VW's good car longterm?

We have a 00' Jetta vr6 and my 00' Golf TDI.
They have been somewhat reliable cars overall, bought both used.
We haven't had to shell out serious money overall, biggest item was a seized A/C compressor on the Jetta.
I've had many folks tell me that VW's won't last long term, they will eat you up on repairs.
I like to drive, so I bought the VW as did my wife. However when talking to folks with competitors vehicles, I have to admit it seems my cars are a little more prone to trouble.
We do maintain the cars, and currently am working on getting my t-belt done for the TDI.
Is what everybody says true, I know one car varies from another, but are VW's more prone to long term problems than other makers?
These are our first two.
Thanks for any replies or insight.
Blair

It's a tricky subject. For the number of miles I put on my car (40/year), I expect things to fail. So far, nothing out of the ordinary for 140k miles. Once the bugs are ironed out, I would say VW's are fairly reliable.

The limiting factor on new cars appears to be bodies, provided the drivetrains are maintained properly.

Look at it this way: I see a LOT of early 90's A2 Jettas on the road, many of them with very solid-looking rust-free bodies. Many with IDI diesel engines too. And I live in a "rust belt" (southern Quebec). I see NO Hondas, Toyotas or Nissans of similar vintage in similar condition. Those A3 Jettas that I do see with rust, appear to have surface rust but little or no perforation, whereas rusty Hondas are perforated to the point they must be much lighter cars!

A lot of the accessories and stuff appear to go south especially the electrical stuff. If you can live with a car that has power windows that don't go up and down and power locks that don't, and maybe other electronic gizmos that don't work, you can probably keep the suckers going on for a VERY long time.

Our current VWs so far, touch wood, have been very reliable. Only a couple of minor interior trim items on the Jetta.

The previous owner of your vehicle with the failed airconditioning compressor probably never used the a/c in the cooler weather months to keep the seals lubed.

blthomas said:

Is what everybody says true, I know one car varies from another, but are VW's more prone to long term problems than other makers?

Click to expand...

Not in my experience.

We have a 1998 Jetta TDI GLS and a 2000 Chrysler Intrepid, both recently aquired, both with ~200K KM on the clock.

We don't have much history on the Jetta, and almost no maintenance records, but at least I know the TB was done just before I bought it. We have complete history on the Intrepid - owned since new by my wife's father, mostly highway driven, always dealer-serviced on schedule, no major repairs to date.

We took both cars to recommended dealerships, explained they were new to us, and asked for comprehensive checkups and quotes to repair any problems found.

The Jetta came back with a quote for $2400:

- replace fuel filter
- replace turbo
- clean intake

The Intrepid came back with a quote for $7500

- replace spark plugs and tune
- repair coolant leak
- repair transaxle oil leak
- replace center brake light
- replace A/C evaporator and dryer, recharge system
- replace all door locks
- replace 3 of 4 power window regulators
- replace instrument cluster bulbs

To be fair, the Jetta quote should have been $2800 - they missed a split CV boot.

I fixed the Jetta myself for around $700 - it didn't need a turbo. It didn't need PP520 nozzles either, but they are included in the $700 All fairly easy repairs I did in my driveway, maybe add another $50 for tools I didn't have. Car runs great, and everything works.

The Intrepid runs fine too, but the A/C doesn't work, the door locks don't work, only one window works, and there's no lights on the cluster. I could probably fix it in my driveway too, but I doubt it would be cheap and easy.

I'll take the VW over the Chrysler for long-term reliability

Simon

I'd bet the farm on my VW to outlive my FORD van! Although I'm good about taking care of my vehicles. Change the oil, fill the tank and drive it to your hearts content!

blthomas said:

We have a 00' Jetta vr6 and my 00' Golf TDI.
They have been somewhat reliable cars overall, bought both used.... are VW's more prone to long term problems than other makers?

Click to expand...

Some of them are problematic in the short term. But they are very good cars for the long term.

VW TDI a good car for the long term?

For me, it's still way too early to tell. My 2002 Golf is just barely broken in and still going strong at 215k miles.

Some VWs are good for the longhaul and some more than others.
My mother has a 20 year old Jetta GLI (mk2, 8valve engine) with something over 300,000 miles. It has been mechanically very reliable. She laughed though when someone said that "the drive train will last forever, the rest of the car will fall apart around it." The car no longer looks so good, has had door handles replaced several time, but it still runs well, quiet, manuveable, and quick.
I have good luck with my 1998 TDI, but my "take" from VW mechanics is that the mk1 and mk2 Jettas to be the best with the Mk3 and mk 4 being less desirable, from a longevity standpoint.
I have seen lots more old VWs on the road than old Toyotas, Hondas, or others. This is especially telling in that those others sold many more units.

The Mk 2 Jettas indeed appear to be nearly indestructible. I see TONS of them on the road, mostly IDI diesels spewing black smoke and making everyone think diesels are dirty. If it weren't for the fact that I'm in love with ESP, I'd love to have one as a winter beater. Some of them are rusty (mostly surface rust, very little perforation), but some are still surprisingly still very clean.

Depends where the car was made. Some MK2 GTIs were made in PA and they have problems. Most of the 80s and some 90s models were made in Germany and those have good rust protection and few mechanical problems. The MK3 Jetta and Golfs were made in mexico, using new water based paint. This paint is really "hit or miss", I have seen 5 yr old Jetta MK3 with paint flaking and plenty of others with still brilliant paint.
Models equipped with the VR6 engine have problems with heat damage since that engine runs hot. Stay away from MK5 models with 2.0 engines.
Lots of those were assembled with the piston oil rings upside down and they burn lots of oil. The MK5s seem to have solid and well rust proofed bodies. The paint is too soft and still a "hit or miss". The CV joints seem to last longer but the electronics are a nightmare to troubleshoot compared to older models.
In general, rust is a problem with older VWs but mechanicals are easy. The CV joints fail more frequently than newer VWs. The trannies like to "self machine" but the engines will last forever with proper care. Stay away from automatics though. Sciroccos , Corrados , some Jetta MK2s and Cabrios up to 92 were made in Karman coachwerks, they seem to have better build quality. MK3 models have a very good 2.0 ABA engine, which fits on older VWs.
The best part about VWs is parts interchangeability. You can use an ABA block with an 8V head running on CIS injection . Hell you can even slap a 16V on that and Turbo it. Blown G-60 on a Corrado, just Turbo it !!
16V on a Rabbit , no problem.

Mine is a made in Mexico model and the paint has held up extremely well. I recently replaced the rear doors, trunk lid, and bumper covers with parts from a 1995 Jetta 2.0 which had paint in even better condition than mine!

My family has been owning VW's forever.
grandpa had 2 vanagons one was a diesel one was a gasser.
Dad had a 83 rabbit GTI 63 ragtop beetle with oval window (pretty rare combo) 1969 squareback wagon

Out of the 5 VW's the diesel vanagon was the only toublesome one. Always had starting problems and was slowwww, eventually it was sold to my aunt and the engine blew on the way up to redding,CA.

My dad has a 04 touareg and said from his experiance with VW's the new ones lack in quality and has doubts in reliability. He is nearing 60K on the Treg and the car has had to many problems to list. He is waiting for the ML320 CDI's to hit the market next year, he was thinking about the TDI Treg when he asked about them at the dealer but changed his mind after his experiance with it.

The passat has been pretty trouble free but now the tranny seems to be making a grinding noise when you change gears, my moms afriad to take it to the dealer, she doesnt want another $500 bill that wont be covered under warranty because of VW's stupidity. And now she is even having doubts in the passat. Im assuring her the car is fine but she still thinks that we should have looked for the MBZ E300 diesel.

I dont know really im more biased towards MB's and their engine reliabilaty
just kicks VW's butt, but the new ones cost much more then a VW so you cant really compare.

All in all i think the passat we have is fine, dont really like the engine noise compared to the 603 engine in my 300D but hey thats just me I think since the passat was made in germany it will hold up better then the TDI's that were made in mexico. I think we just need to get the tranny checked, change the oil, run ASTM bio and the car should be A ok.

/me raises hand

280,6xx estimated miles.
300,6xx suspected miles.
(204,403 on the odometer, IIRC, but that's been broken.)

Just got it fixed Saturday...

It's at about 80%. Got some rust, some electronics not quite working right, non-working AC, no e-brake (long story), broken door handle, needs a new thermostat, needs an alignment, has a clunk that 5 minutes with a torque wrench will fix, seats are a little worn, etc., etc.

But it runs GREAT. Handles pretty well, too. Very roomy.

They've been reliable for me

1986 manual Golf to 1997. Approx. 220k miles. Fuel pump. Alternator. CV joints. Maybe a water pump (I'm not sure). Dead odometer.

1996 manual Passat TDI. Approx 220k miles. Dead instrument cluster (maybe due to cold weather). Driver window regulator ($800, eesh!). Rear shocks.