Mechanic’s Tale: VW, Heal Thyself

The guy is really pissed on VW. Sorry to hear that, but it looks like VW will survive, against his will.. They actually do pretty good, selling many more cars than Toyota (only saying that since the article compares VW to Toyota) overall.

The article is a couple of years old, and things have changed quite a bit since then, but it serves as a reminder about past issues.

yea but however, VWs are stil expensive to repair and maintain unlike their rivals. we had a 97 passat tht was unreliable. we went to my dads friend who was an expert mechanic because the "stealer" overcharges us for maintenence and repairs. with a wk in the shop for electrical and some engine troubles, the cost was still expensive, but cheaper than the stealer. even though there are still some german cars that are built strong, when you deal with a engine or eletrical problem, it won't be easy to repair nor will it be cheap. my dad doesnt want to buy another german car unless it would be a BMW if its in his salary. as im still in HS, im going to go to a techschool at another HS where they have an automotive seminar.

how would you know? have you owned both honda or toyota long with a VW? have you read how complex germans are when they integrate electronics in their cars? please don't call me uninformed as our family owned both.

dont mind if I pull this out:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3327063
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3283817
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3305333

from the article:"Europeans have always had a fundamental problem with the understanding of electricity and electrical things. Perhaps because old Ben Franklin discovered it and Thomas Edison figured out what to do with it, they outright rejected it as a nouveau riche affectation from the new world. When the world jumped from electrical to electronic, the German manufacturer's problems became even worse. The first thing I noticed is the AM radio function in most Volkswagens never works. This is a dangerous warning sign as the AM radio is almost as old as the telegraph, and every American male growing up in the past century learned how to build one using a coat hanger and a copper penny as a tuner, yet this is somehow beyond the reach of Germany's finest minds. And if you can't master the AM radio thing, what will happen with modern computer controls?"

"VWs are not more expensive to repair than Toyotas or Hondas."
really? you have any sources to back up? ask many owners of accords and passats.

Yep. I guess he was hoping for a nice simple Push-Rod Engine.

The Electrical problems he mentioned might just be true, i have had problems on Vws once they are over 2 years old they develop slight glitches Wing Mirror Problems etc) but they are never serious problems, just irritating ones.

However the drivetrain from VW are as close to FLAWLESS as you can get in a very powerful small engine. My cousin had a 99 Golf GTI 1.8 Turbo (Same engine in the vehicle the chap was complaining abut) and he had it from new till last year and it had 92K miles on it by the time he got rid of it. other than Regular services, there were no other problems and he drives his vehicle quite entusiastically as the acceleration on that vehicle is quite cool.

good luck to vw owners

I agree the same.

A bunch of babble, ask any mechanic, I bet there tons of stories about really screwed up Toyota and Hondas.

actually, our mechanic told me tht most toyotas and hondas were easy to fix. tranny problems, pwr windows from hondas and timing belts and engine gaskets, etc were much easier for him to repair than electrical nitemares and engine troubles he had on most german cars.

? um our honda had 8k mi and our crv has 114k and we had no rotors replaced ever 5k nor our transmissions are replaced every 30k, thts pretty much a american car.

its funny how everyone takes one guy's experience with his VW and all of a sudden its the law of the land. To base reliability of a car on a mechanics opinion is like asking a Frenchman if Americans are nice. What a ridiculous assumption. Clearly mechanics will see only those cars that need repairs. To even say that one mechanic's experience with VWs Toyotas or Hondas applies to every single VW, Toyota or Honda is simply bringing to light the lack of what is statistically significant.

One person's experience may be a fact but it does not apply to every other car of the same make. What a RIDICULOUS comment!