Is Volkswagen Reliability a Problem, or Just Perception? ~ Podcast Episode 16

Volkswagen..........Turning owners into mechanics since 1959.

Where does this perception come from? "REVVVVV UP YOUR ENGINES!"

German cars are just on another level. I drove tons of domestics and a few Asian cars but nothing compares to the stiffness, finish, power and comfort of the German.

I personally have huuuuge respect and admiration for all the ppl like you who make the world go around Mechanics, engineers, techs, etc etc

My first and second cars were Jettas, My mom Had an A6. Dad owned a couple old Mercs and a Porsche...We now only drive Japanese. I will admit that the Germans make cars i want to drive..The Japanese make cars i want to own..But to each his own.

I’ve owned German (BMW, VW) vehicles, Japanese (Toyota & Honda) and American (Ford, Chevy, Buick). My current daily driver is a ‘13 Beelte Convertilbe w/2.5L/Auto. Maintenance is the key to reliability and of all the vehicles I have owned, the German vehicles were always the most enticing to own and drive. Just remeber, they’re machines and need to be maintained no matter the brand or country of origin.

I love your honesty on VW and I agree with pretty much everything you have said. I've went from GM to Honda (2006 cr-v lex fwd so I totally agree with your review of that car!) then to a 2008 4Runner which I got talked into buying by my dad and wasn't what I needed. I traded that 2008 4Runner for a '14 Tiguan se 4 motion and my only regret is not going up a class or two and getting the panoramic sunroof. I was a bit cautious about buying the Tiguan at first because of all those stories about VW , but having had a 1999 regal with transmission issues that the dealer told me were common across all GMs I now realized every manufacturer has their issues. I had a coworker on her 2nd new beetle. I asked her why would she buy another since hers was 11 years old and always in the shop. She said to me if her son hadn't totaled it shed drive that car till the wheels fell off. Driving my Tiguan I feel the same way. It's like a shoe that fits right and no matter how much someone doesn't like your shoes at the end of the day it's on your feet and it's what you like

Most people I see complaining about car problems think oil only needs to be changed every 20,000 miles, transmission fluid is permanent and the check engine light is a suggestion to go to a mechanic.

Been a Car Tech for over 15 years and worked on all types of brands, mostly GM. All car manufactures have there problems there issues. It's made by man it is going to break.

I have a 2002 BMW 325ci. I'm tired of people telling me how shitty my car is. just buy what you like. I don't care how reliable a Toyota Corolla is......it's boring as hell sure, BMW's are expensive to fix but I like them.

After owning a mk4 Wolfsburg edition for damn near 3 years now with 0 issues, I would like to point out that they certainly are hit or miss depending on generation. My wife bought an 02 Jetta GLS recently to replace her 03 Cooper S that has been nothing but a problem since she bought it. And with 176,XXX miles it drives insanely well, no lights on, and 0 stored codes.

Volkswagens drive fantastically. But if you must own one, lease one, or buy one and accept that their long-term reliability is a gamble. I've owned MANY Volkswagens, and they are hit and miss at best. I maintained them all, and was religious about it. If you subject a VW and a Toyota to the same amount of abuse, or the same amount of neglect - and the VW is the first one to break - then the VW isn't built as well. It doesn't matter if they're built in Mexico, Germany, or Brazil, or the US - the parts and design are all the same by now - I actually had better luck with my Mexican built Jetta than i did my GTI. If VW can make cars that are consistently reliable at the 4/5/6 year mark - I'd be the first to buy one again. But in the long run, these cars break more than Japanese cars, and to some - those repair costs aren't worth it. I jumped ship and went to Subaru. I miss my GTI daily. But I like having money more.

5 yrs ago I hated working on a VW. Now I work for a dealership. Got a 99 Beetle 2.0 w 256k miles on it. Very few shops know how to fix these cars.

One of my aunts have a 1981 VW Scirocco, and that car had over 700,000 miles on it! She would drive it almost daily, (Mon-Fri) from Thousands Oaks to Palm Springs! I used to maintain it for her, so I know this to be true. It had a 5 speed manual trans and a 1600cc motor. I would put Castrol GTX conventional, but it got regular oil changes every 2000 to 2500 miles, with a Wix oil filter! It never broke down on her, but it got regular interval parts rebuilt or replaced like the starter, the alternator, CV Axels, and fuel pump. The parts that got replaced regularly were spark plugs, plug wires, cap & rotor, wiper blades, etc... The only major thing that took me a while to figure out one time, was the distributor module! She still has it in one of her garages, but now she drives a Lexus! Lol.

I'm a veteran Volkswagen driver. I'm on my 5th VW (Fox, Jetta, Quantum, Rabbit & my new 17 Passat R line). My first new car was my Fox. I put right at 50k miles on it before I was in an accident and the car was totaled. I walked away with a sore shoulder from the seat belt. My Jetta was great. I modded it and that was my biggest cost with the car. My Quantum went just over 300k before the clutch went out, having it repaired was going to be more than the value of the car. I've never had a major catastrophic failure (fingers crossed) in any of my VW's. I spent awhile actually working in Chattanooga for Volkswagen. I saw the internal struggles to make a quality car first hand. I also saw the obsession with working hard every day to get the car to a world class quality level. I'm expecting a quality experience but I know that I didn't buy a Honda or a Lexus both of which I've owned before. I know the quality ratings but I was still willing to take the chance to prove the ratings wrong. Still a loyal VW owner.

Great video, I have put around 440K miles on two mark 4s, while they have their quirks I have never considered them unreliable.

My story with VW… My dad was a suspect in the Ted Bundy killings because they both drove VW bugs with dents in the door, in the same city. Only difference is that our dent was rusted, Teds was clean.

vw owner For the last 10 years No problems I do preventive maintenance That’s is the key

dealers make sure the $100 repair becomes $1500

Was a VW tech for a few years in Australia in the 90's, the brand brought technology that people in Oz were scared to work on and understand compared to other vehicles, it was different to work on, after a while it became easy and the issues Vee Dub had were no different to the issues locally produced cars had with the exception of longevity and suitability to the environment they operate in, in Australia. They just didn't last and were horrendously expensive to repair.