27th Feb 2008, 09:22

To the person who said Mexican VW are not as reliable as German ones, let me say that my 2005 Jetta built in Mexico was flawless. It was like I bought a Camry. My German-made Golf had many more problems.

21st Apr 2008, 20:56

I have had three Volkswagens in 5 years of my life. The 86' Golf was old, but drove past 200000 miles, and then the meter broke so it could no longer read how many miles we put on it. I have this to say about my last two VWs.

I was about to buy the 2002 GTI. Now I'm scared to invest in another one after this....

My 97 Cabrio was a Mexican made VW.

It is a money trap, a heinous disgrace to the VW name.

However I love this car like a hot abusive girlfriend (aka high maintenance).

Several problems including the windows, ignition coil... the list goes on.

She is a pleasure to drive, but sees the shop more times then I see a check in a month. :(

I bought her in a used car lot for 8,000 with a truck trade in (good deal right?) Woes follow...

She had previously been in a small accident and she had terminal balding on her cloth top. 1,000 dollars for the new top from a private company (4,000+ at the dealers).

Brakes went out... which destroyed the rotors...

Leak in trunk and in the windshield, which is destroying the interior.

Then came the belts at 100,000+ mileage, which had never been changed before. :$ I change her oil regularly, which helps the damned oil leak from becoming immediately dangerous. Another 800+ dollars.

I hydroplaned on brand new tires only going 45 miles per hour. I smashed her luckily right on the support bar. No air bags deployed (luckily or unluckily) and I drove her off the road after calming down. She pulls to the right a bit and I feel uneasy about going too fast.

I drive her everyday about 40 miles+. She's a great commuter car and is great on gas; 30 highway with the top down is better then anything else I know. I drive her hard going 55-75 miles back and forth to work. Her idle is so smooth I forget she's on.

The sound system is amazing for factory. OMG the white leather seats are so comfortable. I love the way the clutch is firm and my only complaint is that 1st and 2nd stick, and sometimes reverse doesn't exist. :P.

She's a heart breaker. She looks and feels so good when I drive her. I can't help but turn each problem over to the mechanics and hold out my wallet. I hate how cheap they made this car when she could have been so much more.

Anyone looking to invest in their new VW should know that it's nearly impossible to work on one of these unless they have the hook up at home. A lot of the parts are hard to reach, and most of these older ones have serious electrical faults, which only a master DIY or mechanic would be able to fix.

Babette's girlfriend (aka black betty's driver)