How Reliable is VW?

[Ryanyusoff]

wow..after reading this thread..really makes me think twice abt changing to VW brand leh..coz seriously considering the Touran Sport.any Touran owners here could give their 'personal' review?

[KDF]

Okay please not get affected by my experience as I believe it's a matter of bad luck perhaps for individuals but recent reviews suggested very good effort and engineering in their Eos. How true? Maybe again it's up to individual luck again :P

[oomph]

My personal opinion of the VW is that, it has a better first 4 years before things starts to fail....without fail.

 

I've owned a vw before .... this is true.

 

At 4th year wanted to keep for 10 years.

After 5th year all parts mechanical and sensors were starting to give trouble, hot turbo 1.8L engine starts to lose oil/leak etc...

6th year after a series of downtime at workshop sold at a HUGE LOSS on resale value and PARF (old scheme).

 

Rattling from day one, but its minor considering its price (not BMW/MERC) ... but I don't think this weather suits it. Especially their turbo application which runs tremendously hot and in the USA you can read all about the sludge build up that kills the engine overtime.... on stock you can run the turbo here in Singapore for an hour or so and someparts in the engine literally turns RED HOT as seen on pics on the old vag forum.

 

Also note that the number of 5 year old vw's on the road are extremely rare.

 

[Mudpeas]

I've owned a vw before .... this is true.

 

At 4th year wanted to keep for 10 years.

After 5th year all parts mechanical and sensors were starting to give trouble, hot turbo 1.8L engine starts to lose oil/leak etc...

6th year after a series of downtime at workshop sold at a HUGE LOSS on resale value and PARF (old scheme).

 

Rattling from day one, but its minor considering its price (not BMW/MERC) ... but I don't think this weather suits it. Especially their turbo application which runs tremendously hot and in the USA you can read all about the sludge build up that kills the engine overtime.... on stock you can run the turbo here in Singapore for an hour or so and someparts in the engine literally turns RED HOT as seen on pics on the old vag forum.

 

Also note that the number of 5 year old vw's on the road are extremely rare.

 

Oh no ... can anyone offer any views whether it applies to Volvo turbo cars too?

Edited June 19, 2009 by Mudpeas

[Fortress]

You are absolutely right.

 

After driving a number of German type of cars, realised this that they don't really last like they used to. Guess, it is the commercial aspect that drives the car manufacturers to make money in spare parts.

[Renegade777]

I am driving a German variant in the form of the Czech made, Skoda Superb. It is basically a rebadged VW Passat B5.5 LWB version. Engine is basically German as the parts are a mixture of Audi and VW parts since Skoda do not produce their own parts, they take from the parts basket from both Audi and VW.

 

Quality and built is top notch, a Japaeness Altis ram into the corner of my ride, her ride's lamps, bumpers were totally gone and mine had a paint scratch....this only reconfirms one of the bros post about German rides built like tanks.

 

With a 1.8T engine basically a bullet proof engine with regularly timely servicing.

 

If my ride from German decent is of such quality built, I believe the Touran should even be more, the 1.4TSI Super-Turbo charged powerplant is aplenty with torque low end and a nice mid-high range.

 

Stable and quality ride, if it was released 3 years ago at this price, I would have gone for it.

 

And it drinks like tank..... Anyway, heavy cars doe not mean always safe. It also depends on the design, structure and beams etc use internally even though it may be a tin can (crumple zone) and Japs is good at that. Light so to consume less petrol and yet can be safe too. Only problem is that you dont feel safe during the drive and it is especially noisy becasue it is not made of solid materials. .

 

Previously I crashed my Civic and the front totally gone. The crash looks so bad but I still walk-out fine. That is the technology of Jap.

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2009 by Renegade777

[TandemAssassin]

Unless VW Sales Staff can change their stuckup attitude, I will never touch a VW from VW AD.

 

Do they really think that VW badge is a big thing? Volkswagen = people's car. It is the 'Toyota' of Germany. First time that a SE during a test drive, keep sms-ing on her phone and never open her mouth once except to tell me to turn left or right. I ask her how much torque, she tell me bhp.

 

Not only that, the Passat CC specs look so good on paper. But on the road, I don't know where all the 250NM of torque went. Pick-up is tepid even at 4k rpm.

 

Sorry for the OT, but if the Sales (who usually are the ones who have to provide the best customer svc) are like that, I shudder to think what the service staff will be like during repairs or when I have to make major warranty claims.

[Fortress]

You are absolutely right. It is the type of car and design.As for Honda civic, I have helped carried 3 coffins over the late 15 years for friends who drove Civics, in accidents that are, in my view, can walk away on your own in many cars.

[Eyke]

Unless VW Sales Staff can change their stuckup attitude, I will never touch a VW from VW AD.

 

i agree their SEs are super stuckup, been there a few times and

never been approached to see if i needed help.

 

but then again, could be i don't look like buyer

 

[Doosan]

sounds similar to the bolehland AD who always hvng road shows, celebrating sick year anniversary,

almost all their sales staffs in those so-called road shows, treating potential customers like glasses-- transparent

[GoodCar]

my 8yrs old Jetta(1.6L) crossed over Tibet.... 12 days , 2300km without any problem

 

 

 

 

This must be the very old model Jette but still manufacturing and selling in mainland China. It is one of the "Lao San Yang" (The three old model)

namely : VW Jatta, VW Santana and Citron "Fu Kang".

 

In 2004 (If I remember correctly) one lady from Beijing took up a challenge from a Beijing media;

 

She drove from Beijing to Europe through Russia (passing thru Siberia). She was driving the old model VW Jetta.

[GoodCar]

And it drinks like tank..... Anyway, heavy cars doe not mean always safe. It also depends on the design, structure and beams etc use internally even though it may be a tin can (crumple zone) and Japs is good at that. Light so to consume less petrol and yet can be safe too. Only problem is that you dont feel safe during the drive and it is especially noisy becasue it is not made of solid materials. .

 

Previously I crashed my Civic and the front totally gone. The crash looks so bad but I still walk-out fine. That is the technology of Jap.

 

 

Compare to Korean ride, you pay maybe 20 to 30k more, How much petrol can 20k buy ah.

If you want to buy car, don't put too much consideration on the petrol...unless you always clock very high milage like taxi...:)

 

[Meister]

Hi guys,

 

Side track a bit. I was wondering you could recommend a good Ford SE as well as a VW SE? I have searched and I can't find a thread on this and I am also not able to start a new thread being a newbie.

 

I hope you can help.

 

Kindly pm me if possible?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Alan

[Wolfverine]

I used to own a 2005 Alfa 147 and within the 2.5 years of ownership, I had to send the car in to the agent for minor works (e.g. warning lights on etc) almost every month. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, esp the TS engine.

 

Currently owning a VW and again, I had to send the car in about once every 2 months for minor works (e.g squeaking roof etc). However, the DSG drive is so enjoyable that I can live with all the shortcomings.

 

In short, my opinion is that I would rather drive a car that is drivable and live with minor quirks than to drive a car that is flawless but not enjoyable to drive. By the way, I have not come across any car that is flawless - japanese or conti.

[Zzsphere]

Hi,

New to the forum. Was contemplating between a 2nd hand Volvo S60 and Audi A4. Just got hold of a 2-yr A4 2.0 MU from Premium. Looking for input from other Audi drivers. So far performance is within expectation.

[Jolie888]

Hi,

New to the forum. Was contemplating between a 2nd hand Volvo S60 and Audi A4. Just got hold of a 2-yr A4 2.0 MU from Premium. Looking for input from other Audi drivers. So far performance is within expectation.

 

You should never have touched an Audi MU (CVT), especially a used one.

 

Too many Audi owners have experienced problems with the CVT after 2-3 years of driving, most having to replace it (to the tune of $27K, as quoted by PA). Many of them just did minor repairs to get it working just for a while, before dumping it in the used car market - like a hot potato.

 

Anyway, due to so much bad press on the Multitronic CVT and owner complaints, PA now (mainly) brings in the S-tronic (DSG) tranny and Tiptronic (Auto) for the current models, with the odd Manual (e.g. S3) on an indent basis. PA not stupid right? It has to continue selling Audis.

 

Even when brand new (e.g. in the test drive car), the Multitronic CVT, due to its use of a steel-braided belt, is awfully loud at high RPMs. I can't even conduct a decent conversation with the SE in the car. We had to literally scream at each other.

 

Good luck with your purchase!

[Jolie888]

And by the way, look at VAG (Audi's parent VW company).

 

VGS brings in VW cars with only DSG and Tiptronic. Clever move there.

 

The odd CVT is in the old (out-going) Polo, which does not sell well anyway.

Imagine an anemic 1.4L low-torque engine mated to a CVT - rubber-bandy man!

 

[Watwheels]

And by the way, look at VAG (Audi's parent VW company).

 

VGS brings in VW cars with only DSG and Tiptronic. Clever move there.

 

The odd CVT is in the old (out-going) Polo, which does not sell well anyway.

Imagine an anemic 1.4L low-torque engine mated to a CVT - rubber-bandy man!

VW dun called it Tiptronic, they still call it auto. It's just a normal autobox with a torque converter that has a manual overide.

 

DSG have it's weakness too, it still needs to overhaul and service after some time. The thing is still new so you won't come across it yet.

 

If you were to see how dual-clutch transmission works, you will tend to see multiple clutch plates staked together. I had the chance to come across those used for marine small boats, fyi boats uses dual-clutch transmission and auto box as well.

 

In between these plates are a formation of abrasive surfaced plates sandwiched by 2 other smooth surfaced plates and a few set of these plates form the "clutch". When in process of shifting gears they will momentarily disengage and engage automatically thru hydraulic action where as in a manual you use your left leg to do it. These abrasive surface plates can wear out over time, you will feel lost of power(plates slipping like a manual car clutch plate), or have problem getting into gear. The gearbox have to be overhauled and the clutch plates replaced.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Watwheels