Ford garage than on the road, so she went Toyota.

In 212K miles we've replaced an axle and a clip that holds the sun visor in place when it's not in use.

Other than routine maintenance wear items such as tires, filters, belts (no timing belt) it's been a pretty uneventful car.

And if my 16 year old step-son totals it, there are millions of other Camrys with which we can choose as a replacement.

So I guess my ego is displayed in my quest for value. Not passion in driving at this moment in life.

 

[crw]

I'm wondering what good it will do to throw my thoughts out into the ether... It seems that VW has an "internet-reputation" even from folks that have never owned one. But I admit that some of that reputation is deserved.

The driving experience is real. I recently turned down the opportunity to buy a convertible Mustang... because I couldn't bring myself to accept the fact that I'd have to give up driving the MORE FUN to drive Volkswagen. I realize that that is a subjective opinion. If you prefer the appliance, that's the better choice for you.

I'm always reminded about the non-politically-correct joke about the ugly girl and the fat girl. You can, after all, repair the VW, and the appliance will always be an appliance.

Just a few points:

Replacing parts on a VW is a breeze. Because, they fit.

The parts are not more expensive, at least what I've noticed.

VW dealers are indeed jerks. Wow, I could write 20 pages on this...

If you cannot or will not dig in and understand what might be happening in your car, you shouldn't get a VW. For example, can you replace a thermostat or a MAF sensor? If you can, OK. If not, the dealer will charge you big-time for these items.

VW has the highest resale value in the industry. That's a fact.

When I look over cars that I see on the road that are 20-years old or more, I see a disproportionate number of VWs. That is, in my admittedly non-scientific observation, they last longer. Maybe that's because people care about them more?

Your mileage may vary. With my 1.8T (turbo), I'm getting 27 in mixed driving. That's screaming performance, racing and beating people up the freeway on-ramps, performance. Here at high altitude, a turbo's advantage is multiplied.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: crw
When I look over cars that I see on the road that are 20-years old or more, I see a disproportionate number of VWs. That is, in my admittedly non-scientific observation, they last longer. Maybe that's because people care about them more?

I tend to think so.

No matter which car is built "better", better care trumps all. There's a LOT to be said for owning a car you care enough about to fix, and VW almost had a monopoly on that kind of care in the commuter car market.

Now, to be fair, I'd say that monopoly has been broken pretty thoroughly. But that wouldn't be the only way in which the market has become more competitive in recent years...

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: robertcope
A new Rabbit can be had for $16K or so, and I really don't think you'll find a car in that price range that can compete.

Civic.


That depends on whether you want an appliance to take you places or an automobile that you enjoy driving. That's not necessarily knocking Civics- some people *want* a driving appliance, and as such its a great one. But I'll take a few eccentricities in exchange for something thats more fun to drive.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
That depends on whether you want an appliance to take you places or an automobile that you enjoy driving. That's not necessarily knocking Civics- some people *want* a driving appliance, and as such its a great one. But I'll take a few eccentricities in exchange for something thats more fun to drive.

If you were talking about the pre-'06 Civic, I'd agree with you. The current Civic is very different.

It doesn't have the torque, the "Euro" ride quality, or the upscale image. On the flip side, I found the seating position, visibility, and gauges to be much better (more readable and less distracting), and the drive to be equally satisfying.

The Civic Si beats the pants off the GTI dynamically. It rides better, it's more communicative, it's sharper, and it has a better gearbox. And it's cheaper to boot.

Then again, I'm not the least bit impressed by a cheap car that looks or feels expensive. To me, that just means the money went into giving the appearance instead of where it counts. I know that's not how most people think, so take that FWIW.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I would get a new VW CC in a sec.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
So I guess my ego is displayed in my quest for value. Not passion in driving at this moment in life.


Many are finding this a wiser direction to take. My basic point is that no one buys most of the typical Asian-esque autos for style or comfort or road handling or performance...although they may have many (maybe all) of those features in ample supply. They not buying on image or personality. The cars don't make a statement ...or at least not in the terms we're used to seeing them displayed. The statement, if you will, is what they don't say.

 

[crinkles]

Originally Posted By: crw

When I look over cars that I see on the road that are 20-years old or more, I see a disproportionate number of VWs.


you are probably keeping a subconscious lookout and not noticing the same amount of 20 year old fords, toyotas or whatever, our minds remember what we subconsciously want to remember.

 

[VNTS]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: robertcope
A new Rabbit can be had for $16K or so, and I really don't think you'll find a car in that price range that can compete.

Civic.


That depends on whether you want an appliance to take you places or an automobile that you enjoy driving. That's not necessarily knocking Civics- some people *want* a driving appliance, and as such its a great one. But I'll take a few eccentricities in exchange for something thats more fun to drive.



Now now, you can add a [censored] Can muffler, a Injen Intake and put you dog Mugen in the passanger seat and voila you have a performance Riceboy car with you CiviC LOL

Of course there are a lot of alterntives over the years , and I dont put much stock in yuppie reports, people who base their car purchase decisions on that dont buy and keep their cars that long, they usually tell you how great the car was but only keep it for 4 years and any car these days will perform with minimal upkeep for 4 years.

 

[cjhepburn]

It's the little things with VW in general. My family had VWs for many years. It's the little stuff that breaks, the door locks tighten up, the dash switches tighten up and break, the gas peddle fell off, endless things like that.
The last one, however, that my family had a fuel leak. On it's way to the VW dealer for service, it burst into flames. It was spectacular. With that said, I do like the TDI, but when I bought my car as a commuter that I can count on and went with an appliance.

 

[crw]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
Originally Posted By: crw

When I look over cars that I see on the road that are 20-years old or more, I see a disproportionate number of VWs.


you are probably keeping a subconscious lookout and not noticing the same amount of 20 year old fords, toyotas or whatever, our minds remember what we subconsciously want to remember.


Fords last a while, Toyotas, not so much. It's highly subjective, I'll admit, and you can't compare Crown Vics to Tercels. But I look at old cars a lot. There is something to be said for things that will last, and not need to be held together with duct tape.

A lot of third generation VW are missing their outside trim.

Like Yogi said, you can learn a lot by observing.

 

[Audi Junkie]

A lot of VW problems are from un/under qualified service...in the US at least.

 

[wavinwayne]

A lot of little things have broken on my 2000 GTI, but the important things (engine, tranny, A/C) continue to function properly.

 

[crw]

That's interesting... on my Jetta 1.8T from 2001, nothing "small" has broken. Everything works, every window, every switch, etc.

The major problem that it had was a rubber pipe in the intake system that split open. This caused the car to go into spasms intermittently.... and it was a bear to find. That was my winter of discontent with the car. But after it was fixed it has been solid ever since. That rubber pipe should never have had that issue. It was just a poorly made part or a poor design. That era apparently had a rash of bad parts, intake pipes, coils, etc., that caused grief for a lot of customers.