If only everything in life were as reliable as a Volkswagen.....

[davemorganfan]

......we'd never get anywhere. I stongly believe this is a myth - VWs are no more reliable than any other cars. True or false?

PS - I've owned lots of Rover/ BL cars, and I can assure you they are not as unreliable as popular belief says they are. In fact, they have given me less grief than any other cars - are you listening, M. Peugeot?

[garcon]

VWs are certainly among the more reliable cars on the road, but I think they've probably got slightly less so in recent years as the cars have got more complicated.

In the modern era of everything run by CPUs, I imagine the Japanese are the most reliable. Lexus, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi, Honda all come out very well in owner surveys.

A common myth seems to be that build quality equals reliability. Not necessarily so. Audis are arguably the best built cars on the road, but they can be somewhat less than reliable (I know someone who's had 3 engines in an A4 1.8T in less than 60k). Peugeots may aswell be made out of papiér maché and meccano, but they - especially the diesels - do go on and on and on and on and on...

Of course, you can have good or bad luck with any car. Many Rover/BLs are (or were) perfectly ok, but think back to the seventies, on a damp morning in February, when you couldn't persuade your mouldy old Allegro to even turn over and your neighbour's Datsun 100A started first time...

There's even good and bad within models. I've known Maestro 1.3s that were absolutely bullet-proof, because they were simple and used the well-proven 1275cc unit. But I briefly owned a 1.6 HLS and it was the worst dog of a car I've ever had the displeasure of. And all the problems were electrical.

[BertMk2]

I've got a Pug 306 and it's been bulletproof for reliability - the only minor niggle is the randomness of the airbag warning light.

The cars I've had most problems with are Fords - the catalogue of woe:

Focus number 1:
Lost the brakes on a motorway sliproad
Aircon leaked (despite being 'fixed' twice)
Shock absorber gave up after 7000 miles.
Worst handling car I've ever driven (even after new front shocks).
Gearbox action very 'notchy' - had to be forced into 2nd and 3rd.

Focus number 2:
Gearbox lost 3rd gear, couldn't get it no matter what I tried.

I really don't know what was up with the first Focus, the other Focuses (Foci?) I've driven have generally handled really well but that one refused to turn in properly - the shocks were replaced, it had new tyres and the tracking was checked - it made no difference, total dog of a car and it had less than 10,000 miles on the clock.

[bella]

hmmmmmm well.

my dad has a vw caravelle. this started his 'thing' about vw's. he thinks the sun shines out of it's backside. i think the performance of the engine especially has deteriated (can't remember the proper word so i'll make one up) far too quickly since we bought it in 1997. everything's fallen apart inside the car. HOWEVER. it has never broken down except for once when the battery in the blippy alarm thing ran out and it wouldn't start the engine (you have to press the blip with the keys in the ignition to disable the anti-pinching thing. the immobiliser). the battery in the car itself went flat too, and it delaminated a tyre over 600 miles.

my golf is completely bullet proof. it's the same age as the caravelle but has nearly half the miles on it. i'd not hesitate in buying another vw after the way it stood up to my little accident on tuesday. and in terms of reliability, 5,000 miles after buying it all that's worrying is the back brakes appear to have worn down completely and the lady before must have given the clutch a hammering because it's on the verge of explosion.

big thumbs up for vw. except the tdi. i'd NEVER buy one of those after seeing how the turbo on the caravelle is lagging and generally not doing it's job.

[Suzy]

I have mixed feelings on VW's having spent the first 18 years of my life being shuttled around in an old K-reg orange and white doormobile. So, I can only tell you from what I experienced in my youth (I'll admit that things have moved on a lot since then).

PLUS POINTS:
We managed to get 147,000 miles out of the original clutch! We carried a replacement clutch around for the last 20,000 miles in anticipation of it finally giving up. It never did - and my dad decided to change the clutch.
Loads of space.
Absolutely rock-solid. Very few things dented our doormobile (except us).
Great "cult" vehicle.

MINUS POINTS
It had a serious attitude problem. It would go about 200 miles and refuse to go any further unless it was push-started. We either parked at the top of hills when we went places (to freewheel it down to get it going) or mum and the kids had to push it round the service-station car parks (what a sight that must have been).
The engine was noisy.
It never went above 65mph unless there was something wrong with it. Getting it to go up a hill was a major achievement - we were once overtaken by an old man on a pushbike going up a hill!

But we did love the VW and we did look seriously about getting a replacement "camper van"/caravelle recently. I'd love one for motor racing purposes.

[dretceterini]

Are we talking about customer satisfaction or sheer reliability? In a recent US survey, Hyundai was rated as high as Honda in customer satisfaction!

[bella]

Originally posted by Suzy
It had a serious attitude problem. It would go about 200 miles and refuse to go any further unless it was push-started.

good grief, you've reminded me of something. on tuesday, the car started up with a slight misfire. maybe it knew something was going to happen

if you're looking at caravelles, seriously or not, they're very good cars. ours has done 125,000 on a 'p' plate. the petrol ones would probably lose out less on the roundabout grand prix, but as a car they handle well, and you can't half intimidate people with them

apart from the wierd smoke i got from the steering column when i started it up once it's been ok. beats the knickers off the ford tranny we had

[sunflower]

I've only owned one vauxhall. In the 2 yrs I've had it its never broken down. Right at the beginning though the immobilisor needed modifying cos the engine would start then cut out & later on the driver's door central locking motor needed changing. PLus I think the steering wheel's off centre but dealerships won't believe me.

The one time I drove a VW I couldn't remember how to get reverse so was stuck in the middle of the road when doing a 3 point turn (its a push-down 1st type one)

[Chui]

Actually, VWs are not particularly reliable at all. The latest JD Powers Dependability Study found VWs suffer badly... Porsche, Toyota, Honda and a distant BMW led the list. GM was just behind BMW... These were above average. Ford was just under average and VW was significantly behind them.

[evo]

I don't know about the newer ones, but every BMW I've ever owned has been awesomely reliable. The only time I've ever been left standing on the side of the road was when I crashed into a truck or the ditch.