I'm not trying to start any arguments or anything, I'm just surprised by the VW bashing that goes on around here. My family has had a long history with VWs and Audis, and they were all phenomenally reliable, good performers (with a couple exceptions) and really nice cars. I know they're now overpriced, overfeatured and underpowered in the base models, but have they really gotten that bad?

We had a 69 Beetle, 80 Dasher (diesel), 83 Audi 5000 turbo, 86 Audi 5000CS, 87 Audi 5000, 85 Golf, 79 Scirocco, 72 Superbeetle, and 81 Audi Fox. All were 100k+ by the time we got rid of them, in some cases almost 200k.

All of these were German built, except the Golf, which was out of the now-closed PA plant. Are the Mexican-built cars really that bad?

 

My mother-in-law got a Beetle not too long ago. Slow as can be but she isn't going to be going drag racing anytime soon either. Interior is really nice and the car drives well considering that weak 2.0 is under the hood.

She has had some problems with it. It is rusting in the hatch and there are a couple of other things wrong too that I can't remember. Her experience scared my wife off of the Passat as a possible new car. I have always had a high opinion of them as well. But I don't know anymore. They seem to be having a lot of recall issues now.

 

The Passat is still made in Germany I think. Car reviewers often give glowing reviews of it. The Jetta is made in Mexico and the Golf in Brazil. Build quality is very high, but some have reliability problems.

 

I had a '96 Passat VR6. As soos as it hit 100,000 miles it began to fall apart. Something would break every 2 weeks. I loved the motor, but I needed something a little more reliable.

 

that is maybe the longest signature I've seen. not sure how long that'll last......

 

ive had no problems with my past vw's
72 beetle
81 vanagon (currently rebuilding it)
87 fox gl

altho i havent owned any newer vw's. so i cant really say anything on them now. but the ones I have owned have been nothing but reliable and fun to drive. the van is the only one i cant yet put reliable behind totaly. but i got it with two cylinders not holding compression, one with bad compression, and the last with good. drove it home from where i bought it. and the baby will still hold 45mph up steep hills. and this van is no light chicken. shortly after i started rebuilding it. when i got my job offer in washington and never had the money to move it out there. three years later im slowly getting back to work on her. its a fine breadbox!!! tho i would love to finish it and trade up to a syncro with a nice motor swap in it... ohhh yeah that would rock my world.