From the time I was a pup, the family had VWs. 1958 Bug ran the advertised 2 cents a mile. 1969 Bug, we should have never sold. 1971 Van we sold because my father got a job in Detroit. 1969 Squareback I got for college was terrific. My 1981 Diesel Rabbit went to 170,000 on one tune up until my ex totaled it. The 1985 Quantum I bought new was great until my ex wanted something bigger. My son's 1985 Jetta (bought in 1991) was pretty good until someone hit him in the rear and totaled it. The Scirroco replacement was excellent. 1986 Golf, 1985 Quantum, both bought in the late '90's as winter rats never failed to start. That was the end of my VW ownership.

Going down hill

My ex's experiences: 1987 Quantum bought from the dealer in 1992 broke the exhaust manifold bolts, crapped out the cat, and then the auto transmission. She traded it in on a 1991 Jetta that bent a rod. Traded that in on a 1994 Passat got less than 20 MPG and had interior and electrical problems.

My significant other bought a 2003 diesel beetle two years ago. It rides like a 1 ton truck. With 65,000 miles, the air bag light can't be turned off by the dealer. The door handles and center console, being cheap plastic are all broken. It gets about 30 MPG after being dealer tuned. The transmission flares like a 722.2 with vacuum problems. Changing out the battery takes half an hour. Changing the oil take half an hour. If you want to look at the engine, you have to remove a cover on the top or the bottom. The seat material is coming apart at 65,000 miles. What a POS.

You may do better with stick shift cars or those not built in Mexico.

Do you have VW experience or thinking of buying a VW?

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1983 300SD "Guderian"
1987 MR2
2015 Camry
2015 Chevy Spark
2006 Hyundai Tucson

The Golf GTi 16V was a nightmare from day one, in a week, the heater core spewed hot coolant on me. After six months the crank went south, that was enough for me. Combined with myriads of electrical failures I decided to go for arbitration under NYC Lemon laws and VW was kind enough to refund my money and buy back the VW. The Mazda Protege' I bought after that ran for trouble free 160,000 miles till I sold it to a student at my college. Of course all the while I was going through hell with my Golf, my trusty 240D stick shift kept my attendance at college as well as work intact.

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99 Gurkha with OM616 IDI turbo

2015 Gurkha with OM616 DI turbo

2014 Rexton W with OM612 VGT

I've been pretty happy with my '06 Jetta deisel. I did have a problem with a faulty clutch cylindar which the dealer replaced under warranty. Also, the radio is crap: it routinely loses the XM presets, defaulting to the preview channel. Sometimes all the buttons on the face freeze and I can't change any station. I've told the dealer about it a dozen times and they keep telling me that unless VW issues a recall for the units, it's my problem. I also don't like having an engine cover on top of the engine. Sure, it looks great. But when I wash the car and wipe off the cover of the engine, I know I'm not keeping the engine clean at all, since it's under that dang cover.

Other than that, I'm very happy with my car. When I drove the E-320, I got about 250 miles on a 16.5 gallon of high test fuel. Now I can drive 470 miles around town on a 13.5 gallon tank of diesel. What I'm saving of fuel costs alone more than makes up for any misgivings. The car looks great, has a nice interior, and is a blast to drive!

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

My wife's 1997 Jetta Trek has been great other than an initial hiccup. We bought it cheap at auction and shortly afterwards, the tranny failed. Bought a reman'd tranny and with that cost tacked on to the purchase price, we came out about even in terms of general market prices.

That was about 5 years ago. Since then, it has been excellent other than some minor gripes common to this model. Both rear windows have failed and I had to disable the factory alarm (it would go off all the time). The heavy rubber side moulding falls off occasionally despite my best epoxy efforts.

Other than that, it has been a very reliable and cheap car to maintain. It has about 150,000 Km on the clock. Engine runs perfectly.

My sister-in-law had some issues with a new Jetta VR6, 2003(?) I think. Electrical problems right out of the gate, which were covered by warranty. Car has been fine since.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I had a 93 Golf, that was less than impressive. A 2.0 liter / 5 speed combo, should've delivered more than the 20mpg I got out of it. I sold it as soon as I was even money on it.

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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

My 1995 is a total POS. VW sucked every penny they could find out of the thing. Now its sitting in the garage waiting for a new distributer. If that doesn't fix it I'm tempted to junk it.

If I do get it running its going on Ebay in the spring and I'll take whatever I get for it and buy another MB beater. If I get $800 for it on ebay I'll throw another $2000 in the pot and get a 190E 2.3 or something like that.

I'll never buy a VW, if I wanted a car that broke all the time I'd get a Jag. Which would at least be a decent car when its running, unlike the VW.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

My father was pining for a new Touareg. I talked him into a Honda Pilot and never looked back.

My family has had:
'82 Rabbit, when 160K then sold, no issues but rusty after 10 years in NE.
'84 Quantum wagon, 172K, like to eat window motors, then totaled by my brother, he walked away.
'86 Sirocco, sold with 90K, no issues, step dad wanted an Audi with more room.
'88 Quantum Wagon Synchro, no issues, totalled at 110K, T-boned by a Town Car at 50mph, saved my Mom's life.
'84 Rabbit, last year of carburetor, 221K, last seen in the hands of Ex-fiance. Windshield would leak from rust.
'89 Jetta 1.6 NA diesel, maintained, restored, totaled, rebuilt, sold. Had over 300K on it. Head never off engine. Persistent water leak in pass rear door, finally fixed it. All the regular maintenance you would expect for car with 300K. After it sold I figured every penny I put into that car, including buying and selling prices and the pay out when it was totaled. Cost averaged $71/month for the 7 years I owned it. Seemed okay to me.
'03 Jetta. TDI/5speed the last of the ALH engines. Currently has 92K on it. The only surprise was replacing the fuel tank. The locking ring was stripped on the top of the tank and someone had butchered the assembly since they didn't have the correct tool to work on it. I am guessing the PO had an indy do something like replace the in-tank fuel pump? Either way it wasn't right, I saw the damage and spoke with the tech. Its a roll of the dice with a used car. Other than that, for 44K the car has been very good. I just replaced the glowplugs and harness to clear a CEL $120 and the serpentine belt tensioner $80. Other expenses have been 4 new tires and rear brakes. All the other problems I hear about, busted interior and exterior trim, window motors, electrical, etc. have not been an issue. Car gets 47mpg mixed with a best of 49mpg on a long highway trip. Heated seats, Monsoon, NO sunroof or alloys! Unfortunately has ALL the optional airbags. Will do 80mph all day long and is much quieter than my MB. I paid $15K for this car 3years ago and it was well worth it. I couldn't find a decent MB in that price range nor do I trust the rear-drive to my wife's winter commuting.

The mid-90's VW's have been known to have their issues. The only good ones are the VR6 or TDI Passats. Any TDI with the ALH engine is a good start. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat.

One bad VW doesn't mean they are all crap. There are plenty of troublesome MB's out there. How about them rod-benders? or the 210's that rust prematurely and the spring perches fall off? The key to keeping ANY car is learn about the possible problems, address them, perform PM and not abuse them.

I guess you are not my friends? But I would be happy to purchase your "troubleshome" used VW TDI's to take them off your hands. Cheap money of course, since their "junk".....

RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I think you sort of agree with me. Get a German built VW. I like the Passats.

Unfortunately, we are stuck with a Mexican built New Beetle. I can't think of anything that I'm impressed with.

The only person that could love a New Beetle diesel is the stealership. Plenty of work for the shop and profits in the parts dept.

Whether or not it is a good car, based on our Beetle experience, I would run away, very fast, from a Jetta built in Mexico.

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1983 300SD "Guderian"
1987 MR2
2015 Camry
2015 Chevy Spark
2006 Hyundai Tucson

My VW is now running!

HAL was broken!

My sister needs a car so I'm going to drive it until April then sell it to her for $500.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've had my 07 Jetta for a year now with 20K miles. I love it, I think it rocks. Sorry!

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1984 300D turbo, 250K
1971 MGBGT, 101K
2007 VW Jetta, 4K

90 Corrado g60 paid $3500 invested $3000 sold $5500
the only problem i had with this car is i fried a piston at 100k. i rebuilt the motor and g-lader s/c(worst set-up ever only good for 20k with smaller pulley). can ran beutifully but sold fearing further problems

89 golf 8v Paid $500 invested $0
without a doubt the most reliable and fuel efficent car i have evr owned. this was my college car not to add miles onto the corrado. i drove this car from Westchester NY to Albany NY to Springfeild Mass on a weekly basses and never broke down. finaly i was hit by some woman and she paid for the car + some and i continues to drive the car with no repairs until it died at 280k. i wish i never sold it.