any recent new vw buyers?

[nostatic]

I'm getting dangerously close to buying a 2007 GTi w/DSG tranny. Hopefully I'll finally be ambulatory enough to test drive one this week, but given estimates of 3-6 months of rehab before I can drive a stick, and that at least on paper the car fits about all my needs (you can get it in a 4-door hatch), if the DSG doesn't suck it seems like a reasonable move.

The one major pause is the reputation of VW over recent years wrt reliability. This GTi is built in Germany, not Brazil or Mexico. The DSG has gotten rave reviews from almost everyone who has driven or owns it. But there have been reports of quite a few AC problems (driers blowing up, compressors cracking), and who know what else will crop up. The only plus is that this platform (same as the Audi A3) has been sold in Europe for a couple years now, so one would hope most of the bugs are worked out.

So bring out your horror (or other) stories...

[BlueSkyJaunte]

VW quality hit an astonishing low in '99 when the first Mexican Golf/Jettas rolled off the line but they've been improving ever since. I have just under 5k on my new Jetta TDI (manual) and my only complaint so far are a few rattles in the dash near the radio. This is a far cry better than my last two Subarus.



BTW the VW has a 4/50k warranty vs. the Subie's 3/36k.

[dd74]

I don't own, but it's a car I would consider. I've heard nothing but very high praise for the new GTi, especially with the DSG transmission. For my needs in a performance car, only one other car I've seen takes the GTi to the toolshed, which is the Civic Si, but the Civic Si takes even the Mini Cooper S JW to the toolshed. With a redline over 8K, the Civic Si is a true race car in street clothing, which is probably not what you're looking for.

On a day-to-day basis, the GTi is much better, though. It stores more, and is "fast enough," even faster with the DSG. I've sort of lost touch with the car, however. The last I heard was the U.S. won't get the five-door version of the GTi.

If you really need five doors, I'd wait until the Mazdaspeed3 comes out, which should be soon. According to the magazines, it'll be the fastest FWD car offered by anyone, even as it has five doors.

[nostatic]

The 5-door GTis are in dealerships now. The Mazdaspeed looks nice, but no DSG. If I gotta go auto, there are few choices in something truly entertaining. I like the looks of the Civic SI, but it is a 2-door coupe...not a good real world car for someone like me. The Cooper S is on the list, but from what I've read the auto tranny is a typical slushbox. The DSG is an honest to god manual with two computer controlled clutches...no torque converter.

Gotta drive one though. If it doesn't send me I'm back to craigslist looking for a beater...

[dean]

My feeling about VW is that they use lower quality parts. And then they have reliabilty problems. For example, I have had 3 front wheel bearings go on my 2 Jettas. The first went at 25k the next at 50k and the last at 75k. I have had other FWD cars that have had 250k on the wheel bearings and still going strong. So I think it is poor quality parts. I love my VW's. Even with all the problems they have, to me they are better cars than anything else in there price range. They are also the only cars with diesels in that price range.

[Tim Walsh]

I have a MKIV GTI and I've had some problems with it. I've had a window regulator fail and the hood latch fail, both fixed under warranty. I've got the 1.8T engine mated to a 5 speed. I love the engine and gearbox, but the little things that have failed really annoy me for a car that just turned 1 over the weekend, granted though I did put 23000 miles on in that one year.

[Jim Richards]

Todd, my 2004 Jetta GLI pimpster has been pretty good, so far. I sometimes pick up a bit of a rattle on the passenger side door frame, but not too often. My GLI has a manual tranny, so, I'm no help on the DSG set-up. Good luck and I think you'll like it.

[Z-man]

My wife's daily driver is a 2003 New Beetle Turbo, with the automatic slushbox. With 15k on the clock, we have not had any issues with the car.

Some folks swear by the 1.8 turbo motor, others swear at it! So far, I've been very pleased with it. IIRC, the GTi has the new 2.0 liter turbo with ~200 ponies. Granted, its not a supercar motor, but if it behaves anything like my wife's motor does, you will have fun with it.

-Z

[Don Plumley]

There's gotta be a VW forum somewhere. Granted, you'll have to bias out that most of the people that are not having problems are not posting, "Hey, just wanted to say another month has gone by and I still don't have any problems."

What are the JD Power figures on initial reliability? Can you make friends with a VW Dealer wrench and ask them?

[cegerer]

Don't buy DSG!! You'll never want to track your 911 with the obsolete clutch pedal system again. Trust me. It's all about aggressive left-foot braking .... ask Michael Schumacher

[cowtown]

We bought an' 05 Touareg V8 off the floor for my wife. It's been mechanically reliable but needed a new solenoid for the center diff, has had code reflashed a number of times, and the electrical system has been a nightmare. Tire monitors don't work, it always screams that you have a broken wheel/flat tire/unspecified problem, blinkers quit working, then start again. Gas tank reports "unsealed gas cap". Naturally, these are intermittent problems, so the dealer has a great way to fight you on every little fix.

I think the electrics have just gotten so complicated you have to wait for version 3.0, just like Windows. Which, incidently, is the version number VW is on with their tire pressure monitoring computer installed in our car. Other than that, it's been OK. One trim piece fell off.

Maybe the GTI has a more mature electrical system.

[NICKG]

i have a new gti...nice car all around. performance is very good, brakes well, nice fit and finish. I bought a stick..but honestly i wish i had gotten DSG. Problems are really not all too common and are more related to the dealership than anything else, VW has a really bad dealer base. Look the car over very carefuly and do not accept it if it has anything you are uncomfortable about.

Having owned evry version of the GTI save the R32 (sorry, bought and EVO instead) the new GTi is head and shoulders above he rest and is the best GTI ever. Definetly pay the $750 for the 18" wheels...even if you don't want them(you can get $1500 for them) if you want the Votex body kit, order the car with it...(much better deal)
complaints?
The leather seats in Package 2 don't look likely to last all that long...I got the plaid and am very happy with that choice, though i wish i had seat heaters. The ac is a bit weak, the radio is bad (i have an 06 and it clipped fiercely, bought an 07 radio and that is fixed) Dealers by me suck.

[Tim Walsh]

for forums there is forums.vwvortex.com but you have to weed out the l33t ps0ts and pics threads

[motion]

Check out vwvortex.com.

Oops, Tim beat me.

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by Tim Walsh
but you have to weed out the l33t ps0ts and pics threads

whassup with that l33t pn00b?

[Dottore]

As someone pointed out there is a large quality difference between the Mexican VW's and the German VW's. Much has been written about this in the German automotive press.

If you go to the dealership - spend some time going over a Mexican-built Golf and then a German-built GTI - and look at the details. You will be amazed. I recently test drove a Mexican-built Jetta with a friend and it felt like a bucket of bolts. We then drove a German-built Passat and it was solid as a tank.

We noticed the same difference with Toyota when we bought my wife's Highlander (which is made in Japan). It is beautifully finished and solid as a rock. When you compare the fit and finish to a US made Camry - the differences are startling.

Anyway - the GTI should see you right. Great car. I drove my neighbour's last week while he drove my BMW. After an hour or so - he wanted to switch back and I didn't.

[cegerer]

BTW, I currently have 3 Jetta TDIs (not sure where they were built) - an '03 with 170,000 miles, an '04 with 70,000 and an '05 with 48,000. They've all been good, solid, reliable cars.

[nostatic]

I've been over at vwvortex on and off for many years. Funny, but now I'm the cranky old guy telling the lads to take it to the track.

Seems like there are some issues, but not deal breakers. And the dealers are all over the map. I have one 2 miles away, I hope they don't suck. Luckily in LA there are about 15 of them within 50 miles. One of them has to not suck, right?

If the DSG is as good as they say, and if Porsche would put it in a stripped out Cayman, I'd track that until the cows come home...

[Noah930]

My sister has had her A3 for about 6 months and 6K miles, now. Not exactly the same car you're looking at, but similar. The latch on the moonroof shade broke. Fixed under warranty. The power steering and ESP lights came on. Dealer couldn't find anything wrong with it, so they just reset the computer. That's about it. But not enough miles for you to pass any judgement on overall reliability.

My wife had a '97 Jetta. I hated it. Nothing awful ever seemed to go bad, but I wasn't shocked by the list of little things that went wrong: starter died at 3.5 years (3-year warranty), crappy paint, leaky trunk, squeaky doors, mysterious idiot lights, etc.

edit: -1 on what cegerer said re: DSG spoiling your enjoyment of manual trannies, IMO.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Originally posted by cegerer
BTW, I currently have 3 Jetta TDIs (not sure where they were built) - an '03 with 170,000 miles, an '04 with 70,000 and an '05 with 48,000. They've all been good, solid, reliable cars.

I suspect they were built in Mexico but I could be wrong. BTW your testimony was a leading factor in my TDI purchase, so if something goes wrong it's your fault, Curt.

Do you use straight diesel or have you found a bio blend?