On Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:24:22 +1000, "John" <susan48 (AT) aapt (DOT) net.au> wrote:

Compared to an Air Cooled VW the modern VW's are very densely
packed, but then so are most cars today. My 2002 Beetle is far
different than my 1970 Beetle. Things change in 30 years.

I have not found any problems with reliability. I would say
the modern VW's are more reliable than the old ones. However They are
less reliable than some other modern cars.

That said, let's look at the real situation. A current VW
might be 30% more likely than a certain other make car to have
problems. However that might mean the VW has a 3% chance of having a
problem vs the other car's 1%

In my experience proper driving and maintenance with a VW will
result in a car with less problems than the average car. Drivers
differ more than cars do.

On Jun 5, 5:24*am, "John" <susa... (AT) aapt (DOT) net.au> wrote:
My comment applies to Euro-Cars in general, not just VWs, so keep that
in mind as I rant away, and also know that we drive three (3) such
cars, Volvo, Saab & VW.

a) Euro cars are emphatically *not* user-friendly inasmuch as they
suffer badly if not scrupulously maintained. Most American cars and
most Japanese cars are rather forgiving if service intervals for
things like hoses, plugs, air-filters, even fuel-filters are
stretched, even neglected seriously in some cases. Absolutely not so
of VW.

b) Euro-Cars in general have something of a Germanic tradition - never
use one part when three-or-more will do the job. That those several
parts may do the job better is the excuse, but I have to think that
the reason is a bet amongst the engineers to see how many parts they
can cram into any given space.

c) Leading to clearances: A mm is as good as a mile, so why waste
space? That is only an opportunity to add more parts.

d) VW invented the phrase: Service Position - meaning "remove front
end of vehicle" - leading to the potential of neglecting those things
that require the 'Service Position'. Imagine you being asked to get
into the 'service position' - would you not perhaps balk?

The point being that a VW, as with about any reasonably well made
vehicle will last indefinitely if it receives scrupulous care. One
assumes that with high-cost vehicles such as Mercedes, but a VW is
just as merciless if neglected as a Mercedes, perhaps more so. A VW
mechanic gets paid just as much as a Mercedes mechanic and the parts
cost just as much. So, VWs get a reputation of being unreliable, of
which perhaps only 25% is true, the other 75% is due to that lack of
scrupulous maintenance.

Our Eurovan Camper gets that maintenance - it ain't nohow cheap, but
it is much cheaper than the alternative. We expect it to last easily
another 10 years as it will turn 10 in August. And typically we get
200,000+ miles out of our cars - passing them on to the kids at that
point for an additional few years.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Hmmm you ARE a VW lover! lol

It somewhat depends on the years you are looking at. Are you buying new or
used?
I personally know nothing about that 2.5 liter engine in the newer VWs but
they have chains that can go bad like the VR6 engines if not properly cared
for.
The 1.8t engine needs special oil and oil filters.
Most of the engines require the timing belts to be changed around 100K
miles.
Some of the automatic transmissions have problems too.

If you are looking for something cheap I would recommend a 1996-1998 Jetta
with manual windows, 5 speed manual transmission and the 2.0 liter engine.
Those are pretty much bullet-proof IMHO if the wiring to the doors are in
good shape. ;-)

JMHO
--
later,
(One out of many daves)

"John" <susan48 (AT) aapt (DOT) net.au> wrote

In article <h0ao87$5qf$1 (AT) news-01 (DOT) bur.connect.com.au>, susan48
@aapt.net.au says...
Don't you know, you can't work on cars anymore <lol>.

My Jetta III (A3) had a slew of recurring electrical problems. So far,
the MK V Jetta has been essentially flawless for the last year. I just
didn't like where the windshield washers were hitting, so I moved 'em
instead of taking it to the dealer for them to do.

Basically done oil and filter changes. There's more plastic to pull off
to access stuff, but it's not like it's HARD work. Probably most cars
have this problem now. More ducts and body work to control the air flow
and optimize cooling, prevent splashing problems, reduce noise, make it
'look pretty', etc...

Mark
'95 Jetta GLS (sold and missed)
'08 Jetta SEL

Thanks one and all. You are right about "you dont work on cars anymore? I
still havnt found the distributor on the Mrs,s 2002 Sonata!!!!. Speaking of
which I,d rather have a VW but the Hyundai has been darn near bullet proof.
You,d think if Koreans can do it why not Euro,s.
Ta again
John

Yeah but is that engine a Mitsubishi or does Hyundai make their own engines
now?

But I guess that 2.5 liter engine in the VW Rabbits are Lamborghini engines
now.

I think that the Asian vehicles usually don't have the problems that the VWs
have but maybe they wait until the cutting-edge technology gets ironed out
on the VWs before otheres control the manufacturing of the components and
then install them on their vehicles.

Were the VWs the first vehicles equipped with Head Rests and Shoulder Seat
Belts on the '68 Beetles?
I just can't remember now. ;-)
--
later,
(One out of many daves)

"John" <susan48 (AT) aapt (DOT) net.au> wrote

OOPS maybe that is Kia that uses the Mitsubishi engines! <g>

"dave AKA vwdoc1" <vwdoc1nospam (AT) pleasehotmail (DOT) com> wrote

HA HA HA
Is there a difference???


"dave AKA vwdoc1" <vwdoc1nospam (AT) pleasehotmail (DOT) com> wrote

In article <h0cs2n$afh$1 (AT) news-01 (DOT) bur.connect.com.au>, susan48
@aapt.net.au says...
Yeah. Ain't it great! No distributor?! Just a coil pack. One less
thing to have to R&R.

With as much $$ as some folks have in 'tools', a little more for an
engine scanner can tell you SO much more - if you know what to look at -
or know someone that does

Mark

Probably not! lol

I don't recall the last time I looked in the engine compartment of an Asian
car.
I like the fact that most VWs aren't really broken in well until they
achieve 100,000 miles and other vehicles are rare if the make it to 200,000
miles.

JMHO
--
later,
(One out of many daves)


"LG" <a@b.com> wrote