My experience is that VW quality declined in the mid-90s, and I don't know if it recovered. My '90 Jetta GLI was excellent, with 39000 miles without trouble until it was totalled. My '93 Passat GLX was similarly good for 141,000 miles, with some parts failures later on: a $900 sunroof motivated me to look for a trade-in. However, my '95 Passat GLX was a POS, especially since the dealer could not diagnose effectively. I blame this on VW as well, because car companies are responsible for providing accurate, specific, and usable diagnostics with tools and training to dealers. Bought from a dealer with 50,000 miles, it needed window lifts, suspension, harnesses, and an engine controller before 100,000, when I sold it. My '92 BMW 325i has been much better at 140,000 miles (bought at 89,000): some repairs, but nothing critical, and never failed to transport me. Could always schedule the work as I needed.
However, back to the topic of the thread, it is about COST of ownership, not COST plus CONVENIENCE. Getting into the cost of inconvenience opens the door to discussing the consequences of for example, a car not starting at a time of emergency, and that can lead to unlimited costs. However, they are not the costs of ownership.
Granted this may not be what the "busy businessperson" sees as critical, and it isn't what I as a "busy engineer" need, but it is the discussion.
Ken
absolutely
sunroof!) and
election. To
professional,
businessperson or
professional