Thinking about VW R - any happy VW stories out there?

[Penguin]

That is what warranties are for. If the car is trouble free under warranty you're probably good to go for a long time with it, if it is a turd under warranty and spends time in the shop then you should probably heed that trend and dump it.

[Gire]

Good point.

 

 

If I changed in to new cars every 4 years I'd be in a BMW or Audi in a heartbeat, because who cares? It's under warranty. But its the maintenance / repair costs in years 5-7 that always have me leery of those brands.

 

And I keep the cars for that long. I just wouldn't gamble on a new Euro car hoping that it's trouble free for the first 4 years and long after...

[Penguin]

Well that is understandable. Mechanically European cars don't worry me that much at least not engine wise, and the other running gear is usually not any less durable than a Japanese or American car. Electronics though have been a sore point with European cars, and that is not a idle rumor either. Lets face the facts that Europeans in general suck at making electronic devices, and those used in automobiles are no different.

 

They are getting better though, and the reputation for bad quality has been pissing off the Germans for some time. I would not be surprised to see them make very serious efforts to correct that in the near future. I don't know why a premium European manufacturer can't offer a 100,000 mile/10 year bumper to bumper warranty, even as a marketing gimmick to show confidence in their own product. If the car is really that high in quality one would think such a warranty would not be an issue.

[boymk123]

2011 Jetta "fun car to drive"? Ummmm....ok. That is the first time I have heard that from anyone.

 

170hp, 177 torque, 35mpg highway for 2.5L I5 engine

TDI 236 torque @ 1750rpm 42mpg

 

if u understand what torque means, u will know what I'm talking about... after all, what do u expect from a Jetta? Turbo charged BMW or sumthing? remember, VW uses turbo for efficiency, Subaru, BMW uses turbo for powahhh

 

Just out of my curiosity, do you actually own one, or you just "heard" from ppl? The jetta does surprise me how well it handles at corners (compare to all the suspension mods I threw on my GT) with their new cheap suspension design (as many ppl whining about) - Torsion beam..

 

it has been bugging me so bad that ppl keep comparing VW with Audi and BMW, for godsake, its just a VOLKWAGEN lol

[VermontGT]

it has been bugging me so bad that ppl keep comparing VW with Audi and BMW, for godsake, its just a VOLKWAGEN lol

 

Uhhh I can think of a couple reasons why Audi and VW are compared

[boymk123]

I can compare VW with Lambo too

[psi365]

it has been bugging me so bad that ppl keep comparing VW with Audi and BMW, for godsake, its just a VOLKWAGEN lol

 

Could be because VW is Audi's parent company. Audi is always trying to compare themselves to BWM. Now comparing VW to Bugatti, Lambo, or Porsche is another story of the same company. Could all just be guess though.

[BAC5.2]

anyone else curious why vw golf r gets a 270hp version while more expensive/upscale a4 only gets 211hp?

 

yeah, yeah s4 -- different car, different price category, 6 cyl sc (anyone that mentions this as a reason gets punched in the face)

 

Not curious at all.

 

The Golf R is a special model. It's the "S4" of the Golf line.

 

A base model Nissan Maxima has 290hp, while the more expensive/upscale G25 has 218hp.

 

Some people would rather have the name than the performance, and would rather have the Infiniti badge than the Nissan badge. They are the kind of people who wouldn't mind being at the bottom of their business class at Harvard, rather than being at the top of their business class at Brown.

[boymk123]

Could be because VW is Audi's parent company. Audi is always trying to compare themselves to BWM. Now comparing VW to Bugatti, Lambo, or Porsche is another story of the same company. Could all just be guess though.

 

so what you'r saying is I can compare toyota with lexus, honda with acura, infiniti with nissan?................. fiat with ferrari???

wow man... wow

 

Each car has its own class, according to VW, jetta is there for the Civic and Corola. Even top of the line VW CC sedan can't barely compare with Audi - simply because they are in DIFFERENT CLASS. Yes, you may argue their numbers and specs both look familiar but it is no brainer Audi is a Luxury Brand and VW is not...

 

when you actually drive those 2 cars, you will know they are day and night different

 

Now say if you compare a Jetta to an Audi, it is completely ridiculous, like you putting a Corola next to a IS-F or a Civic next to a TL. Wait did I mention about the price tag difference? Someone paid 16k for a jetta and keep bi***ing about it feels so cheap compare to Audi or BMW... wtfloolollamoROFL

[matt]

boymk123 that's quite a blanket statement. You're right that common corporate ownership alone is not reason enough to compare cars, but when platform sharing is going on or pricing is similar it's absolutely fair game.

 

VW and Audi have shared platforms over the years, like every major auto maker in recent history. The A3 is an Audi-badged Golf. So is the TT. The old Passat was an enlarged A4. (The current Passat is not related to the A4 however.) The Phaeton was a steel-bodied A8. Etc. Comparing such cars is absolutely fair.

[boymk123]

I just can't find any reason why it is fair, considering Audi is not in the same class with VW, where the mother company uses it to compete with lower end brands like Honda and Toyota... I had a chance to peek in an A3, man, the interior is supbah high quality... there is no way in hell a golf can compare (except the same body platform),

 

Considering the price tag, I would steer away from Luxury brands and stay with economy brands. According to what you said, why would VW bothers to make Audi then? They used it as an upper-scale brand! higher class, more power, more luxury feel, and ofc... out of my world price tag!

 

And I dont compare my 19k jetta with 30k Audi same thing happen to my 27k V6 accord, I would never complain how cheap or slow it feels compare with the 40k auntie's TL

 

but to each their own,

[BAC5.2]

Regardless of parent company, you are comparing vehicles in the same class. How is the Audi not in the same class as the VW? You can't arbitrarily define class based on price or "image". Class is defined by more concrete metrics.

 

Absolutely Audi makes vehicles in the same class as VW. Audi makes vehicles in the same class as Lamborghini too (surely, you'd compare a V10-R8 to a Gallardo, right?). The A3 is in the same class as the Golf. The A3 has less power than some models of the Golf, but it has a nicer interior. That's part of the comparison grounds. The Nissan/Infiniti example I posted above is point proof of this.

 

Do you want to get C's at Harvard or A's at Brown? People will have their reasons for both answers.

[boymk123]

yes

Audi is nv in the same class with VW to begin with... same with nissan/infiniti, lexus/toyota, acura/honda... etc

and your telling me it makes sense to compare 19k car with 30k car? If I can get a C in Havard, I would love to do so:wub:

 

yet, I nv heard anyone complain about how their S4 isn't faster than lambo

[BAC5.2]

Price does not determine class, no matter how much you want it to.

[boymk123]

Price does not determine class, no matter how much you want it to.

 

ok if you say so...

 

but like it or not, u get what u paid for.

[psi365]

so what you'r saying is I can compare toyota with lexus, honda with acura, infiniti with nissan?................. fiat with ferrari???

wow man... wow

 

A3/TT=Golf platform

A4=Passot

Q5=Tiquan

Q7=Touraug

A8=Phaeton

Audi an VW share a lot of their engines such as the 1.8T, VR6 3.2, 4.2, 2.0TDI, and the 2.0TFSI just to name a few. In early 00-04ish the head of VAG wanted to shift the car lines around some. They wanted to make VW a luxury brand (which is the reason why the Phaeton exists), Audi a sport luxury brand (think more like BMW), and Porsche the sports car division. Obviously it didn't work out by the complete failure of the Phaeton, but to this day VW gets different models before Audi does. They introduced the Phaeton before the new bodystyle A8 came out, and options such as the W12 engine, and advanced key before we got them. Audi was the last division in VAG to get an SUV.

 

Don't forget Acura only exists in the US. In Japan you would be buying a Honda TL. To demand higher prices Honda had to create a luxury division.

[matt]

A3/TT=Golf platform

A4=Passot

Q5=Tiquan

Q7=Touraug

A8=Phaeton

 

Well, no. This is half wrong. The A4 and Passat haven't shared a platform in years - the current Passat platform is more of an enlarged Jetta platform, and the A4 has moved on to a new platform since those days as well. They're now entirely unrelated except for engines.

 

The Q5 is also unrelated to the Tiguan except for engines.

 

The Phaeton was a steel-framed version of the A8, which has an aluminum frame.

 

boymk123, the A3 and Golf are indeed the same car, merely with different styling. Sorry to break it to you but an Audi badge alone does not reinvent a car. The Audi version does look much nicer, so I'd prefer it, but other than looks if you option them with the same engine+fwd/awd config they're basically the same.

 

I will say that the Maxima and G25/G35/G37 comparison is flawed. They are very different cars on unrelated platforms. The G is longitudinal mount RWD, the Maxima is a giant transverse-mount FWD barge. No relation beyond the engines.

 

 

Edit: Yes, this is me:

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

[boymk123]

thanks for clearing out the Audi A3 and Golf,

 

IMO, regardless of brand, it is just impossible to compare 2 cars with 10k different price tag... that's my whole point

 

Almost everyone I saw online.. paid 16K for their Jetta and bit*** for Audi A4 quality... hope u know what I mean

 

that just CANT HAPPEN!

[mmarton]

I had a '90 Mexican made Golf that was a piece of junk. I rented a '90 Golf in Germany and it was a completely different car - good that is. I don't know about its reliability. But I figured buying a 2002 Passat wagon was a safe bet because it was made in Germany. Beautiful car, but it broke all the time and had all the major issues like sludge. I'd be very careful about buying another VW or German car because of quality/reliability issues, cost to own and complexity. I had to take apart three different assemblies just to swap out air filters on the Passat.

[boymk123]

did you follow their "out of this world" 10k/1year OCI?

Beautiful car, but it broke all the time and had all the major issues like sludge.

[Envy]

not good news, but soemthing to watch out for, got an 06 passat 2.0T and its been a NYC car for its 89k life span, now at 96k i have evap problems, which is causing misfiring... you just have to use good gas, quality service parts.

[RJS5689]

My stage 2 2006 GTI ran like a champ for 65K hard miles by me, and is at over 100K now with the current owner. The car was trouble-free and gave me a smile every time I drove it. Boy do I miss that car. My Legacy has had more issues in less time than my GTI did.

 

And yes, build location does make a difference. When I worked for a VW/Audi shop, usually vehicles assembled in Germany proved more reliable than Mexican and Brazilian built VWs.

 

did you follow their "out of this world" 10k/1year OCI?

VAG isn't the only company doing this. BMW has extremely long oil change intervals as well now.

[kaimonica]

The Golf R's finally arrived in North America and I finally got a chance to drive one.

Despite all the online opinions that it is more refined than the STI and the WRX, I would put it somewhere near the WRX in "rawness". I am sure the fake sound generator doesn't help http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5640036-Does-the-Golf-R-have-an-electric-sound-generator

 

It is quite a bit more "raw" than the LGT. IMHO, the LGT is a much more comfortable cruiser that can go fast when needed. Man, the test drive made me realize how much I love the LGT. The R does seem smoother and less peaky between 3k and 6.5k and rowing through the gears is a much more enjoyable - shorter throws and more precise.

 

I am sadden by no more LGT after 2012, and am really tempted to "refresh" mine. Only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger right now is having to give up my wagon for a sedan.

 

Sigh, still no closer on what to replace my LGT with...

[sactojesse]

^

I hear you on not wanting to give up your LGT wagon. I was also bouncing around the idea of getting a Golf R, but I'm leaning more towards getting a Jetta Sportwagen TDI 6MT and keeping my LGT wagon as a snow car.

[TrueWhiteBoy]

Do they make any AWD TDI vehicles?