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Seems like almost everyone here has something against vw's. But why do YOU not like them?

I like them all right. They're no Subarus, but they can be fun to drive. I like driving my buddy's Jetta TDI. Don't like working on it so much though. :)

Jettas and Beetles. . . "Hecho en Mexico"

Other than that, no real hate here. . . just no huge desire, either. Although, on a sidenote, I'd love to get my hands on an Audi S4. (Passat on some major roids)

Yukonart wrote:"Hecho en Mexico"

What?

THAWA wrote:

Yukonart wrote:"Hecho en Mexico"

What?

Made in Mexico.

I hate that the engines only have 60 hp, and you have to weed though all the crappy parts on the market before you can find the good ones, which cost too much. And I can't tune dual weber's very well. That's why I'm here.
I realize this is an economy car in the very essence of the word. That's what makes it so satisfying to whip another car's ass with it.

because they're friggin impossible to do anything to. and my moms 2 door that she spent $20k on is slower than my 13 year old station wagon

most of the VW hate is mine. I despise them. torsion bar rear ends, leaky motors, the base model passat is a 1.8t (turbo 10:1 compression heavy car) The VR engine is one of the most unreliable of all time, at least when it was released (they release stuff before its completely engineered) FWD is the only option, the newer ones are all overweight, Any one i've had the pleasure to work on it was a PITA, older ones are hard to fit into, hecho en mexico/brazil (not necessarily a biggie), magnesium rims, im sure there's more.

Audi's are bad too. And i dont like mitsubishi.

s4= jetta. horrid economy, numb steering, and too fat. I'd like to abuse it too.

i hate dsm's with a passion.

VW's are crap, plain and simple. I should know better than anyone else, I have to hang around with the local VW crowd, because they're the only ones I've met locally that know anything about cars...

My best friend of the group, who I've known since 4th grade, has a 88 VW Scirocco that he has payment pending from an eBay auction here... As you can see, he says the motor is rebuilt. It is rebuilt in every sense of the word. Mind you, he did drive this car VERY hard, and after 2 hours of flat-out beating the car on the highway, he spun a rod bearing. Fortunately, he had a good spare crank from a Rabbit GTi sitting in his garage. He rebuilt the bottom end, all new oversize bearings, I believe.

No more than one month later, he notices all his temperature gauges going sky high, and he's losing power. He blew a headgasket. So now he got to tear it apart again, have the head rebuilt, I believe it was warped slightly, etc. etc. That engine is brand spanking new!

But that doesn't say much for the electrical system. That car left him stranded... oh I'd say 3 or 4 times... A WEEK!!! He used up all the towings AAA would allow him. The previous owner completely rewired the car, relocated the battery to the trunk, etc. etc. and did a very ghetto job of it, so I can understand losing reliability in doing that. But still, that car is NOT to be used as a daily driver!

Now his friends: In the group are a Corrado G60, a few Golf GTi's here and there, a couple Jettas... The Corrado threw a rod, lucky for him the block was okay, a white Golf spun all 4 rod bearings, a Jetta in the same family was making knocking noises...

I will say that Scirocco can easily outhandle any car I've ever ridden in my whole life, it simply cannot lose grip. Phenomenal!!

But I require something that I can enjoy driving reliably! And this is why I will NEVER own a VW!

I have had too many experiences and known too many people with VW's, see them with lights out or broken down on the side of the road all the time, and have to listen to my mechanic rant about how much they suck. Oh, and i think they're as fun to drive as a Camry. That's why I hate them.

I do like the interiors on the newer ones, though. The damped grab handles are a nice touch and the soft feel dash that makes you just want to squeeze it...

Steve

One of the local Subaru dealerships is also a VW dealership. At any given time that you go into the shop, 80% of the cars on the lifts are a VW. My cousin who is the service manager says that when a VW comes into the shop especially the new Bettle none of the tecnicians want to work on them.

One of my English teachers in high school had a 99 Bettle that she loved when she first got it, but in the last year she wants to kill it. Its goes through clutches like underwear, the entire AC system shorted out, and the cd player took a permanent vacation.

Once when my dads 89 DL wagon went into the shop they gave him an 01 Jetta GLS sedan and I wasn't all that impressed. It certainly didn't have the power that my Legacy has, it wasn't that quiet, and didn't feel like it was built as solid. But the blue dash lighting was sweet!

"because they're the only ones I've met locally that know anything about cars... "

They spend any money they had in repairs, which forces them to start fixing it themselves.

VW suck its simple. I convinced my freind to loose 13k on a 1.5 year old VW. He is a super clean person and drives at a normal pace (not slow or fast). His car was in great condition yet it took months to sell it. Most of the time loosers who cant F(#%*^ read would come to see the car and say

"Oh, its a manual transmission? Sorry we wanted automatic"
IF YOU WANTED F(#**$^ AUTOMATIC WHAT THE HELL DID 5 SPEED MANUAL MEAN TO YOU!

You wouldn't have believed the loosers who came to look at the car. I guess it takes a special kind of person to want a VW. Now if its an older VW of certain select models Im not against it. Anything that is 10 or less years old blehhh


One of my coworkers had a scirroco. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many replacement transmisisons he went through. It didnt help he pulled a dirt bike on a small trailer (a very small trailer).
Just a couple months ago I convinced him to get a 1993 legacy wagon. He has no regrets.

There are plenty more stories but in short Id rather own a ford or chevy before the random VW.

i just remembered, i like the mk1 diesel rabbits. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, fantastic mileage, and incredibly ugly. Fantastic.

MrBean85 wrote:One of the local Subaru dealerships is also a VW dealership. At any given time that you go into the shop, 80% of the cars on the lifts are a VW. My cousin who is the service manager says that when a VW comes into the shop especially the new Bettle none of the tecnicians want to work on them.

I'll have to swing by Chaplain's in Bellevue to see if that's the case there, too. VW/Subbie dealer in western Washington.

The only thing mechanics I've talked to about VWs like is the fact that they keep coming back. And frequently.

My mechanic almost forgets what I look like sometimes. 234K mi.

Steve

theres also a vw/subby in tacompton, and olympia.

My dad had an old shitbox gold rabbit with a period stain red interior, and it ran FOREVER, well, until the minivan t-boned him. I used to hate getting picked up from school in that. Of course my dad is anal-retentive in every meaning of the word, especially when it comes to maintinence and additives and anything to make stuff last longer(he's also cheap)

There's a song by MOD that talks about a cheap guy who bought a VW Rabbit and gets hit by a truck, "You're dead now, Harry, you can't come back. You'd still be alive if you drove a Cadillac..."

It's called 'Ode to Harry' off USA for MOD. That album's full of sophomoric hillarity.

Steve

Becuase I've owned them. They're just a constant goddamn letdown in all areas.

LaureltheQueen wrote:because they're friggin impossible to do anything to. and my moms 2 door that she spent $20k on is slower than my 13 year old station wagon

ummm whatever. vws have one of the biggest aftermarkets out there. and you think parts interchangability is good on subarus, vws almost every motor and brake setup is a direct bolt on. only suspension isnt very interchangable between chassis, ie mk 1(think rabbit and scirocco) mk 2 think golf, jetta, corrado mk 3-jetta, golf etc etc etc. mk 3 and especially mk4 arent really VWs in my opinion, they are too heavy.
Ive got a rabbit gti Im fixin up, its sooo fun to blast around in. and did I say light? rabbits are 1850 lbs stock. race rabbits @ ~1400lbs!!!

ah... I never said there was no aftermarket. I said that her beetle is impossible to work on, and about as fast as molasses. Dont try and shut me down if you dont know what you're talking about.

And yes, I have "raced" her beetle before. Got someone behind the wheel of the beetle, and took both cars up to 60 on a deserted road one night. No problem.

The problem with VW interchangeability is that you're still using VW parts.

Steve

VW's are teh suck... And it's not a large aftermarket if its just 11ty billion different kinds of fart cannons.

the classic "urinal inspired" exhaust tip

yeah... I already said mk4's suck. for a new, upmarket car, the jettas have all kinds of electrical problems, and a few other issues but a new beetle? those things are stuuupid. the thing the mk 4 does have going for it though is the 1.8t engine. 20 valves, forged bottom end, pretty cheap to get big power out of.
Im only really a fan of mk1's and mk 2's. they were the last really light, cool looking, good handling car vw has made. No aftermarket? Obviously none of you know what your talking about. theres at least 5 big companies making cams, exhaust, headers, ecu upgrades, etc. bolt on superchargers, huge turbo kits for vr6's all kinds of stuff for the forced induction vw engines.
what the hell is wrong with putting better factory parts on an older car? this has been going on since there were cars at all. no one here has a problem with wrx parts going on their legacy, its the same thing with vw's. whats wrong with taking a 150 hp 16v engine and putting it in a 1700 lb rabbit to have a really fast, light fun car? many people have built a rabbit with a 2.0L 8v and junkyard turbo system to run low 13's, spending less than 1000 while doing so, and I gauruntee a rabbit with a few tweaks and good rubber will handle better than any legacy, and I have both.
If you vw haters have never driven a gti, scirocco, etc. then dont be so quick to judge. subarus may be great cars but so are vws. dont hate on the older ones because the newer ones suck. vw's are fun, plain and simple. easy to work on, find parts for, hop up, and drive. If you people ever get the chance to drive a rabbit, do it.