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Crossing off GTI due to reliability/service concerns?

Slowride

Touring Car Newbie
Location
US
Wantagti said:
Just run the Skyline on Gran Turismo4.

:laughabove:

Anyway, that just made me think of something. If VW owners want to mod their vehicle, with a BOV or NOS purge, do they now feel a little restricted by the ads? It isn't the same as pink door trim, but it all ties together in a way now. How about stickers on the windows, even if tasteful...is anything out of stock looks going to be not cool now?
 

gti5dr06

Autocross Newbie
Location
Gaithersburg, MD
that psst sound that Shovels mentioned is definitely more prevalent in the wrx's and legacy's, though those have a bit more lag than gti's and no dsg, which really is what took them off the list for me, the gti stock sounds pretty good to me but i'm coming from a civic -_-
 

davis_grad

Touring Car Champion
Location
Marin
Longtime VW owner

I have owned a total of 6 VW's, and have found them to be no more or less reliable than any other car that I have owned, with the exception of the American-made cars that I have owned. Reliability reports, as those reported in Consumer Report, are an average of a small number of autos, and are not always indicitave of the experience you may have with a car. I had an '87 GTI, put 150K miles on it, and had zero problems with it, yet Consumer Reports rated it worse than average.
 

VWpanther

Newbie
Location
Wash. DC
This is a great thread... I've been back and forth for a month about a buying the GTI because of these issues and other little things that are posted in Vortex.

I have a cabrio which I love to death but has given me a fair share of problems. Thankfully nothing related to the engine, but ABS light not turning off, power roof stopped working, door panels peeling, alarm not disengaging, had to replace the clutch, the exhaust, the top, etc, etc. The car is 82K... granted most problems started after 50K, but still... I've had more than my share and would not be happy to be in the same boat again. Having said that, I've heard of several problems with Acuras and Acords so I would probably be even more pissed off if I chose one of those cars for reliability and then had trouble...

In any case, most of my friends own VWs and have had zero problems with them (all under 50K still) so I seem to have been the one with the worst luck (or the oldest car, 1998).
 

katie

Autocross Champion
Location
Houston, TX
An Acura is just a more expensive Honda. Like Jeremy Clarkson says, you're getting a Honda.

But the main reason why people complain about the reliability of a VW is because 1. They don't take care of their cars and 2. More than likely, they drive a Jetta. Enough said about that since they're made in Mexico and of course, cheap labor means a cheap car. But I've never had any problems with the VWs that the family has had over the past 5 or so years and if there was a problem, it's something electrical.

When I was deciding on which car to get, my list consisted of: BMW 330i, Rx8, STi, 350z, g35, a3 and of course the gti. I didn't do much test driving but for my money, I was just thinking about what am I really paying for. In the end I ended up narrowing it down to the A3 and the GTI. It's pretty obvious though, the GTi's body does look better. Plus, the GTI has a low profile. People don't really respect it unless they know what's so great about it.

That's how I feel, even though people may just be like ew, a Volkswagen. I love my car even though it doesn't have the BMW logo on it.
 

tydale3

Rally Car Champion
Location
Indiana
consider this, VW is a VW Acura is a Acura Germany and Japan were allies in the big one. They are both good cars. Japan sells cars everywhere and so does VW except in Japan where they charge high tarrifs on any car not made there. Buy the VW and you will not be sorry. I have a 1954 VW and a 2006 mkv. Rice burners are everywhere. VW's are Fewer. Do the real numbers per 1000 cars or so . MY guess is that VW is just as reliable or more than any Jap car. Cept maybe Toyota who de-tunes all there stuff
So they last longer. Besides VW comes with a friend(FAST)
 

Slowride

Touring Car Newbie
Location
US
omghi2kt said:
An Acura is just a more expensive Honda. Like Jeremy Clarkson says, you're getting a Honda.

I see that quote all over the place, and people use it like they were the first words that the baby Jesus spoke.

Personally, I don't take anything that man says seriously, unless I have the wrong guy here...

Is that the same Jeremy Clarkson who was involved with Top Gear? If so, he isn't only bagging on Honda. He bags on EVERYONE.

If so, that is the same Jeremy Clarkson that had this to say after the Katrina disaster:

"most Americans barely have the brains to walk on their back legs."

He has also referred to German BMW staff as "Nazi's"...

In case I have this guy confused with another Jeremy Clarkson, let me know after you read this bit:

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1074050_1,00.html

Although the new Mark V Golf is heavier than the old Mark IV, it feels more sprightly and more nimble. I'd even go so far as to say the turbo diesel version was fast.

However, it's nowhere near as much fun to drive as the Ford Focus and the styling is just catastrophically bland. They started with a blank piece of paper and ended up with a blank piece of paper. Where are the natty details, the pleasing little touches that make you proud to be an owner? Honestly, even the new Vauxhall Astra looks better.
But the worst thing is the quality of the interior trim. Get inside in a showroom, twiddle the heater knobs, and I guarantee you'll get straight out again. There are discarded toys in our playroom that feel more robust. And what's with the dashboard? It feels like it's been made out of a melted Sanilav.

This is the thing that annoys me most about the new Golf, the nasty sense that the only real difference between this version and the old one is to be found in VW's profit and loss account. I bet it's much, much cheaper to make.

In the past, when someone has rung and asked what car they should buy for around £15,000 I've always said "a Golf" without really thinking. It's always been perfect because quality suits everyone, whether they're an heir to the throne or a geography teacher. Quality is what made the Golf classless.

But this new one doesn't feel like a quality product. I'll tell you how it feels. It feels like the engineers have spent the past few years making V16 engines for the new Bugatti and V10 diesels for the Touareg off-roader. It feels like they've been busy with that astonishing W12 Phaeton and its sister car, the Bentley Continental GT. It feels like they've been out there, at the fizzy and exciting edge of engineering, having a ball.

And then one day someone came into their offices and said: "Sorry, boys, but can you do us a new Golf?" So, with a lot of "Oh, sir" and Kevin-the-teenager shrugs, they put their satellite-guided superchargers down and spent no more than five minutes doing just that. A Golf, that was new.
Volkswagen, it seems, has moved on. With the Phaeton and the Bentley it is now making some of the best luxury cars money can buy. But it seems to have lost the plot with the bread and butter. As a result, the new Golf has no heart, no soul, no character at all. You don't want it to win. You don't want it at all.

So the next time someone says they want a car for around £15,000, they will be in for a shock. Because I'll suggest the 250-1 outsider bee. I'll suggest they buy a Renault Megane.
 

the_saint

Touring Car Champion
Acura is Honda.
Same as Infiniti = Nissan and Lexus = Toyota.

For some reason (marketing I'm sure) the Japanese brands rebadge some of their higher level cars to sell as premium brands in the States (and probably elsewhere).
In Japan there is no Lexus LS400-430, it's a Toyota Celsior, the Acura RSX is a Honda Integra, the Infiniti M45 is a Nissan Fuga...I could go on.
 

Teknophreak

Rally Car Champion
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Slowride, you may want to post a review of the GTI, not the plain Jane Golf. And yes, Clarkson is known for his hyperbolic comments... If you don't feel like reading, the verdict says it all:
Verdict Simply the most complete car on the road

Go back to your Si and feel good about your purchase. Me thinks you're feeling a little buyers remorse over not having at least driven the GTI.

There are those who say the latest version recaptures the magic of the 1976 original, but that’s not true. It’s twice as heavy and twice as luxurious, for a kick-off. It even has power steering, for heaven’s sake. But what it does do, once again, is capture the mood of the moment perfectly.
Let’s be honest, your enormous off-roader may make you feel like the king of the road, but it is hard to park, and you do spend an awful lot of time filling it up with fuel at £70 a pop. And do you need all that space? Really? Because the Golf has five seats as well, you know, which is just as many as you have in your Range Rover or BMW X5.

Then there’s this bothersome footballing business. It may be acceptable for some 20-year-old thicko on £70,000 a week to run around in something vulgar and ostentatious, but do you want people to think you’re Rio Ferdinand? So why have that Bentley Continental then? Because it’s fast? Okay, well I’ll make a bet. You can choose any route, anywhere in Britain, and I’ll cover it at least as quickly in a GTI. I’ll have more fun, too.



And here’s the rub. The Guardian may like us to believe that Britain is completely gridlocked, but it’s not. If I were to leave my house right now I could be doing 100mph in as long as it takes the car to accelerate to that speed.

I am surrounded by hundreds of miles of road that have never seen a traffic jam; roads that are unpoliced and miles from children playing ball. It’s the stuff of car ads round here. It’s wonderful.

Sure, you occasionally encounter a Rover with a Christian fish on the back, doing 16mph, and this is where the torque of the new GTI’s 2 litre engine comes in. You don’t even need to drop out of sixth. Such is the grunt that if you put your foot down the little car can be past the Christian on even the shortest straight.

Then you have the bends. Maybe when it’s greasy there isn’t as much grip from the driven front wheels as you’d expect, but you really have to be flying to notice. And when you are flying, being hugged by quite the most exquisite seats I’ve ever found in a car, you’re having too much fun to care. As a driver’s car, then, the new GTI is just fantastic.

Then you’re in London, where it’s small enough to fit in even the tightest of Soho’s multi-storey car parks. Then you’re on the motorway, where it’s quiet and refined. And then you’re in a jam watching the television, or making calls on the hands-free. And then you’re at the supermarket with the rear seats folded down, jamming a Christmas tree in the back. And then you’re in an accident with airbags leaping out of every flat surface.

As is the way with the old Golf, this new one is never caught out socially, or on the road. It works outside the best restaurant in town and it works when it’s minus seven. It works if you’re a Guardian reader and it works if you take The Times. It’s not chav. It’s not bling. And with prices starting at less than £20,000 it’s not that expensive, either.

It’s hard, really, to think of any car that does anything like as much, anything like as well.

Vital statistics

Model Volkswagen Golf GTI
Engine type Four-cylinder, 1984cc turbo
Power 197bhp @ 5100rpm
Torque 207 lb ft @ 1800rpm
Transmission Six-speed manual front-wheel drive
Fuel 35.3mpg (combined)
CO2 192g/km
Acceleration 0-62mph: 6.9sec
Top speed 145mph
Price £19,995
Rating 4/5
Verdict Simply the most complete car on the road
 

katie

Autocross Champion
Location
Houston, TX
Lol, even though Jeremy Clarkson does joke around a lot, I agree with him about the Honda statement.

But then again I've only driven European cars and I don't plan on driving anything else.
 

Slowride

Touring Car Newbie
Location
US
Teknophreak said:
Slowride, you may want to post a review of the GTI, not the plain Jane Golf. And yes, Clarkson is known for his hyperbolic comments... If you don't feel like reading, the verdict says it all:
Verdict Simply the most complete car on the road

Go back to your Si and feel good about your purchase. Me thinks you're feeling a little buyers remorse over not having at least driven the GTI.

You missed the point I was trying to make.

What I posted has nothing to do with Honda, VW or the price of tea in China.

I realize that it is automatically assumed that everything I post is against VW, but that simply isn't the case. I know you, and several others here would like that to be the case, because that is easy to deal with.

Also, I have no remorse for purchasing the 2006 Si. Why would I?

In fact, I would go as far to say that there are a few people on this site driving loaner cars right now that regret buying the GTI when they don't have it in the driveway.
 

Teknophreak

Rally Car Champion
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Sorry, I clearly did miss your point. I've seen you post positive things about the GTI, but this post seemed like you were trying to bash it with a review about the Golf.

Was your point that Clarkson is a loudmouth or were you just trying to find out who he is?

The buyers remorse comment was more friendly ribbing than trying to cut on you. I know it's hard to pick that up via posts in a forum. I should have :biggrin:
 

Slowride

Touring Car Newbie
Location
US
Teknophreak said:
Sorry, I clearly did miss your point. I've seen you post positive things about the GTI, but this post seemed like you were trying to bash it with a review about the Golf.

Was your point that Clarkson is a loudmouth or were you just trying to find out who he is?

The buyers remorse comment was more friendly ribbing than trying to cut on you. I know it's hard to pick that up via posts in a forum. I should have :biggrin:

Not a problem.:wink:

...and yes, I was just trying to point out that Clarkson is a loudmouth by attempting to demonstrate that he has bad things to say about people, all car brands and whatever else gets in his way. That's why I don't take much stock in his quotes.

:thumbsup:
 

snoopy

Touring Car Newbie
Location
UK
This thread IMHO just goes to show how in different markets (countries) different brands have built themselves different images

As i spend a HUGE amount of time talking to Americans (i work for an American company so spend loads of time over there or talking to Americans) I also spend alot of time on USA forums,
Honda and Nissan for example have totally different images over there to how we view them in the UK.
 

KharatosGTI

Rally Car Newbie
Location
Bay Area, CA
snoopy said:
This thread IMHO just goes to show how in different markets (countries) different brands have built themselves different images

As i spend a HUGE amount of time talking to Americans (i work for an American company so spend loads of time over there or talking to Americans) I also spend alot of time on USA forums,
Honda and Nissan for example have totally different images over there to how we view them in the UK.

How does the UK public view Honda and Nissan? Please do tell, I'd really love to know. :thumbsup:
 
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