need advice- son wants to buy VW Rabbit

[rfuerst911sc]

My youngest son ( 23 ) wants to buy a 2008 4 door rabbit. He wants an automatic and I assume when we go looking this weekend we'll primarily look at 4 cylinder models ( non-turbo ). While both of my sons have had VW Jettas in the past they were older models and I'm not up to speed on the newer models. So how is this car for a daily driver? Decent on gas? How reliable? Anything specifically to look for or stay away from? Thanks

[carambola]

i think you mean 5 cylinder

[bell]

make sure you get a good powertrain warranty, our 06' jetta's tranny died when we were in orlando from ohio about 2 months ago on our reconnaissance trip for our relocation, on the plus side Dave Maus VW on OBT really really took good care of us and everything was covered under the warranty, for a dealership they went above and beyond imo, including giving us an 08' jetta to drive while the 06' was being repaired.
if you stop in there tell them brian bell from ohio recommended you to go there, i dealt with brian in service, and the service manager. i also had some good words with the gm of the dealership about my experience.
we looked at some of the newer vw's but decided on the 06' becuase we'd take less of a hit with the depreciation.
the i-5 and 6 speed electronic tranny has been a dream since they replaced it, and gets about 31mpg highway, it's a jetta though so it's a little heavier then the rabbit.

[rfuerst911sc]

Originally Posted by bell

make sure you get a good powertrain warranty, our 06' jetta's tranny died when we were in orlando from ohio about 2 months ago on our reconnaissance trip for our relocation, on the plus side Dave Maus VW on OBT really really took good care of us and everything was covered under the warranty, for a dealership they went above and beyond imo, including giving us an 08' jetta to drive while the 06' was being repaired.
if you stop in there tell them brian bell from ohio recommended you to go there, i dealt with brian in service, and the service manager. i also had some good words with the gm of the dealership about my experience.
we looked at some of the newer vw's but decided on the 06' becuase we'd take less of a hit with the depreciation.
the i-5 and 6 speed electronic tranny has been a dream since they replaced it, and gets about 31mpg highway, it's a jetta though so it's a little heavier then the rabbit.

David Maus Toyota has an excellent rep in this town and I don't doubt his recently purchased VW shop will be the same. Well I've learned the engine is a I-5 rather than a 4. I think the standard powertrain warranty is 50,000 miles.

[jwhcars]

We have an 07 Rabbit and have had no problems in 13k miles. I think the Rabbit is a good value for the money.Handles well and the 08 will have a little more HP.

[WolfeMacleod]

Threaten to disown him if he buys an Automatic.

[carambola]

i think you are also looking at free scheduled maintenance

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I'd have an extremely hard time trusting any VW for reliability these days. . .

[jkarolyi]

VW's quality has taken a nosedive in the past decade or so...JD Power, Consumer Reports and others rank them near the bottom for reliability. I owned lots of VWs in the 90s (Passat, Corrado, GTI, 80s Rabbit) but judging by my co-worker's experiences with newer models, I'd never own another one.

[cab83_750]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

I'd have an extremely hard time trusting any VW for reliability these days. . .

+1 .... after seeing my brother's experience and $$ repair on his VW.

[Z-man]

My wife's DD is a '03 New Beetle Turbo with 35k on the clock. The New Beetle is essentially the same platform as the previous gen Golf.

Aside from the taillights and headlights needing replacement, the car has been absolutely trouble free since we've owned it since new,

Just a counterpoint regarding VW and reliability issues...
-Z-man.

[deathpunk dan]

I hear the current 5th generation platform cars are much, much better than the mk4 cars from a reliability standpoint.

Jay, I'm a former 91 GTI 8v and 92 Corrado VR6 owner. I hear you on the 'never again'...even though clean mk1 GTI's and Sciroccos tempt me often.

Now, if I was this kid, I'd also take a long hard look at the Mazda3 hatchback. By all accounts, it slots in between the Rabbit and GTI. In fact, I just might buy myself a late model Mazda3 one day real, real soon.

[nostatic]

If you have a decent dealer close by, very little risk in a new one. Just get ready to sell it when the warranty expires.

I liked my GTI, and the Rabbit is essentially the same platform. If I were in the market for a new econo box it would be on my short list. But the 5 cyl engine evidently doesn't get the gas mileage that you'd expect.

[aigel]

I would advise against a VW unless you lease it or trade it in after 3 years. Glad that the VW owners here had a good experience (so far) but less than 40k miles doesn't count. The expensive stuff (that auto trans for example) goes later. VW is designed in Germany and made in Mexico. Look at the sticker where the thing is put together and where the parts are coming from ... Again, if your son is planning on using the car up - look at something else.

George

[NICKG]

the new a5 chassis cars are pretty much bulletproof..i just bought another gti ...other than a weak ac system , i could not be happier.

[NICKG]

Originally Posted by aigel

I would advise against a VW unless you lease it or trade it in after 3 years. Glad that the VW owners here had a good experience (so far) but less than 40k miles doesn't count. The expensive stuff (that auto trans for example) goes later. VW is designed in Germany and made in Mexico. Look at the sticker where the thing is put together and where the parts are coming from ... Again, if your son is planning on using the car up - look at something else.

George

alot of mis-information here...CURRENTLY the rabbit and the GTI along with the passat are made in germany. The JETTA and the new beetle are made in mexico.
Newer vw (06 up) are great cars...GREAT cars..especially with DSG (the rabbit has DSG but no paddle shifters)
Personally I have owned numerous vws...I also worked at a vw dealer. I would stay away from golf and jetta 4 (99.5-2005 early) as they are the cars that earned the bad rep..and not nearly as bad as people think.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by deathpunk dan

Now, if I was this kid, I'd also take a long hard look at the Mazda3 hatchback. By all accounts, it slots in between the Rabbit and GTI. In fact, I just might buy myself a late model Mazda3 one day real, real soon.

I really really like ours. It has a fit and finish that was 10x better than the other hot hatches on the market, it's quick, nimble (I'm thinking of auto-Xing it this fall), gets good mileage, and for 25K miles has only cost us a set of tires (the factory RSAs were just junk).

[GothingNC]

Iv'e had no prblems with my 04 Jetta TDI (60,000 miles) and 05 jetta GLI (30,000)

Had a 95 Jetta that I purchased with 25,000 miles and was fine when I sold it at 100,000 miles.

My brother has a 99 1/2 Jetta TDI with 175,000 miles. No problems outside of routine maint. Tires, brakes, timing belts. Still has original clutch and gets alomst 50 MPG

Now stealership service is another story

[BReif61]

I test drove the 4dr Rabbit, Mazda3 5-door, and the Impreza 5-door.

Between those three, the VW didn't set itself apart enough to warrant the price difference. That was back before they started that cheap lease offer, though. I personally liked the 3 the best.

Take that with a grain of salt, though.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by GothingNC

Iv'e had no prblems with my 04 Jetta TDI (60,000 miles) and 05 jetta GLI (30,000)

Had a 95 Jetta that I purchased with 25,000 miles and was fine when I sold it at 100,000 miles.

My brother has a 99 1/2 Jetta TDI with 175,000 miles. No problems outside of routine maint. Tires, brakes, timing belts. Still has original clutch and gets alomst 50 MPG

Now stealership service is another story

Any issues with the fuel pump on TDi? A friend of mine just got a used Golf TDi with 75K miles. He drove it for two weeks and then the fuel pump died. It turns out to be a nearly $2K repair from the dealer...part is nearly $1500 alone.

I've posted here before about VW. The only reliable ones I owned were the air cooled vintage. So many issues with our Jetta I will never go back. They might be well past the bad years but I'm not taking any chances.