« Reply #23 on: 23 September 2012, 13:12 »
Look at all the JD Power type reliability surveys. VW are only ever average mid table. Such surveys are always dominated by Japanese manufacturers who properly engineer their cars.
I also use a general motoring forum and there are countless examples of people on there complaining about VW, Audi, BMW etc. and very few about Honda, Toyota and so on. The Germans do well because the snobbish, class ridden UK market buys into this "premium German" thing which keeps second hand prices high. This is why I, as a private buyer, have gone back to VW even though all the Vauxhalls I've had have had far fewer problems than the VWs I've owned.
Remember that VW is a mass market manufacturer. It's only Britain that seems to think it's premium!
I agree 100% with all those points but will also say that VW seems to be marketed as a semi-premium brand in a lot of countries now. My dad moved from Hondas and Nissans to VW because of 1) I'd always owned GTIs and SEATs and never had any problems with them (touch wood) and 2) He bought into the hype of 'reliable' VWs which VW has nurtured since the 80s when they were genuinely better engineered than other Euro brands.
Firstly my Dad bought a Jetta 1.8t which was 100% reliable and then against my advice bought a 1.6TDI Jetta which has been decidedly unreliable in the grand scheme of things. He's going back to Japanese next time. That says it all.
VW dealers are the worst for pretending they're a premium badge, they seem to think because there are waiting lists for most of the models they can treat customers with disdain and have become increasingly inflexible.
My local dealer used to be terrible but got a lot better over recent years but now have started to slip back into complacency and my father's local dealer is in Cornwall and they have no competition for miles. You can but imagine how arrogant that dealer has become. He's logging his problems and will be writing to VW about them very soon. VW need to wake up.
I'm going back to SEAT next time if I buy another newish car, but more likely will keep my mk6 for a good few years if it stays reliable and will go to trusted indies only.
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‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten
