Volkswagon Sucks

True Stories of the Upset Consumer

2008: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2007: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2006: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2005: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2004: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Received January 2008

I am the owner of a 06 Beetle TDI. I put on a rediculous amount of highway miles. About 35K this year.

I have a slightly different complaint. Yes, I've had my share of problems. The turbo blew at 18K. The service manager was a prick. The repair was done poorly. The lights ooze, windows smear and get foggy, shift knob, AWFUL retro seats, etc...

My main issue is with the safety and emissions systems. First off, VW has designed the emmissions system to break the engine. They use an EGR on a diesel. BRILLIANT! At 18K mile I already had about 1/8 inch of crud in my intake. Next comes the Electronic stability control and Electronic Brake Assist. I have been nearly killed by the ESP because it saw wheel spin and slammed on the brakes and almost stalled the car. That feature made me have a near miss with a cement truck in heavy traffic. My favorite is the brake assist. This actually MADE ME GET HIT. I put on the brakes an it put on MORE. I got drilled by a soccer mom in a mini van. $2800 in damage.

I am a big fan of EFI and Cruise Control. I also think ABS is plus in snow and ice. Beyond that, I think the DRIVER should control the car. VW has placed all these electronic gizmos in the car to make it safer and have made it much more dangerous. Any system that slams on the brakes without looking in the mirror for tailgaters is just plain WRONG!

VW - Drivers wanted... Not really!

Thanks for letting me feel like part of a club--even if I wish I weren't a member. My 2002 Passat...bought used with 60,000 miles... not even paid off and we have total engine failure due to the oil sludge issue... even though WE have been taking care of it, apparently previous owner did not. Now dealer wants $8000 to replace the engine, oil pump, etc. Blue book is only $10K. Should we do it? Will this problem be fixed then? Should we trash it? I'm sick about it and feel completely stupid for believing in German engineering.

Hello. I found your website after a long search for the VW corporate phone and address information. We own a 2002 Passat with only 75,000 miles. Since mid December, we've dumped $1,100 into it trying to fix the engine problems that continually occur. The car continually misfires while driving and even when stopped at a light. It's annoying. The dealership has assured us that they have done everything to correct the problem - they even went as far as contacting the factory who told them to clean the carbon buildup in the valvetrain. They also claim that everything else that's been done to the car/engine needed to be replaced as the "car is old and the parts were wearing down". They drove the car 15 lousy miles and claimed the misfires have not returned. Well guess what...they're back. I believe the dealership doesn't have a clue what they're doing. Do you have a contact name number to either the factory or corporate office so I can call them myself. I'm sure the dealership won't give me that information.

Just wanted to say I FUCKING HATE my 99 VW New Beetle. I bought it used for 13000, it had 35000 miles on it and it was still covered under the factory warranty. (THANK GOD!) Within 2 weeks of having it the AC stopped working, the catalytic convertor blew up (literaly), and the head liner fell. I took it into the VW dealer and the catalytic convertor was covered under the warranty, but the ac and the headliner weren't. So 900.00 and 5 days later, I get my car back. 6 months later the fucking fuel pump explodes(once again, literaly) sending little tiny pieces of rubber throughout my fuel system and my entire engine. Which wasn't good seeing as the car gets hot, which melted the little rubber pieces to EVERYTHING! So Back to the dealership we went, they kept my car for over a MONTH! And the idiots had no idea what was wrong with it, even though when I dropped it off I said, "I THINK THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE FUEL SYSTEM!" Everyday I called and nobody could give me an answer, So after about a week of this I went in every single day and raised hell until something was done about it. At that point I was ready to say fuck you v-dub and trade the bitch in, but my mom convinved me to keep it seeing as it was paid off, etc.. So now, here I am, with no car because it is little less than a year later and now the water pump is busted and the car cranks but won't run. As soon as I get the pos started I am trading it in. It only has 60000miles on it and I have done all the maintence and MORE on it and it still fucking sucks!!!!

DO NOT BUY A POS V-DUB!

I am getting ready to cry, I dont know why i didnt do research on the cute little bug that i wanted so much. My check engine light came on after one month of buying my 1999 vw beetle. My speed sensor went out I replaced it for 300 bucks. Now I've just replaced the oil pan for 520 bucks. I now have to replace the oil pump too now because the oil pressure light keeps blinking. My button to control my mirrors broke and my glove department want close. I purchased it a little over a year ago with 5600 miles. I am affraid of whats next. I am a full time college student and a mother i don't have time for vw crap.

VW SUCKS!!! I've been thinking about getting a vanity plate that states it. Or NVRBYVW. The only thing stopping me is that I need to get it running and trade out from under this piece of s at #$. I'll probably sell it back to Driver's Way since you don't have to buy anything from them in return. I'd have to lie to an individual and would feel guilty about selling this lemon to them.

I bought the car used from Driver's Way. A 2003 VW Passat wagon. Leather, heated seats, moon roof. It's a beautiful car. I have a 100 mile r/t commute. Not real impressed with gas mileage, but the car handled well. The car has los of nifty little things. Will bug the freaking crap out of you if you let the windshield wiper fluid get low. WINDSHIELD WIPER FLUID IS NOT REQUIRED FOR CAR TO PERFORM!!!! But the check engine light comes on only seconds before the car is about to implode. This is not a car that was not maintained as several have implied. I almost fainted when my oil change cost $110 b/c of the synthetic oil. That only happened once as I have a mechanic friend that owns his own shop. I buy the oil and the filter per the manual and he'd change the oil for $10. Well the sludge problem occured to this car within the 3000 miles b/w changes. It only cost $1500 to get the oil pump replaced. From that date it ran about a month when the transmission went out and took the turbo with it. Purchased 10/06, died 09/07. This with $14K still owed on the car. VW SUCKS!!!! I'll never own another one and I'll tell everyone I come in contact with. Instead of paying the money to have the car repaired(as I am sure it would have only been a temporary fix) I went and bought me a 2002 Honda Accord LX. $2800. Looks and runs like a dream.

I recently purchased a 2002 VW GTI with 56K miles. I am a first time VW owner. On the second night after driving it home, I parked and turned off the car. The brake lights remained on. I did everything possible to turn them off and nothing worked. I eventually pulled the fuse and they turned off. I then pushed the fuse back in.

The next morning the brake lights (including the 3rd top brake light) were completely out. No brake lights while driving! I called the previous owner and he said he had never experienced this problem. I called VW 1-800 # and found this was a mandatory saftey recall issue. I set up an appointment and went to the Ontario (CA) VW delaer. The "issue" was supposedly resolved. I got my car back and guess what? NO BRAKE LIGHTS!!!!! WTF!

The brain surgeon of a Service Director named Robert stated the bulbs were all out and this was not part of the recall. He wanted $46.00 to replace the bulbs. You got to be kidding me. He refused to absorb the cost even though it was crystal clear the bulbs not functioning were a direct result of the "issue". Robert said I was not a regular customer nor had I purchased the car at his dealership. So much for making new loyal customers!

Nevertheless I left with no brake lights. I went to Kragen Auto parts intending to swap out the bulbs myself. Some pimple-faced employee kid making minimum wage suggested I check the fuse and of course, the fuse was burnt! Probably would have been too much to ask of the highly-skilled VW Technician to have checked that. Anyways, $7.00 later with a pack of new fuses I am safely back on the road.

Ontario VW is the worst experience I have ever had with a dealership.

P.S. The VW reciept stated a FREE car wash with every service, and guess what I got back my car unwashed and still dirty too.

I'm the 3rd owner of a 2001 VW New Beetle (my first car). The first owener was an old man, the second only used it as a business car to drive himself to the airport and home again. Currently it only has 80,000km's on it. I think it's a fantastic car and I love it. It's been my dream car for the longest time. Sure it has its problems but I still love it. Then again my problems haven't been anything like what half of you have with your cars!

1) My grill was practically falling off because I think it was partially broken when I bought it, and then last winter sliding up onto a curb probably made it worse, but my boyfriend fixed it with zipties. Not a proper fix but it works fantastic. I don't have to worry about my grill falling off onto the road anymore.

2) My power windows SUCK when its humid, cold, or raining out. They work perfectly fine the rest of the time. When the weather is cold or humid though I can roll them down just fine, but I have a hell of a time getting them up. My first winter with the car I didn't know about this and it took me 20 minutes to get both of the windows back up after rolling them down and I had to use my hands to pull them up! I've just learnt my lesson now and don't open my windows when I don't think they'll go back up. I'm a student and definately don't have money to waste getting new window motors or whatever that probably won't even solve the problem.

3) Don't ever open the trunk because it's a hell of a time to get it closed again! In summer it's generally not a problem, it usually only takes about tries to get it closed. It's basically the same thing as my windows - humid, cold or rainy - that my trunk takes about 20 good slams to finally close. Kind of annoying but I just use my backseat for things.

4) The tab thing for my console between the driver and passenger seat fell off! Again this is a problem that doesn't even really necessarily have to be fixed, it just doesn't snap closed anymore, the lid just kind of lays there but I can still use the compartment. It is annoying though. I don't believe that I did anything to break it. I'm thinking though it could possibly have snapped off though when I went to open it since it was -35 C out that day and my car was frosted on the inside due to the drivers door not closing properly (my boyfriend fixed the door as well, I guess the latch came loose...).

5) This has happened to me twice. When I was going to school in a different town than my family and people I knew last year, one day I was driving my car and it had felt funny when I started it. You know how sometimes something just doesn't feel right? Well my car didn't and sure enough half way to the store (not even that far away) my car started shaking and "putting". Thats the only way I can really describe it. The tank was full of gas too so it wasn't like I was out of gas. It was so wierd. My car was like that for a few days whenever I drove it and my boyfriends dad (who was a mechanic and in my hometown of course) didn't know what it was. The funny thing is that the problem fixed itself! Then earlier this year (living back at home now) I was driving home from my boyfriends house one night and my car felt funny again when I started it. I thought it was just me though, so I continued to drive. Going out of his driveway the breaks felt REALLY wierd. Then as I was driving out of his acreage the RPM gauge was going beserk. It was fluctuating like mad, and my car felt all jumpy - kind of like my timing belt had gone or something. It wasn't too bad and I thought maybe my car would fix itself so I started driving down the highway...and not 2 minutes later a light (I think it may have been the check engine light flashing) came on and started SCREECHING at me! It scared the crap out of me so I pulled over right away. Of course that day I didn't have my cellphone. Luckily a lady stopped and drove me back to my boyfriends house. We took his car and he came back to look at my car. We started it up again and he started driving it, the RPM's were still wierd and the light was still flashing at us, but we couldn't leave it on the highway, so we drove it slowly back to his house. It sat there in the driveway for a few days until he and his dad took a look at it. I can't quite remember what he did, but he did replace a sparkplug and tighten caps and just general things that anybody could do really. After that, yet again, my car just kind of fixed itself. So wierd. I don't know what keeps happening with it, but I've never had to take it in to a mechanic and pay insane bills for them to just look at it. So my suggestion to you guys is if your car does something odd like mine did, just raise the hood, un-do then tigheten some caps and just make sure everything looks ok. Chances are it'll just fix itself (hopefully if you're as lucky as I seem to have been).

Anyways those are the only problems I've had with the car. Some of them are kind of annoying but they're fairly minor problems that can be ignored.

Just as a side note I'd like to say that I know this is a German car and it probably doesn't get all that cold in Germany...but people in Canada buy this car too. The other day I had my block heater plugged in and everything, and the next morning my car WOULDNT START! Sure it was -47 C out and all, but hello it's called Global "Warming" (in this case Global Freeze Your Ass Off...) and its only going to get colder in Canada and people that don't have access to a garage need funcional cars!!! It's kind of pathetic because I had filled up my tank, came home...and my car has been sitting on the driveway since then but half a tank is gone because I have to start it a few times a day to warm it up and make sure it still will go!

Despite the few problems my car has had I still love it to death. It's my pride and joy, and if it weren't illegal I'd build it a nice heated garage on the road so it wouldn't freeze. Not all VW's are bad! Seriously I think you'd all save a lot of money on repairs if you tried what I suggested - doing general things to try to fix your car. Because its most likely that your car is just being dumb (it is run by a computer...) and its probably something easy to fix that you could do yourself.

Goodluck!!!!

ps- Does anybody know what the current recall is for? I got one for a Catalytic Converter last year (which didn't apply to me since mine was still fine), and today I just got something else in the mail for a recall but they didn't say what it was!

I bought a new VW in 2002 the vehicle now has 37,000 miles. Its only driven to work and back by my wife. We have put 3 censers at a cost of $300 to $580.00, the headliner has come unglued, the side panel has come unglued, the silver paint on the four hubcaps have come off. I ask to speak to a factory rep at while at the Robert G. Waters Volkswagen dealership, I was given a 1-800 number to call, however this was to there customer service department and the lady said this is not the number for a factory rep and referred me back to Waters Volkswagen. I now have the VW parked with magnetic lemons on it in front of Lakeland Square Mall.

Received February 2008

I work at New Milford Volkwagen. Most of the customer's post above were not as much victims of poor quality (i'll agree the years 1999-2002 were not VW's best) as they were victims of poor customer support and warranty interpretation. Several years later you'll probably find a good majority of those same cars running and looking well, with over 100,000 miles on them or more. As with anything, regular maintenance is required and occasionally a repair that will need to be done which someone feels "shouldn't have gone wrong". Quite a few of the above issues were covered by extended warranties from Volkswagen (which brings me back to my first point- Bad Dealer Warranty Administration). The key to any successful relationship is finding a dealership that you can trust, who will assist you when problems arise and go to bat for you when the situation warrants.

We bought a used 2001 Passat in November 2007. It had 44,000 miles on it so we bought a extended warranty. We bought it from Brad Noe VW and Audi in Tulsa. One of the largest dealerships in Tulsa. It had a cracked side mirror that we mentioned to the salesman. He said just bring it in and they would replace it. The contract also stated that it had 42,000 miles so somebody must have been driving it from there. We had a State of Emergency Ice Storm in December here. During that time the emission lights started coming on. It wasn't covered by the warranty so we took it to our mechanic that we have used for years. He tested and said there was nothing wrong with it. A couple days later the nightmare began. We tried to start it and it made a terrible noise and wouldn't turn over. We had it towed to the dealership service department. At first they said there was a couple of sensors out then a week later I drop by and they say it needs a tuneup that wasn't covered by the warranty and it would cost 200.00 dollars to change the spark plugs because they were fouled out. Several more days go by and we finally get a call saying that it had a burnt valve. Then the next week they call and said it had a cracked head and the warranty wouldn't cover it. I looked at my warranty and states that it does as long as it is a mechanical defect which it has to be. I call back and the service man said the mechanic is gone for the day and he doesn't know anything about the car. Don't they write things down or keep records? I am sure they do! So about 3 weeks later this is where we stand. I don't know what the mechanic gets out of it by lying but there is no way that I am paying $5,500 for something we didn't do. When my mechanic checked it out, the only thing I did was drive it home and put it in the garage before it wouldn't start. It didn't have any leaks of any kind. I will never buy a new or used VW again and I certainly won't buy from Brad Noe of Tulsa

I have a 2001 and a 2002 Jetta TDI. With "check engine" light since 40K miles (this cost 80$ to turn off and indicates a 40K servcing for $400), latches falling off, warped brake discs, plastic parts under, inside the car and inside the wheen wells falling off, a low plastic molding under the front bumber that catches anything over 4 inches and finally rips off, never an radio AM reception (antenna not hooked up) and under warranty not fixed, expensice service at VW and very poor service attitude. This car is a total pile of crap, built in mexico. I would never tell anyone to buy this abomination.

I have an '01 2.0 Jetta. It is by far the WORST car I have ever owned. I had a '95 Jetta before and it was a great car. After owning an old Honda that was ready to nickle and dime me to death, I decided to get a newer Jetta since my old one was so reliable. This car is JUNK. At 43,000 my catalitic converter went. Then the turn signals, which thank god was under a recall. Then at 50,000 miles the car bogs out when you hit the throttle. If you turn it off then back on it will move, but very rough and with no power. And no machanic knows what it is. All the rubber coating is pealing off the interior plastic, both cup holder broke while i had coffee in them. One of my motor mounts broke at 44,000. The list goes on and on and on. I HATE THIS CAR. And I am stuck with it. It is so bad that it would be a good thing for it to get totalled. I WILL NEVER BUY A VW AGAIN IN MY LIFE. If anyone has had this same bogging out and jerking and hesitating problem, please let me know what it is.

I own a 2007 jetta TDI Great ride except for; a new clutch and tranny at 3000 miles, a traction shaft in front later on, heater fan switch, one light bulb, no heating, ignition switch wont turn anymore, now i got 50000 miles and no more waranty, still have 2 years with that ******* LEMON!!!! The worst part is that all my friends, with no exception, DONT TOUCH VW!!!!!!! Have a good day!!

I have a 2006 VW Jetta TDI. I love the car and haven't had any real trouble with it, but the dealer is a different story! The dealer trouble started when I took my car in to have the fuel filter replaced (50.00 part) I knew it was the fuel filter my boyfriend is a diesel mechanic, needless to say I told the service department that was what it was. I ask them if they are going to run a diagnostic test, they tell me no they will just test drive it. They call me back two hours later and say that they ran the diagnostic test, it came back that the fuel filter is clogged (hmm who would have thought). They want to charge me $90 for the diagnostic test and $250 to replace the fuel filter!! I told them no thanks, I'll just buy the $50 filter, since replacing the fuel filter is a 10 min job. Well after that episode of way over priced service, we decided to not have the car serviced by the dealership anymore, soo skip a head a few months, and I need a oil change. I buy the filter and oil, and have my boyfriend change the oil. He gets under the car and sees that the monkeys that work for VW don't know how to take out a bolt without striping it and to top that off just push the panel still attached by the striped bolt out of the way and crack it. We call the dealer to have them replace the bolt and skid plate, they want to see it...so I dropped it off today at lunch, its 4pm still haven't heard from them...Im sure Im going to have to argue that they did the damage.

WE OWNED 1998 AND 2003 BEETLES-THEY ARE A JUNK VEHICLE-ALL PLASTIC JUNK INSIDE-ITS A WOMEN CAR HANDLE WITH EXTRA CARE OR YOU'LL BREAK IT.ENGINE LIGHTS COME -FOR INSTANCE SEAT BELT SWITCH TENSION INCORRECT 250.00 TO CORRECT-I TRADED BOTH GASOLINE UNITS OFF-HEAD LIGHTS EXTREME PROBLEMS BURNING OUT CONTINOUS-HAD TO REPLACE HEADLIGHT HOUSE ONCE ,BROKE TRYING TO REMOVE.JUST REALLY BAD DESIGN VEHICLE.TERRIBLE IN SNOW NO TRACTION. OLDER COUPLE STOP ME SHORTLY AFTER BUYING ONE .THEY ASKED ."THEY WANT TO BUY ONE OF THESE BEETLES .WHAT DO THINK OF IT?. I SAID "GOOD GAS MILEAGE UNTIL ENGINE LIGHTS COME" -BAD FOR WINTER USE -CHEAP MADE!!! SORRY.THEY SAID"OK ENOUGH WE WILL STAY AWAY FROM THEM ,THANKS". BACK TRANNY DESIGN IT WILL LET SHIFT DOWN IN THE WRONG GEAR-NOT SYNCHRONIZED!

I have loved my beetle since i bought it.. other than the repairs in the begining (serpintine belt.. airflow intake.. oil pan.. tune up all equaling over $1200) my car has ran like a dream! I just got into a car wreck going 45 mph (my fault) hit the ladies car head on and would u know? no air bags went off.. i have bruised muscles all over my body... from what i understand even if ur driving really slow and hit someone head on it should set off the air bags.. am i right? at 45 mph not only did my airbags not deploy but my anit lock brakes locked in place... as much as i loved my 2000 beetle i will never own another.. i am just glad my kids werent with me..

My graduation present was a 2001 VW beetle 1.8T. I loved it. I wanted a new beetle due to the fact that I had a 1964 beetle in highschool that me and my father rebuilt and it ran great. My car was fast and a liked it. I put some upgrades on it like a bosst controller, down pipe and intake which made it a regular race car that would blow most of the cars in my town out of the water.

Until recently I loved it. The car alarm will go off when i hit the lock button and then when I do get it to lock the alarm will randomly go off in the middle of the day which is very annoying. Ive got lights in the interior that will randomly flash while im driving down the road. Check engine light is on after I just replaced my MAF( Mass Air Flow sensor) and two ignition coils costing me $300 and thats the second time ive replaced the MAF. My car sucks! Dont know how much it will cost to fix all the problems but Im leaning towards getting a new car instead. Maybe another VW......NOT! Never again will I purchase a VW.

Bought a 2007 Rabbit--at 7800 miles left rear brake grinding--pad down to 0 mm; metal on metal/ Right rear 5 mm. There must be something wrong with the braking system. VW dealer repleced left rear brake but had no explanation as to why the left rear had worn so quickly. Service rep said there may be some problem with VWs made on the A5 platform (whatever that is). Anyone else had a problem like this?

Received March 2008

I bought (paid in full, not leased or on payments, but paid in full.) a 2007 Golf City. The speakers began cutting in and out, so I purchased 400 bucks worth of new ones, and got a friend who makes good money installing stereos etc. (because he's damn good at it, and went to college for it to boot,) to put it in. Then, my new speakers began screwing up. I watched my installer remove the door panel (and perform the install) and pull out the front driver's side speaker, and there was so much water in the door frame, you could have filled a large mixing bowl. Upon inspection of the passenger door, BAM, same effin problem. VW blames an "improperly placed wire" for causing the leak. WHAT? They would have me believe my carpets are soaked, my speakers are covered in rust because of a 2mm wide wire? Even if there was a gap from the wire, how come that much water is sitting in there to begin with? Either there's a faulty (or missing, heard of that with VWs) seal, or a drain that doesn't function. I can accept that some water gets into a door, but pools?

Then I get my VW serviced for the 16k mark. They inform me that all 3 of my engine protector plates are not there. There were a couple of screws in place that would have held it on. So I have one option, purchase and pay for install of new ones. Even though they admit there is no shrapnel around the remaining scres, no sign of them being torn off by my driving, its like someone removed them, and replaced a few screws. Would a theif or even a shady oil change guy (the only folks who MAY have caused this other than manufacturer screwup) remove the plates with the intent of taking them, then be bothered to replace 3 flipping screws??? VW, I wont stop telling people how much your cars suck ass until the day I breathe my last, you self serving sons of bitches, smug-ass p's.o.s

I wanted a cabrio since I was a teenager. The styling was so cute and it was such a great looking car I just couldn't help it. Now I have one.

It's a 2002 GLX with all the extra's I wanted including the red/tan color combination. But to date the car has several time spontaneously locked on it's own. Leaving me stranded. The cruise control only works about 10% of the time but each time the dealership looks at it they say it's fine. The passenger side power window stopped working, thankfully in the up position! The inside door handles are pealing. And the radio went into "safe" mode and won't play for no reason.

I've had this car 3 years, and as much as I love it's look and it's feel when driving, I really hate all the repairs and the cost! The gas mileage isn't that great for the size of car either. I guess my dream car isn't such a dream after all.

my 2001 1.8t jetta has been sitting at the dealer and has no throttle response at all. if i push the gas nothing happens. epc light and engine light is on. the day before this happend the epc light came on and the car was very sluggish. dealer claims they dont know whats wrong and that they cant do nothing for me. i had invested in over $6000 dollars in repairs last year this year i got one month out of the car and had to replace the rack and pinnion, now this

Yes.......Volkswagens Suck big dick....In 1998 i buy a new Vw jetta wolfberg (so called) a piece of shit was in the shop 5 months out of 6..but the dealer ship never wrote up any repair avoices to sneak past the lemon laws.. i buy this (piece of shit)car for my wife so she would have a relible car for work.first the wiring went nuts.. i wanted to see for my self so i took at to work with (i work at night) i didn't think i wasn't having problems until i got pulled over by a Jersey state trooper, i ask the troop what was the problem,he informed he that i had No rear lights.he felt so sorry for my because my 2 week old car was falling a part that he didn't give my a ticket...The dealer ship had to rewire the hole car but still didn't write an repair invoice..then the wheels locked up. the service person tried to blame my wife for driving with the emerg. break on...bull shit i check it out it has only one side..So after two more week in the shop my wife went to get the car..again NO paper work... But they tried to make her pay for parts & laber. which were under warranty..so 5 morons that worked there surround the car and woulded let her leave until she payed them..and guess what the brakes did in again..and again NO write We have a pile of rental car receipts 15 in total. the so called car was in the shop 15 times in 2 years for big time problems... I WILL NEVER EVER NEVER BUY A VOLKSWAGEN SHIT CAR AGAIN.

at eight thousand miles the timing chain tensioner bolt snapped off in the block while we were twelve hundred miles from home. vw couldnt fix it. they said fly your family home and we will re imburse you. it cost us almost four thousand dollars in losses. after getting home vw said that my request for re imbursement was out of line and they are not paying anything. bob muffler from vw told me to fly my family home. after refusing to pay me he left a message saying he never even spoke to me about flying home, he said the last he heard we were driving home a week before flew home. after reviewing my phone records, i found a five minute call to him the day we flew home. the damage to the engine included the timing chain wearing into the cover. vw to this day refuses to change the oil or pull the pan. in a recorded conversation with nate from classic vw of florida, he stated that it is the opinion of he and his supervisor and the mechanic that did the work that aluminum files wont hurt a motor. that aluminum, is soft and the engine will tear through the aluminum files like paper. it is pretty halarious. i could send any one a copy of that recording that is interested. the car sat at the dealer unfixed from february to january. when i told vw i was filing for lemon law, the immediately went to the dealer and took the car so i dont have it for my case this friday. i still have insurance on the car. there is much more to this case if interested.

I have owned 3 Jettas and 2 Passats since 1986, the latest, and possibly the last being a 1999 Passat. Hate to say it, but the quality of the cars has deteriorated over the years while most other manufacturers have improved. The 1986 was totaled in a wreck, and I have to say that VW's body integrity was first rate. No injuries, no popped windshield, hardly any deformation in the passenger compartment. The 1987 was a US made car. It had some problems over time, but was not too expensive to fix and we kept it for 145,000 miles. We also had a 1989 Jetta made in Germany. While we kept it for 130,000 miles, it had many problems that the US made car did not. The transmission began slipping at 48,000 miles and to my amazement, the dealer replaced it under a 50,000 mile powertrain warranty. The AC compressor died at 90,000 miles, and was expensive to replace. The main body problem we had on both these cars was the cheap door handles that kept failing. Fortunately the replacement parts were cheap and I learned how to replace them myself. We tried one of the "original" 1993 Passat VR-6's, knowing that it was the first year, but we got a great deal. We kept the car for 135,000 miles. That car had great body integrity. It was solid and tight, good paint, good interior, same gas mileage as the day we bought it, but on this one we had to replace the ignition coil, fuel pump, radiator fan, heater core, the AC compressor, and the sunroof died, as well as the normal parts that you would expect over 135,000 miles. The parts on this car were usually expensive. Last is the 1999 with a V-6. It only has 73,000 miles on it. But I have had to replace the water pump at only 60,000 miles, with a $1600 bill because the entire front end had to be taken apart. Then the replacement part (a piece of plastic shit that cost only $65) failed, fortunately during the dealer's warranty period, and they got to eat another $1600 to fix it again. Now, with only 73,000 miles on it, I needed both front axles replaced due to bad CV joint boots (the dealership mechanic had said that one "might" need to be replaced in six months. Instead both totally failed in 5 months.) Fortunatey my regular mechanic replaced these fairly cheap. But the car is back in the dealership because the rear main seal is leaking. Fortunately they have acknowledged that this is still covered under the 10 yr/100,000 mile powertrain warranty but come on. I have never had the rear main seal fail on any car. I think the problem is VW's obsession with being "green." The result is junk plastic being used in critical parts such as the water pump and seals. I agree with the other posters that on top of this, the attitudes of the dealers are horrible. Very high hourly rates, and a "gotcha" attitude because most independent mechanics will not touch the more difficult repairs on a recent VW. Hate to say it, but while we're keeping the 1999, it may well be the last VW until something major changes at the company. We also have a Mazda (no complaints) and a Chevrolet (so far so good, but only 34,000 miles. It's a real shame, because all the VW's have been fun to drive and some parts of the car, like the interiors and for us the basic engines, have been solid.

I just bought an 03' gti anniversary with 50k. Had the car 2 days and the check engine light is on. It now runs like crap and I need about 1200$ in repairs. My 2000 si civic that this car replaces (stolen) had 280k and never a problem beyond maintenance and a clutch. God I miss my honda. Am trading this crappy vw for an accord tomorrow I don't care how much money I lose, it will be a savings over repairs in the long run.

Where to begin?...I first met the Metro VW people several months after buying my 2002 Passat from another VW dealership in November 2004. The factory warranty was about to expire and I decided to purchase an extended warranty. I opted to go to Metro VW for the warranty purchase as they were on the way from my home to my office. After speaking with a salesman I decided on their Platinum Extended Warranty which garnished the VW name at $2500.00. But, infact was a third party company called Fidelity (I found this out later).

The car dies in the middle of the freeway in rush hour traffic at 60 MPH!s After I forced the dead pile of tin to steer to the inside shoulder (pure luck). I reflected while waiting for a tow truck. I was very happy and pleased with myself that I purchased that Metro VW warranty. Wow, the car was several hundred miles past the factory warranty limit now. I get a call two days later explaining that the alternator is bad and has been replaced. Come and get your car. Oh yeah, $100.00 deductible please. Three days later leaving work in an ice storm the car is dead. I get a jump and ALL the warning lights light up and stay on. I limp to Metro VW for repairs. Two days later. We replaced the battery. Come get your car. Oh yeah that will be $100.00 please. Several weeks pass. The car has another seizure in rush hour traffic. Lights off, motor off, steering assit gone! Luckily no fatalities (again). Three weeks later. Come get your car. We think it was the altenator (again) so, we replaced it (again). Don't worry you already gave us $100.00 for this. Several days pass. Seizure! Hello Metro VW. Six more weeks. Come get your car. We replaced this wire connector (Okay......). We think that should do it. You guessed it, $100.00 please. Several days pass. Dead battery. Hello Metro VW. We replaced your battery (again). Sometimes they are bad right from the factoy. Sorry about that. No charge.

Hey Metro VW why is the rocker panel hanging off my car? I can drive it like that! Oops, Come back tomorrow. We will need to get a new one put on. While you are at it, do you think you could replace the shifter handle that you broke, fix the dent you put in the fender, replace the cabin air filter that you lost and install a new antenna that has seems to have sheared off in your care? Also that is an interstate battery. Not a VW unit. Think you might address this stuff too? Three weeks later. Hello stranger. But, why are my radio knobs missing? We didn't do that! But, no problem we will put on new knobs.

Several months go by. Hey Metro VW, my Passat is making a loud screeching noise in the front. Hmm, we need to put in new CV joints in the right side. That shoud do it. By the way your Platinum Warranty won't cover that. $300.00 please.

Several more months go by. Hey, the front end is really squishy and rides very rough. Well we talked the warranty company into new struts. Come get your car and bring us $100.00. We billed the $300.00balance to warranty. During this debocale the car would intermittenly die. This forced Metro VW to keep the car most of the 2007 year. At this time I found the car sitting on Metro VW's back lot covered in dirt inside and out with the windows down. The dash was laying in the front seats. The sun roof was open. The car had been rained in. Birds were roosting and deficating on the seat backs. The head lights bezels had actually sun faded and turned from clear to yellow in the 100 degree plus Texas summer. I brought the cars condition to the service managers attention. His name is Tim. The little midget never acknowledged the Passat's poor condtion, let alone an apology!

I forced them to wrap up the repairs. I was then charged for an oil change that was not done. They found HomeLink(R) in the drivers visor to be the culprit causing all of the woes. But, made me pay for those parts. They put 1235 miles on the car. We found foot prints on tha dash. I found parking vouchers for bars in Fort Worth and sticks and grass stuck in the under carriage. The new tires were not new anymore. The wheels were covered in brake dust and the tail pipes were black with carbon. When I asked them to please just put the struts on that were never done they just laughed at me. BUYER BEWARE of Metro VW at 2035 W Airport Fwy. Irving, TX 75062. Service: 2400 N. Story Road. Oh, don't bother asking for the owner Brad Haggastad at direct 972-659-4011. He doesn't care either.

The sign of lack luster sales is a result of the same in service.
P.S. If you want to hear more/share please comment. Especially if you have been treated the same and have also struck out with VW North America. They care even less!

I have recently discovered that the moonroof on my Passat can, if the drains are plugged, divert water onto the floor of my car. Subsequently this water can infiltrate the vehicle's automatic transmission control module and damage it beyond repair leading to a major expense($1800). This is such a bizarre circumstance that I initially did not believe that this could really happen. Having already endured the replacement of two transmissions, these events further lend to my negative attitude towards VW products. My dissatisfaction was exacerbated by the miss-information provided by the service department that I am dealing with, which has caused me great inconvenience.

We bought a 97 Passat with 65,000 miles on it for 3800 two years ago . It looked great and had all the amenities. As soon as we bought it the check engine light came on, soon after, we were driving along and the lights cut out, the radio, the ac, and the power window. We then spent 1000 to fix the head gasket which was leaking, then noticed the cat converter was glowing red hot, took it to a local shop and they replaced the entire exhaust...except for the cat converter for another 800...Soon after my son drove the car, it heated up (the radiator fan stopped) and melted the o2 sensors and the radiator cap. Replaced the readiator cap and the fuel pump for another 1200 and when the inspection ran out we were unable to inspect it without putting another 1700 into it. Drove it for less than 30 days --parked it one night in a snow storm and the engine has never turned over since. The 3800 car we bought has now cost us over $9,000--since we put so much into it we kept thinking, well, i guess it should run as good as new now...HA HA

Received April 2008

I have a story for you involving repair done to my new 2007 Volkswagen Jetta. About 2 weeks after I bought the car, it was broken into and I lost all my personal things. I couldn't understand how they got into my car without damaging it at all. It turns out they used some kind of RF transmitter to pop the locks. I called the dealership and told them about the break in so they could warn other customers. At this time the business manager took me aside and said they had made an error on my lease. It turns out they had forgotten to apply my 1000.00 down payment and they were going to refund it to save on paperwork. Kind of sketchy....

6 months later I called and set up an appointment to have my brakes looked at because they were squealing and grinding and had been since 5000Kms. I had noticed the rim was so hot it would smoke when water was thrown on it and I couldn't touch it. I also told them when plugged in my Blackberry charger my 12V outlet stopped working.. When I picked the car up later that, they explained the fuse in the 12V blew and that it was under warranty.They told me that there is a flaw with the 12V and it grounds itself out. I was also told there was nothing wrong with the brakes that they needed to be broken in.

3 months later I called service again with the same brake complaint and they told me on the phone it was just because the pads still weren't worn in. Fast forward to March 2008... I was trying to charge my Blackberry and the 12V blew again... Even though I had used it 100 times since the warranty replaced one. I called the dealership again and scheduled an appointment for March 31 2008. I also told them to check the brakes because they were still very noisy and had been feeling spongy.

I got a call about 20 minutes later that the fuse in the 12V was burnt again, I had 2 brake light bulbs out and there was nothing wrong with the brakes except that in their opinion I needed brake servicing. I was told 40 for the bulbs and my car was ready later that day. I went to the dealer knowing full well what the price of the parts were ( the fuse and the bulbs) but I was shocked when they actually handed me the bill and instead of the 40 I was quoted on the phone, the charges were 110.00. I looked at the items on the bill and was charged 57.50 for the 20 amp fuse and 34.00 for 2 light bulbs. Here's where the story gets interesting: Not only do I hold a degree in automotive technology, I currently run a retail automotive store who supplies this dealer with parts. I have been in the automotive industry for almost 10 years. The actual cost of these parts was 2.99 for the 2 bulbs and 3.99 for a 5 pack of fuses. Quite the mark up.. Not to mention that they charged me 30 minutes labour when it really took about 5 minutes. Never mind that this was a brand new car they sold me. Or the fact that this fuse had blown before when it's supposed to be a convenience feature of this vehicle to have the 4 12V outlets. I argued a bit with the service advisor about the price of the parts and the fact that I was told 40 and gave her my business card and she went to speak to the service manager. After a few minutes, she came back with a new bill for 31.00. She tried to convince me that they were really losing money by covering the fuse and I told her I wasn't born yesterday and VW Canada would reimburse them. When I returned to work, I even went as far as getting the warranty code for the dealership in case they were so put out by my repair.

The real trouble with this lemon began 3 days later. I got in my car after lunch and immediately felt something wrong with the clutch pedal and the car wouldn't move when the gear was engaged. At this point I knew the car wasn't going anywhere so I called VW roadside assistance to get the car towed back to the dealership I bought it from hoping they would diagnose the problem. I figured since it was their vehicle, they would be more likely to be honest about the repairs. I called to inquire about my car a few hours later and they had no answers except they suspected the clutch but couldn't tell me until they pulled it apart. On Friday morning the service advisor called me to tell me that the clutch was indeed blown and I would require a clutch kit and release bearing. I told them I was shocked that on a new car with only 21000Kms, a clutch would blow so early. I have been driving manual transmission for 10 years with no problems so I informed them that since my car was still under warranty so they could fix it. The advisor told me that because I was over my warranty by 1000 Kms, they would not cover it. Then the advisor called me back to tell me that he made a mistake, my warranty no longer covered clutches at all unless they were defective.. A revision the company had made at the end of 2006, so my 2007 model was not covered under the warranty. I told them I would take it up with VW Canada and then I asked for pictures of the damaged parts and an estimate. I was told 2200 for the repairs (1600 for the clutch kit and 600 in labour) and since the parts were in stock, I should have my car within a day so I gave the go ahead.

At this point I decided to have an independent 3rd party check the parts and verify that it was indeed my fault it failed. I contacted Fenco/Fenwick Automotive in Toronto who actually manufacture clutches ( since 1949) and spoke to one of their master technicians who agreed to take a look at the pictures from the dealer. He called me back and informed me that it was his professional opinion " that the facing side of the clutch disc was poorly manufactured and that my self adjusting clutch was forced to compensate and rapidly wear out the friction side of the clutch disc." Basically it was through no fault of my own that the clutch failed and if this was a Fenco product, it would be covered under warranty. He even stated that if they had in fact road tested my car on Monday to check the brakes, a qualified technician would have felt something in the clutch pedal suggesting a problem with the system. He said unless I knew what to feel for, I never would have felt this coming until it happened. I called the service manager with this information hoping they would be more receptive to an independent opinion. He told me that he doubted Fenco's opinion and to take my issue up with VW Canada and stop bothering them with it. I called VW and spoke to customer service who informed me they only accept the opinion of their technicians and my 3rd party meant nothing. I told them that the opinions of their technicians and dealers are biased and act only in the interest of the dealer and not the consumer. They didn't care and told me it was up to the dealer to warranty it or not.

By now I still had no car and no indication of what was going on. 2 days passed and I hadn't heard anything so I called the dealer and was told the parts were not in stock and I would have to wait another day. I told them I had no vehicle and needed to get to work and they offered me a rental at 25.00. After all the problems, they couldn't even offer me a loaner or cover a rental. I said forget it and demanded my car be ready by the next day. It still was not ready and I called everyone from the business manager to the general manager to the owner and got no where and no offers or explanations. I started calling other repair shops in the area as well as Downtown VW and Yorkdale VW to investigate the costs with this repair as well as the ridiculous amount of time they had my car for. Every place I called quoted me the exact same repair: clutch kit, release bearing and sleeve and labour. All the quotes were pretty consistent around 970. I called the dealer back and wanted answers about their inflated price and was told they replaced the flywheel as well. Any mechanic will tell you that replacing a flywheel is not part of a routine blown clutch. Something else had to have gone wrong to warrant replacing the flywheel, because someone who can't drive standard will simply blow the pressure plate and the car won't move. A major mechanical failure had to occur to burn the flywheel to the point of no return which is what Fenco was saying all along.

The vehicle was finally ready on Wednesday night, almost a week after they got it and the repair was supposedly an 8 hour job. I was given an invoice for 2500.00 for the repairs. I told the service advisor that we had never discussed replacing the flywheel and if I had known that the actual clutch kit only cost 575 and it was the 970 flywheel that made the bill so high, I would never have said fix it. In fact, they never got my signature authorizing any of the repairs to begin with so they really had no recourse against me.

Because I need my car to get to work, I paid the bill and decided I will take any avenue necessary to get my money back. The dealer knows VW will reimburse them as long as they claim it defective but because it would cost them a few hours of labour, they refuse to admit that their part failed. I feel the burden of proof lies with them to prove 100% that I cause the clutch to fail. Since an independent 3rd party certifies that I did nothing wrong, they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that their part didn't fail. In fact, I have supporting evidence from other industry professionals who state that "Despite the functional advantages that dual mass flywheels have over conventional one-piece solid flywheels, some dual mass flywheels have proved to be troublesome and prone to premature failure.... Premature failure of a dual mass flywheel can be caused by a variety of things other than normal wear and tear.... Given these findings, isn't it possible that VW is wrong in their diagnosis?

I own a 2005 passat--I loved the car--My husband who is a mechanic changed the oil every 3000miles. At 60000 miles, I had an indicator light come on---a local mechanic ran a diagnostic which showed nothing, however, I took it to an imported car mechanic who measured the engine pressure --he then contacted a VW mechanic he knows and was told there is a defect in the 2001-2005 1.8 gasoline engine, that caused a build up in sludge and that VW was aware of the problem for several years--and that unless my oil had been changed by a VW dealership every 3000 miles --and I had the receipts--that the warranty was no good. The VW mechanic however said the defect had been corrected in the 2006 engine. He recommended I unload the car--or replace the engine. I called the VW dealership who verified my warranty did not cover these problems but I could bring the car in for diagnostics and estimates for repairs. For mixed reasons--moral--unloading a car on someone less fortunate possibly--and because I still owe a fair amt. on the car loan, ---I spent >6000.00 to replace the engine--in addition to 2000.00 worth of rental until I finally bought a used car for 4000.00 to drive while the engine was replaced. As soon as I got the car back, I could tell it did not accelerate or handle as it had. Within 2 weeks, the indicator lights were on again. I have parked the car and am now driving a 2001 taurus bought used with 110000 miles on it. The mechanics say it is rock solid. I will never buy an imported car--from now on, I will stay with ford, chevy, dodge etc. My husband is in Iraq and I have had nothing but trouble with this auto--and no help from VW since he left. For more stories google problems with VW passat--nearly the same experience reported over and over--wonder why no recall??

I have a 2001 New Beetle w/ a 2.0 liter engine. I have put so much money in this car I will never get anywhere close to what I have in it out of it. The Check engine light is coming on all the time so I took it to the dealer for the g-zillion time. They said the Catalyst converter was bad to the tune of $1000.00 dollars I looked up recalls and found one on the EPA website. http://www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/recall/vw2.htm

I took this to my dealer and he said ok they'll fix it. This morning he calls and said my engine is not covered under this warranty. My warranty only goes to 100,000 miles and I have 110,000 I said no the EPA website says 120,000 miles or 10 years whichever comes first. He gave me the customer care number to VW so I called them and they said because my vin # was a certain number it was not covered but up to 100,000 miles that is not what EPA's website says. and a fat lot of good that does me when I have 110,000 miles on my VW. I have already had to replace the hazard switch, the oxygen sensor (twice), the seat belt clip, the air bag switch, the entire computer board,and the battery twice because the computer was draining the battery.

What pisses me off so much is my car meets the requirements according to the EPA website. It is a 2001 VW new beetle under 120,000 miles with a 2.0 liter engine.

Received May 2008

Seeing as VW is also connected to Audi, does the same gremlins plague them? I would assume Audi as well as even Porsche would have the same problems, granted I have seen those problems. Here's alittle intel for your site, even the guys that work in the parts department of a local VW dealer here in Northern Virginia talk about all the problems the cars have, Electrical and weak axles etc. They even said if your gonna buy a VW go with 97 or older, would you agree? I personally have always liked the older GTI's pre-turbo's, except for the VR6's seeing as they are prone to head gasket problems. One last note, at least in my area, the people that buy german cars usually treat them terribly(their thinking is that german engineering is better then japanese or even american and the money the shell out for these cars accounts for the quality HAHAHA, sad but true)

Anyway, great website keep up with the knowledge...

I HAVE HAD THE WORSE TIME FROM MY BUG. MY A/C HAS BEEN FIXED 2 TIMES AND SMELLS LIKE MOLD. HEATER HAS BEEN FIXED ONCE. THE SECURTIY SYSTEM NEEDS FIXING. I CANT EVEN LOCK MY DOORS, THE CAR WILL NOT START AND THE ALARM GOES OFF AND IT HAD TO BE TOWED AT MY EXPENSE TO THE DEALERSHIP TO BE RESET BEFORE IT WOULD EVEN RUN COSTING ALOT. THE KEY FOBS YOU ARE GIVEN HAVE A LIFE OF ABOUT 4 YEARS AND THEN YOU HAVE TO HAVE THEM REPLACED AT THE LOVELY COST OF AROUND 175.00 EACH. AND THEN YOU PAY ANOTHER 75.00 TO GET THEM RESET TO YOUR SECURITY SYSTEM. THE RIGHT FRONT HEADLIGHT IS CONTUNUALLY BLOWING. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT IS GOING TO BREAK IN HALF WHEN YOU GET IN THE CAR AND SET DOWN BECUASE OF ALL THE CREEKS AND SQUEKS, (AND I AM NOT A FAT PERSON). I WILL NEVER OWN ANOTHER VW PERIOD. OVER THE LAST 5 YEARS I KNOW I HAVE HAD ALOT OF OTHER PROBLEMS BUT IN THE LAST 4 MONTHS I HAVE SPENT OVER 2,000.00 IN REPAIRS. OH YEA ONE OTHER STUPID LITTLE THING THEY SCREW YOU IN THE BUT, THERE ARE VERY FEW AFTER MARKET PARTS FOR THESE CARS. I HAD 4 LOCKING LUG NUTS AND OVER THE YEARS THEY HAD ALL ENDED UP ON ONE WHEEL SO THE LAST REAPIR SHOP I TOOK IT TO DIDNT HAVE THE SPECIAL KEY TO GET THEM OFF SO THEY HAD TO WELD ANOTHER LUG NUT TO THE LOCKING ONES AND REMOVE THEM COSTING EXTRA MONEY BECAUSE YOU KNOW THEY CHARGE BY THE HOUR. WE WENT TO OUR LOCAL AUTO STORE TO PICK UP 4 LUG NUTS, THEY CANT EVEN CARRY THEM , IT IS A DEALER ITEM ONLY. SO WE HAD TO TRAVEL 25 MILES (WITH GAS BEING OVER 3.25 A GALLON) AND PICK UP 4 REGULAR LUG NUTS (BECAUSE THE SPECIAL LOCKING LUG NUTS WERE SO EXPENSIVE) AND THAT ONLY SET ME BACK 25.00 JUST FOR LUG NUTS... I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE MAKE THE DECISION ***not*** TO BUY A VW.

BOUGHT DAUGHTER 2001 PASSAT 43,000 MILES. TWO WEEKS IN NEW TRANNY $4200, new window motor, co2 sensors mass airflow sensor new front end componants new brakes new motor for moon roof, and multiple other problems. she has had the car for one year, put close to $ 8000 into the car, and now at 51,000 miles, check engine lite will not go out, emission problems. and as far as dealer service depts. go, I'd rather take my chances with some back yard mechanic.In the year she has had the car, its been on the road maybe 6 months, either its been parked waiting to get worked on, or its been in the shop. AS MY 18 YR OLD DAUGHTER SAYS ITS A PIECE OF SHIT, AND CANT EVEN GIVE IT AWAY

I don't have a V-dub, but damn is there anything that is good about this car? The majority of these posts are about the bettle, the passatt, and the jetta. I have not really about the R32 or the GTI. I am going to the Navy, and was really thinking of getting either a R32 or a GTI. The reason I wanted a V-Dub is because all my friends have either a honda, mitsu, subaru, or a nissan. I guess I will just stay with the infiniti G35 or an Acura RSX type-s.

I bought my 98' vw beetle used... BIG MISTAKE!!! I not only had to commit to paying the car, but for the never-ending costs of "maintenance". I'm completely disgusted with the car, the dealer and not to mention the extra baggage of dealing with the high cost of repairs, repairs and more repairs! Since I've had the car (six year span of pure hell) I've had to change the right and left headlights atleast 10 times (not exagerating... maybe even more) the breaklights stopped working twice (very dangerous by the way) the coolant needs to be added every other week and i can't just buy it at the autozone because it's "special". I've had to change the timing belt and the catalitic converter plus the muffle along with that ofcourse and not to mention the brakes maybe 15 times and the tires about once a year. There is still much, much more, I'm sure if you're already here... you might already know that. :) good times!

I bought a 2001 VW Golf v6 in December of 2001 - just like I did when I bought my first VW - a Fox, new but in December and another end of the model, meaning they change the design after I guess.

Both were made in Brazil I believe... Both American specs. I discovered when driving the golf home from the purchase point outside a military base in the middle of Germany, none of the functions on the steering wheel worked.

That was the beginning but thank God I was in Stuttgart where at least I could get authentic VW service.

My windows also fell into my doors on both sides - the driver's side 2 days before the warrantee was expired and the passenger after that so now I do not open it because it is sort of propped with a plastic part but I cannot trust the mechanism.

Both levers to move the seats forward came off in my hands also, and do regularly.

Now, water is pouring into my passenger's laps through the ceiling light when I turn right on a rainy day, and into my lap the same way when I turn left.

Italian VW dealers have tried to rip me off wildly, even if I was under warrantee for engine problems. They have no interest in honoring VW deals. They are renegades. To fix the sunroof seal leak, as it has probably deteriorated in the 6.5 years I have had it, they want to keep the car for nearly 2 weeks to check and test it and then the bill will be wicked I am sure.

I am petrified to go to a dealer here. In Germany, I had no engine problems but here in Italy after 1 year all of the lights went on on my dash regularly. I had VW dealer estimates from 40 euro to 4000 euro for the same prob. only to discover, once AGIP sold a better grade of gas and I used it, the lights never went on again. I had to take the car back to Stuttgart to get halfway decent service.

I have been looking into getting a new Golf with a smaller engine - who needs v6? sucks gas like crazy - BUT the new Golfs are soooooo UGLY! They do not look like a Golf anymore - they look like generic crap cars and now they even have a stupid looking rabbit on them! I am trapped because I want a new Golf but refuse to even look at the crap they have "designed" as the result of wack market research...

I hope I can find a decent car that still has it's integrity and basic brand look as all companies are morphing to look ugly and the same. DRAG!!

I am in the process of head replacement for the timing belt issue. IF I get done in the next few weeks of afternoon madness, I will be out about $1900, parts only!. I read one post that VW's are built "backwards". I can absolutlely attest to that. It seems no matter what needs replacing, you must remove 5 other things first, and most of them require "a new gasket, or bolts, or a new part, because the old one breaks upon removal. This car is designed for one purpose-service at the dealer, the parts are not as available as other makes, the tools necessary are patented for "this job only". Perhaps one of you sharp dudes out there can design a head gasket a couple mm's thicker, so the valves would survive a timing belt disaster. So what if you lose 10 HP, the car runs fantastic (when it runs).

The regrets I now have is that just before this happened 7 mos. ago, my wife said "I like that car, I getting one, too." Oh, shit.........I've read just about every thread on the internet and have NEVER seen so many posts about the same problems. The fuel lins is attached to the firewall, with a "joint" underneath the bracket. "hey, why do I smell gas". Find the connection, cut the pipe, and put on a piece of fuel line that "flexes". My conclusion: When I am done with all the work, the car is running, the ad is placed, the car is sold, and I'm packing up EVERYTHING that was replaced or bought, and sending it to VWoA. All you folks shold do the same. Go to the junkyard and find old pcs., pack them up and send them to the pres. Include all the old rags, the antifreeze jugs, the gasket kit wrappers, the UPS receipts, you name it. Don't forget a copy of the ad, where you say "for sale, piece of shit, best offer, will deliver w/ FULL tank of gas,...". At least the wife got an extended warranty. Probably covers everything, except on days that end in "Y".

I have a 2005 Passat TDI which has rusting inside the fuel tank. My dealer and their rep will not replace it saying it's not a warranty issue. They will give me no help at all. I'm afraid the rusty liquid will ruin my engine in time. I have filed a report with the NHSTA and also am consulting with a lawyer. This is my first VW and will be my last!!!!!!

Hi, I too, am experiencing on going problems with my 2002 T Jetta. I've had a few recalls, like the MIL came on after 2 weeks of taking it off the lot, said some coils needed to be replaced, apparently there are 4 but replaced 2 and then called me back for the next 1 and to date I still think they needed to replace the 4th one cause now the MIL came back on and on May 13/0008 it was said that it was a catalytic convertor to the tune of $1100 dollars. Only 3 days after, May 16/08 before our long weekend at the end of the work day the temperature gauge skyrockets to 130 and the antifreeze leaks out. It was in the shop Tuesday and strangely now I have another problem which again ends up costing me $610 for a radiator, said it was cracked but initially said it was the waterpump. They quoted me a $509 job on the waterpump. When I was to pick the car up, the service clerk calls and tells me that the car is ready to be picked up but one problem that it was the radiator and not the waterpump. They went ahead and did the work without telling me. How can I trust them. To top the situation off, the service manager threw the keys at me and said to take my business elsewhere if I think that they run a shady business. So much for customer service. I spoke to the general manager and he too blew the situation off. I said that I will inform Volkswagon Canada and complain about the service. I actually like the drive of the car, and the looks of it, but it is costing me a lot of money for a car that is not even 6 years old. I told the manager that I will not ever buy from him again and warn all of my professional colleagues not to go to his shop.

I bought a new golf gti mkv model 2008, after 6 months and 8000 km the BRAKES STOPED WORKING.

i hate VW.

Keep going with your effort.
Our 2000 Jetta (145k) just surpassed $14,000 in repair work.
It was $20,500 new.....
Terrible....
Here is a funny link I found....old VW ad.
http://www.powerwriting.com/vw-lemon-ad.html

Received June 2008

My first VW was a '78 Rabbit, the stripped down version...best car I ever owned. Since then my wife and I have had three Jettas, '91,'94, and '99, which all gave us good service. But we traded each one at about 70k miles. The VWs that have turned us into American and Japanese car owners now are the two Passats we owned. The '91 Passat I still drive, with 160k miles on it. Good fuel economy, but the car is literally "crumbling". I don't dare take it to a dealer. I have it "wired" and "tie-strapped" and duck taped together. My wife just traded her '02 Passat for our first Japanese car ever. Need I say more. At 68k miles, we were not sure if that car would make it one more day. After 30 years of driving VWs, I can honestly say I will absolutely never buy another. "People's car?" Huh!

Heya first off id like to say that although my volkswagen has literally bled me dry, I love my car but mostly cause i grew up on them.

I own a 2001 gti glx, fully loaded, i bought it second owner. since i have had this car. the car relocks automatically when i leave the door open and the alarm goes off when i start my car.

my car leaks from the left rear pane, rear right pillar into my trunk, and twice through my sunroof and my dash, all of the times my buddy who was a vw tech couldnt find the problem. my maf sensor, check engine light, thermo sensor have gone off 4 times since ive owned it. appx 40k miles. all my struts have gone bad 3 times. my coils mysteriously go bad. ive had to have my rear rotors replaced. i take my car to all the maintanances religiously. and yet in the last 4 services i have dumped 5k into my car. i bought the danm thing for 10k.

in my life i have owned several other old vw models, and have never really had any serious problems. the 01s are a curse if you were unlucky enough to get a jetta then your problems are mostly likely 10x worse then mine. and it sucks. volkswagens you gotta love em, if you dont bail.

im trading my car in at the end of this year and getting a new car, it will not be a vw. its unfortunate cause i literally grew up in the volkswagen family, but because of decreasing service and the total lack of care by technitions and vw as a company its time to go.

Having survived replacement of the four ignition coils, each failing separately, disabling the car at a distance from home and with no help from volkswagen who insisted on not replacing the entire set, we continued to maintain our 2002 passat. The most recent insult has however pushed us over the edge. After replacing all four brakes, one rear brake failed at 7k miles. The dealership claimed no responsibility, blaiming a failed caliper piston that could not have been predicted to fail. Forty years of car ownership and I have never experienced this problem- probably because caliper pistons are routinely lubricated and/or repaired at the time of brake replacement. Once again I am impressed that volkswagen has no customer service concerns because they don't give a damn about customers and fight every dispute. Never again will I purchase a product produced or designed by volkswagen. Compared to our experience in maintaining Honda and GM products, volkswagen engineering and customer service are of such poor quality as to bear no comparison. Volkswagen is the epitemy of buyer beware.

God bless my mechanics, who truly know VWs and have worked on them for decades. But FUCK Volkswagen for real. I bought this car cash down in 2001 with just under 30k on it, a 1999 4-cyl Passat turbo GLS. It drove like a champ in the tests, and I felt so good pulling it off the lot... but the problems started not two years later and a mere 10k more miles on it. I drove it from CA to NY in a move (not weighed down - I moved everything else in a truck). Hoses popped, pieces broke, leaks developed. Thankfully it was still covered under warranty. Once in NYC I barely drove it, but the warranty ran out in '04 and the real problems began. First, a nasty speed bump completely wasted my oil pan which is located right at the front of the undercarriage. Not a great place for it IMO. Oil poured out of a basketball-sized hole and the engine failed within a block and a half. After a costly rebuild (thankfully, covered by insurance) the transmission failed a week later. The insurance denied the claim and I was on the hook for a $2500 rebuild. Well, I loved the car and decided to invest in its longevity... the mechanics assured me that the car would be good as new. Boy I wish I had listened to my gut... after that a switch sending signals to the motor malfunctioned, resulting in a $500 repair and a $150 tow... but that was just the beginning. I took the car in for a regular tune up and left having to replace the entire suspension. Another $1000+. Four months later, I was driving on the freeway and the engine started losing power. Another costly tow (I was out of AAA's radius) and another $500 job to replace the mechanism bringing oxygen to the engine. But it just would not stop. Here's one other VW owners will know all too well - I started smelling a mildewish smell around the car for no reason. It rained real hard one day as I was driving up the turnpike with my fiance, fresh from a birthday holiday... "why are my feet soaking wet???" she asked. There was a puddle of water 2" high on the passenger side floor. I took it in once again, and we cleared the passages. It didn't help, and every time it rained the floors would be soaking wet. Finally my mechanic in a fit put it up on the lift and drilled 10 holes in the base of the car; water literally POURED out. Well, we fixed that! I thought. But I was wrong... Again, after a hard rain, I have to drive out to Long Island on a job (I travel a lot for work) and my key wouldn't unlock the doors automatically. No worries, I turned it manually and got in, started the car, and everything was fine. Right? Wrong! I noticed the fuel gauge was nearing red and so I stopped off to fill up... but couldn't open the gas door because ALL of the power locks were toast! Not only that, I couldn't operate the automatic mirrors either. For a time, I would open the gas cap manually through the trunk by peeling back the carpet to reach the lock. But the pain was only beginning... I took it in next chance I got and was told that the entire body computer would have to be replaced as it had shorted out. Not only that, I would have to replace the wiring as well. And, while they were at it, my tensioners and belts were shot. Another $1600 job later, finally, I've got a fully functioning car back. WRONG AGAIN! A vandal broke my window. Well that's not VW's fault right? But when they replaced the glass, we found that the window regulator was malfunctioning, which caused the window to roll back down if you tried to roll it up automatically. Since then, I've lived with that problem simply because I AM BROKE NOW THANKS TO MY BUCKET ASS VW LEMON. But, always one to kick you when you're down, I couldn't just live with a malfunctioning window regulator, a smelly interior, a moody door lock and more... my power steering all of a sudden failed. I just today learned that I would have to replace the Steering Rack & Pinion, costing another $1000... I am over 8 GRAND in repairs and no end in sight. I would have sold the car ages ago if I could even keep it out of the shop! Right now it looks like it'll be headed for the junk yard. I could blame so much on VW but it was my own, uneducated decision... nonetheless I'll never buy another VW and will warn anyone I talk to. Expensive, trendy Pieces of SHIT. It's pathetic.

It gets over 35mpg at 65mph , has original small engine (93 hp ), automatic transmission and a hard top. When air conditioner is not running at 55 mph highway speed it will attain 38 to 41 mpg. It took only three tanks of gas for me to go rfrom Omaha nebraska to Oriental , Nrth Carolina just this summer , 1327.6 miles. I had one quarter tank left.

All the windows in 98 and 99 had recalls due to parts being installed by unscrupulous dealers who did not replace all the metal belting sent to them from Germany by VW instead they left the original plastic mechanisms which crack and cause windows to fail in areas of the country with colder temps.The dealers instead would sell authentic metal parts not as warrantied replacements under official recall but pocketed the profits at cost of new owners of used VW beetles.

Regrettably in late 1999 , most ( 80%) were later outsourced and assembled in Texas, parts delivered to Port of South Padre'. There were several shipments pirated by secondary parts distributors to dealers all across the United States.

If you purchased a VW Beetle the very first year it was out in 1998 to October of 1999 prior to the infiltration of the American market involvement, you were a big winner. Hold on to your 99 or 98 model. If you have a 1998 stick shift with the 1.5 liter engine you are a very big winner.

Today the VW's are not the same car at all. The rear VW logo truck lock is gone and replaced with a plastic decal. The original design had a stainless steel, chromed manual access rotator lock which was under the 1/2" thick steel cast , moc=veable logo cover.

The classic rounded fenders have been sculpted with a cornered chine ( like the stealth look on the caddilacs. The VW Beetle mirrors are the same size now while originals were two differing sizes to accommodate ergonometrics of driver eye angle toward the passenger side ( mirror adjustments thus minimized. The rear tail light has been recast to include backup lights denudeing 30% visibility of tailight in bad weather by a following vehicle. You can thank the "Marketing Bean Counters" in the American Market for that change. It makes for an uglier and unsafe renovation of what was the original European Porche' intent and interpretation of safety features. As always , we Americans wine, complain and damn that which we little know or care to know the true nature of the problem........lack of American know how and greed.

To those who have posted their frustrations and complaints about the VW Beetle I hope will investigate the insights I've posted here . The facts my surprise you and you may just wind up finding a 99 or 98 beetle . Only one complaint would I offer up as a subtle but real truth...The weight of the original designs by Porche' engineers for the 98 and 99 models is 412 lbs heavier . The weight of the car causes the disk breaks to be adjusted and pad replacement about every 50,000 miles , depending on your city driving habits. Other than this I give the car a five star rating

One last comment and a heads up on our distinctly "Americanized" propaganda on European engineering over American Marketing.....The "Smart" car being driven in France gets 72.7 Miles per gallon. A Smart car shipped to the United States , before U.S. Customs allows any to reach the dock, they all, all, Smart cars have a U.S. , patented part installed in place of the french PVC valve and the carburetor of the Smart car. After installation the mileage is only 32 miles per gallon. So much for American ingenuity and honesty of the American Federal Government trade relationship with other countries trying to help our economy and fuel costs.

Today, June 28, 2008 will go down as one of the best days in my life as I've finally traded-in my 1999 VW New Beetle GLS Turbo for an Acura TL. In thirty - five years of driving I've never had an automobile with so many problems. I'm praying for a class action lawsuit that might help all of us recover some of our maintainence costs. It was our third VW and last.

Received July 2008

I bought a 2000 VW Passat certified used. Less than 30 days later, something hit the glass coolant bottle, the shards of glass shredded the timing belt, the pistons hit whatever and the engine was toast. After much fighting, VW replaced the engine under warranty. Then it has been one problem after another. About 5 months ago it cost me $5,000 at the Princeton VW dealer for U joints and other repairs they said were "necessary". Nobody told me there was a federal emissions warranty program that would cover the cost of catalytic converters for free if the car is less than 8 years or 80,000 miles. My check engine light came on, but I missed out on the free repair by about a month, although I have less than 73,000 miles on the car. So today's bill is about $2,500 to replace both catalytic converters so the check engine light will go off and I can pass emissions inspection. I have to pay $2,500 when they told me last week that it would be covered under the warranty. Don't tell me it will be free unless you check, stupid. I hate this car and VW with a passion. The engine blew up with only 40,000 miles on the car. I paid off the car loan thinking the car was paid for, boy was I wrong! With a VW, you continue to pay and pay. I put all the repairs on a credit card, am unemployed and about to go bankrupt due to repairs needed on this piece of shit car. Please tell everyone you know not to buy any VW product. As soon as I get a new job, this car is history. VW should burn in hell with Hitler.

I have oned a few Vw's

1. 1982 VW Passat Station Wagon Awesome car. PArents bought it new gave it to me 12 years later. Sold car with 175,000 Miles on it
2. 1985 Vw Golf GTI. Did my own Mods car was ok until I cracked the A-Frame
3. 1985 Audi 90. Ohhhh man did I love that car was the best VW/Audi I have ever owned. I miss that car
4. 1967 VW Bus
5. 1985 Vw Vanagon

I own a 2000 Jetta GLS - truly after owning a Jeep Cherokee, the Jetta was my dream car. Had to have one, but the Toyota Corollas were so comparable (body style wise) to the 2000-2004 VW Jetta models.

So I finally bought my Jetta. It had one owner who had taken SUCH good care of it - yet he didnt bother to tell me about the numerous - NUMEROUS - cosmetic flaws that I would take on owning a VW.

Mechanically, I couldn't ask for a better car. Cosmetically, its a nightmare. The dashboard creaks, the air smells musty when the car first starts up, the ashtray door broke, the rubber on the interior handles came off, the sunroof leaked causing the headliner to bubble/fall, the vents below the fender constantly fall out, the dome light has been replaced twice, the leather on the interior of the doors has bubbled, the seat heaters burnt a hole through the passenger seat (which nobody was sitting in at the time...), the plastic hinges on the glove compartment door broke, the CD 6 Disc Changer has never worked nor has the in-dash CD player (obviously a major problem that many have had with this model), the leather seats turned brown from sun exposure (especially the back 3 headrests)...the list goes on.

I went to drive the new Jetta - liked it alot. I'm between it and a Honda Accord, which is very comparable to the new Mercedes 300 CLK that just came out and won Car Of The Year. However, I want to be certain that the 2008 VW is a little more structurally sound than what I have...

One of my friends recently said "You know I thought that only people with a lot of money drove VW's." I replied "Thats not true - because their owners spend all of their money on parts to keep them up!"

This is a copy of the letter I sent to VW re: my recent lease return...

July 2

I am writing today to let you know about the experience I had at Volkswagen Van Nuys in Van Nuys, California upon returning my leased Volkswagen Passat. About one week before my vehicle was due to be returned on its lease I called the dealership where I bought the car, Volkswagen Van Nuys, and asked them if I could return it a couple days early so that I wouldn't have to take time off work on a weekday to return my car on its actual due date of July 1. Salesman Jason Eyraud told me it would be no problem to return my car on Sunday, June 29. We also discussed the fact that I was very interested in looking at some other Volkswagen models. I was especially interested in learning more abut the new Tiguan.

When I arrived at Volkswagen Van Nuys on Sunday, June 29 I approached a salesman and said, "I'm here to return my leased Passat. Where should I go to do that?" The salesman, whose name I do not know, said, "We're not taking back leased cars today" and then he walked away. I let another salesman know that I had already arranged the return with a salesperson. He said, "No lease returns today, NO!" Only after I persisted did someone go get Jason Eyraud to help me. Unfortunately, Mr. Eyraud had no idea who I was. After reminding Mr. Eyraud about our conversation he invited my husband and me into his office to discuss the lease return. Right away, I told Mr. Eyraud that in the few days since I spoke with him I had heard some really bad things about Volkswagen's lease return process. Coworkers and Volkswagen owner websites and message boards were rife with horror stories about Volkswagen nickel and diming their customers during the lease return process. This was my first time leasing a car and I intend to continue to lease cars so for this reason I told him I wanted to wait until the lease return process was complete before I entertained the idea of leasing another Volkswagen.

Mr. Eyraud explained to my husband and me that he had no control over the lease return process, but he did say he could make the lease inspection charges go away if we bought a vehicle from him. I reiterated that I was not ready, for many reasons, to buy a car that day. We told him that we were returning a car in very good condition, with brand new tires and about 6,000 miles under the maximum mileage allowed by my lease and that we thought those facts should be considered during the lease return process. Mr. Eyraud went into a long diatribe about how the person who sold me the car did a horrible job because they should not have oversold me on miles. He said it would have been better for me to return a car over the mileage rather than under. My husband and I told Mr. Eyraud that we didn't really understand how that applied to our situation and went on to discuss our dissatisfaction with the inspection report and the vagueness of some of Volkswagen's lease return policies. Mr. Eyraud told us that we won't be able to contest any inspection charges. He said no one ever successfully contests inspection charges. We said if we had to we would fight any charges we find unreasonable or vaguely stated in the Volkswagen lease return policy. Mr. Eyraud leaned over his desk, smiled and in a condescending voice said, "You'll lose!" Mr. Eyraud's comment was unprofessional and I told him so. I told him that I was not going to be threatened into buying a Volkswagen and asked him to please return my leased car so I could leave.

After waiting about 10 minutes on the sales floor I went into Mr. Eyraud's office to see if he was done with my lease return. Mr. Eyraud again tried to talk me into buying a car that day. He told me that it was my fault for coming in with a negative attitude in the first place. I told him he had not acted in a manner that made me want to do business with him and asked if we could simply finish up the lease return. Mr. Eyraud shook his head and said to me, "I don't know how you get through each day being the person you are." I told Mr. Eyraud that insulting me was not going to help him sell me a car. I said, "Being insulted like that does not feel good. How would you like it if I insulted you? How do you get through each day being as overweight as you are? Isn't that hard to hear?" Mr. Eyraud laughed and held up the copy of my lease inspection and said, "No, but this inspection bill is going to be hard for you to pay." At this time Sales Manager Dan Nguyen entered Mr. Eyraud's office and yelled at me for insulting his employee. I told Mr. Nguyen what Mr. Eyraud had said to me, but Mr. Nguyen didn't acknowledge what I said and did not seem to care about his employee's inappropriate behavior. Mr. Nguyen continued to yell at me as I took my lease return receipt and walked toward the exit. On my way out of the dealership I was sure to let other customers know that they should be very cautious about leasing from Volkswagen Van Nuys.

I regret stooping to Mr. Eyraud's level and insulting him in return for him insulting me. The experience had already been so bad that I lost my cool. Regardless, nothing I did or said warranted the kind of treatment I received. From the moment I walked into the dealership I was treated with complete apathy and it only proceeded to get worse after I had to deal with Mr. Eyraud.

The one thing I hope Volkswagen realizes is that I went in to Volkswagen Van Nuys skeptical about how I would be treated during the lease return process. I was hopeful that Volkswagen would do everything they could to dispel those feelings I had and instill in me some confidence in leasing from Volkswagen again. What happened was the exact opposite. Once I told Mr. Eyraud I would not be buying a car that day everything he did and said convinced me that I had made the correct decision to not lease another Volkswagen.

I enjoyed my buying experiences at Volkswagen Van Nuys back in 2002 and 2004. I've had two Passats over the last six years and enjoyed being a Volkswagen owner. I was looking forward to checking out some larger Volkswagen models for my growing family. Furthermore, I just bought a business in Fresno, California and need to buy six cars for my employees. I had hoped to look into the Volkswagen GTI for my company cars, but because of the way I was treated by Mr. Eyraud and the rest of the staff at Volkswagen Van Nuys I doubt there is anything or anyone that could persuade me to step into a Volkswagen dealership again.

Totally agree! Volkswagans do SUCK. I bought a 1999 used VW Passat. This POS car has given me so much trouble. I spent so much money ON REPAIRS that I could have bought a new car by now! It seems like every year something goes wrong with this car. The worst experience I had with this car was when I was 8 months pregnant with my son. I was driving to work (on the fast lane) and all of a sudden the stupid steering wheel locked and the car began to stall. I don't know how I managed to get from the fast lane to the right shoulder, but I did. I had to force the stupid wheel to turn otherwise I would have caused a major accident. And to top it off, this happened in the winter and it was pouring rain. I thought I was going to go into labor!! Every time I drive by the dealership that sold me this car I feel confronting the salesman (Casper, VW Niello Sacramento)who sold it to me and tell him that all his talk about how great this car is was a freakin' lie and I want my money back punk! This car is a piece of s***. About three months ago the window fell. I had to pay 175 to replace the regulator and just today I decided to wash my POS car and after I finished washing it the stupid car would not start!!! I was so pissed, I felt like taking a sledge hammer to it!!! Now, I probably spend more $$ trying to figure out what the hell is wrong with.... Volkswagons do suck...I should have listened to my husband and bought a Honda....

My 2008 Jetta sucks. The paint's clearcoat was never applied properly, the fit and finish is poor, the transmission clunks when I step on the gas and it's noisy. My opinion, Don't buy one of these pieces of junk! You could buy any piece of junk for less - Mine is going to the dealer. And by the way, Go Mexico! Thanks for forgetting to drill a hole for the Air Conditioner condensate line thus filling my car up with water! You guys rock!

I don't expect you to publish this because it isn't a negative comment but here is my comment antway. As you read most of the comments you realize that most of them are talking about a car that was BOUGHT USED. Maybe they should blame the previous owner and not VW. Sure, VW has had their quality issues in the past but ahs worked hard to make a very reliable car. You can tell by the way they have climbed up the rankings with JD Powers. This site is dedicated only to unhappy people. People typically don't waste their time on CRAP sites like this unless they are unhappy. Real VW owners love their cars!

Cars-That-Suck>You didn't waste enough time on my CRAP site. Most complaints are from owners that bought (or leased) new VWs. Climbed up the JD Powers ranking? Hah - not really! They still suck. I'm begining to see more complaints from the newer models. Nothing has changed. Oh, and the comments I get that don't get posted are the "F-you - your site sucks" and those that claim these complaints are just from owners that abuse their cars or don't have them serviced as required (which is total BS). Well, my goal was and still is with this site is to cost VW time and money. I know this site has been helpful to many - the "real", the unhappy, the undecided buyer, and those just wasting their time.

First, I want to give my thanks to this website to better inform people about the substandard products produced by Volkswagen.

In 1993 I was in the market for a new car and decided to check out the new '93 Jetta's. I went to a local dealer, test drove one, and was pleased with the over all feel and comfort. I ended up purchasing a new '93 Jetta, and it didn't take long for me to discover that I had made a terrible, horrible decision in purchasing that Jetta. Driving the car home that night I had people flashing their highbeams at me; I didn't have my highbeams on. Turns out the headlamps hadn't been aimed at the factory! Next the trunk lid wouldn't open smoothly; it was misaligned from the factory. Two months later the sunroof jammed; warranty replaced the entire sunroof mechanism. The engine began have an erratic idle that the VW tech blamed me for! He claimed it was from down shifting when coming to a stop. Yeah, right! I had constant problems with the back up lamps failing. This was due to a switch that kept failing. It was replaced 3 times! Instrument panel lights that flickered when ever the car was driven over rough pavement. The horns were faulty. They made a strange wheezing sound when sounded; dealer claimed there was nothing wrong with them. Bull! The engine surged at higher rpm's; dealer couldn't duplicate problem. Hmmmm!!! Not to mention that this car developed numerous squeaks and rattles soon after I purchased it. Indeed, the guys working in the VW service department always made you feel like you're the one who's at fault. My Jetta spent a lot of time at the VW dealer's repair shop. Thankfully it was all warranty covered. I got rid of that crappy Jetta three years later with only 26K on the odometer. I traded the Jetta for a brand new 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix. I still have the Grand Prix and it has been extremely reliable. A great car. I've owned many cars over the years, and that 1993 Jetta was the worst experience in any car that I ever owned!

I am a volkswagon dealer. I am also the son of a 37 year volkswagon dealer. This is to all the people who are whining on this web site. PISS OFF !!! V W is an excelent product. Most vehichles respond to the way they are treated. I know there are problems with recalls and what not but I am sure you will find a web site for all makesandmodels. Stop the crying !!! Do a litle research on your perspective purchase. Talk to people who own them. I am sure you will find out many people have positive stories as well as people who have negative ones. Most negative press comes from cry babies who mistreat their cars or fail to keep up with their schedualled maintnace. Do what your sales person tells you. Listen to your TRAINED Svc. advisor. READ YOUR books. Buy an extended svc. warranty if you don't want to pay for thing that break. EVERYTHING breaks at some point. Human beings die to. Are you going to blame V W ???

Cars-That-Suck> (I decided to post this above and comment since this came from an actual VW dealer.) This website is for people to do their research. I was a VW owner. I've known many. Most of them with VW problems. Those that don't were driving VW buses or bugs from the 70s. All posts on this website are from VW owners. VW sales people are part of the problem. VW trained service advisors are also part of the problem. The VW product and manufacturing is another part. Excellent product? Hah! The book does not include the fact that if something breaks, expect the car to be back at the dealer service department being repaired several times for the same problem. Sounds to me like you've been brain-washed by daddy. You should learn something from this website to make things better, instead of complaining and crying because you are part of the problem.

I'm a loyal Volkswagen buyer/driver/enthusiast, who's owned 5 Volkswagens to include: 1992 Golf GL, 1992 Jetta GL, 1982 Vanagon, 1995 Golf Sport, and a 1995 GTI VR6. I till own the Vanagon and the GTI. The Vanagon is at about 300k miles and I've rebuilt the engine once. The GTI just rolled over to 98k.

I think the biggest thing the readers, of this site, are missing is that VW's are an enthusiast's car. You buy the car because you love the cars and the people who love them with you.

I've gotten all the recall cards for the GTI and I've never had a problem with my local dealership fixing the issues in a timely manner.

The Vanagon is easy to work on and gets great looks, all while being a truly hideous vehicle.

I wrecked the Sport. Spun out on a road after a tire was mounted incorrectly. Walked away.

On all of my VW's I've kept good tires on them, changed the filters, changed the oil, kept them clean and they've always taken care of me.

(Stop buying new ones and buy yourself a MK3 to love and drive.)

I worked for years in a VW store and can lend some advice to your site but, I cannot leave my name or personal info. This site is needed as many people are really getting hosed and I understand they don't know what they can do. Let me know if I can help, in confidence only...

I own a 2001 new voltz bug. I was driving on freeway when all of a sudden my door swung open. One of the bolts litteraly fell off. Luckily I didnt get into an accident. Windows failed. Key (clicker) doesnt work. I need to replace the head gasket. I have to replace the battery yearly. This is ridiculous

Cars-That-Suck> According the VW sales person a few posts back - these problems are all YOUR fault. Yes, it is ridiculous.

Volkswagen's 2001 1.8 Turbo New Beetle; a complete piece os shit from bumper to bumper. At one time the VW brand was limited to small inexpensive cars that ran till they completely fell apart, after many years of faithful service. Easy to repair, cheap parts, and ultra reliable, the original Air-cooled bugs were true engineering wonders.

Then VW began the long climb toward luxury cars, and somewhere along the way completely forgot how to make a car worth owning. Resurrecting the Beetle shape and updating the mechanicals has been proven a task they were not ready or able to tackle.

We purchased our bug with 32,000 miles on the odometer, and have regretted it since. There are electrical problems, this thing EATS batteries (four to date) Bad Alternator, ($350.00!!) Melted fuse box on top of the battery, Bad cooling fan, bad relays, The radio blew a fuse (and the VW Dealer will absolutely RAPE you to replace it!, which is only a two minute job) The door panels are falling apart, the headliner is falling down, the plactic (Cheap) interior is coming loose and falling apart, the power windows required new drive cable sets, the CD player is broke again (2nd one) the complete AC system had to be replaced ($1500.00!!!!!!) Bad brakes (Warped rotors again!) and now the exhaust pipe, where it attaches to the Turbo has...(get this) Fallen off, Yes fallen the fuck off!! the cheap weld that holds the tip to the flange failed and you have to replace the pipe and Cat converter as one ($400.00!!!)

Look, if your even THINKING about a VW Beetle, FORGET IT!! you don't want one of these god-damned things....ever! Knowing what I know about these cars, if the president of VW himself personally drove a Brand new car to my door and handed me the keys and the title, I would TURN IT DOWN!!!No thanks. As soon as I can find some unsuspecting fool who will take this POS off my hands, I am DONE with VW. They will NEVER sell me or my family another car.

My wife bought a USED 2001 Jetta VR6. I'm not going to go into details regarding what's wrong with it, suffice to say, I have become a Jetta mechanic. It started with the transmission. The dealer wanted 2500.00 to 'flip a switch'. Told my wife that they replaced a bunch of parts in the transmission, but when I went to pick up the car, I asked for the all the parts they replaced and they could not come up with even one. So, from that point on, I bought a manual for it. They should come standard with the vehicle.

Bought 2000 new beetle. worst thing I ever did. Just spent 2700 dollars to get it running again. The windows still wont work, engine light still comes on, the over heat light still comes on, the gas door won't open without trouble. Help!! I'm still afraid I'll get stranded if I drive. Even my mechanic wants to throw his hand up in defeat. and hes a super machcanic. LET US PRAY.

Received August 2008

I like to add my voice to the unhappy VW owners who have received poor customer service. In 2004 I bought a 1997 VR6 VW Eurovan with 115,000 KM and a along list of repairs done, the major repairs occured at 94,000 KM and the one of greatest concern to me just befor I bought this vehicle at 115,278KM. At 94,000 the timing chain and guides had to be replaced plus the secondary air pump. At 115,278 the air pump had to be replaced again and low and behold the Check Engine light came on at 129,731 or after the14,453 KM that I had driven the vehicle. Thinking that this happening deserves positive action by VW I contacted the dealer who had done all the maintenance on this vehicle and the dealer who had sold the vehicle new, but neither one wanted to deal with the warranty issue - one year or 20,000 KM which ever comes first is the rule and this is over one year - Sorry -. I was directed to VW Canada in AJAX Ontario to see what they were willing to do. I did send a long letter proving my case and asking for Customer Service to give them a chance to prove that they care. No, they don't care I got the same story as from the dealers, but an offer that they would give me a $750 voucher that I could redeem when buying a 20 to $ 30,000 new vehicle from VW. Needles to say, that I consider this an insult when one can buy a replacement air pump for $430 no tax and free shipping. Yes, I agree with all disgruntled VW owners who had to deal with and involve uncaring VW dealers and the even less caring Volkswagen Headoffice. Yes, Volkswagen Sucks in many ways!

Everytime I look on the side of the road.. and and laugh as I predict that the car stuck is a VW.. Then when I am stuck I see people laughing at ME!

I have had a miserable two years with a 2002 New Beetle TDI. I paid 11,000 for it, and was thrilled to death that someone just gave me 4800.00 for it. I have never owned a VW before, and I never will again. Here is my list of repairs in the last two years:

1. The transmission went out
2. The alternator went out(650.00 repair)
3. Replaced the serpentine belt twice
4. Replaced all fuel lines and pump(when I got stranded on my wedding day)
5. Replaced all glow plugs
6. Window rolls down by itself
7. Sunfoof leaked and rusted the door panels and they fell off. Then it stopped opening at all.
8. Seat levers fell off
9. Console broke
10. Trunk won't open
11. Headliner fell down
12. Battery keeps dying
13. Check engine light ALWAYS on
14. Window switch fell out of the door
15. Center caps fell out of the wheels.
16. Back seat seatbelt fell apart
17. CD player in the trunk broken
18. Broken motor mount
19. Front shocks came loose

Glad to see your site. VW's are total pieces of crap. My wife had her 2005 Beetle to the shop 7 times to get the convertible top fixed. Still not right! I had to threaten them with the Lemon Law to get it fixed. The passenger window always rubbed the top. The dealer said it was normal? The window finally blew!!! After that... the seat belt holder came apart. Then, the wiring harness failed. The car just slid over and is out of warranty. I called the VW USA customer care center and I think I spoke to a 4th grader. What a joke. So, I am paying for the harness and then I am going to trade this pig. One of the folks at the dealer told me that all they do is talk to irate customers. I asked them what they drove, they looked and smiled and said, Honda!

Bought an 05 passat wagon 1.8 turbo used in may of 07 with 68,000k on it. It was everything i wanted. Tinted windows, wood grain, sunroof, you get the picture. Gorgeous car and for the first few months was a dream to drive. The nightmares started on a trip back from San Francisco. It was raining the whole way home. Got up the next morning to drive the kids to school and the thing would jerk forward or severely back when it would go to the next gear. THIS CAR IS AN AUTOMATIC!! Took it to the dealer who did not fix the problem but charged me my Golden warranty deductible of $25 + $300. for transmission parts not covered and 100 miles added to the car. It did the same exact jerking as soon i stopped at a red light leaving the dealer. I took it to an independent and it went from bad to worse. So far we have replaced the 2 front axles the oil pan and transmission gasket twice. The water pump and timing belt. All four head gaskets. And the transmission and engine mounts. Now $7000. later in repairs and only owning the car a little over a year we still owe $11000. on it. The f*cking thing still doesn't work!!! I feel all the previous stories i have read. I don't want to unload this piece of shit car on anyone as it was done to us. We finally received one of the recall notices regarding water damage etc... im just afraid to take it back to the dealer. F*CK YOU VW AND YOUR DEALERSHIPS!!!

Received September 2008

2005 GLI turbo. 70,000 mi.

• ran out of oil three times (oil sludge, oil pressure light comes on - shut car off immediately) my fault probably the last 2 times it happened for not checking at 1000 mile intervals. alot of money and headache.
• turbo broke ($300 not under warranty)
• alternator belt broke and damaged air compressor/air conditioning and alternator - $2800 (under extended warrantee). known problem - took 3 weeks to get parts.
• heating fan broke
• windshield fluid/pump broke (warrantee)
• radio broke after i first got it - think that was a fluke.
• more to come - i have to unload this POS.

Olson v. Volkswagen of America, Inc: class action lawsuit
http://www.timingbeltsettlement.com

Well i have a 2004 jetta...this last month, i was driving down the highway at night and the temp signal went off, not a second later the oil light came on and the engine started smoking..so i did what anyone else would do an pulled over. The car from that point would not start or do anything...so i had a friend come get me and had the car towed to the nearest dealer in Fargo, ND (Valley Imports). They looked at the car and said the engine had pretty much melted and that i had to have been driving for several miles for this to happen...(even though this was not the case cause there was no way i could of kept driving). The car is under warranty and the dealership refused to fix it. So we called the dealership i bought it at and they said they should fix it and from there we have called several upper people in VW and to this point we have had no luck dealing with these people. So i just wanted to warn all you thinking of buying a VW that, even though your car is UNDER WARRANTY....DOES NOT MEAN THIS COMPANY IS GOING TO HONOR IT. This is clearly a problem with the engine, and the water pump (which from what i understand from VW mechanics is the worst part of their cars). You would just think that a company would honor their mistakes and fix a car that is under warranty....were still fighting with them to have it fixed but i would NEVER RECOMMEND BUYING A VW or any other car associated with them!

THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH! I'M SO GLAD I FOUND THIS SITE BEFORE I BOUGHT A VW. In the past I've owned as many as 7 VW's. I stopped buying them when we had kids - but at various times, I have come real close to buying a new Bug or a Jetta. My son is just getting old enough to drive - So I'm planning to give him my old Explorer and buy a new VW... Then I found this site. You guys saved my bacon. After reading all these comments, I will never buy a VW until they take some steps to fix their quality. I love the looks of the Jetta's and Golfs and could really see owning one... I REALLY LIKE THE NEW EUROPEAN SCIROCCO. But after all these comments, it's off the the Honda dealer. I now see how little VW cares for their customers. It's clear they won't be in business much longer with that kind of attitude.

I have a 99 beetle. Kathy to you, I say the safe mode on your radio is easy to fix. When you lift your seat up in the back, (*not down) there is a code ther for your radio. Follow the directions for putting your code in and it should work fine. My problem is to find a mechanic that can work on VW. According to mechanic's I have spoken to they are not given the schematics?? That means you have to bring your car to the dealer so there service department can screw you. My guess is that it is part of the plan to make money as other companies do. Myself, and my family will never buy a VW. Not a new one any way. The old ones are dependable, however, something has happened now. The new computer age has really messed up the beetle. I would not recommend anyone to buy a VW. I thought when I bought it that Germans were great engineers. I was wrong and should of went with Honda, or maybe the Ford Edge. The quality of VW has dipped down below the 5 mark on a scale of 1-10 compared to the 70's when they were a 9 or even 10. What has happened to VW?

Received October 2008

Thank you for the opportunity to vent about my supposed luxury car, 2004 Phaeton. I was told at the time that this was one of the most premier cars. Now I have to admit I’m glad vw is not able to screw other people like they did to me anymore since they don't produce the car anymore. During my 3 years of ownership I attended the service department about 14 times for tire pressure warnings, dash problems, replace transmission, transmission installed wrong, wheel bearings replaces and other misc electrical problems. BTW like i can spend my time dropping of, getting a rental, dropping rental off and picking my pos up. I was in good shape until they realized I was out of warranty so now they have wanted me to pay $1800 because the car doesn’t start and they had to replace a number of things. BTW I do have now 80,000 miles so VW says screw you we not supposed to make a car that starts you pay to fix it. Then while fixing this they knock out my center info system and now the dealer says it was always out. Another $1500 please. I said no and I also said no to fixing the $1200 drivers window that wont go up or down, no to the oxygen sensors since they have to remove the motor and theirs 4 of them and will cost approx $3000, no to the transmission to manual shift, no to the wheel bearings on the other side now etc, etc. VW you clearly make a crap car and whats worse is you wont stand behind your crap but hide behind your warranty which is BS> These are items that someone spending almost $75k should not have to endure. No problem for you but people ought to know that VW makes a crap product and everyone I know would never consider buying one. I guess that's the best advertisement for VW, and unsatisfied POS owner.

Cars-That-Suck> Ouch.

ah yes your are so pissed off because you got a freaking jetta. out of all the cars volks makes jetta is sadly the the worst. should have got a touareg thats what i got and it kicks ass! so maybe you shouldnt be dissin all v-dubs just yours buddy!

Cars-That-Suck> I prefer not to own a car that I have to pray for when pulling out into traffic - Touareg Throttle Hesitation/Delayed Acceleration . I only diss'd the Jetta foo' ... everyone else comes and disses whatever v-dub they want. Yes, most of the complaints are concerning the Jetta and Beetle.

I bought a 2001 Jetta last year around this time and in the past two weeks i have spent about 1200 dollars on it.. and i am supposed to take it to get "fixed" tomorrow. my check engine light has been on and off for weeks and keeps coming back on every time i get it "fixed". I took it the first time because there was an unexplainable antifreeze leak. and i had to get a thermostat gasket put in and a new thermostat. and "the reason the check engine light was on is because my radiator fan is bad"?? so i spent 430 dollars on that plus labor. okay well when i got it back after a couple of days when i went to crank it, it would stutter and after about 10-15 seconds it would catch and then cut off.?? then when i finally got it to stay cranked after 11 times of trying the check engine light came on! so i decided to take it back and then they said that it was the 02 sensor and the fuel pump.. so i paid 710 dollars for that to get fixed. then after a couple of days i got it back and i went to crank it and it did the SAME thing as before EXCEPT it was WORSE!! so i am supposed to take it back tomorrow and see what is up?? i am about through with it.. i LOVE my jetta so much and I HATE to have to get rid of it... but all the things that i have read on here and on some other sites about them, well it scares me.

I'll make this short and sweet. I made the horrible mistake of buying a Volkswagen Jetta. I've had something like 17 or 18 cars in my life, and this car was by far - by FAR - the worst one I've ever had in my life. I soon named it "Regretta". I discovered, time and again, after I tried to deal with the problems that kept cropping up with this car almost daily, what "German engineering" actually means: "Make every component of the car so ridiculously complex that it cannot possible work for any length of time in the real world." The Jetta is long gone, thank goodness. I now own a '97 Nissan, and a '72 Dodge. Both are wonderfully reliable, and each in their own way very simply and logically designed cars. I will never, ever go German again.

I own a 2001 New Beetle that has had just about everything on it replaced at one time or another. The inside door handles began peeling almost immediately, the cup holders are all cracked and peeling. I've had the damn thing in the shop for everything from a computer motherboard replacement to replacing emission sensors. Right now the latch on the hatchback sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, and the gas cap latch is the same way. I've replaced the speakers in both doors twice and one is again rattling. I've replaced the latch on the console several times. Right now the oil dipstick is broken and the tube that the dipstick fits into is totally broken and missing. The brakes have been replaced both front and back three times now. I can't believe how much it costs to tune it up. If I had known how expensive it would be to own, I would have bought a Honda or Toyota. I did learn to change a headlight bulb which I understand has saved me hundreds of dollars over the past seven years. I think Volkswagen owes everyone who owns one of their cars an apology for all the expense and inconvenience owning one has caused. I will never buy another one, period.

I just wanted to agree...for the most part...I love my lil 2001 VW turbo Diesel...but...I bought her with the idea that a diesel was going to last a long time..she has 117k on her and she is going down fast..when I get her out of the shop next week..I will have over 1500.00 bucks invested in the last week...and that is not FIXING the AC...which...blew up....What the hell is a speedometer clutch anyway? Good lord. I have been trying to do my research...I can find nothing..the keys have to be reprogrammed because they will not turn over the engine..and I smell a RAT. not too mention that the service department treats me like a dumbass...They once told me I needed a new headlight due to the mositure getting in behind the seal and causing the bulb to go out....Really I asked? How much...450.00 was the answer...excuse me...I replied...Yes...was the answer...we have to replace the complete headlight...Hmm...OK..but I want the headlight when you are done...was my answer...Silence...and then it was a freakin Christmas Miracle...they were able to fix it...and that was three years ago..and no problem since...sons a bitches...I have had my share of problems with it in the past...and I understand that nothing lasts forever...but I HATE dealing with them...HATE IT..and I know I am getting raped...I just can not prove it as I do not know their game....A new AC is 1300 to 2000 and I am going without...hell..it builds character in South Louisiana.... I am glad that you have this site...and I hope you do not read about me in the paper...I am going in next week andlooking for a fight...I have had enough....thanks for letting e-vent.

Guess I'll join the rant. I bought a 2004 New Beetle Turbo Convt. off of the showroom floor while living on Maui. Paid a whopping $31,000 for this cute little piece of junk. Seems the problem with the convertible window is common. Mine also came unglued and the lining pulled away from the inside of the window. I began having a problem with the convt. window shortly after purchasing the car, it began with the inside window lining coming undone. After it happened twice I was told by the service tech that if it happened again they would replace it because it was a common defect for the year car that i had. As luck would have it it didn't happen again until after i moved back to Ga. and let the top down when the weather got warm. At that point the entire lining came undone and the top came unglued from the window. I was told by the dealership that it would cost me $4000.00 to replace the top and that it could not be repaired. I talked with customer service and they acted like they were doing me a big favor by offering to pay half ($2000.00) of the dealers quote. In talking with others i realize that the dealer was trying to rip me off too as most were quoted much lower for the top. Anyway, seems to me that we should all get together and file a class action lawsuit. They should not be allowed to rip the public off as they are. It's not our fault that they opted to have the cars put together in Mexico. We're getting screwed by the Mexico in more ways than one, aren't we? I have also had the window problems. I actually had to have the driver side window replaced due to vandalism and was told by the glass company installer, that the inside panel was not in the door and that many new cars are imported from Mexico with drugs in the door. Mine looked like such a car. Have had problems with the airbag light, head and break lights, Alarm system and a sensor that caused all of my lights to stay on when the car was turned off. Had to pull the fuse to keep the battery from dying. People are still buying these horrible cars. I see new ones on the road all of the time. Let me know if you'd would like to attempt a class action suit.

why are all of these stories so old??? This website needs to be up and running!!! I love my volkswagon but it is a piece of shit!!! I have a 2001 beetle and I just spent $3000 in repairs! And they still didn't fix the problem! So I had to take it back and they tried to charge me another 500 but I said hell no and let them know I would be getting a lawyer so they actually fixed the problem with no extra charge. Big fuckin deal they should have fixed it the first time! I say we start some kind of petition against this shit! What ever happened to lemon laws?

Cars-That-Suck> I update the website every couple months - even though I'm always getting new stories to add.

I own a 2001 VW Jetta 1.9 TDI. Since owning the vehicle it has been a constant problem. Light weight plastic components in the electronic window assembly have broken twice in mid winter leaving the window down until it could be driven into a dealer for Repair. The seat slide forward back adjustment lever malfunctioned and after requesting the dealer to correct it, they said they couldn't but would sell us a completely new seat and assembly for a large sum of money. The turn signal system which also houses the cruise control has been an aggravation for a number of years. It constantly remains clicking after signaling a lane change or turn. The latest and last problem is something described in complaints on the NTHSA website. The car yesterday while driving about 35 mph suddenly and quickly spontaneously accelerated to redline on the tachometer and the engine blew. A piston was driven through the engine block. The complaints on the NTHSA website are similar to mine. Several years ago we had a time where when accelerating the car would not accelerate and with further depression of the gas pedal the car would finally start to accelerate, but appeared to remember in the cars computer that we had pushed the accelerator multiple times and the car would uncontrollably accelerate for a time. Now that I have had the time to think about that earlier experience I am sure it is a related problem. I don't think VW's onboard computers that control the engine are designed properly. They seem to store in memory the depression of the gas pedal perhaps multiple times and when what ever is causing the car not to accelerate clears the car then remembers the accelerator depressions and then automatically applies the gas. The other NHTSA complaints seem to bear this out.

I just purchased a 2009 Routan. Traction light and "esp bas" on dash board appears after 500 miles. Ok I bring it to a dealership which checks out the car for 3 hours. The service manager hands me the keys and says "we can't figure it out!, it's a new model and unsure of the mechanics, bring it to the dealership where you purchased it, Volkswagon is unsure of the reason for the warning light!" great I own it two weeks. It will never survive like my Toyota Sienna, 165,900 miles and 9 years old, never seen the inside of a toyota dealership other then routine maintained. Never put any major repairs on that beast. Loved It. Sorry to see it go.

Cars-That-Suck> I've been wondering if anyone has bought the new Routan. I drive into a big city 4 days out of the week for work and I'm yet to see one on the road. I am tired of seeing the lame "cause-she's-pregnant" Routan commercials (wtf is VW advertising thinking?). Honda and Toyota (and Dodge) have been doing mini-vans much longer and know the market better (not to mention have better products for the money). We have had a Honda minivan for several years and have had no problems. I have friends with Honda and Toyota mini-vans. No problems.

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