Goodbye VW - I'll miss you but I must leave now

Very good points.

25-30 years ago, Audis were well-known for having all kinds of problems

-- much more so than VW. They managed to shake off that past and their image pretty well, I'd say.

I've driven nothing but Jettas since 1985. And, I've never had problems with them that were out of the ordinary, or which made me want to abandon VW and go with another brand. Every time I've shopped for a new car, I start with an open mind, and I test-drive all the Toyotas and Honda that are routinely held up as the paragon of automobile engineering. Yes, they are reliable, but they're bland, boring and lack any character at all.

My good luck with VWs probably has something to do with the fact that I take good care of them. You know, if you ignore the manufacturer's advice, use the wrong kind of oil and change it infrequently, well hell yeah, don't be surprised if you end up with sludge. In today's brain-dead-consumer society, that kind of thing is seen as a manufacturer deficiency. That's exactly the kind of complaints I see in myvwlemon.com. They're typical, helpless, hold-my-hand American consumers -- some of their complaints are actually comical. I think that the fact that VW targets 20-something hipster doofuses in their advertising has something to do with it -- 20-something hipster doofuses are generally clueless about anything mechanical.

I recently had my first major problem with my '01 Jetta, which was a failed MAF sensor, which I replaced myself for $80. I'm actually happy about it -- simple, cheap fix. $80 for 47,500 miles -- I can easily live with that.

The only thing that will prevent me from getting yet another Jetta is the styling of the new ones. Godammit, if I wanted a Toyota, I'd buy a Toyota!

engine, MAF, coils,

**I have a 2003 Jetta 1.8T GLS (20K mi). And...I'm having problems. I know why too...I'm thinking of leasing a BMW. Tomato the Jetta found out and is now exacting revenge. It's true!

There's a bent wheel but I blame that on I-94 through Detroit. Sadly, it's cupped the tire so it's a tad noisy. Will have to replace or fix that wheel as well as probably get new tires. Oh yea, and a possible alignment.

Recently, the car threw a CEL and I got a new coolant temp sensor.

At the same time, on the same day, the left side of my car from wheel to wheel was covered in oil, a lot of it. The dealership insisted it wasn't from my car yet my car was mysteriously down a quart of synthetic, no less. No oil burning problems before or after (so far). However, there is an odd mild power loss now. They can't find anything wrong with it. So I'll drive it until I see some warning lights.

Just after 15K, the car developed warped front rotors. At 19.5K, I told my dealership and they verified it. When I complained they are a little young for that problem, they said too bad but they would replace them for $305 est. I told them to turn them and they said that it's not a good idea. Wha? Whatever. My brother in law drove it and said they are fine and not to even bother turning them yet. It's just annoying because the steering wheel vibrates when I slow down.

As of 2 days ago, my passenger back door won't unlock.

Occasionally, the CD player will throw an error and stop playing or refuse to load a CD.

The car came with very crunchy gear shifts. Verified by the mechanics so they changed the tranny fluid. Didn't do squat, will probably have to have the synchros changed at some point.

Had to have driver's door readjusted.

rubbing. When the car gets

**There's a jingle from the front end when I hit a significant bump. There's wrenching sound if the weight of the car really shifts. Quiet in the summer, pretty noisy in the winter, like your's.

so good, and I have

**Howard Cooper's in Ann Arbor MI gives pretty good service but they're very expensive.

for days at -30C (-22F)

**Same for mine, I've been surprised by no cold weather problems (knock on wood), I do park in a garage, though.

service only, minimum 4

with crappy roads.

schedule. My choice.

**I AM spending lots of money on maintenance. A simple synthetic oil change is $105 or so. I just spent $258 on the 20K service. To make the car sell-able :) I probably have to lay out another chunk of change. **I get 25mpg average city/rural roads and 31 to 34 highway. That's pretty darned good!

something else once they

**I'll probably have to replace the tires (because of that back tire) before I sell it.

dropped these rims about 6

Monicas I have seen

look fine when I

**I have Longbeach wheels which would be pristine (unscratched) if the mechanics wouldn't throw them on the ground when they rotate the tires. I didn't have a mark on them until they took them off. That said, does anyone know if I can buy a new Longbeach from VW? To replace the bent one?

(hopefully we WILL get

It needs less chrome,

version in and

and based on reviews VW

**I won't be getting a MkV but that's because I don't like the look. I'd like to see the new Passats.

kaboomie

Darn. I knew I shoulda changed the oil in the battery. Prolly woulda fixed all the recurrent electrical and body related gremlins...

I don't know ANYONE with an A3 with power windows that hasn't had problems with the electrical, especially the rear doors. OK, some of the Golf folks that only had 3 doors ;) I used to go up to folks at the gas station and ask 'em if they'd had problems too. Oh Yeah!

Mark '95 Jetta GLS

Don't get me wrong -- VWs definitely have their QC troubles. I've been lucky, I guess -- but at the same time, you've got to admit, a lot of the complaints at the lemon web site are ridiculous.

Well, for me, they have honoured their warranties (I'm on my third VW), in fact they have covered me for repairs when my '97 Golf was OVER the warranty, but close enough to piss-off a customer.

Mine works from 8-10 feet which is fine. I hate those idiots that arm their cars when they are a hundred feet away, and just want to startle pedestrians, dogs, children, etc. I have had the dealer disabled the horn via VAG on arm and disarm.

But it is true, that if you hold the key-fob against your body it will work over a longer distance. Holding it to the forehead is not necessary, but does hinder the aliens from reading your brainwaves.

Sorry, just not experiencing that, and EVERY Golf/Jetta/GTI owner I have talked to around here loves their car. Yes, everyone has a particular little problem, and maybe a crap experience with a dealer at one time, but all I have spoken with would get another. Me, I'd love a MkV GTI.

Most people I've talked to are inclined to get another VW, but go to another dealer if they are unhappy. We have 3 in town, and I have been happy with 2 of them.

I've heard the stories, and believe me, when I got my 2003 GTI 1.8T, I constantly played with the power windows, the sunroof, the AC, and all the other things that were supposed to break/leak/freeze. I stuck the hose against the sunroof trying to get it to leak, I played with the power side-mirrors, everything stubbornly insisted on working.

VW even replaced coilpacks when 2003s weren't even on the list, and, I wasn't having a problem with them. They just wanted to be sure.

Is this an American dealers (or VWoA) versus Canadian dealers thing I wonder. As there is no such thing as a truly Canadian auto, maybe dealers here are more supportive of imports from other countries? (I'm grasping here folks).

We have truly crappy roads around here, pot-hole city. 17" rims are really the maximum you'd want to use. We have temperature extremes -30F to +100+F (Not as severe as others but enough to test a car compared to all of Europe, and most of the U.S.). We use tonnes of salt every winter (5-6 months). If a car is going to rust, it is going to rust here. And I have had cars that I can watch rust in my driveway. VW is not one of them. (Can anyone say FIAT, or anything English).

I see Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans all the time with more rust than any VW I had, but I will admit that Toyota is the champ for reliability, value, etc.

I read through a bit of myvwlemon.com, but quite frankly, I got bored. Whiners, and people who got burned on 2nd-HAND cars. Who knows what the previous owners did to them.

When I bought my 2nd-hand Golf, a local dealer gave me the complete history of the car. It was great, and is why I got a 2003 GTI. Every VW has been better than the previous. (Not associated with VW, or any dealers. Have no known relatives working for same).

Glen McLean - Ottawa

'87 Jetta GLI, '97 Golf CL, '03 GTI 1.8T

(Remove the ".NIT.invalid" from the end of my address)

fact they have covered me

piss-off a customer.

By the way, speaking about the warranty: recently here was a highly entertaining story about Mazda6, the japanase car which supposedly does not break. That one did, the engine was toast at 20000km (or ~13k miles). Mazda declined the warranty, stating absolutely ridiculous reasons. The guy was such a satisfied customer, that he bought a trailer, put his mazda on it with his story written on the sides, and started to tow it around the local highways, displaying at gas stations and so on. Soon enough he was on TV and the problem quickly solved itself afterwards :)

Apparently, Mazda has a habit of being difficult on warranty matters. Here's a story about a local woman who had to fight for years to get satisfaction -- granted, it's not really a Mazda product, it's a Ford with a Mazda badge, but Mazda offers the warranty, and Mazda put this customer through the wringer: