Consumer Reports Used Cars to Avoid

[dtfd]

CR is based off of the owner's perception of reliability and what they consider an issue vs maintenance. The problem here is that it's subjective.

I, for example, had an rx7 before this. A car less reliable than a meth addicit. By that standard my mk7.5 is downright camry-esque in reliability.

It's also never had any issues in the 40k miles I've owned it

 

[Subliminal]

LMAO, people butthurt over criticism of a motor vehicle. Even the people at VW America acknowledge the vehicle shortcomings and cost benefit risks they take with TSBs and recalls.

Mea culpa, I forgot some of us have street cred and rep that coincides with the cars we drive. 'Cause bruh, we roll Euro, we ain't down wit JDM or Muscle. We pick our crew and be a richard about it. Let's fall in line and worship our infallible.

the irony

 

[shovelhd]

CR is based off of the owner's perception of reality

ftfy

 

[GTIfan99]

I bought an 08 STI. It was less reliable than my MGB.

 

[GTIfan99]

CR is based off of the owner's perception of reliability and what they consider an issue vs maintenance. The problem here is that it's subjective.

I, for example, had an rx7 before this. A car less reliable than a meth addicit. By that standard my mk7.5 is downright camry-esque in reliability.

It's also never had any issues in the 40k miles I've owned it

I'm pretty sure LS swap is required 30k miles service for an RX8.

 

[winc09]

I just saw in the Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide that the 2015, 2018, and 2019 GTI were in the list for used cars to avoid. Looking further into details, the engine, amongst various other areas, were rated much worse than average.
I'm considering buying a used GTI but these latest rankings have got me reconsidering my options.
Any thoughts on this??

Ah, CR BS. That is a reprint from the April Auto Issue. If you look beyond the used car bad list and go directly to the individual car reliability guide the 2019 GTI is much better than average. They cannot get it straight. Also I discovered that if owners complain about the infotainment system just because they don't like the way it works they give it an unreliable rating even though it never fails.

 

[ELHOTA]

Check out the charts in this website showing several categories - Overall Reliability, Annual Maintenance Costs, Number of Unscheduled Major Repairs in 3 Years. This shows the results of the GTI compared to various other cars. Quite interesting...

How reliable is a Volkswagen Gti and what are the expected maintenance costs? (withclutch.com)

 

[VDubberinDE]

Somebody still reads consumer reports? They have been so far off so many times.

 

[Treadup]

I used to use CR for items like Dyson vacuums and Ninja coffee makers. I’ll stick to Car and Driver for automotive opinions.
I do the preventative maintenance and don’t neglect my car. Besides the squeaks and rattles on a $35k 2 year old car…I plan on keeping my GTI for a long time.

 

[theDoktor]

My 2015 had catastrophic engine failure and the engine and turbo were replaced under warranty at 40k miles. This is just my experience though and was told it is rare.

Same thing happened to a friend with his early Mk. 7 GTI. Don't know if he ever got the lawsuit resolved. He's a retired aeronautical engineer & car racer who knows his stuff. When he took the car to the dealer after the failure, they accused him of grossly over-revving the engine allegedly based on stored readings from the ECU. He called BS & took it to a private mechanic, who tore the engine down & found MISSING & MIS-INSTALLED o-ring seals on the balance shaft housing. His mechanic advised him that his sources within VW admitted that this type of defect was NOT UNCOMMON and that the failure usually occurs within the first few thousand miles. Whereupon he he initiated a lawsuit against the dealer &, I believe, VW.
That particular dealership was at the top of my list for buying a GTI until that happened.

 

[barf]

Check out the charts in this website showing several categories - Overall Reliability, Annual Maintenance Costs, Number of Unscheduled Major Repairs in 3 Years. This shows the results of the GTI compared to various other cars. Quite interesting...

How reliable is a Volkswagen Gti and what are the expected maintenance costs? (withclutch.com)

Where's Mercedes?

 

[Subliminal]

Check out the charts in this website showing several categories - Overall Reliability, Annual Maintenance Costs, Number of Unscheduled Major Repairs in 3 Years. This shows the results of the GTI compared to various other cars. Quite interesting...

How reliable is a Volkswagen Gti and what are the expected maintenance costs? (withclutch.com)

im curious what car you currently own

 

[dmsyr]

Same thing happened to a friend with his early Mk. 7 GTI. Don't know if he ever got the lawsuit resolved. He's a retired aeronautical engineer & car racer who knows his stuff. When he took the car to the dealer after the failure, they accused him of grossly over-revving the engine allegedly based on stored readings from the ECU. He called BS & took it to a private mechanic, who tore the engine down & found MISSING & MIS-INSTALLED o-ring seals on the balance shaft housing. His mechanic advised him that his sources within VW admitted that this type of defect was NOT UNCOMMON and that the failure usually occurs within the first few thousand miles. Whereupon he he initiated a lawsuit against the dealer &, I believe, VW.
That particular dealership was at the top of my list for buying a GTI until that happened.

Wow. This is interesting. I asked multiple times for the exact failures while my car was getting the warranty work done and the answer I got simply was "rod knock." I got the runaround trying to find answers, like they were intentionally keeping information from me or something. The invoice for work performed just lists parts and labor charges and whatever simple notes the techs who worked on my car scribed in the chart or whatever.

This was same the dealership I purchased the car from. I haven't been back and started doing my own maintenance and whatnot.

Hope it works out for your friend.

 

[GTIfan99]

I would never use CR to buy a car, the data is self reported, self selecting nonsense.

They do a great job reviewing and testing household items, appliances, paint, flooring, etc... they haven't steered me wrong yet. Been using them for decades.

 

[theDoktor]

Wow. This is interesting. I asked multiple times for the exact failures while my car was getting the warranty work done and the answer I got simply was "rod knock." I got the runaround trying to find answers, like they were intentionally keeping information from me or something. The invoice for work performed just lists parts and labor charges and whatever simple notes the techs who worked on my car scribed in the chart or whatever.

This was same the dealership I purchased the car from. I haven't been back and started doing my own maintenance and whatnot.

Hope it works out for your friend.

Rod knock is a resulting symptom of a lubrication failure.