New VWs vs Old (Rant)

Ron and Tina Reyes · 2004-08-14T16:46:35+00:00

Call me a stick in the mud but I'm a little annoyed with the direction VWhas taken with their product lines. Having owned a myriad of GTIs, Jettasand Passats I am disappointed that VW has chosen to make their products MUCHmore expensive and MUCH more finicky in terms of repair and maintenance.Because I'm cheap I choose to maintain and repair my cars myself whenverpossible and I guess I got spoiled by the longevity of my previous VWs.My wife's 2000 Passat, for example, is the most picky, finicky vehicle I'veever owned. The vacuum hoses are crap, literally rotting away, necessitatingreplacement well before they should normally. I continually have to cleanout the screen in the airbox or face a jumping idle and a CEL. And althoughI use VW approved Mobil 1 in the crankcase I still get tapping as the oilgets beat to hell by the turbo. An while I'm on the subject of oil - oilchanges are an exercise in frustration because of that stupid underbodypanel with the fasteners that are a PITA to re-attach.I've slowly watched a car company that once manufactured cars for theself-starter gear-head as well as the the economy-minded transition to onethat offers only expensive and pretentious cars (that are harder to maintainand repair) to those who have little understanding of what it once meant tobe a VW owner. The flood of $15,000 + GTIs and Jettas and "luxury" Touaregsand Phaetons just perpetuates that trend.Call me a whiner, call me jealous of those who have the funds to affordthese cars, call me an anachronism. I miss the days of being able to buy aGTI for less than $12,000 (less than $10,000 for my first) and being able todrive 50,000 miles without something stupid breaking. I loved getting 30 +MPG in car that would out-handle most of the cars on the road in stock formand would be a real rip-snorter lightly modified.Unfortunately I am either too dated or too stupid to acknowledge that timeshave changed and the world of cheap, easy to maintain cars has all butdisappeared.... OK...