2001 vw golf that is junk

my 2001 vw golf is the worst car i have ever owned i have an 89 honda accord that is more reliable and runs better than my golf. i would never own another vw

12 Comments »

  1. 297 Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 1:00 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – By the way, even the Golf I is still around. They still make the it as a pickup in South Africa, a testament of just how dependable the Golf was until the MkIII in 1991.

    The original VW, uncomfortable but so damned fun to drive, and they just keep going forever.

  2. gerald palmer Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 9:16 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – not to try to defend vw. but my brother has a 98 civic hatchback that every time it rained the spare tire area and if it rain real hard(as it tends to do in florida)even the trunk area would fill up with water. they had to reweld part of the frame back there(which was a recall) and it still did not fix it. eventually they located it to a drain plug in the bottom of the rear tire area(still no fix).replaced weather stripping(still no fix).it was actually a bent hing from the factory that had the hatch slightly crooked. NOW there is only leaking in the most sever rains. all car companys have there share of problems. i feel vw could have done a better job with these mkIV but i have seen a friend drive a 93 golf for about 35,000 miles with no oil change and it was fine. had to clean out a little slug but that was it. she eventually drove it in to deep of water and wondered why the electrical system went bad. there are also still alot of ford model T’s still running. honda aint got nothing on that. so lets all go buy a FORD. simpler cars will not have as many problems as more complex cars. don’t compare a 80’s vehical to a 2000+ vehical. atleast pick another engine with similar technology in it.

    NOTE: his check engine light has been on for a long time. dealer says there is nothing wrong with the car. i guess it will go out when the buld fries.

  3. gerald palmer Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 9:34 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – vw’s problem is attention to detail and quality control. i also don’t like the recomended way of breaking in an engine. with new manufacturing techniques i feel the moto tune way is better. break it in hard to get the piston seals to seal right. i feel that is why there is some much oil burning in the engines. check out this link. yes it is about motoecycles but he proves some good points for engines in general.

    http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

  4. Ivan Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 9:44 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – you go, girl!

  5. 297 Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 10:29 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – Truth be told, an ‘89 VW Golf would last just as long with just as few problems as your ‘89 Honda Accord.

    Just saying. ;)

  6. Chombi Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 12:16 pm

    2001 vw golf that is junk – Mr. Takeda,

    Could you qualify that statement? How Many Hondas have you owned in your life? My Family has been buying Hondas since the 70’s. (76 Accord, 84 and 85 Civic, 83 Accord, 87 Accord LXI. They all gave trouble free, 150+ thousand miles of service, before they were sold. No failing window regulators. No electrical problems, nothing. They all just required Gas, Brake pads, Brake disc re-grinds, oil, coolant, grease and belts. That’s it no warranty work, system failures, nothing. Even all the instrument and auxilliary light bulbs never failed on them. only had to change headlight bulbs, maybe every four years.

  7. 297 Said,

    November 22, 2004 @ 12:46 pm

    2001 vw golf that is junk – VW did build a name on reliability in the past, you know.

    There are quite a few MkII Golfs still on the road today.

    The main reason can be attributed mostly to OBDII and VW’s extended DTC for increased electronics, beginning in the early 1990s. You could say this began the electronics problems woes, along with building new factories outside of Germany, which then introduced more reliability issues.

    If you want a qualifier, then how about my 1969 VW Bug? Didn’t even need water. ;)

  8. 297 Said,

    November 23, 2004 @ 10:22 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – The way you break in a new engine should be to drive normally, but never exceed 5000 RPM while driving normally.

    But on occassion, accelerate slowly on the freeway in a lower gear so the engine reaches red line at a very slow pace.

    Driving normally basically removes any manufacturing widgets left in the casting process, and driving to red line at a slow pace provides what Gerald Palmer is concerned about. The slowly increasing heat is a good way to break-in the piston seals.

    Running it hard constantly is basically making a new engine that hasn’t smoothed out its stroke the very bad possibility of breaking something.

    You need only do this for 500 miles or so. Then you should change out the “”break-in”" oil and switch to synthetic as quickly as possible.

  9. tim Said,

    November 26, 2004 @ 6:44 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – my 1989 honda is comparable to the 2001 golf fella. both have multpoint fuel injection while the honda doesnt have to deal with obd II at least it does run and haul my but to work. the vw on the other hand is making a good yard ornament right now.

  10. 297 Said,

    November 26, 2004 @ 7:47 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – I said:
    “”The main reason can be attributed mostly to OBDII and VW’s extended DTC for increased electronics, beginning in the early 1990s.”"

    And you replied:
    “”both have multpoint fuel injection while the honda doesnt have to deal with obd II”"

    So… how is your Honda comparable again?

  11. turboboy Said,

    December 1, 2004 @ 9:39 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – I have a 2001 VW Golf, and I would say it has been an extremely unreliable car for me.

    I have taken it in to repair one electrical problem over 10 times. I didn’t realize I could have sued under lemon laws in Georgia after just 3 times. I am in the process of trying to sue, but I am not sure I can do it this late. I have taken it in to repair all sorts of other problems as well. I knew that reliability would not be the best, but I didn’t realize it would be this bad:

    – Handle on glove compartment broke off.

    – Rubber paint on center console flaked.

    – Rubber around driver window cracked and split.

    – Seat cloth is better than a lint brush (mine is light beige :( ).

    – Squeaking of the struts (I guess) which has been lubricated many times by VW repair and is still squeaking.

    Most important problems:

    – Completely discharging battery results in various modules not working. Most important one that can flake out is the ABS system.

    – Leaving car for 3 days ends in a dead battery. I have been stranded 3 times because the repair shop has “”really finally fixed”" that problem.

    Don’t ever buy a VW! I will never do that again.

    -Sim

  12. 297 Said,

    December 2, 2004 @ 10:42 am

    2001 vw golf that is junk – Conversely:

    I have a 2001 VW New Beetle, and I would say it has been an extremely reliable car for me.

    I have taken it in to repair problems I didn’t cause through my own modifications all of three times; one for a broken window switch toggle, one for a dead low light bulb, and another because an idiot friend used a part of the car as an anchor when it clearly wasn’t. I knew that reliability would not be the best, but I didn’t realize how my particular car would avoid all the known problems:

    - Coilpacks; never died, but the dealership replaced all of them anyway, just in case.

    - Window regulators; never broken, I wonder if they replaced them with the metal clips already, or if my plastic ones are ridiculously robust.

    - Bad MAF; never died on me.

    Most importantly:

    - Fool that I was I left my lights on one night and drained the battery once. Another night like that will probably compromise the battery.

    - Even after that previous drain, leaving car for 6 days doesn’t affect the stock Varta battery in my car.

    I may buy a VW again, but the Audi A3 looks real sweet, the new Ford Mustang GT looks incredible, and I’m still fascinated by the Mazda RX-8 and its Renesis engine. I’ll probably end up with a wagon of some sort, though.

    Not to say that turboboy’s complaints are invalid — they are perfectly valid and I have no problems with his decision to never buy VW again. But just as his experience came to that decision, my experience came to mine.

    Oh, and this should have been a new thread.

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