How many unscheduled repairs during your first 100k?

[amsr]

2017 GTI SE DSG purchased new
Year 1: Sunroof rattle, adaptive headlight failure 3x, secondary air pump failure 1x, window regulator 2x, washer fluid reservoir leak/crack

Year 2: secondary air pump failure 2x, moldy smelling AC 2x, thermostat leak

Year 3: Secondary Air Pump 1x, moldy smelling AC, steering knocking sound, buzzing intermittent wiper switch

I’ve done 3 oil changes in 32k miles and replaced one set of tires. I’ve had 3 tires replaced under road hazard due to potholes and 3 wheels for the same. Our roads are the worst in the country, however.

Love this car, but it’s not been reliable.

 

[ElectricEye]

2017 GTI SE DSG purchased new
Year 1: Sunroof rattle, adaptive headlight failure 3x, secondary air pump failure 1x, window regulator 2x, washer fluid reservoir leak/crack

Year 2: secondary air pump failure 2x, moldy smelling AC 2x, thermostat leak

Year 3: Secondary Air Pump 1x, moldy smelling AC, steering knocking sound, buzzing intermittent wiper switch

I’ve done 3 oil changes in 32k miles and replaced one set of tires. I’ve had 3 tires replaced under road hazard due to potholes and 3 wheels for the same. Our roads are the worst in the country, however.

Love this car, but it’s not been reliable.

Well, remove rattles and smells from you list of reliability, and you've had less issues.

 

[Shane_Anigans]

2017 GTI Sport, purchased October 2017.

1200 miles: Oil pressure sensor failed
9000 miles: noise from right rear over bumps. It sounded like a bad stabilizer link to both myself and the technician, so they replaced it, but it didn't solve the problem. After that, because he wasn't certain if the noise was coming from the right rear damper or its mount, they replaced both parts at once (neither was regularly stocked by the parts department) to minimize my inconvenience. (Not that there was any real inconvenience since they gave me a loaner both times.)

Most of the cars I've owned have been Honda products, and while I did grow accustomed to their near-bulletproof reliability (even on the Civic Si, with its 8200rpm redline), I have not been disappointed with GTI thus far. However, my driving profile is not what you'd consider average, since I've mostly worked from home for the past 3 years, so the car frequently sits in my garage for days at a time, and has been driven only 19,500 miles in the 30 months that I've had it.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Well, remove rattles and smells from you list of reliability, and you've had less issues.

Remove the other issues and he's had no problems at all.

 

[Shane_Anigans]

Remove the other issues and he's had no problems at all.

Remove the car entirely, and save a ton of money on insurance and fuel!

 

[ElectricEye]

Remove the other issues and he's had no problems at all.

That's funny.
But I was getting at reliability.
A rattle is not a lack of reliability, it's a sound.
A moldy smell from the A/C isn't a lack of reliability either.

 

[TheRealStanki]

2015 with 62k miles. Regular maintenance and have had no mechanical issues yet. Only problems were rattles (A LOT) and window switches.

 

[Gray_Panther]

2016 GTI S 3 Door
-Tail light housings were not tightened down properly from the factory and resulted in water getting into hatch. One wire was severely corroded because it was not properly insulated and heatshrinked from the factory. Had to cut out the bad part of the wire and splice in new wire to fix it. It was causing the rearview camera to not work at all.

Everything works now and that has been the only issue so far. 52k miles.

 

[GTI Jake]

89k miles here. Only thing non scheduled it’s needed is a windshield washer fluid pump (which has been sitting on my toolbox for a month because I rarely use them anyway)

2016 purchased new in December 2015. It’s my daily/track toy. Tuned APR 95% of its life

 

[shovelhd]

2018 Autobahn purchased pre-owned, 36K miles. The hatch lock failed, indicating open when it was closed. Otherwise the normal sunroof obnoxiousness and weeping thermostat housing.

 

[amsr]

That's funny.
But I was getting at reliability.
A rattle is not a lack of reliability, it's a sound.
A moldy smell from the A/C isn't a lack of reliability either.

While some people may tolerate knocks and rattles, I don’t think they are a great indication of build quality in a brand new car. A knocking from the steering or suspension could be benign, or it could also could be a mechanical problem. These cars can develop cracked and leaking sunroof frames. When is the rattle from the sunroof an annoyance and when is it an indication of an impending failure? Mold in the AC is a health concern.

My point is, as much as I love it for a variety of reasons, for a car that’s 2.5 years old, my car has had a lot of issues. I wouldn’t expect any issues in the first couple years of ownership of a brand new car. Maybe one or two is reasonable. I haven’t had this experience with any other car I’ve owned, including previous VWs. And frankly I’ve never owned a so called “reliable” car like a Honda or Toyota. It’s been a bunch of European and American cars.

I’d be the first to admit (and the survey says) that my GTI has had more total problems than the average mk7, but a quick search of the forum shows very few of the problems I listed are novel to this platform. It is what it is...

 

[PureWhiteMk7]

That's funny.
But I was getting at reliability.
A rattle is not a lack of reliability, it's a sound.
A moldy smell from the A/C isn't a lack of reliability either.

The moldy AC thing is partly a design flaw compounded by operator error that's been plaguing car AC for decades.
If you turn off your AC a minute or 2 before you shut off your fan that will greatly
reduce the chance of it happening. It's particularly useful in humid areas.

 

[Subliminal]

The moldy AC thing is partly a design flaw compounded by operator error that's been plaguing car AC for decades.
If you turn off your AC a minute or 2 before you shut off your fan that will greatly
reduce the chance of it happening. It's particularly useful in humid areas.

If your A/C system already stinks, spray Lysol into the car with the recirculated air on full blast for a few minutes to kill the bacteria

 

[JC_451]

If your A/C system already stinks, spray Lysol into the intake vent (underneath front windshield) and run the recirculated air on full blast for a few minutes to kill the bacteria

Good luck getting Lysol

 

[Subliminal]

Good luck getting Lysol

Most households probably have a bottle laying around already. It comes in handy for more than just pandemics lol. I like to spray hookers to make sure they're clean