Not A Troll--Just posting like I said I would a year ago...

Hey all,

I still read this group everyday, as I like to keep abreast of the VW
"happenings", as well as watch 'Woodchuck' help out the current VW
owners as he did for me.

I used to own a 2001 Jetta GLX. It was my first experience with VW,
and I was excited. Long story short, the car let me down. When it
worked, it was a blast to drive. Agile, quick, and nimble. However,
it was broken more than it was working. I bought the car new
September 7th, 2000, and sold the car @ 39,000 miles on January 27th,
2004.

The only reason for selling was due to the quantity of malfunctions of
the car, not for any other reason. Between my purchase date and my
sale date 3.5 years and 39,000 miles later, the following items
failed:

Brake light switch; 4x
O2 sensors; 2x
AC compressor
Driver seat motor
Driver and Passenger window actuators
Mass Air FLow 1x; repaired for free after call to VW of America.
Transmission 1x,; repaired under warantee.
Ignition Coil; VIN # not recognized as "recall"l repaired 1/2 price
after call from VW of America.

After "moaning" here for a bit in the 2002 year about the poor VW
quality, I decided that the best course of action would be to sell the
Jetta (reluctantly), and buy/lease a Japanese car. Sure, EVERY
manufacturer has problems.

I was "wished well" from the members who post frequently here, and I
was asked to post at a future time about my problems with my new car.

Well, I'm back. Not as a troll, but merely to stress as a guy that
loved my VW, that VW needs to improve their quality. I'm the very
happy owner of a 2004 Nissan Maxima with 9,500 miles, and not one
single problem yet. By 7,000 miles on my Jetta, the O2 sensors and AC
compressor had already failed once. My Nissan is running perfectly,
and while the interior quality of the leather is not at VW standards
(though it should exceed it, since the Nissan is a $33,000 car), the
build quality of the car is that much better than the Jetta.

I do look forward to the day when I can lease (never again own) a VW,
both for it's style, performance, and interior quality. However, not
until VW improves their overall quality.

Anyway, that';s my post from a long time reader, and a "poster from
the past."

-Jeff

I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had a long
list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is now
coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never needed
anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental tires
didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking about a
better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with the
car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general amenities
I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with VW's
offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time comes, but
my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8, very well
equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we think it
will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a Cayenne
instead.
Steve Grauman

Just want to clarify a few things, because words in the English language get
tossed around quite a bit.

Build Quality: Tolerances for panel gaps, wire/pipe routing, things looking
"right" to the eye when you gloss over anything that has been assembled in
the interior/exterior

Here's where your Jetta beat that Nissan... this is the area where pretty
well all German/Euro cars are still beating everyone else.

Parts Quality: Type of materials used to make the finished surface of the
part, used to gauge parts that have no mechanical or electrical parts

Your Jetta beat that Nissan in many area's here too - just look to that
leather and interior plastic... Yah the Nissan is an expensive car, and
Nissan still put IMO a relatively (and that's the key word here) cheap
interior into it (It's still nice to look at tho... not a bad interior or
anything)

Part Reliability/Total part quality: Here's where the mechanical/electrical
section of the part comes into play... the wiring, the mechanical action,
etc etc... the things that go on that you don't see... These are the things
that break

Here's where the Japanese manufacturers tend to invest most of the money,
and go good results... look at how they are doing on those quality surveys.
And how much you like your Maxima


I'll still stick with my Vee Dubs tho :-)
"Jeff" > wrote in message
...
> Hey all,
>
> I still read this group everyday, as I like to keep abreast of the VW
> "happenings", as well as watch 'Woodchuck' help out the current VW
> owners as he did for me.
>
> I used to own a 2001 Jetta GLX. It was my first experience with VW,
> and I was excited. Long story short, the car let me down. When it
> worked, it was a blast to drive. Agile, quick, and nimble. However,
> it was broken more than it was working. I bought the car new
> September 7th, 2000, and sold the car @ 39,000 miles on January 27th,
> 2004.
>
> The only reason for selling was due to the quantity of malfunctions of
> the car, not for any other reason. Between my purchase date and my
> sale date 3.5 years and 39,000 miles later, the following items
> failed:
>
> Brake light switch; 4x
> O2 sensors; 2x
> AC compressor
> Driver seat motor
> Driver and Passenger window actuators
> Mass Air FLow 1x; repaired for free after call to VW of America.
> Transmission 1x,; repaired under warantee.
> Ignition Coil; VIN # not recognized as "recall"l repaired 1/2 price
> after call from VW of America.
>
> After "moaning" here for a bit in the 2002 year about the poor VW
> quality, I decided that the best course of action would be to sell the
> Jetta (reluctantly), and buy/lease a Japanese car. Sure, EVERY
> manufacturer has problems.
>
> I was "wished well" from the members who post frequently here, and I
> was asked to post at a future time about my problems with my new car.
>
> Well, I'm back. Not as a troll, but merely to stress as a guy that
> loved my VW, that VW needs to improve their quality. I'm the very
> happy owner of a 2004 Nissan Maxima with 9,500 miles, and not one
> single problem yet. By 7,000 miles on my Jetta, the O2 sensors and AC
> compressor had already failed once. My Nissan is running perfectly,
> and while the interior quality of the leather is not at VW standards
> (though it should exceed it, since the Nissan is a $33,000 car), the
> build quality of the car is that much better than the Jetta.
>
> I do look forward to the day when I can lease (never again own) a VW,
> both for it's style, performance, and interior quality. However, not
> until VW improves their overall quality.
>
> Anyway, that';s my post from a long time reader, and a "poster from
> the past."
>
> -Jeff
>
>

My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.

But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
& whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.

C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
owner gone Saab/Volvo!)

n8


"Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
...
> I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had a
long
> list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
now
> coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
needed
> anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental tires
> didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
about a
> better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
the
> car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
amenities
> I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with VW's
> offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time comes,
but
> my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8, very
well
> equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
think it
> will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
Cayenne
> instead.
> Steve Grauman

My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.

But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
& whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.

C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
owner gone Saab/Volvo!)

n8


"Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
...
> I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had a
long
> list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
now
> coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
needed
> anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental tires
> didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
about a
> better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
the
> car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
amenities
> I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with VW's
> offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time comes,
but
> my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8, very
well
> equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
think it
> will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
Cayenne
> instead.
> Steve Grauman

If you want cloth seats, manual windows, no power locks etc etc, you should
move to Canada (or order a GL with absolutely no opional gear) and buy a
brand spankin' new Golf CL; my dad has a 2003 CL and it's a fine little
car... Reminds me of my old 1991 Golf, except he has safety features, 8
speakers instead of the functional 3 (our of 4), power steering, and
air-con.
"zouxestoqus" > wrote in message
...
> My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
> He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
> crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
> and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.
>
> But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
> when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
> & whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
> of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.
>
> C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
> cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
> and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
> owner gone Saab/Volvo!)
>
> n8
>
>
> "Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had a
> long
>> list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
> now
>> coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
> needed
>> anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental
>> tires
>> didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
> about a
>> better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
> the
>> car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
> amenities
>> I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with VW's
>> offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time
>> comes,
> but
>> my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8,
>> very
> well
>> equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
> think it
>> will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
> Cayenne
>> instead.
>> Steve Grauman
>
>

If you want cloth seats, manual windows, no power locks etc etc, you should
move to Canada (or order a GL with absolutely no opional gear) and buy a
brand spankin' new Golf CL; my dad has a 2003 CL and it's a fine little
car... Reminds me of my old 1991 Golf, except he has safety features, 8
speakers instead of the functional 3 (our of 4), power steering, and
air-con.
"zouxestoqus" > wrote in message
...
> My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
> He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
> crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
> and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.
>
> But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
> when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
> & whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
> of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.
>
> C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
> cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
> and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
> owner gone Saab/Volvo!)
>
> n8
>
>
> "Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had a
> long
>> list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
> now
>> coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
> needed
>> anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental
>> tires
>> didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
> about a
>> better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
> the
>> car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
> amenities
>> I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with VW's
>> offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time
>> comes,
> but
>> my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8,
>> very
> well
>> equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
> think it
>> will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
> Cayenne
>> instead.
>> Steve Grauman
>
>

In its homeland of Europe, as in the U.S., the Passat is less expensive than
the Opel-based Saab 9-3, or the mid-range Volvos, but Passat is a comparable
car in nearly every way. Saabs and Volvos are good cars, but you have to
want something "different" to justify buying one. Europeans tend to be less
"brand conscieous" than Americans. Maybe that is why Passats way outsell
Saabs and Volvos in their homeland. In the U.S. the "lower end" VW's,
namely Golf and Jetta are considered a step up from a Focus, so they can
sell them more optioned up than a low-end Focus. As far as crank window,
non-power lock Golfs in the U.S. I'd like to see them too, but the size of
the U.S. market being what it is, they probably can't justify having more
models available than they do. The idea of a very expensive VW like the
Pheaton may be too much even for Europeans. From what I've read, the M-B
S-Class is not being threatened in the marketplace, even though the "big VW
is a relative bargain against the S-Class.

I'm kind of (pleasantly) surprised that VW offers as many power train
choices as they do the North America. There are four different engines
available in Golfs and Jettas, most available with either manual or auto
trans. GM, on the other hand, has a choice of one engine and one
transmission in many of their cars in the U.S. where they are the biggest
seller, as VW is in Europe. In VW's home market, they offer 6 or 7
different engines in a Golf or Bora (Jetta in the U.S.)


"zouxestoqus" > wrote in message
...
> My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
> He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
> crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
> and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.
>
> But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
> when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
> & whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
> of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.
>
> C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
> cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
> and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
> owner gone Saab/Volvo!)
>
> n8
>
>
> "Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had
a
> long
> > list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
> now
> > coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
> needed
> > anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental
tires
> > didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
> about a
> > better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
> the
> > car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
> amenities
> > I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with
VW's
> > offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time
comes,
> but
> > my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8,
very
> well
> > equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
> think it
> > will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
> Cayenne
> > instead.
> > Steve Grauman
>
>

In its homeland of Europe, as in the U.S., the Passat is less expensive than
the Opel-based Saab 9-3, or the mid-range Volvos, but Passat is a comparable
car in nearly every way. Saabs and Volvos are good cars, but you have to
want something "different" to justify buying one. Europeans tend to be less
"brand conscieous" than Americans. Maybe that is why Passats way outsell
Saabs and Volvos in their homeland. In the U.S. the "lower end" VW's,
namely Golf and Jetta are considered a step up from a Focus, so they can
sell them more optioned up than a low-end Focus. As far as crank window,
non-power lock Golfs in the U.S. I'd like to see them too, but the size of
the U.S. market being what it is, they probably can't justify having more
models available than they do. The idea of a very expensive VW like the
Pheaton may be too much even for Europeans. From what I've read, the M-B
S-Class is not being threatened in the marketplace, even though the "big VW
is a relative bargain against the S-Class.

I'm kind of (pleasantly) surprised that VW offers as many power train
choices as they do the North America. There are four different engines
available in Golfs and Jettas, most available with either manual or auto
trans. GM, on the other hand, has a choice of one engine and one
transmission in many of their cars in the U.S. where they are the biggest
seller, as VW is in Europe. In VW's home market, they offer 6 or 7
different engines in a Golf or Bora (Jetta in the U.S.)


"zouxestoqus" > wrote in message
...
> My friend Ron has a '97 golf with 160k that he's had since new.
> He went to school 2 hours away and commuted, and he beats the
> crap out of his car. It has never needed anything besides tires, brakes,
> and an exhaust. He changes his oil about every 7500-10000 miles.
>
> But it's a GL, with no gadgets, and manual trans. VW screwed up
> when they decided to overcomplicate their cars with too many bells
> & whistles and too much trim, padding, and crap. And I lost a lot
> of respect for VW when they decided to jump on the SUV bandwagon.
>
> C'mon, volkswagen... If I want an Audi, I'll buy an Audi! Give me
> cloth seats, crank windows, and a SOHC 8V!!! If I want turbos,
> and gadgets I'll buy a swedish car. (Which I did, btw - I'm a VW
> owner gone Saab/Volvo!)
>
> n8
>
>
> "Steve Grauman" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I always find it interesting to hear from Golf and Jetta owners who had
a
> long
> > list of regular problems with their cars. My GTi is a 2002 model, and is
> now
> > coming up on 33,000 miles with no major problems. In fact it's never
> needed
> > anything other than normal service. The factory-equipped Continental
tires
> > didn't last as long as I had hoped they would, but I had been thinking
> about a
> > better tire anyway, so no big deal. Otherwise, I'm extremely happy with
> the
> > car. Based on reliability, build quality, ride quality and general
> amenities
> > I'd buy another VW next time. Although I have some small qualms with
VW's
> > offerings and will probably move up into a BMW or G35 when the time
comes,
> but
> > my experience has not been horrible. My mother got a 2004 Touareg V8,
very
> well
> > equipped last week and we are hoping it turns out to be as great as we
> think it
> > will. So far we love it, but we hope that we don't regret not getting a
> Cayenne
> > instead.
> > Steve Grauman
>
>

Rob Guenther wrote:

> If you want cloth seats, manual windows, no power locks etc etc, you should
> move to Canada (or order a GL with absolutely no opional gear) and buy a
> brand spankin' new Golf CL; my dad has a 2003 CL and it's a fine little
> car... Reminds me of my old 1991 Golf, except he has safety features, 8
> speakers instead of the functional 3 (our of 4), power steering, and
> air-con.

My last car was a 1.9L Golf GL turbo diesel. My current car is a 2.0L
Golf GTI. However, when I was in the market for my current car, and
really wanted another diesel, I had tried out a number of other Jettas
and Golfs. One of these was the Golf CL. I was not very impressed with
it. There was two things I did not like about it. The lack of a seat
lifter was a minor annoyance. The soft rubber steering wheel was
definitely not a good idea on it. The GL has a nice, stiff rubber
steering wheel. The GTI has a nice, stiff leather steering wheel. Just
for the record, the CL also has wiring problems with the speakers. The
driver-side rear passenger speakers were constantly cutting out in the
'96 CL I test drove. It was always an issue in the '94 Golf GL I had,
too. But, the MkIII's are known for their electrical problems. The CL
also does not corner or accelerate as nicely as the GL or the GTI. My
observations are based on the 5 speed models of these cars.