VW would be screwed. But since they are in bed with the gas companies, we dont get one. They make diesel engines here and ship them overseas. So VW sells diesel cars because nobody else will. No one ever said they were reliable. The consumer magazines always leave out reliability when testing VWs. But they want to sell cars and keep our so called economy moving.They always break. Germans always make due with less, hence the over engineered, wound tight cars, that break soon as you leave the dealer. If it aint a diesel, get an escort. Cost less runs better and parts are cheap.

Ive owned a few. And have a broke one in te garage now.Generally speaking VWs are big on marketing and small on Reliability.The only real reason to want one is if you want a diesel and 50 mpg. You are always better off with an escort.But they look cool , so people buy. Usually they screw a generation, which never buys again. Then they wait a few years and advertise to the next generation.And start all over.

Boo. They wouldn’t total it out for me so I’m stuck with a defective car with a history of a major accident. Looks like I’ll own this thing til it dies which, I’d predict, will be around may ‘04.

Yeah I know there are far more serious things in this world to write about but… For no other reason than I had an miserable commute this morning which caused me to be late for the conference call that I left early to make, raise my blood pressure and sprint past the boss… I send my heartfelt condolences to the lady in the right hand lane of the Merrit Parkway southound in Connecticut. Sorry your fairly new looking Passat was just sitting there dead, in one of only two lanes during rush hour. I would have stopped to give you this website and to check on your status. Since I was number two thousand and seven to crawl by and you were on your cell phone I figured the matter was being handled. Perhaps this note is far too sarcastic and the car may have simply run out of gas. But in case it didn’t I cursed VW repeatedly from the safety of my ten year old Accord.

I own a 2003 Wolfsburg 1.8t. I’m only 4000 miles into the game, and was wondering if anybody could tell me what to look for.

Any advance warning of catastophic failure that would have helped if you had known? Known issues I might not be aware of? Preventative maintainance issues?

This is my 5th VW, 90golf,91 jetta,98 jetta gt, 98 jetta k2 and my current ride. Lets just let it be known that I know what I’m in for. I’ve been there. I can help with some type 2 tech questions, but I never worked on my type 3’s. My one experience pulling a starter off for replacement cured me for good.

FYI- to the person with the issues in the Hartford CT area- Drop me a mail- I know a great VW shop who has saved me lots time and $$$.

So, the check engine light has been off now for almost 2 1/2 weeks. I put the Jetta up for sale and I really hope I won’t go to hell for it. The car HAS been operational for the last bit, and I hope it stays that way!

I cannot believe I payed this much for this car. In the last year I have replaced the headlights, two turnsignals, the CD player stopped working,the wipers stopped working, the key switch died, the check engine light mysteriously went on at 30K and The fuel mixture switch died (this one was covered under the warrenty but did cost me $149.00. Then two weeks later the #$%@#$ starter went out and the wait time to have it in the VW shop was two weeks. So I had to do it myself. The starter repair shop I took it to told me that all I really bought was a Kia with a high performance engine. I am so pissed I won’t even drink German Beer anymore. I only owe 1 more year on this thing, Are these good cars or should I have gotten the Honda. The thing that really pisses me of is that when we bought this car VW made it sound like this was the last car I would ever buy. And would only buy VW’s in the future. O-Man are they wrong or am I just over reacting?

Well, it happened. I wasn’t trying to make it happen, despite what some psychologists might insist, but it happened all on its own.

11-17-03, 11:45 A.M.: I waited for the light to change in downtown traffic. I got the green light and pulled into the intersection, heard the screech of the brakes, looked to my left, and saw the Honda careening very quickly right at my head. In that weird instant of super-clarity I assessed the situation and realized there was nowhere to go. I put my left arm up to cover my head (because it was about to get bashed in by a Honda) and then that sickening sound of metal and glass smashing while being knocked around with a force nobody could understand unless they’ve been there.

My head snapped left towards the window, my arm still “”protecting”" it, and then rebounded to the right. As the car stopped spinning I opened my eyes and saw smoke starting to whisp up around me. Though I had wanted to assess my injuries, I decided that fire was a very bad thing and I’d be better off separating me from it. I pushed on the door but it was smashed in - a few jabs with my shoulder and I was out, in the middle of the intersection, living that very odd moment where all the many drivers stopped at all 4 points just sat and stared waiting to see how bad the carnage was. I made my way to the other car and asked how the three ladies were - they seemed OK but were clearly displeased about being where they were at that point. I saw the baby seat in the back - thank God the baby was not with them at the time. All else suddenly mattered less.

This is where it gets sticky, at least for me. I started this site because of my sincere displeasure about the quality of my VW (note I didn’t say all VW’s!) and the refusal of VW to make good on it. But I’d be wrong if I didn’t add this:

The left curtain airbads deployed. When I smashed my head against it instead of hitting hard glass I hit a nice cushioned pillow. The seatbelt did what it was supposed to do, I’m told by the tow truck driver, and I walked away from it with just the usual tension injury because I braced for the crash and am just starting to feel the muscle aches. Say what you will about VW’s, they are incredibly safe in a crash (take my word for it - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)

Now I struggle with what’s next for this site - I still firmly believe in everything I wrote so far, and if there’s a God, the insurance company will total this car and I’ll soon be driving a different make. I’ll wait for the excitement to die down a little (it only happened 4 1/2 hours ago) and then talk to others involved with this project to decide what direction to take.

- Rick

Since this is a place that apparently hates VW because of those who have had bad experiences, I’ll try to put some negativity in my posting.

I bought my 91 Golf in 1999 because I needed a car to get to and from college. I had about 5000 to spend. My college friend kept talking about how good VW is and all this reliability stuff. HIs brother is a liscenced European Car Mechanic who works mostly on VW and Porsche.
Picked this one up, knew it had some faults and I didnt even know how to drive a manual shift. The owner’s boyfriend drove behind me to my house in the car and dropped it off for me. The next day, I cleared the snow off my new to me car and figured I teach myself how to drive
a standard. To make a long story short, I took one gear at a time and within 10 minutes was driving a standard for the first time.

Within the first year, I estimate I put about 1500$ into the car in repairs. That’s a little excessive. I’m talking canadian dollars fyi. I don’t really remember what I had done to it, i have receipts. Basically, the previous owners had neglected to do general maintenance and so I was doing maybe 5 years of maintenance
in the span of 1 year. The next year I put about the same amount into it, then the 3rd year not so much. 4th year I put 2000 or so into it because I had to have the engine pulled apart to replace the manifold and the gaskets for it, and electively had the rings and head gasket and valve cover gasket replaced.

This year (nearing the 5th), I haven’t done too much to it in the past 30,000km. Generally it’s been a good car, aside from the repairs.

What I like about my GOlf is that it handles really nicely, even for a car with 13 years on it.
It doesn’t loose traction when you make 90 degree turns at good speeds, like my father’s 2001 Civic.
It can be driven hard and not blow up. Basicaly, it doesnj’t drive like a tempo or a mazda. It has a feel to it all its own.
I could only imagine that a new golf would be really nice.

If this car wasn’t a volkswagen and if it didn’t perform and have the qualities that it does, i’d have trashed it long ago.

I plan on getting the new generation GTI when it comes out next year. Can’t wait to have VW handling coupled with a 200hp powreplant.

You said to be honest, so I will but you’re not going to like it! I have owned VW’s for 25 years or so and will continue to I die. I also own several other GM vehicles and the VW has the fewest problems as my GM vehicles. From reading over the other messages here it looks like the owners think one should own a VW for 100,000miles and not spend a dime on the car for repairs or service. You complain about brake wear… well my parents get 40,000 miles on brake pads, I get about 30,000 for my 99 GLX Passat which I think is very good, but then again we don’t drive our cars aggressively. At 40,000miles my Passat needed a water pump so I replaced it… should have it lasted longer, maybe, but then again I have light bulbs burn out in my house which I think should last longer too but done. That’s just life. MY closing statement: all cars have problems, not just VW’s and I bet for every negative user here there are 1000 or so very happy VW owners. Oh, another problem is you’re message board used here will suck in time if the user base gets bigger