What do you think of Volkswagens?
- Thread starter T'Baio
- Start date
I believe that era Jetta Wagon is OK. I have a friend who has moved up in Jetta Wagons over the years and he currently owns a 2006(?), which we roadtripped to a show in Michigan last summer. Him, me, my son, and a bunch of luggage stowed in that thing. He drives it like he stole it, and that car can haul some serious ass and still get 35mpg highway.
I'll throw in that my folks' '92 Eurovan was a trashcan on wheels. Electrical problems, engine problems right away, shoddily built interior and exterior...just a shitty vehicle. My mom sold it for parts in '99 or 2000 for a lot more money than it was worth because there were only a handful available in western Canada. When she sold it, the car was just dead--she was going to have the kidney foundation (or some charity) haul it away until her mechanic told her to sell it instead.
And I seem to remember it costing a lot of money to maintain, but I suppose its the same for most European cars.
But I like the Jetta, always have.
And I seem to remember it costing a lot of money to maintain, but I suppose its the same for most European cars.
But I like the Jetta, always have.
Speaking of Škodas, I owned one of those as well ('05 Fabia 1.4) and I really liked it as well.
Pretty much. I like my Golf Diesel. It's reliable, fairly quick and economical and does everything I need.
My father has a slightly more powerful Skoda Octavia and that's a good car too. I'm looking at one of those for my next one
You can't think of anything better than a Jetta? You wouldn't catch me dead in one.
I think of cute little cars and Herbie
Why not try something new? Like contributing something useful to the topic?
I've never owned one so my opinion isn't based on a significant amount of data. I know that they are severely overpriced in general. I can't fathom spending such a premium to get a car that isn't really any better than, say, a Honda. I know three people who have had VWs (a '99 Passat, a '00 Jetta, and a '02 Golf if I am remembering this correctly... it's been a while). They've all had some sort of issues with them. Repair costs can be a little on the high side. The three people who have owned them have pretty much said they wouldn't buy another one. Granted, it's possible that the VWs sold in the U.S. are of inferior build quality than the ones built and sold in Europe.
So my opinion? Don't buy one.
So my opinion? Don't buy one.
The Generation you're referencing were built at the VW plant in Mexico. Quality was so abysmal that dealerships in the US refused delivery of new cars when the delivery trucks arrived. VW finally got the hint and shut down the plant for 30 and made every single worker requalify for his/her job. Once that happened, quality was on par with the German build VW's.
A better place for the later model water-cooled cars is www.vwvortex.com
I am...
To elaborate more on my initial post, I have a '99 Jetta sedan with 115,000 miles. I bought the car new and have been driving it for 10+ years. Right now I'm putting in 120 miles a day in stop and go rush hour hell commute, and it's taking it like a champ.
VWs between 1999 and 2002 had some issues, particularly electrical in nature. I knew a few people who gave up their cars in frustration because of that issue. However, I myself have never experienced malfeasance in my car's electrical system, even though it is from that era. In fact, my car has not had any of the issues that plagued VW in those years. Maybe I just got lucky.
The cooling system went out a part at a time around 105,000 miles. That and the cadillitic converter are the only repairs outside of routine maintainence I've endured so far, but both instances were pricey to fix.
Overall though, I love my VW like a pet. It's been reliable for 10 years. It's never refused to start, and it continued to run even through the cooling system issue. It's nimble, peppy and a blast to drive, it gets decent gas mileage and has a surprisingly large cargo capacity in the trunk, a godsend when I was carting around a studio's worth of lighting and photography equipment in my school days. I like the styling inside and out. The blue/red dashboard is a nice touch. I really can't complain because I've gotten my money's worth out of it for sure.
A minor annoyance: the brake system could've been designed to NOT throw brake dust all over the hubcaps. Hopefully they fixed that issue by 2003, the model year you are looking at. The wheels on my car look dirty all the time, even when I washed it just 100 miles before.
VWs between 1999 and 2002 had some issues, particularly electrical in nature. I knew a few people who gave up their cars in frustration because of that issue. However, I myself have never experienced malfeasance in my car's electrical system, even though it is from that era. In fact, my car has not had any of the issues that plagued VW in those years. Maybe I just got lucky.
The cooling system went out a part at a time around 105,000 miles. That and the cadillitic converter are the only repairs outside of routine maintainence I've endured so far, but both instances were pricey to fix.
Overall though, I love my VW like a pet. It's been reliable for 10 years. It's never refused to start, and it continued to run even through the cooling system issue. It's nimble, peppy and a blast to drive, it gets decent gas mileage and has a surprisingly large cargo capacity in the trunk, a godsend when I was carting around a studio's worth of lighting and photography equipment in my school days. I like the styling inside and out. The blue/red dashboard is a nice touch. I really can't complain because I've gotten my money's worth out of it for sure.
A minor annoyance: the brake system could've been designed to NOT throw brake dust all over the hubcaps. Hopefully they fixed that issue by 2003, the model year you are looking at. The wheels on my car look dirty all the time, even when I washed it just 100 miles before.
Time was when you'd buy a VW and it would last 20-30 years. Now, not so much. German electronics suck, and the 2002 Jetta I had was a Goddamned nightmare. It was in the shop all the time for gremlins at first, and later real and expensive problems. After six years of that, I sold it to a Toyota dealership.
I love my Toyota.
I love my Toyota.
Enjoy this little clip of vintage VWs.
Someday I want my own perfect Herbie replica.
--Ted
--Ted
Their have been enough people having problems like you describe that Consumer Reports noticed. VW reliability used to be on a par with Toyota and Honda. Nowdays, it's closer to that of Ford.
Agreed. The reasoning behind your assertion would be most helpful in furthering the discussion.
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