Mk4 Golf: Any more Design faults?

From every time I get landed with a Ford hire car.

I was incredibly unimpressed by the C-Max and MkIII Mondeo I've had recently-ish.

Both were under 5k miles old and both had the air of something that wasn't going hold together particularly well.

You make a fair point but the thing is they are priced that way. You don't seem to get very much for less than 5 and a half grand if you're shopping for a MkIV TDi, but....

That kind of money for a Vauxhall or a Ford would buy a hell of a lot. Don't you think?

All the best, Angus Manwaring. (for e-mail remove ANTISPEM)

I need your memories for the Amiga Games Database: A collection of Amiga Game reviews by Amiga players

So on the basis that the warranty for these vehicles would be for 3 years/100k miles, you don't actually have any personal experience to back up your statement:

"Market forces - Ford and Vauxhall have a reputation for building cars to last as long as the warranty is in force and fall apart rapidly after that.

It's a fair reputation and one that, in my experience, still applies."

Chris

Well, if they feel flimsy and as though they're going to fall apart at

54k miles up in the B6 and it still feels as fresh as it did when it was delivered.

What does that prove? SWMBO's 2002 Focus TDCi, owned from new, has 152k miles under its belt and it still creak/rattle free, still drives tightly and still has an as-new interior, despite being driven very hard on an almost daily basis for the last 5 years. Only failure so far was the CD player, which was replaced at around 15k miles under warranty. Apart from that all it's had is routine servicing/tyres. Admittedly, some of the interior fittings appear to be a little flimsy/ plasticky, but as they've held up for this long without any problems I've no reason to suspect that they're under-engineered.

Contrast this with our neighbour's 2001 Golf TDI 115, which despite having 86k on the clock has so far eaten 3 MAF sensors, suffered premature turbocharger failure, needed a new flywheel and a new climate control unit. While the interior looks solid enough from a perceived quality POV, it's now very creaky and rattly, and the door cards have turned quite 'scabby' where some sort of coating has presumably flaked off.

Of course, this doesn't really prove anything either, with a seriously small sample size, but to be honest I've a feeling that VAG's quality isn't exactly what it used to be, and in the meantime everybody else appears to have caught up with them or even passed them in many cases.

The message from "Alhambra" contains these words:

Then time to run a welder along it before fitting!

The message from Andy Tucker contains these words:

I don't think it ever was /that/ good - just some clever advertising. If you tell masses of people something often enough a good proportion of them will start to believe it. My mum's still convinced that Saabs are seriously advanced because they're tested in a wind tunnel (anyone rememeber those ads - must have been 30 years ago) despite me telling her that all cars have been tested in wind tunnels for decades.

Great idea - free Mig with every pedal box sold........could catch on.

When you buy a house, do you turn up in the removal van after legal completion and get busy laying bricks before you can move in?.......

As far as I can tell by my own experience, that of other Ford owners, the press, and online reviewers, you are the only one that thinks they fell "flimsy". OTOH, the Mk 5 Golf I had as a hire car last year was both horrible to drive, and the interior looked very cheap.

There is an American that used to post in alt.autos.ford.focus who uses his Focus for a regular courier run. He had covered 230,000 miles in under three years last time he posted! He has had no faults, and the car has had only the recommended services done. He specifically noted his astonishment that his car still drove the same as the day he got it.

You can find reports of Mondeos in particular that have covered huge milages without falling apart. Ford have really upped their game in recent years. Others, including VAG, have not been able to do that.

I should bloody well hope so - It's almost brand new!

Chris

As far as I can tell by my own experience, that of other Ford owners, the press, and online reviewers, you are the only one that thinks they fell "flimsy". OTOH, the Mk 5 Golf I had as a hire car last year was both horrible to drive, and the interior looked very cheap.

There is an American that used to post in alt.autos.ford.focus who uses his Focus for a regular courier run. He had covered 230,000 miles in under three years last time he posted! He has had no faults, and the car has had only the recommended services done. He specifically noted his astonishment that his car still drove the same as the day he got it.

You can find reports of Mondeos in particular that have covered huge milages without falling apart. Ford have really upped their game in recent years. Others, including VAG, have not been able to do that.

I should bloody well hope so - It's almost brand new!

Chris

The message from "Alhambra" contains these words:

Are you suggesting that if you'd had a pedal box fail and the replacement looked as if it were going to fail in the same way you wouldn't take steps to stop it? I've a MIG welder up the garden - if a few minutes welding would save me the hassle and expense of replacing a part again some time in the future I'd be potty not to, wouldn't I?

Waiting for VW to issue a better part is hardly an option - you may wait for ever and it doesn't solve the here-and-now problem.

It wasn't my car - and the owner had no immediate access to a welder, and he needed the car back on the road PDQ

The point of this thread is to pinpoint VAG design faults - and that crappy pedal box assembly is a classic example.

The fact that VAG, after hundreds (possibly thousands) of reported failures over the years have not bothered to modify the design says a lot about them.

It certainly shouldn't be up to consumers to rectify design issues that VAG can't be arsed to sort out. Yes, had a welder been available it would have made sense to strengthen the new part - but I fail to see how that absolves VAG from a responsibility to manufacture it properly in the first place.

People abuse hire cars shocker.

My 1998 Escort is simiar at 170,000. Only significant failure has been the heater fan, which is apaprently a known issue on these.

The interior is tired, but then it's 170,000 miles old, and was used as a farmers car before I took it over.

The message from "Alhambra" contains these words:

It doesn't in the slightest, but I know I'd not wish to take one out a second time because I had knowingly put back in a poorly designed part.