I'll second that thought. I've owned 3 water cooled VW's (1 Scirocco, 2 Jetta) and they all presented a reliability challenge. Fun to drive YES. Admittedly our last Jetta was 8 years ago but we endured enough pain to never again venture down that road. It made my wife's old Land Rover a Lexus (in reliability) by comparison.

Good luck!

I can reccomend our 2001 Saab 9-5 wagon. Take a look at the 9-3.

Get the TL. It is the best quality car tha I have ever driven. That includes BMW's and the VW's. You will not be dissapointed.

Alan Poh
'77 Carrera3.0

thanks Alan. What year do you have? new or old style? 270 hp?

I drove the old TL Type S and the new TL and I must say the new TL kicks A$$. With the DVD audio and the 6 speed. I personally like the styling of the new one better. Also there is more suspension tuning on the new one compared to the old one. The old one felt like a nice accord, the new one doesn't feel like an accord anymore. If I was inthe new car market the TL would be at the top of the list.

Just my $0.02

Mike

I'll third that. My wife's bug has been a nightmare. I will say that VW has been pretty good about recalls and warranty extensions, however. VWs also do well in foul weather on the right tires.

But-if you're used to a Maxima, I feel most VW products will be cramped and not offer the crash protection you seek. I prefer mass in my non-sporting vehicles. I would look at the 300m with all wheel drive and the hemi. Or....my personal favorite, The MB wagon 4matic. Pricey new, but with consumers flocking (still!) to buy suvs, the used MB wagon market is very doable in your price range.

Is an Audi just an upscale VW?

They share the same basic platform and two engines but that's about it. IE: The A-4 and the Jetta are the same platform. Where the A-4 has multi-link suspension, the Jetta has a simple struts.

The electrical switches, seats, leather are all of a much higher quality. The Audi's also receive more peformance based engine management software. Audi offers all wheel drive on the A-4 where VW only offers it on the Passat / A-6 platform. It is a better car.

We have a 2001 B5 Passat 1.8T w/5 speed. Bought it new with 15 miles on it. I have only had two issues:

1. A/C switch wenbt south two months after purchase. Dealer replaced and fixed within 48 hours.

2. Fuel leak on return line below car. Repaired by dealer free of charge, out of warranty.

The car just turned 50,000 miles last week. I commute one way twice a week 140 miles through the Lassen National Forest ( lots of snow and ice). Car averages 31-32 MPG round trip. Handles snow and ice very well.

I would buy another, if this car last another 5 years.

Thanks for the infomation.SmileWavy

My last gig, I was a tech for VW for 3 yrs. I know them very well. I think for the money they can be compared to Honda, Toyota and Nissan. They certainly have more style.

But once you get past the $40K (for VW) mark the playing field becomes a different story. The V-8 all wheel drive Passat is a good value (in the mid $40's)but at that price it has a lot of good competition.

I think VW's biggest current blunder is the V-8 & V-12 Phaeton something like $80K and $95K respectively. They are not selling at all. That's just regodamndiculous!!