# What is the most reliable Vw to you?



## Jettabosstert3 (Mar 23, 2012)

Look for the most reliable Vw too buy anyone has suggestions?


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## Rockerchick (May 10, 2005)

Well a big part of the equation is budget. Are you looking for used or new?


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## numlock44 (Nov 1, 2012)

In my eyes anything with a TSI or a V6 is your best bet.


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## tagsvags (Nov 25, 2005)

So far my 2.5L 5 cyl. has been very reliable, will be going with a TSI 1.8T Ea888.3 soon.


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## bluesbrothers (Sep 6, 2002)

my 85 scirocco. its been sitting in the garage for 2 years and hasnt broke down at all


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## jim_c (Sep 22, 2013)

An old original bug parts are cheap and easy to find. Simple to work on.
All you need to learn is how to adjust valves and change oil.


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## quaudi (Jun 25, 2001)

I've owned 17 VWs and they have all been reliable....hence why I have owned 17. Currently have MK4, MK5 and MK6 in the garages. Without a doubt the most reliable has been my 05.5 VE Jetta 5 speed. Just did 165000 mile oil change today and still marvel how the car has never leaked anything and has needed very few repairs outside of routine maintenance. The experience caused me to jump on a 13 JSW as it was going to be the last year for the 2.5 and research into the TDI turned me off on that option and reading about TSI and FSI issues, well you get the picture. Heres hoping the JSW provides the same level of reliability as the old sedan.


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## feels_road (Jan 27, 2005)

tagsvags said:


> So far my 2.5L 5 cyl. has been very reliable, will be going with a TSI 1.8T Ea888.3 soon.


I agree that the 2.5 (Golf) is the most reliable car that VW ever made, and the new 1.8 will also be right up there. For very high mileage cars, MT VWs tend to be more reliable than ATs - mostly because owners do not know that the AT fluid needs to be changed on a 40,000 - 60,000 miles schedule, for most transmissions.


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## turboed vw (Apr 6, 2011)

My 09 GTi, i have over 100 1/4 mile passes being stage 2 and i only changed spark plugs and coilpacks.


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## Rockerchick (May 10, 2005)

My vote would go to a 2.0 5-speed mk4. I had one for 6 1/2 years as my first car and had no real problems with it. Super cheap to maintain, no turbo to worry about, not very picky about oil. Not super fast, but its peppy enough.


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## turbo_dt (Jul 10, 2013)

*re: most reliable VW?*

it sure better be the MK6 Golf-R! I bought a new '13, and it's my first VW (1st none-Japanese car I've bought since 1981). Consumer Reports rates the new Golf fairly well, but makes no mention of the R. I filled out a CR car-owners survey a couple of weeks ago a and gave the R good marks. Still, in the back of my mind I recall my sister's Jetta, and what a nightmare owner's experience she had with that car. You know how you don't notice a marque until you own one? Well, I see a lot of VWs now, and I must admit I wonder if those drivers knew something I didn't when they decided to buy their VW. Fingers crossed, but so far nearly a year, and the only issue I had turned out to be some adhesive film on the windshield. I thought the glass was flawed, but no.


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## feels_road (Jan 27, 2005)

Rockerchick said:


> My vote would go to a 2.0 5-speed mk4. I had one for 6 1/2 years as my first car and had no real problems with it. Super cheap to maintain, no turbo to worry about, not very picky about oil. Not super fast, but its peppy enough.


Yes, the 2.slow MTs also rank way up there. I had mine (MkVIII Golf) for 17 years/ 170,000 miles without any major problems, whatsoever. :thumbup:


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## Kansas Slim (Nov 16, 2009)

About to flip 236k on a VR6 Mk IV Jetta (12v). A couple coolant leaks, coolant temp sensor, serpentine belt tensioner and I still have a CEL for the cat converter, but the car still runs fine.

Reliable? I'd say yes. Like many on here, I've owned a few cars over the years and all have had their issues. These little things noted above I'd just refer to as opportunities to get to know her better...

Now the engine issues on the Mrs' old '03 Liberty? That was a headache. Good riddance!


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## oscar563 (Jun 5, 2012)

Well, lets define reliable haha.

1.- Excluding all CEL's, accesories and other monitoring systems, fuel milage, etc.?
2.- Considering everything listed in option 1?

Because if we pick option 1, then my mk3 vr6 jetta with 165k miles on it even though it won't pass emissions due to a combi valve issue but does not affect fuel milage, performance or driveability. And if we say no. 2 is the way to choose, then my dad's '79 beetle that never failed us until we got rid of it for something newer....who knows, it might still be in circulation in Mexico as a taxi :laugh::facepalm:


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## anthony-vw-01 (Apr 4, 2013)

Definatly mk4 2.0 not fun to drive but never fails on you


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## Wiredin (Apr 12, 2010)

I worked with VW since 2007, just left this January. The vehicle we saw the least amount of repairs on that I would deem not regular wear and tear was the Passat CC CCTA engine.


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## countrydan (Feb 4, 2014)

*2001 Beetle Diesel*

We bought it new in 2000. I got 92,000 miles on the first set of tires. Changed timing belt at 95,000. My wife gave it to her sorry son. As far as I can tell, he has changed the oil four times, worn out 5 sets of tires (that we had to pay for). Never had another timing belt. Mileage 491,000 miles. It quit running and a pal of his checked the fuel filter, which he didn't have any idea about and it was completely clogged. Now the car looks like hell, but when you give something nice to an idiot


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## oscar563 (Jun 5, 2012)

Wiredin said:


> I worked with VW since 2007, just left this January. The vehicle we saw the least amount of repairs on that I would deem not regular wear and tear was the Passat CC CCTA engine.


Could it be because of lower sales volumes? :beer:


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## ocramida (Nov 26, 2012)

turbo_dt said:


> it sure better be the MK6 Golf-R! I bought a new '13, and it's my first VW (1st none-Japanese car I've bought since 1981). Consumer Reports rates the new Golf fairly well, but makes no mention of the R. I filled out a CR car-owners survey a couple of weeks ago a and gave the R good marks. Still, in the back of my mind I recall my sister's Jetta, and what a nightmare owner's experience she had with that car. You know how you don't notice a marque until you own one? Well, I see a lot of VWs now, and I must admit I wonder if those drivers knew something I didn't when they decided to buy their VW. Fingers crossed, but so far nearly a year, and the only issue I had turned out to be some adhesive film on the windshield. I thought the glass was flawed, but no.


You and I are in the same boat. Japanese cars for 25 years and my first European car is a Golf R. It'll be 2 years in November and I have to say it's the best car I've ever owned. I know it'll probably take more maintenance than my Japanese cars but there's just so many intangible details that make owning it so enjoyable. Compared to my Japanese cars the Golf feels solid and well finished, while the Asia counterparts, while dead nuts reliable, felt cheap and cost cut to within an inch of their lives. We'll see how it goes but I think build quality is definitely a couple of steps better. No rattles no weird noises. My body man (who just had to repair the rear bumper) said he'd choose VW every time for sheer build quality. He'd much rather "pull" an American or Japanese car compared to anything German because the Germans use heavier gauge steel and more laser welds (compared to mostly spot weld on Japanese cars). He admits that they are more expensive to maintain but the build quality more than make up for it in his opinion.


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## syncro87 (Apr 24, 2000)

A diesel second generation 2 door Golf or Jetta with crank windows and no A/C.


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## turbo_dt (Jul 10, 2013)

*ocramida, thanks!*

glad your R is doing well. I agree this car is more sturdily build (those door hinges are heavy-duty compared to my WRX). But key to me is that you've had no issues with your R. i'm coming up on one year. It's sad though to see so many Audis with the DRLs burned out on one side or another. I hope that does not carry over to the R. I've thought to turn mine off rather than keep them on since Audis seem to have sort lives in that area. I never had a bulb burn out on the REX the entire 12 years I owned it. So there's that bit of a concern.


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## ocramida (Nov 26, 2012)

turbo_dt said:


> glad your R is doing well. I agree this car is more sturdily build (those door hinges are heavy-duty compared to my WRX). But key to me is that you've had no issues with your R. i'm coming up on one year. It's sad though to see so many Audis with the DRLs burned out on one side or another. I hope that does not carry over to the R. I've thought to turn mine off rather than keep them on since Audis seem to have sort lives in that area. I never had a bulb burn out on the REX the entire 12 years I owned it. So there's that bit of a concern.


Stupid question but are you sure the drls are burned out or are you mistaking it for the "wink" feature which turns off the drl when the blinker/turn signal is initiated on that same side? I only ask because I thought the same thing regarding burned out drls before I knew about the "wink" feature. FYI, I actually turned on the wink feature on my R via vagcom. 


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## turbo_dt (Jul 10, 2013)

*re winking Audis*

I am not familiar with the blinking function, and have not seen it to notice a "blink. I have seen cars approaching me from the opposite direction, and long since past where such a blink might have occurred and had time to stop. Just looked like a burned out DRL to me. Seen several, but no blinks. VAGCOM, eh?


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## turbo_dt (Jul 10, 2013)

*re winking Audis*

I am not familiar with the blinking function, and have not seen it to notice a "blink". I have seen cars approaching me from the opposite direction, and long since past where such a blink might have occurred and had time to stop. Just looked like a burned out DRL to me. Seen several, but no blinks. VAGCOM, eh?


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## mmmoose (Jan 8, 2014)

Anything with the 2.5L, 5-cylinder engine on newer VWs (Rabbit, Golf, Jetta, Beetle, Passat, etc.). The '08+ revision with 170 hp in particular. People love to hate it for its lousy fuel economy, but there's no denying its reliability. The Rabbit in particular also provided the highest horsepower/torque figure of ANY car in its price point ($16,000) sold here in America.

I bought a '08 Rabbit brand new with 16 miles on the odometer. Seriously abused the hell out of it by going WOT seconds after cold starts, throwing it around sharp corners, etc. Ran the thing for 105,000 miles before trading it in for a '14 GTI. I never experienced any fluid leaks, hesitation, or any other strange behavior from the engine. It only threw one single CEL @ ~100,000 miles for a stuck thermostat. But even then it ran perfectly fine (I was told a stuck thermostat just causes worse fuel economy?).

Funny thing... this was actually *the most reliable car I had ever owned my entire life*. Not a Toyota. Not a Honda. Not a Nissan. A frickin' Volkswagen! I'm hoping the 2.0T can live up to the same standard. I hear GTIs eat water pumps like no tomorrow. Although so far I'm doing pretty good...


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## VMPhil (Nov 16, 2007)

mmmoose said:


> Anything with the 2.5L, 5-cylinder engine on newer VWs (Rabbit, Golf, Jetta, Beetle, Passat, etc.). The '08+ revision with 170 hp in particular. People love to hate it for its lousy fuel economy, but there's no denying its reliability. The Rabbit in particular also provided the highest horsepower/torque figure of ANY car in its price point ($16,000) sold here in America.
> 
> I bought a '08 Rabbit brand new with 16 miles on the odometer. Seriously abused the hell out of it by going WOT seconds after cold starts, throwing it around sharp corners, etc. Ran the thing for 105,000 miles before trading it in for a '14 GTI. I never experienced any fluid leaks, hesitation, or any other strange behavior from the engine. It only threw one single CEL @ ~100,000 miles for a stuck thermostat. But even then it ran perfectly fine (I was told a stuck thermostat just causes worse fuel economy?).
> 
> .



This. The fuel econ got better in 09-10 with an update. My wife had an 08' Rabbit. It was fantastically reliable.


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## XM_Rocks (Jan 29, 2005)

Anything 2007+ with a 2.5. :thumbup:


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## germanhead (Jul 4, 2014)

I personally like the v6


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## rich65vwbus (Mar 25, 2010)

Just got back on a 4 day 2,600 mile trip with my 04 R32. Drove from Atlanta Ga. To Roswell NM and back. She ran like a top! Even in the Desert with 102 temps!


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## Wiredin (Apr 12, 2010)

oscar563 said:


> Could it be because of lower sales volumes? :beer:


potentially. but even then it was rare for one to come in for anything more than a minor repair or service. When a Phaeton comes in you know its going to be there for 3 days. When a V10 Touareg TDI comes in you know your gonna have it for a week or two. MKV's liked to go through cooling fans, door latches, and door wiring harnesses like mad. MKIV TDI's liked to get the EGR's replaced/cleaned on a regular basis. but Tiguan, Passat, and CC always seemed to have the least ammount of concerns when they came though. Even then the Tiguan's most common concern was leaky output shaft seals.

That being said my wifes 2004 1.8T Jetta has 210,000km on it, runs like a top, and all it's needed outside of wear and tear items has been a steering angle sensor and a drivers door latch.


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