[jackman]

I have two friends who own Passats (2004 or 2005 model years) and both have had major problems with water pumps, one transmission, electrical, etc.  When the cars are running well, they love them, when they get them fixed, not so much.

One guy had a warranty and was very thankful because he did not have to pay for work.  He said the warranty company must have lost a ton of money because he had major problems with the car and they had to pay.  I like the way they drive but don't know if I'd chance it without some kind of protection.

[BobRex]

My wife has/had 2 Passats - an '02 and an '06, both of which ran flawlessly.  Beyind oil changes and normal routine we haven't / didn't put a cent into either car.  Well, there was the stray bovine incident with the '02, but that wasn't the car's fault......

I drive an 05 Audi A6; this has also been flawless.

[jermmd]

I had a Jetta in the early 90's that was constantly breaking. The problems were mostly nickel and dime stuff but the car required repairs every couple of months. I'll never buy a VW again.

Joe M.

[ltr317]

I don't own a current generation VW, but have owned at least a dozen different VW types from the late 1970s until 2001, and all except one were relatively reliable.  They are great driving cars, and at one point I was thinking of converting a VW GTI into an SCCA ITB race car, as they were usually running at or near the front of the pack. 

[rbwalt]

the new vw's are much better than the old ones in terms or reliability. i have a 2005 jetta gli with 30k on it and it has been dependable. i do oil and filter every 5k. at 400 miles i swapped out the stock vw brake pads( just to dusty) and 2 yrs ago installed some hawk pads. i do allot of work on the car myself and the car has been moded(suspension and engine management). like any car today you must stay on top of the maintenance. i do not go along with the idea of lifetime fluids( tranny,diff, coolant). you are asking for trouble down the road.if you want a car with high maintenance bills go own a bmw. i know!

[pslate]

I had a 96 Jetta that I had major problems with, continual and very expensive. I walked away from that car under with 100,000 miles. It seems like the mexican built VW suffer the most QC issues. Electrical issues are a common refrain. Ford seems to have good luck building down there (still unfortunate). My grandma and brother have German made Passats and have had pretty good results. VW had to replace the transmission at their cost on G-ma's car. I am very, very leery of the new decontented america only VWs coming from Mexico, ugly looking buggers too. Good news is that Golf/GTI still come from Germany.

[orthobiz]

If you don't count the four 914's that I've owned, I've had four VW's: an 80's GTI, 90's Corrado, 2001 Passat and 2004 Touareg. The Touareg has 80,000 miles on it and has been absolutely positively the most buggy vehicle I have ever owned. Now that the bugs are out I plan on keeping it, it is a world class vehicle and I need the ability to get through snow here in northern Michigan.

I had an awful, awful dealer 40 miles away (no dealer in my town) so now I punish him by driving 100 miles to a much better dealer. (I know, I'm only punishing myself...)

The other vehicles were pretty good with respect to reliability. My 1974 914 is running strong, too!

Paul

[pslate]

Too add, I would plunk down my own cash for the German built Golf/GTI. It's a hot car. The Civic Si 4 door might be a smart choice, but no farfegnugen there that's for sure.

[ltr317]

If you don't count the four 914's that I've owned, I've had four VW's: an 80's GTI, 90's Corrado, 2001 Passat and 2004 Touareg. The Touareg has 80,000 miles on it and has been absolutely positively the most buggy vehicle I have ever owned. Now that the bugs are out I plan on keeping it, it is a world class vehicle and I need the ability to get through snow here in northern Michigan.

I had an awful, awful dealer 40 miles away (no dealer in my town) so now I punish him by driving 100 miles to a much better dealer. (I know, I'm only punishing myself...)

The other vehicles were pretty good with respect to reliability. My 1974 914 is running strong, too!

Paul

Is the '74 the 2 liter?  I had a '72 914 1.7, among my many Porsche ownership.  I had a couple of friends who owned a 914-6.  That was a pocket rocket back in its day. 

[zybar]

I sell the new GTI's and no problems have risen from any customer. They all love their cars. I have been moving them for two years and all is well so far. I was a Honda manager for 11 years before that and had similar results. The difference is that the GTI's have SOUL! All cars are a risk. Which one makes you smile?

I had a late 90's VR6 GTI and it definitely had soul and was a ton of fun to drive.  I had zero problems with it over the 2+ years that I owned it.  I traded it in for a 2001 Audi S4 Avant and to do this day I miss the GTI.  While it wasn't anywhere close the S4 in terms of performance, it was issue free (the Audi was in the shop more than half a dozen times in less than 3 years) and I never even thought about the next trip to the dealer.

George

[richidoo]

I put 236k miles on a 79 Rabbit. 40mpg! Very reliable, but much simpler than today's VWs, it had mechanical fuel injection which was awesome. I also had 84 GTI which was also reliable, and 98 Jetta which was very reliable. But all the VWs needed miscellaneous repairs occasionally, nothing serious that I didn't cause. I take good care of my cars so I like to think that helped me avoid some of the failure susceptibilities. I did not own a VW from the infamous Golf1 days, but my father did and had no problems. His was a 2 door Jeta that was made in Germany, not Mexico. I worked at a VW dealer in 92, just routine repairs, no major defects, although there were some incidents that raised my eyebrows.  Ferdinand Piech tightened up the quality issues so that it is a decent car now.

Nowadays I buy Hondas, which I have found virtually bulletproof. I have a V6 with the auto tranny from hell, but I've learned what it requires to keep it healthy.

Sometimes the stars don't line up and you get all the tolerances against you, aka lemon. But 99% of the time, the driving style, maintenance and environment determine the car's reliability... unless it is a Chrysler product. 

[Stu Pitt]

My father has owned his own foreign car garage for 30 years or so.  He says VW is and pretty much always has been the worst car he's worked on.  The latest aren't any better.  He had a customer with a Passat that was 125 miles over warranty.  The water pump spindle (not sure waht it's called; the part that actually circulates water in the engine) is plastic.  What happens when a cheap plastic part spins at about 5000 RPM?  It shatters.  My father spent 4 hours fishing out plastic schrapenel from inside the block.  The only replacement part was, of course, plastic.  That one shattered 8 blocks down the road after he replaced it.  VW wanted no part of fixing it the first, second, or third time it happened.

There was a class action suit against VW Passat with the 1.8T.  The oil pan was too close to the turbocharger.  the heat from the turbocharger was cooking the oil, causing engine sludge and engine seizing.  Engines were lasting about 60k or so.  Whatever it was, it was just over the warranty, and VW didn't help anyone out.

My boss owns a Passat with the 1.8T.  He's on his second engine and 3rd transmission, at about 125k.  His car is in the garage every 3 months or so, and he's getting wacked for about $500 or so each time.  Stuff ranges from engine problems to stupid things like his directionals not working.

My uncle has owned a used car lot for about 20 years.  He won't sell VW.  He sold too many that kept coming back, and he couldn't afford to keep fixing them, and he didn't want to be looked at as a guy who sells bad cars.

I really like VWs.  They drive and handle great.  From a features and fun per dollar standpoint, they're better than anything in their price range.

My father has a friend with an Audi TT. Such a great handling and perfomin car.  He had it for about a week, driving it every day to try get it to do things the owner was reporting.  He fell in love with the car, but advised his friend to sell it ASAP due to the ridiculously poor reliability.  My father has owned more cars than anyone I know over the years - BMWs, Merecedes, Jags, Porsches, and so on.  He said he hasn't driven a car that was as fun as the TT in decades.

The moral of the story,as enticing as they are, stay away.  My father and uncle also agree that Subaru isn't that far behind VW in reliability.  My uncle refuses to sell those too.  Fortunately, Subaru isn't very much fun to drive.  Except the SVX.  That was a blast to drive.  Not very reliable either.

On a postitive note, VW has a great track record with their diesel engines.  They've traditionally been one of the best engines out there.  Volvo used them for a long time, as did a few others.

[LadyDog]

Doc,
As I am sure you have figured out by now, it is hit or miss w/VW.  Some good experiences, some bad.  If reliability is the driving force, I'd probably shy away.

Own a Passat myself.  Fun to drive, but flakey at best.

Good luck in your hunt.

[orthobiz]

Is the '74 the 2 liter?  I had a '72 914 1.7, among my many Porsche ownership.  I had a couple of friends who owned a 914-6.  That was a pocket rocket back in its day.

1.8 liter. Was holding out for the 2.0 but found a near flawless 21K miler that I could not pass up.

Paul

[punkaroo]

I owned a 2002 Golf TDI for about 6, 7 years. It was a really fun car to drive. But repairs were expensive, as was insurance. My partner and I bought a brand new Mazda 3 this year. Fun car, but man, I really miss the mileage I got from my diesel!!! And I *really* miss that low end torque. The Mazda is fun, but not the same. Would I buy another VW? If I won the lottery! I love 'em, but hate 'em a tiny bit too. Not crazy about VW the company, either. I've had several awful customer service experiences with them.

[Nels Ferre]

I worked for a VW dealer for 8 years and have owned between the ex wife and me 5 VWs. Two were great (Mexican built Jetta and Brazilian built Fox.)  Two were fair. One was horrendous (German built Corrado SLC.)

I continued to work for VW for a while after I no longer owned them. The cars got worse. I couldn't continue to represent them with a clear conscious.

Run the other way.

[Cacophonix]

I own a 2001 jetta VR6 (GLX). When its working, i simply love the car. The quality of the interiors, and the ride is much much better than any japanese car. But reliability wise they suck. I've been through multiple strut mount replacements, AC compressor, alternator issues ... the list is endless.  I've put only 100k miles in 11 years and never missed a maintenance appointment! After the latest visit to the mechanic, i've decided that VW is not getting any more of my money. I'll be trading this car in for a japanese one. While it won't be half as fun to drive, and the interior quality will be inferior, i won't miss the countless visits to the mechanic.

I was really interested in the TDI models mainly due to their low end torque and mileage, but the issues i've had with my present VW scares the living daylights out of me!

[Diamond Dog]

...lately have been lusting over a Gen 5 VW GTI or TDI. But I've heard they have a lot of issues (particularly electrical) and all repairs are expensive. My long time mechanic told me to stay away.

You have a good mechanic - congrats. Listen to him. VW and reliability are often mutually exclusive terms. You used the expression " hot hatch" - are you a ( British )Top Gear fan ? They're big VW boosters but VW is also a big advertiser so caveat emptor...

D.D.

[TONEPUB]

I own an 2006 Audi A3, which is a VW in a fancy suit.  I love it. 

Are German cars as reliable as Japanese cars?  Nope, I've had a few problems with mine, but nothing too bad, and to me, it's been worth the headaches as it's well made, quiet, and really fun to drive. 

TONEPUB, you'd be as happy with a GTI as you would be with a 911?  Heh, not me!  How about a 911 turbo? 

Honestly, I would be as happy with a GTI as a 911.  A 911 turbo would be a ton of fun, but there's no where to drive
it to take advantage of what it can do for me to justify the expense.  That doesn't mean there won't be another 911
in my future, because my wife really wants another 911.

Personally, I'd really like a Boxster S.  That's the car I'd enjoy most of all or perhaps an Audi R8.  Had a chance to drive
one of those recently and think if I were shelling out 90k for a spec'd out 911, I'd make the jump to 120k for an R8.

But it's like stereos, it could all change tomorrow!

[Letitroll98]

As the OP was in March, I would assume the decision has already been made.  Just sayin'....

However generally speaking, I think the consensus is pretty universal, VW's require maintenance somewhere between moderate and major.  If you don't love 'em, and/or reliability is your chief concern, you should look elsewhere, get a nice Honda or Toyota.  But if you're looking for a fabulous combination of family car ride, sporty handling, Euro styling, moderate price tag, and don't mind keeping ahead of repair with regular preventative maintenance, highly recommended.  A car not for everybody.