Volkswagen Reliability

Marakith · 14 Sep 2009 at 16:40

"If only everything in life were as reliable as a Volkswagen..."

That was the slogan I remember best from VW's advertising through the 80s and 90s.

Thing is, my Polo (bought new in 2002 and with 50k miles on the clock) has had loads of problems, often recurring and including:

Failed clutch
Failed Catalytic Converter
Starter motor dying
Windows leaking
Engine Management Light on for no reason
Failed suspension
Failed ABS

And I've been screwed over by the repair costs at the Dealerships too, including occasions where they've clearly just made up the price as they've gone along.

I'm now thinking of retiring the car, even though it hasn't really lasted all that long.

My next choice is either a Golf or a Japanese branded equivalent.

I'd really like to pick the Golf, but am now losing faith in the brand. I have a feeling that the accountants have trumped the engineers.

What experience do you have with the newer VWs? Was 2002 a bad year for them? Are they more reliable again?
What about the Japanese brands like Honda and Toyota? I hear they're very reliable, but is this still the case?

TIA

iaind · 14 Sep 2009 at 16:48

Focus

Edit, thats a serious suggestion - the Focus is probably a better buy than the Golf and certainly better than any nasty Jap stuff.

Saying that, a friend had a Mk4 Golf for 3 years and put about 50k miles on it - the only thing that failed was a coil spring. He's had a Mk5 now for about 18 months (since new) and that hasnt missed a beat either, not even a rattle on either of them

[TW]Fox · 14 Sep 2009 at 16:52

VW are no more reliable, if not less so, than averae these days.

iaind · 14 Sep 2009 at 16:53

[TW]Fox;14885361 said:
VW are no more reliable, if not less so, than averae these days.

Are there any fundamentally unreliable cars in this sector these days? Even Alfa are pulling their game together

Gaijin · 14 Sep 2009 at 17:07

Depends what sector you are referring to. If you are referring to automotive in general, Peugeot are still particularly gash in the reliability stakes.

iaind · 14 Sep 2009 at 17:09

Gaijin said:
Depends what sector you are referring to. If you are referring to automotive in general, Peugeot are still particularly gash in the reliability stakes.

I was thinking of the mid sized hatch sector as that's what the OP was talking about. Its also a pretty large (largest) sector in this country so I'd expect most brands to be getting their act together

Gaijin · 14 Sep 2009 at 17:11

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

Disco Boy · 14 Sep 2009 at 17:17

My 2002 polo, which I bought in july 2007 and have since taken it 50k-60k miles has had:

suspension coil (last week)
coil pack (year ago)
engine fan seized (two years ago)

all the rest of the things that have needed doing to it were my fault.

I don't think that's too bad for a 7 year old car.

Marakith · 14 Sep 2009 at 21:27

Maybe I've just had a run of bad luck, Disco Boy.

Thanks for the other ideas - I used to have a real aversion to Ford, after seeing a couple of friends have gearbox problems with theirs, but I'll think again about the Focus.

Anyone had experience with the new Civic?

Disco Boy · 14 Sep 2009 at 21:28

It's a Honda, so it will never break, ever.

gazzaa · 14 Sep 2009 at 21:51

my focus st brokedown with 88 miles on the clock lol

daveydave · 14 Sep 2009 at 21:53

you just got a dud, it sometimes happens that a car comes out of the factory and its just plagued with problems. Trade up if it bothers you, but hey thats car ownership, invariably they all break sometime or another

lambda · 14 Sep 2009 at 23:05

iaind said:
Focus

Edit, thats a serious suggestion - the Focus is probably a better buy than the Golf and certainly better than any nasty Jap stuff.

Saying that, a friend had a Mk4 Golf for 3 years and put about 50k miles on it - the only thing that failed was a coil spring. He's had a Mk5 now for about 18 months (since new) and that hasnt missed a beat either, not even a rattle on either of them

Ford Focus - Reliability Index 45.47

VW Golf- Reliability Index 88.36

And the "nasty jap stuff" for comparision:

Honda Civic - Reliability Index 28.56
Toyota Corrola - Reliability Index 9.87
Nissan almera - Reliability Index 2.69

Lower index is better. German car aren't reliable, far from it, but they are very well made. If you want something that has a lower probability of having reliability problems, buy a japanese car. The interiors of the civic and corrola are much nicer than the Focus' (which is hidious).

PistolPete · 14 Sep 2009 at 23:13

My Audi TT had the turbo fall off within 6 weeks of leaving the showroom.

However, there is a old Golf (I think) in the foyer area of the Volkswagen Training building in Milton Keynes that done some absurb mileage (maybe 3/4 million miles) that they took of a guy who had it from new, gave him a new one so they could strip this one down and put it on display.

photoshop · 14 Sep 2009 at 23:40

my other half's mk5 GTI hasn't had any problems since she brought it brand new in 2005. Not 1 problem. We also use golfs and passats at work and i cant recall any going wrong and some of them have done over 100k

PS. A few senior peeps use to have jags (new ones) but they kept on going wrong so we no longer use them.

I also know a guy who has a 56 reg lambo which failed 2 days after he collected it. Was funny seeing the RAC guy pull up and have a look at it

mattyprice4004 · 15 Sep 2009 at 01:04

My Dad had a new Focus, which spectacularly filled the M62 with smoke one day, I was behind him in my Mum's car, and the turbo oil seal failed

About 10 months old it was then...

To be honest, I don't think there's much more than luck in reliability these days.

iaind · 15 Sep 2009 at 07:54

lambda said:
snip
Lower index is better. German car aren't reliable, far from it, but they are very well made. If you want something that has a lower probability of having reliability problems, buy a japanese car. The interiors of the civic and corrola are much nicer than the Focus' (which is hidious).

I meant its a better car, not more reliable.

Undoubtedly the jap stuff is more reliable, but I wouldnt buy an Almera if it dispensed notes from the dashboard if it ever went wrong. I get severely depressed just looking at cars like that. At least if they went wrong occasionally it might add a bit of interest to the ownership experience.

Also, that reliability index site is pretty flawed in many ways and not really an accurate depiction of a cars reliability.

Matt82 · 15 Sep 2009 at 08:11

1995 golf, 211k miles, only minor problems to date. only thing it wont do is time travel when i wake up late for work

DJMK4 · 15 Sep 2009 at 08:20

MK4 Golf GT TDi 2001 - 140K - Only known problems atm is the key fobs not working (but can use the key) and some minor electrical problems (windows), I replaced my own coilsprings which got it through the MOT yesterday. Didnt fail or get any other advisories.

Howard · 15 Sep 2009 at 08:26

Gaijin said:
Depends what sector you are referring to. If you are referring to automotive in general, Peugeot are still particularly gash in the reliability stakes.

Not just the reliability stakes

VWs are built well - this doesn't mean they're reliable - they're two differen things. Ford, probably Vauxhall and all Japanese stuff will be more reliable. And I'd have a Honda over a Ford anyway