What people say about your VWs (funny stories inside)

[freddy2081]

Hi everybody!!
I always love driving a car that was made by the VW group, if it was not a VW was either an Audi or a Skoda. Eversince I lived in the states I heard all kinds of stories about my cars.
The best one was this one:
One day my 06 passat was parked alongside all the Camrys and Accords of the other salesman, and an employee looking out the window started talking to me.
He goes:"Oh you own a Jetta, what a piece of s#@t car".. And I'm like "huh? It's a passat dude "
He goes on and he says :"When my daughter got a license she wanted a Jetta (that would be the Jetta V), and at the dealer I spent 27k$ for that piece of junk, when we could have gotten an used Mercedes for that price" and I'm like "If you wanted used, a used Jetta was gonna be much cheaper, but anyway"...
He goes "she didn't know how to drive, and kept hitting curbs, and kept braking the axles"... Im like, wow you must have changed plenty of rims, but he said rims where never compromised
The story goes on, and eventually the mechanic told him :"the axles are so light, they are are made out plastic ". So eventually, he got rid of the Jetta and got an Accord that gave no problems.....

Now my question is, you blame the car when your daughter is a complete ditz and doesn't know how to drive, and your mechanic is on crack???

What's your story??

[91JET16V]

Everybody knows you have to swap out the stock plastic axles as soon as you buy the car. That's pretty good, I don't think I can top that.

I have noticed that non-vw mechanics do seem to hate on VW's, they also seem to struggle with repairing them.

[freddy2081]

Everybody knows you have to swap out the stock plastic axles as soon as you buy the car. That's pretty good, I don't think I can top that.

I have noticed that non-vw mechanics do seem to hate on VW's, they also seem to struggle with repairing them.

I think because they have tons of Hondas in their back shop junkyard, it's easier to fool an Honda owner when they use recycled parts....
That said, it is a pain in the a$$ in some instances, for example the thermostat, it took another person and I 2 hours to get it changed... But the way to do things is research, I was ready to spend 200$ to do the rear pads on my B6, but then I found an answer on this forum and it will mean lot's of money saved...

[Rockerchick]

I don't think we've gotten any comments, but we certainly get a lot of looks in our diesels. I don't think people realize that you can buy a regular car as a diesel...they just think the car is really falling apart or something

[tomspad09]

I think the mechanic is on crack!

[freddy2081]

I don't think we've gotten any comments, but we certainly get a lot of looks in our diesels. I don't think people realize that you can buy a regular car as a diesel...they just think the car is really falling apart or something

When I first moved in US, after telling that all my previous cars were diesel people always looked at me like .... Questions involved were "I thought only trucks were diesel", and "Woa it must have been very noisy and smokey"... And I always thought that these people had no knowledge of cars what soever

[Rockerchick]

We get a lot of "Man, that car sounds awful" type looks. And interesting looks from guys in diesel trucks next to us at lights Our TDI isn't too bad, but our '84 still can belch out some smoke so that catches a lot off guard I think!

[rabbit_rot]

everytime I pump diesel in my 84 someone screams, "hey you know thats the diesel pump right?" even had someone remove the nozzle from my tank. Back in Michigan a guy passed me and told me to get that piece of **** off the road, I launched in front of him and pulled the CS out nothing but black deisel in rear view. Diesels ftw

[MK5golf]

I dont drive a diesel but it seems non car people (99% of drivers) think that Diesels are either only for trucks or too noisy, or not good enough for cold weather, etc
A lot of misconceptions on vw too. People always assume their unreliable. literally do not have a single problem with my 2009 rabbit (120 000 kms). I knew someone who said vw reliability worried them and thats why they were sticking to Honda/Acura. I kid you not... this guy had a tl 3.2 and since theyve owned the car (was his dads before) theyve literally repaired something to do with the transmission 9 times

[ajd187]

Most common comments are on relability.

My friend told me his parents had a Passat, and had nothing but problems. It was a mid 2000s Passat, and those were not very good.

My sister said the same thing, and she used to own...a mid 2000s Passat, same issues.

[freddy2081]

When people say nothing but problems, I would like to know what that means...
My 06 gave me few electrical problems, I don't even remember what was it, but all fixed under warranty. Now I'm almost @ 90k miles, and the biggest "problem" that I had was the thermostat, that with some research and a couple of hours of work costed me only around 100$.
A guy @ work with his Camry (2011) and 30k miles complains about squeeky noises from the shocks after it rains and general issues you would expect from a low quality product...
BTW, I drove this car for nearly 60k miles, and never changed the brake pads... People don't believe me...

[freddy2081]

I dont drive a diesel but it seems non car people (99% of drivers) think that Diesels are either only for trucks or too noisy, or not good enough for cold weather, etc
A lot of misconceptions on vw too. People always assume their unreliable. literally do not have a single problem with my 2009 rabbit (120 000 kms). I knew someone who said vw reliability worried them and thats why they were sticking to Honda/Acura. I kid you not... this guy had a tl 3.2 and since theyve owned the car (was his dads before) theyve literally repaired something to do with the transmission 9 times

People just don't understand that you can definitely get the same (or better) fuel economy of a hybrid, but with much lower maintenance costs and definitely a ton more fun in driving for a diesel...

[Rockerchick]

I'll be the first to admit, I love VWs but they really aren't the pinnacle of reliability. We had a Honda Accord for 4 years...the only thing that failed on that car was 1 O2 sensor. In 4 years. Otherwise we just did regular maintenance on it. Was the cheapest and most problem free car we had pretty much. My 2.0 NB was great too...I had it for 6 1/2 years before it got totaled. But I still put way more into that car than we did the Honda. It was a bit nerve wracking selling the Honda and then only having 3 turbo VWs in the driveway

My cars have been pretty good though. My NB was an oddity...'99 2.0 that never drank a drop of oil. Coupled with the 5-speed...may have not been super fast, but it was a great car. Only time I was really completely stranded was my own fault when I busted my oil pan. I lost part of the shift linkage once too. I still had 3rd and 4th though so I wasn't stuck. Still towed it home since I was 2 hours away.

Now, the older Passats...they are problem children. My husband had a '95 VR and that thing was a serious money pit. I can't even count the number of times that car broke down. I hated that car...I was glad to see it go. But it haunts me now...ended up getting passed around and is now owned by a guy who works at a local VW shop that I pass every.single.day on my way to and from work. So I see that car a lot...and it goes to shows too. 350k on it and still going strong. Of course, that's because my husband sunk thousands into that car over 4 years. He figured out he could have been leasing a Porsche 911 for what he sunk into that Passat.

I'll also be the first to admit that as much as I love the diesels, the older ones really are just as loud and dirty as a lot of people think Our '84 can certainly spew smoke and its quite clacky. The TDi is much better...still pretty clacky but I have never seen black smoke out of the tailpipe. Not as much fun when people are tailgating though. Yes, we can be those people who throw out smoke on purpose...but if you are on our bumper and want us to speed up, that's just what happens. Sorry, but don't tailgate our old diesel in your 'vert with the top down

[MK5golf]

I'll also be the first to admit that as much as I love the diesels, the older ones really are just as loud and dirty as a lot of people think Our '84 can certainly spew smoke and its quite clacky. The TDi is much better...still pretty clacky but I have never seen black smoke out of the tailpipe. Not as much fun when people are tailgating though. Yes, we can be those people who throw out smoke on purpose...but if you are on our bumper and want us to speed up, that's just what happens. Sorry, but don't tailgate our old diesel in your 'vert with the top down

Haha I saw some kid pull that off the other day. He looked young (late teens early twentys) and was driving a red mk2 Jetta. Some jerk was seriously riding his a** in a brand new jag convertible! He looked like his later 50's, maybe early 60's, and he was with a woman (girl?) looked could honestly be his daughter (granddaughter is a genuine possibility!) Had a good laugh when he decided to "smoke" him

[freddy2081]

Haha I saw some kid pull that off the other day. He looked young (late teens early twentys) and was driving a red mk2 Jetta. Some jerk was seriously riding his a** in a brand new jag convertible! He looked like his later 50's, maybe early 60's, and he was with a woman (girl?) looked could honestly be his daughter (granddaughter is a genuine possibility!) Had a good laugh when he decided to "smoke" him

Yes, old diesels were like that, but, in 1995 we got the first Golf (MK3) TDI in the family, and it was a GT TDI, it looked fabulous and it drove fantastic... We are talking about 17 years ago, not yesterday.
I understand on the highway it can be frustrating, but trust me, on curvy windy roads, the torque of the TDI made them much more fun to drive than naturally aspirated gasoline engines with the same horse power...
There was a time when everybody made fun of me cuz I had a Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI (first PDE ever made), and with only 100 hp, people with "hot hatches" with more power after a ride were seriously impressed....

[91JET16V]

He figured out he could have been leasing a Porsche 911 for what he sunk into that Passat.

Reminds me of an Accord I bought for a girlfriend about 20 years ago.

[freddy2081]

Reminds me of an Accord I bought for a girlfriend about 20 years ago.

Why would you do that for your girlfriend... My wife has goose bumps just thinking about driving an Accord...

[Rockerchick]

We had a 2000 Accord for 4 years...it was the husband's car and he got it from his mom when she upgraded and he was ready to be done with the moneypit Passat. It wasn't a bad car. Soul-less yes. But it did its job well. It was the only auto we ever have owned, but it was a good little car and I was actually sad to see it go. I would have been screwed if we didn't have it last year...when my NB was totaled, my right hand was sprained and in a brace. There was no way I could have shifted a manual. So I drove the Accord for a few weeks until my hand healed enough. I was itching for a manual VW after about a week but I was thankful to have the car around. And it was nice to have a beater that you knew would start every single time. Never had it break down. It was our trip car...took the car from NC to Canada and back with no problems. Sold it with 178k on it and its sill going strong. Can't really complain about it. Would we buy one now? Nope. But I certainly didn't hate the car. I hated that Passat though

[MK5golf]

Sometimes I drive my dad's accord. its a 2011 (replaced a 2008). Not much soul at all, and the engine feels completely gutless. Mind you it really like to rev
My current car is a vw manual. Im always afraid that if I ever go (back) to an automatic ill regret it and be completely bored/fed up. Im guessing that based on your post, rockerchick, I can most defenitely expect that?

[DUBSfightinRUST]

What's a "skirocco"? is what I always get.

Either people remember them fondly or not at all.

[freddy2081]

We had a 2000 Accord for 4 years...it was the husband's car and he got it from his mom when she upgraded and he was ready to be done with the moneypit Passat. It wasn't a bad car. Soul-less yes. But it did its job well. It was the only auto we ever have owned, but it was a good little car and I was actually sad to see it go. I would have been screwed if we didn't have it last year...when my NB was totaled, my right hand was sprained and in a brace. There was no way I could have shifted a manual. So I drove the Accord for a few weeks until my hand healed enough. I was itching for a manual VW after about a week but I was thankful to have the car around. And it was nice to have a beater that you knew would start every single time. Never had it break down. It was our trip car...took the car from NC to Canada and back with no problems. Sold it with 178k on it and its sill going strong. Can't really complain about it. Would we buy one now? Nope. But I certainly didn't hate the car. I hated that Passat though

I just feel that especially Accords and Camrys are driving appliances... Maybe because there are not such things when I come from (thank goodness)...
Out of all the VW that I owned, I can safely say that the b6 is the one which gave me more "trouble" in "" because I am talking minor issues, mostly fixed under warranty.
My best one was a 1993 polo diesel, that thing never stopped for any reason... It was bulletproof for real, I had people surfing on the roof (yes, I was very young) and it didn't even bend...