V-W Quality Problems

I have a 02 beetle TDI [167000] and a 02 beetle gas turbo [52000] both of these cars will nickle and dime u to death at 300.00 to 1000.00+ a crack, mostly problems with electrical componets,, heated seats 500.00+,airbags 500.00+, doorlatches 350.00,,,,auto trans at 160000.miles $ 6000.00,,, is this a bad year for these cars,,,,has there been any improvement in these areas,,,,im afraid to ever buy another V-W. I do all my own light mantaince, oil, fuel,air,filters. Also installed skid plate.Ford, GM, Honda ,Nissan or toyota please import ur diesels,,,,, VW needs a wake up call.......I starting to understand why they lost WW2. seeing they have the most advanced war machine, more things to go wrong

I have had a 2002 TDI since it was new. I have over 70,000 miles on it and I Have not had to do anything other than maintenance. Some people are just less lucky.

gus54rz said:

(snip) has there been any improvement in these areas,,,,

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__. Nope, not that I've seen. My '03 Wagon has been the worst. In less than a year, I've had a failed hood latch, turn signal switch, heater blower motor and resistor pack, radio antenna, horn and interior lights and I still can't find out why I can't get the rear hatch glass washer to work. Plus, it flooded the interior from the sunroof and cost me $100's in replacement carpet and insulation. I've done most of the work to fix most this myself -- thank goodness for the knowledge and help on this website and the service from World-Impex; otherwise, I'd have been out thousands of more $$$$.

__. I sure hope that the A-5's are better but I'm not impressed. Once bitten, twice shy.

__. I drove Land Rover company cars for 15 years. We knew that that stuff was cr@p but they encouraged us to "run 'em hard", don't baby them, see what they'll do as if a demanding owner was asking if of them. I managed to break some stuff but none of those English Pieces of Sh!te was nearly as bad as this VW. If VW can't do better than Land Rover (*Land Rover* fer effin' snakes!!!) in component quality, then this will be the last one I ever own.

__. And there's been the fantastic VW dealer experience. I was really busy at one time and took my car in to have the stealer fix the blower motor. I called for a service reservation because I live ~40 miles from the stealer and only had a little while one morning. Of course, I get there and they don't have any record of my reservation. I tell them -- just replace the blower motor and resistor pack, don't do any diagnostics or recall work; just replace the blower motor and resistor. An hour and a half later "you can pick your car up, sir. That's $95 dollars." I said "that's cheap for a blower motor." "Oh, no, we don't have a blower motor in stock but we did inspect your car and it is the blower motor that's the problem -- you'll have to come back; the cost of a blower motor replacement is $395, we will order the parts for you today. The $95 is the diagnostic fee." I realized that I paid $95 to be told something I already knew, I hadn't had the problem fixed, they'd wasted my time, and not followed my directions but I just paid and got ready to leave ... and opened the door to my car and smelled smoke (oh, geeze, I *hate* the smell of smoke in my car) and somebody had managed to burn cigarette hole in *both* my front seats. I knew they'd just say "oh, we didn't do that, those holes were already there" so I just drove away, promising myself I'd never again set foot in another VW stealership for service or to buy a car.

I'm afraid to ever buy another V-W

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__. With Honda and Toyota coming out with diesels????? You can bet I won't ever buy another one.

Joe_Meehan said:

I have had a 2002 TDI since it was new. I have over 70,000 miles on it and I Have not had to do anything other than maintenance. Some people are just less lucky.

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Good luck ,let me know if it changes

gus54rz said:

i have a 02 beetle TDI [167000] and a 02 beetle gas turbo [52000] both of these cars will nickle and dime u to death at 300.00 to 1000.00+ a crack, mostly problems with electrical componets,, heated seats 500.00+,airbags 500.00+, doorlatches 350.00,,,,auto trans at 160000.miles $ 6000.00,,, this is a **** year for these cars,,,,has there been any improvement in these areas,,,,im afraid to ever buy another V-W.

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Once the warranty is over, you should definitely try to avoid VW dealerships.

Find a good independent shop, they are all over the place, staffed by good mechanics that left the dealerships because they couldn't stand to be around all the incompetent people.

gus54rz said:

Good luck ,let me know if your luck changes

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My first car was a 1965 Sunbeam Imp, I bought the dealer loaner car for $550 in 1965. I have owned Mazdas & VWs since then and I have had very good luck with all of them, most well over 100,000.

I'm still waiting for mine to break. Just got back from a 1200 mile trip in single digit temps in a 17 year old Volkswagen....it rolled 402,000 miles on the way. Hasn't left me sitting yet.

If the car is not a good fit for you, really, you should just sell it. They hold their value well, it is not like you are 'stuck' with it, so why continue the aggravation? I would never keep anything that gave me any grief.

I'm still waiting for my 02 Golf TDI to break. The car has "only" 266k miles on it and the past 115k miles of that has been with performance mods. The car is regularly driven *HARD* all the time...like I stole it. I recently did the THIRD(!) scheduled timing belt change (was due at 260k miles) with a regional TDIclub Guru (Herm TDI) and it's running as good as new (actually better than new because of performance mods).

Best to avoid VW dealer service departments from day one as soon as you drive your new TDI off the dealer's lot. You don't void any warranty coverage by doing the routine maintenance work yourself, provided the work is done properly. (Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975)

VWs are great cars but they're not for everybody. Whether or not a VW is right for you among other things depends on what kind of a "relationship" you have with your car(s) when it comes to maintenance. If you're a "car" person (enthusiast) who likes to work on their car and doesn't mind getting involved with the car once in a while, you'll love owning a VW. OTOH, if you're not a car person at all and aren't willing to get involved when required and rely totally on VW dealer service departments for all maintenance and "to keep your warranty valid", then don't buy ANY VW AT ALL, gasser or TDI !

If you're simply a "gas 'n go" type of owner, you might be better off over the long haul with a Honda or Toyota gasser. Very often when I hear or read about somebody complaining about VW's poor quality, it's usually a case of the owner being blissfully unaware that they're being screwed by an incompetent VW dealer service department. A lot of VW owners love their cars but absolutely hate going to a dealer for service. By far, the number one problem with VWs in the USA in general is incompetent dealer service departments.

If your TDI isn't working out for you, then I'd say dump it and get a Honda or Toyota gasser. You'll still be able to get good money from selling the TDI.

With my 2002 Golf TDI, I plan on logging ANOTHER 266k miles on top of the 266k miles that are already on it.

Good luck.

oilhammer said:

I'm still waiting for mine to break. Just got back from a 1200 mile trip in single digit temps in a 17 year old Volkswagen....it rolled 402,000 miles on the way. Hasn't left me sitting yet.

If the car is not a good fit for you, really, you should just sell it. They hold their value well, it is not like you are 'stuck' with it, so why continue the aggravation? I would never keep anything that gave me any grief.

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Please reread my quote, i never said my car left me stranded. i'm just tried of all the little stuff that is allways going wrong at great cost to repair.

n1das said:

I'm still waiting for my 02 Golf TDI to break. The car has "only" 266k miles on it and the past 115k miles of that has been with performance mods. The car is regularly driven *HARD* all the time...like I stole it. I recently did the THIRD(!) scheduled timing belt change (was due at 260k miles) with a regional TDIclub Guru (Herm TDI) and it's running as good as new (actually better than new because of performance mods).

Best to avoid VW dealer service departments from day one as soon as you drive your new TDI off the dealer's lot. You don't void any warranty coverage by doing the routine maintenance work yourself, provided the work is done properly. (Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975)

VWs are great cars but they're not for everybody. Whether or not a VW is right for you among other things depends on what kind of a "relationship" you have with your car(s) when it comes to maintenance. If you're a "car" person (enthusiast) who likes to work on their car and doesn't mind getting involved with the car once in a while, you'll love owning a VW. OTOH, if you're not a car person at all and aren't willing to get involved when required and rely totally on VW dealer service departments for all maintenance and "to keep your warranty valid", then don't buy ANY VW AT ALL, gasser or TDI !

If you're simply a "gas 'n go" type of owner, you might be better off over the long haul with a Honda or Toyota gasser. Very often when I hear or read about somebody complaining about VW's poor quality, it's usually a case of the owner being blissfully unaware that they're being screwed by an incompetent VW dealer service department. A lot of VW owners love their cars but absolutely hate going to a dealer for service. By far, the number one problem with VWs in the USA in general is incompetent dealer service departments.

If your TDI isn't working out for you, then I'd say dump it and get a Honda or Toyota gasser. You'll still be able to get good money from selling the TDI.

With my 2002 Golf TDI, I plan on logging ANOTHER 266k miles on top of the 266k miles that are already on it.

Good luck.

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Are u and oilhammer related ???

TornadoRed said:

Once the warranty is over, you should definitely try to avoid VW dealerships.

Find a good independent shop, they are all over the place, staffed by good mechanics that left the dealerships because they couldn't stand to be around all the incompetent people.

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The parts and labor are still expensive and i do use an independent garage. I do all my own light mantaince, oil, fuel,air,filters. Also installed skid plate.,,,,and my cars are out of warranty.

I like mine and the vast majority of my customers like theirs. And with a few standouts I would not say they are being 'nickeled and dimed' to death.

The 01M is junk, we know that all too well.

By and large, though, parts and labor are pretty inexpensive on these cars. What I find is many people do not understand them and that drives prices higher. But in the end, the car COSTS more to buy, so it would seem reasonable it would cost more to maintain.

Some folks have issue after issue, some do not. I can give you a lengthy list of people with late model VWs that have 200k+ miles on them with little more than scheduled PM and normal wear items like tires and brakes that still run and drive as good as they did when new.

Again, if it is not a good fit for you, sell it! Somebody will buy it, and you can be happy with whatever choice of car you make. Let it be someone else's problem!

oilhammer said:

I like mine and the vast majority of my customers like theirs. And with a few standouts I would not say they are being 'nickeled and dimed' to death.

The 01M is junk, we know that all too well.

By and large, though, parts and labor are pretty inexpensive on these cars. What I find is many people do not understand them and that drives prices higher. But in the end, the car COSTS more to buy, so it would seem reasonable it would cost more to maintain.

Some folks have issue after issue, some do not. I can give you a lengthy list of people with late model VWs that have 200k+ miles on them with little more than scheduled PM and normal wear items like tires and brakes that still run and drive as good as they did when new.

Again, if it is not a good fit for you, sell it! Somebody will buy it, and you can be happy with whatever choice of car you make. Let it be someone else's problem!

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Sorry, i'm not selling it for a long time.[Too much invested] I love it,and if it means the interior lites don't go on when i open the door and that my airbags, heated seat [drivers side of coarse]don't work, so be it. I,m sure u make a good living repairing vw's thank you

other people I have known have had the same sorts of probs with VW's (electrical stuff)...thats why I dont buy the models with all the frilly crap...in my mind, that would just be paying more to have more problems.

I have a 2000 jetta 2.0 gasser and a '02 TDI golf, both are base model cars and, as a result, I dont have problems with electrical stuff. As long as my arm still works, the windows roll down. I will say that on my jetta I had a couple problems but never a mechanical problem. I had sensor issues: MAF sensor, coolant temp sensor, and oil pressure sender.

Even though the 2.0 gets picked on alot for being gutless...its a pretty reliable and simple engine. I have really beat the crap out of that car for about 140k and it still runs like new...I cant believe it runs at all.

The door latches and airbags are must have, and should be covered by a recall like the window lifts and brake lite switch,,, people need to call up vw if they are having these problems,,,even if they are not the original owners of the car,