VW tops list for resale value?

[Jim Garfield]

VW has leapt ahead of Honda/Acura, MB, Lexus, and Porsche as the brand that has the highest resale value. American cars hold down 8 of the bottom 10 spots. I have to say that I was surprised hearing this, but then again it seems that lately anything Porsche touches turns to gold.

[Palum6o]

The magic number for a monthly payment is to be below $300/month. For the 18-25 year olds, choices in the used car market make the VW stand out as a realy desireable choice. Image again. I've had VWs (ac Beetle, GTI VR6, Corrado SLC) and they were all really fun to drive and own, they did have sort of a cult following (probably still do)...

[Tobra]

I found that sort of ironic, given the maintanence and reliability issues with VW's. You buy cheap then hock your stuff to keep it running I guess

[NICKG]

the vw cpo warranty is the best in the cpo game...i have a cpo boxster...Porsche can learn a bit from VW here

[onewhippedpuppy]

From what I've heard, CPO is a must if you're buying a used VW.

[ChrisBennet]

We've had a lot of VW's and they are pretty crappy. Sigh, but we keep buying them anyway...
'85 GTI, '84 GTI, '87 GTI-16V, '95 VR6, '97 Jetta
-Chris

[Jim Garfield]

Originally Posted by ChrisBennet

We've had a lot of VW's and they are pretty crappy. Sigh, but we keep buying them anyway...
'85 GTI, '84 GTI, '87 GTI-16V, '95 VR6, '97 Jetta
-Chris

Some people never learn...... It seems as though a lot of people who have had a lot of VWs (me included) have been disappointed in the past with maintenance problems, which is why I'm puzzled that they have the highest resale value. I think Palumbo may be right, image.

[Normy]

Originally Posted by ChrisBennet

We've had a lot of VW's and they are pretty crappy. Sigh, but we keep buying them anyway...
'85 GTI, '84 GTI, '87 GTI-16V, '95 VR6, '97 Jetta
-Chris

I've owned:

1977 VW Rabbit
1985 VW Scirocco turbo
1992 VW Corrado SLC
1980 VW Jetta 2 door
and...I currently own:

1997 VW Jetta GLX

Each of these cars had their strengths and weaknesses. The Scirocco was probably the best car I've ever owned- it was built like a rock, and the only problems I had with it in 127,000 miles of ownership involved the water pump and the radiator, both of which failed after 100,000 miles.

[My dad never taught me to change the coolant every three years; now you know why those parts failed~ ]

I learned about flying from that. Anyway...

My current Jetta is a VR6-powered automatic [sorry, my mistake-!], and has been nothing but trouble. These weren't VW's best efforts, and this car apparently led a sheltered life in Miami Beach before I took it to Memphis about one year ago. The first day I was in Memphis it was 17 degrees fahrenheit when I attempted to drive the car to work, and it nearly immediately blew all of its oil out of a weak seal on the oil cooler. I had to call a tow truck- only the second time in 22 years of car ownership that this has ever happened...and had the car towed to the dealer. The engine wasn't damaged, but the bill was still pretty high. Anyway, a week later [I'm not kidding; a WEEK later exactly!] the f*cking heater core blew apart in traffic. The car filled with steam, and I managed to pull over in stop-and-go traffic in Memphis. Well, second tow in a week. This time they wanted $1100 to replace the heater core! Yeah right. I told them to bypass the f*cking thing...

....and then I spent the rest of last winter freezing my ass off in that car!

Listen: That was brutal, even in a relatively warm place like Memphis, and with gloves and warm clothes on. I still froze! I just spent over $600 having that heater core replaced at this place in Memphis near the airport called Faulks.

Well, as I was driving toward the place that I stay in Memphis after the heater core was bypassed, I noticed that the temperature gauge was steadily climbing toward the red zone. What the hell? Well, it was now a "nice" day, nearly 60 degrees F out, and I was stuck in traffic again. Well, the Jetta's fan was not operating. Guess what? The fan motor had finally failed. When I bought this car, I had my local mechanic do a PPI on it, and the only thing he found was that the fan motor was making noise. Well, it chose right then to basically lock up.

$1100 later-!

I had a fan. I remember driving past a used car lot in Memphis- there was a chevy Lumina sitting there, and I am still mystified by this: for a few seconds, the notion of pulling in and trying to convince them to trade this @#$%^ )(&& and @@##$$%% m-$$%%^% pile of crap car for the Lumina actually ran through my mind.

Good lord! A "lumina" is a barely-roadworthy device with a plastic interior manufactured by the Saran-Wrap corporation and a silly pushrod engine fit for the label "Briggs & Stratton". The notion that I would even consider that object a "car" much less a car that I would own just mystifies me now, but I guess it indicates what state of mind I was in at the time.

Well, the Jetta has behaved since; it managed to only go through two or three tires since all the early-year fiascos, so I'm probably going to keep it for another year. I put a K&N "knockoff" air filter on it, and it sounds really cool when it revs out. But that's my VW story...

Moral: A VW that is properly maintained will put a smile on your face and not cause you much trouble. A VW that is NOT properly maintained will still put a smile on your face...but it will destroy your wallet!

[Palum6o]

I bought my Corrado almost new with 18K miles, shortly after, the steering rack had a bad leak and had to be rebuilt. The AC stopped working, the compressor was really loud. I had an alternator switch go bad and left me stranded on the way to work. I ended up putting an AMS chip, K&N filter, H&R springs/ Bilstein sports, sway bars/strut brace, short shifter, Recaro seats from a GTI - damn thing was a rocket ship, my favorite VW. I don't even want to talk about the GTI... had the CEL on most of the time, MAF sensor failed, was driving accross the Ben Franklin bridge and the window fell inside the door in the middle of winter, seat heaters stopped working, just junk and a big dissappointment. I bet the new ones are really fun to drive though.

[Normy]

Originally Posted by Palumbo

I bought my Corrado almost new with 18K miles, shortly after, the steering rack had a bad leak and had to be rebuilt. The AC stopped working, the compressor was really loud. I had an alternator switch go bad and left me stranded on the way to work. I ended up putting an AMS chip, K&N filter, H&R springs/ Bilstein sports, sway bars/strut brace, short shifter, Recaro seats from a GTI - damn thing was a rocket ship, my favorite VW. I don't even want to talk about the GTI... had the CEL on most of the time, MAF sensor failed, was driving accross the Ben Franklin bridge and the window fell inside the door in the middle of winter, seat heaters stopped working, just junk and a big dissappointment. I bet the new ones are really fun to drive though.

My Karman Corrado was a rock too. I'm of the opinion that non-Karman VW's are trouble waiting for a place to happen, especially the third generation chassis. Beware-!

[Noah930]

We've had a lot of VW's and they are pretty crappy. Sigh, but we keep buying them anyway...

LOL. In college we used to joke that of the realm of automotive manufacturers, VWs were built like the Snap-Tite plastic models we had as kids. Nothing seriously fatal ever seemed to go wrong, if you were somewhat mechanically-inclined. But it certainly helped to be mechanically-inclined to keep them running.

[SlowToady]

Hmmm....I have an 01 Golf GL (I know, I know...) and it hasn't had any real problems....yet. Bought it with 45K miles just shy of 2 years ago, going on 83K. The glue on the interior trim strip, that runs along the top of the door frame, melted in the summer and the trim piece fell off. Still haven't replaced. Hit something on the road and lost the little plastic skid plate under the engine, but that's hardly the VWs fault. Oh, and lights tend to burn out somewhat quickly. It's had 2 or 3 head lights in it since I bought it, and 3 or 4 brake lights.

Ah, well, so far, no problems...hopefully I avoid the "luck" most of you seem to have had!

[Jeff Alton]

I have had my share over the years, all have been trouble free (one leaky gas tanks in a scirocco)

My current DD is a 07 GTI with a software upgade. Great interior, the best seats I have ever sat in, quiet and pretty darn fast.

It has a warranty......

Cheers

[CurtEgerer]

The awards were presented by Kelley Blue Book based upon projections for 2007 model year cars. They have nothing to do with models older than 2007.

From KBB: "Volkswagen's market-leading resale value resiliency owes much to the fact that for fans of the brand's unique mix of attributes, there just isn't a second choice."

NO hybrids made any of the lists.

[ros74911]

Hey, Pelicanites. I was surprised myself when I heard it over the news. I'm a vdub fan like forever. I've had 84GTI, 86Cab, 90passat, and now 99 GOLF GLS @ 204k miles and still running. I think can sell my GOLF for more. He he he... My GOLF needs replacement car. I'm thinking of getting either 4dr GTI or a4 avant 2008 models. I'm still thinking about for a few months now. Any advice people of Pelican world.

[kslizzy]

VW's are great, they do have a cult following especially with some models. Don't get me wrong there are problems, probably more than with some cars. I've go a Corrado SLC that is my summer, autocrosser. It gets beaten on, and with regular maintainace it is an absoulutly great car to drive, I've been on many cross country trips with it. I've also recently gotten into the mkII realm with a 16v GLI Jetta, almost funner to drive than the Corrado. I think mostly because of the inexpensive entry fee. It was a used car so I replaced a bunch of worn parts and it is also great, my "winter beater." We all also drive Porsches so we know there may be a higher than average price to play.

I heard this on another forum, "driving a Honda or Toyota is like having sex with five condoms, sure its safe but it's no fun!" Why not drive something fun, lifes too short.

[SLO-BOB]

That is a surprise. My wife had a 2001 Beetle. Worst car I've ever had bar none. Considering the contenders I've had; Fiats, a banana yellow 1972 Caprice station wagon, and a 1978 Buick Regal Turbo, that's saying a lot. I'm sure there's a rant thread hiding in the archives from me on this topic, but the cliff notes version is that the car was in the shop about 30 times in our 5 year tenure. At 700 miles it needed new gaskets. At 13k it needed a new engine! Numerous parts falling off. Gas lid freezing shut. It was miserable. When we returned it on lease the girl went over it pretty thoroughly stating that VWs always come back with the engine light on and needing much repair. We just happened to have it serviced. Yes - to get the engine light off.

Needless to say, we will not be purchasing a VW (or Audi) in the foreseeable future. Pity because I really liked the VWs (83 GTi, 84 GLi, 79 Scirocco) I had before that.

[SLO-BOB]

Originally Posted by Normy

I remember driving past a used car lot in Memphis- there was a chevy Lumina sitting there, and I am still mystified by this: for a few seconds, the notion of pulling in and trying to convince them to trade this @#$%^ )(&& and @@##$$%% m-$$%%^% pile of crap car for the Lumina actually ran through my mind.

Good lord! A "lumina" is a barely-roadworthy device with a plastic interior manufactured by the Saran-Wrap corporation and a silly pushrod engine fit for the label "Briggs & Stratton". The notion that I would even consider that object a "car" much less a car that I would own just mystifies me now, but I guess it indicates what state of mind I was in at the time. !

Lol - VWs tend to induce that behavior I guess. I laugh because my wife and I did the same thing. However, we did buy a beater Dodge Grand Caravan because our Beetle was so bad. The Bug sat in the driveway leaking oil for it's last 18 months of lease while she drove the beater minivan with ZERO problems. The Bug has long been turned in but the beater perserveres. Despite inflicting my daughter upon it, it has managed to remain reliable to this day. Just yesterday I bought another one much like it to replace it - cosmetic reasons only. I don't have the heart to give it up.