I specialize in these cars, so I see a lot of things that others may not see. Our shop works on pretty much anything, so we also see things on other cars. I could give some pretty nasty horror stories about a lot of things. Maybe enough to make someone want to ride a bike!
I think a CJAA Golf would be a great car, and I would have no problem with one BUT I would be going into it with eyes wide open. I also have other [older] cars to fall back on, should the need arise.
The "fixed" cars have a pretty generous warranty, however we've already seen some issues with this. From sub-par work being performed on the fix itself, to side effects of the fix and/or warranty resolution reluctance on Volkswagen's part to make good on it. While this attitude is nothing new to Volkswagen, and perhaps in a broader sense nothing new to the German brands sold here anyway, it may become an issue for someone not used to it as well as not having a solid plan B.
So would I buy one? Absolutely. Would I be pissed if something expensive broke? Yes. Would I be happy if my car sat at a dealer lot for weeks on end while they argued over coverage of something that broke? Nope. But I would have something else to drive in the mean time, so I could deal with it. Not everyone has this option.
The deletes, which sucks to even have to think about doing, seems to be the only 100% surefire way to eliminate much of the fragile nature of an otherwise fantastic package. It pains me to think this way, it really does. I hate stinky, smelly, smoky diesels. Detest them. But I hate multi-thousand dollar potential failure items hanging over my head even more.
I would, however, attempt to keep everything intact during the warranty period.
