re: Are VW's Really Crappy?

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She wants luxury, you want Mazda

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Have you seen Mazda interiors lately? They are pretty damn nice.

Wife has an atlas. She loves it. Only 2 months old though. I think it rides a little rough but she doesn’t think so. I think I’m just used to my truck & how much smoother of a ride it has. Other than that, I like it. Little stingy on the bells & whistles too. Won’t keep it much longer than the wrrnty though lol

Yup

Don’t keep beyond warranty. Once the repairs start, they keep coming. Expensive repairs, and hard to find mechanics willing to work on them. Special VW tools are required for several components. One thing after another. Couldn’t trade it in fast enough.

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insurance is high af because their parts and repairs are so expensive.

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This!

Toyota and Honda, both are very good.
Get a consumer Report Magazine, do your homework.

Like other German vehicles, you have to follow the maintenance schedule to the number and the date. If it says change the coolant at 30k miles you’d damn well better do before or exactly at 30k miles or you will have a problem. There is no such thing as deferring any maintenance with a German car.

You will get very familiar with your local euro mechanic, not because of things breaking, but for the extreme level of maintenance German cars need. The are built to tight tolerances and are difficult to keep them within those tolerances.

Invariably things will need to be replaced that aren’t part of your warranty and it will be very expensive. For example a strut replacement on a Jetta is a $1,500 job per strut, just because of the cost of parts. And another trick that VW and Audi like to pull is having specialized tools, adapters and fasteners that mechanics need to have to do most sizable jobs. This isn’t a Honda that you can have down to the unibody with a 10, 14 & 18mm wrench.

I don’t think they are absolute garbage, but they are a headache and high-maintenance. And if you don’t do the maintenance religiously, they break. There’s no if, no maybe, if the maintenance isn’t done exactly as the manual states, it will break.

I have had my VW for 53 years. Never been to a shop other than have new tires mounted. Easy to work on. Take me about 20 minutes to remove the engine.

Anecdotal, but a mechanic friend of mine hates VWs because of the engineering and placement of things that will eventually need maintenance/replacement. Stuff like requiring the engine to be essentially unmounted to get to an alternator in some models.

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What's the boards opinion on VW? Any actual first hand experience?

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I've had two and my mom had one.

Mom's jetta broke the timing belt and wiped the engine out. She was past the prescribed maintenance interval and that was her/dad's fault.

Both of mine were cheaper jetta commuters and knock on wood have literally been flawless over ~ 190k miles (135k on the first one and 55k on the current). Not a single issue with either one.

If you are meticulous about maintenance and can do some work yourself the cheaper ones are generally a great value. The nicer more expensive ones are not worth what they cost.

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However, the Japanese, particularly Toyota, are maniacal about reusing parts between models. What this means is that you're not just rolling with whatever BS engine Chevy puts in the Tahoe

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FYI the Tahoe has the same engine used in every other full sized GM truck and SUV. Massive numbers of vehicles with the same powertrain from that company reaches consumers every year. Ford does the same thing.

By contrast the V6 in my extremely reliable 4Runner is also not shared with any other product right now.