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VW Reliability Question

Kevandra

Ready to race!
Hi There,

I am all set to purchase my first VW tomorrow, a 2011 GTI. I've driven it twice and convinced my wife to let me flip my 08 Subaru. I just made the mistake of googling "VW Reliability". I thought VW's german engineering was top notch. Is there a quality issue I should be aware of? There is no shortage of bad dealer complaints, JD Power poor ratings and the list goes on...

I realize this car was an AJAC Award winner. It's a beauty of a car and a blast to drive.

I want to keep this car for a long time. It has every option I could want and the fun factor to keep me happy. Every major auto writer and magazine raves about the car. Am I nervous for nothing?

Any input, advice or calming messages are appreciated! :iono:

Thank you.
 

Stocktastic1

Go Kart Champion
Keep it maintained and you will be fine.

But that goes for every car, regardless of Make.

You don't have to worry about a Timing Belt/Water Pump, Cam Follower or Cam like the MkV GTIs.
 

cnimativ

Ready to race!
Hi There,

I am all set to purchase my first VW tomorrow, a 2011 GTI. I've driven it twice and convinced my wife to let me flip my 08 Subaru. I just made the mistake of googling "VW Reliability". I thought VW's german engineering was top notch. Is there a quality issue I should be aware of? There is no shortage of bad dealer complaints, JD Power poor ratings and the list goes on...

I realize this car was an AJAC Award winner. It's a beauty of a car and a blast to drive.

I want to keep this car for a long time. It has every option I could want and the fun factor to keep me happy. Every major auto writer and magazine raves about the car. Am I nervous for nothing?

Any input, advice or calming messages are appreciated! :iono:

Thank you.

As with owning any German cars, be prepared for the tail maintenance cost after the typical 5/7 year warranty wears out. 2011 should be more reliable than '10 as its the second model year.

Check http://www.truedelta.com/ for more real life reliability info.

Truth is, nobody knows the actual durability of '11 GTI. If past durability has any indication of the future, '11 GTI will be reliable but not a Toyota/Honda.
 

jasonweremy

Ready to race!
From what I've heard from others on this board that the mk5 is considered better than the mk6 in quality. Apparently VW has cut cost in some sort of way. Honestly though, what it comes down to is doing the maintenance. If you do that you should be fine. As long that you keep that up you should be good. There is a thread on this board somewhere about JD power quality survey.
 

tfcGTI

Ready to race!
I was just like you last November when I was about to pull thr trigger on a 2010. I am really glad I did. Almost 16k trouble free miles.
 

Kevandra

Ready to race!
I was just like you last November when I was about to pull thr trigger on a 2010. I am really glad I did. Almost 16k trouble free miles.

Thanks all. I am a by-the-book car maintenance follower, always at the dealer and a crazy detail fanatic. I love to clay bar, seal and fool with carnuba... I don't have to worry about the maintenance on my end!

Much appreciated. This is a great and informative site. Love all the pics.
 

jasonweremy

Ready to race!
We're all awesome aren't we lol.
 

Bruh Man

Go Kart Champion
About to hit 10K, only issue I've had was adding more coolant and the TPMS light. Sall good, nothing major.
 

BentValve

Ready to race!
Hi There,

I am all set to purchase my first VW tomorrow, a 2011 GTI. I've driven it twice and convinced my wife to let me flip my 08 Subaru. I just made the mistake of googling "VW Reliability". I thought VW's german engineering was top notch. Is there a quality issue I should be aware of? There is no shortage of bad dealer complaints, JD Power poor ratings and the list goes on...

I realize this car was an AJAC Award winner. It's a beauty of a car and a blast to drive.

I want to keep this car for a long time. It has every option I could want and the fun factor to keep me happy. Every major auto writer and magazine raves about the car. Am I nervous for nothing?

Any input, advice or calming messages are appreciated! :iono:

Thank you.


I came from a very reliable Honda and reliability was a concern for me as well considering Honda has a track record for being the most reliable cars on the road. I am going to maintain my GTI as best I can but if anything major fails in under 36K I will trade it in for a Honda...........though I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing fails on it because I love this car. What is major? For a car under 36K anything more than scheduled maintenance is major IMO. I suppose might let an alternator or minor electrical issue slide but not much more.
Not that this means much of anything but I am an ASE certified Master Automobile Technician and have been turning wrenches for what is going on 20 years.
 

fredf

Go Kart Champion
I am going to get into trouble for saying this but the much vaunted German engineering is a bit over rated.

The GTI is a very nice car. It will be reasonably reliable. But the Germans have better ideas than execution. I have owned Japanese for 20 years--Toyota, Honda, Subaru. I've never been sorry.

I am taking delivery of my GTI in 4 days. I too am worried but made the jump anyway.

But I didn't buy it for German engineering. I bought it because it is fun and comfortable. I worked around the German part.

I'm hoping I am not sorry. I really hate sitting around shops waiting for my stuff to get fixed.
 

lmlloyd

Ready to race!
I've owned a lot of VWs over the years, as well as other kinds of cars, and just recently bought an new GTI after having been away from the VW world for about a decade. Here is my take on the reliability of all VWs, and most German cars for that matter, as opposed to Japanese cars.

German cars are very different from Japanese cars. It is like they are built around entirely different ideas of "reliability." Japanese cars will typically run a ridiculously long time, with hardly any maintenance at all, but then reach some magic point, where the car will just fall apart, requiring massive repairs, to the point that you are probably better off just replacing the car. It might go 175,000 miles without a single problem, but then the engine or transmission just blows up (figuratively), and there is nothing to do but replace it.

VWs, on the other hand, will run forever, but at the cost of a constant need for minor maintenance. A VW might well still be running great at 200,000 miles, but by then will have a new clutch, a new exhaust, a new alternator, and new CV joints. If you are the kind of person who gets a new car every few years, then you can't go wrong with either a German or Japanese car, because you will probably never see a major problem before you get rid of the car. If you are the kind of person who will trade out your car for a new one before you hit 100,000 miles, then you are probably far better off with a Japanese car, because the VW will start requiring some maintenance around 75,000 miles. If you are the kind of person who still loves driving your car, even though you have put 200,000 miles on it, then you are probably the kind of person who will appreciate VW's sort of reliability.

The story I always tell people about VW reliability, is the story of my mother. About 20 years ago, I convinced my mom to get a used VW. It already had about 75,000 miles on it, and she drove it for about 10 years. After 10 years, she got fed up with the constant nickel and dime repairs she had to keep making to the car (the most expensive repair was less than $500, and they were all minor enough repairs that she could drive the car to the mechanic to get it fixed), and got rid of the car, to buy a used Honda. For years she was so relieved not to have to constantly put money into the car. Now, 10 years after buying the Honda, all she can talk about is how much she misses the VW. The reason? A few years ago the Honda started having major problems, each one of them leaving her stranded, having to have the car towed, and each repair costing her closer to $1,000. Now, she really wishes she had that cranky VW, with its list of annoyances, that never left her stranded, never broke the bank, and that just refused to die, no matter how much she abused it.

I don't think either way of building a car is better or worse than the other, I think it just depends on the sort of person you are. When my wife and I were deciding what new car to get, we looked at tons of Japanese cars, but ultimately decided that we wanted to keep whatever car we bought for the next 20 years, so the choice ended up being a VW. Of course all of this is based on past experience with VWs. I haven't even had my new one a month, so I can't really comment on the reliability of it in specific. It still seems pretty much like all my old VWs in many ways though, so I don't expect it will be too different.

Hope that helps. Oh, and one word of warning. Take care of your dash! 20 years from now that will easily be the hardest part to find in good shape ;-)
 
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