Audi / VW - Educate me

[BobbySands]

Originally Posted by tntmo

I haven't heard anyone mention the windows falling down due to the cheap ass little plastic piece on the motor regulator that holds it up. Another one of those "common" problems because every dealer in town stocks the entire inside door panel that you have to replace.

I'm a two time loser, bought a 99 Passat becasue it drove so well, had amazing interior space and felt so quality built. We put several thousand into it before finding someone silly enough to buy it and then we got a 2001 Passat wagon to replace it.

Happiest day of VW ownership was sticking it to the dealer on a trade-in for a Honda Pilot. Over five years with only routine maintenance on the Honda.

My daughter's boyfriend just got a 2003 Passat for his first car. I just smiled....that kid doesn't realize the fun he has in store.

The joy of having to drive to the dealer in the pouring rain with a nearly new VW, its window being held up with a piece of duct tape.
For the SECOND time.

They replaced it under warranty, again, and left all the duct tape residue in place.

"You're car is ready, sir."

[MudWalker]

Originally Posted by BobbySands

The joy of having to drive to the dealer in the pouring rain with a nearly new VW, its window being held up with a piece of duct tape.
For the SECOND time.

They replaced it under warranty, again, and left all the duct tape residue in place.

"You're car is ready, sir."

Funny, my A4 lasted 10 years before I had to sport any duct tape. A lot of folks said it would happen sooner. I used black tape and did a nice job with thin strips, can hardly see. It's gonna get traded in that way too!

To the OP........................I have given this car (02 A4 Avant 1.8T) all I'm willing to give, it's just too difficult and expensive to service when comparing the others. I actually enjoy maintaining my Toyota, it's somehow satisifying..............not so with the Audi, it's as if it is fighting against you as you try to cure what is ailing it. These cars drive better no doubt but if you live on a budget don't do it. Go buy a new Ford Focus SE with a manual transmission, skip the extras and drive it for 10 years, done!

[BobbySands]

Originally Posted by MudWalker

Funny, my A4 lasted 10 years before I had to sport any duct tape. A lot of folks said it would happen sooner. I used black tape and did a nice job with thin strips, can hardly see. It's gonna get traded in that way too!

To the OP........................I have given this car (02 A4 Avant 1.8T) all I'm willing to give, it's just too difficult and expensive to service when comparing the others. I actually enjoy maintaining my Toyota, it's somehow satisifying..............not so with the Audi, it's as if it is fighting against you as you try to cure what is ailing it. These cars drive better no doubt but if you live on a budget don't do it. Go buy a new Ford Focus SE with a manual transmission, skip the extras and drive it for 10 years, done!

I concur with every part of this post.

[urbancowboy]

need to vent, figured this might be an appropriate thread:

2012 Golf TDI. 17k miles on it. purchased new from vw manhattan in january.

been hearing a rattle that sounds like it's coming from the glove box SINCE NEW. mentioned it each time it's been back at the dealership (checkup and 10K service).

last couple of weeks new noises were bugging me:
driver's side door rattle, stops when i press my arm/elbow into the armrest.
and a suspension squeak when going over bumps.

scheduled an appointment at the dealership. when i dropped the car off, i mentioned those three items. also mentioned that i had googled the glove box noise the night before, and the internet people suggested the plastic cowling under the passenger side wiper blade was the source. the service advisor interrupted me when i said "googled" and he said "that's the worst thing you can do." i explained to him that i've complained about the rattle twice and nothing has been fixed.

at 5 PM today, i called the dealership to see what was going on. dropped the car off at 1:30 PM yesterday. service advisor returned my call (!) and told me my car was done. he said they fixed the rattle with the plastic cowling, but couldn't replicate the other two issues.

so they fixed the one thing i could have fixed myself. i don't want to pull the driver's door apart to find the loose parts, but i guess i will have to.

the suspension noise is definitely bad news also. i can't imagine that it will go away on it's own.

when i told the service advisor that i was frustrated about the other noises not being addressed, he told me "cars are made of metal, they're not going to be completely quiet." not to sound naive, but i didn't expect that from a VW service person. i don't want to blame this service advisor for poor design/poor build quality, but i do expect these little things to be addressed. or at least pretend that you're making an effort.

it's too bad that the only company making fun-to-drive, yet practical stick shift cars can't get out of their own way with the little stuff.

if acura or infinity made a hatchback with manual transmission, i'd be taking a close look at it now.

rant over.

[adam_c_eckhardt]

Originally Posted by urbancowboy

it's too bad that the only company making fun-to-drive, yet practical stick shift cars can't get out of their own way with the little stuff.

if acura or infinity made a hatchback with manual transmission, i'd be taking a close look at it now.

rant over.

I think that's why there is a herd of "VW people" who tolerate the problems- they are the only real fun affordable cars with manual transmissions that get over 40 mpg.

E still really likes hers- she's commented several times that she likes it more than the Mini. As long as that happiness factor outweighs any frustration we see in the future, we'll keep the car.

[jdiaz]

I assume you are talking about the subframe bushings making noise in cold weather. They all do it (every model!) and the dealers are told to ignore it because it will go away when the weather warms back up.

[bigsnowdog]

Originally Posted by urbancowboy

need to vent, figured this might be an appropriate thread:

2012 Golf TDI. 17k miles on it. purchased new from vw manhattan in january.

been hearing a rattle that sounds like it's coming from the glove box SINCE NEW. mentioned it each time it's been back at the dealership (checkup and 10K service).

last couple of weeks new noises were bugging me:
driver's side door rattle, stops when i press my arm/elbow into the armrest.
and a suspension squeak when going over bumps.

scheduled an appointment at the dealership. when i dropped the car off, i mentioned those three items. also mentioned that i had googled the glove box noise the night before, and the internet people suggested the plastic cowling under the passenger side wiper blade was the source. the service advisor interrupted me when i said "googled" and he said "that's the worst thing you can do." i explained to him that i've complained about the rattle twice and nothing has been fixed.

at 5 PM today, i called the dealership to see what was going on. dropped the car off at 1:30 PM yesterday. service advisor returned my call (!) and told me my car was done. he said they fixed the rattle with the plastic cowling, but couldn't replicate the other two issues.

so they fixed the one thing i could have fixed myself. i don't want to pull the driver's door apart to find the loose parts, but i guess i will have to.

the suspension noise is definitely bad news also. i can't imagine that it will go away on it's own.

when i told the service advisor that i was frustrated about the other noises not being addressed, he told me "cars are made of metal, they're not going to be completely quiet." not to sound naive, but i didn't expect that from a VW service person. i don't want to blame this service advisor for poor design/poor build quality, but i do expect these little things to be addressed. or at least pretend that you're making an effort.

it's too bad that the only company making fun-to-drive, yet practical stick shift cars can't get out of their own way with the little stuff.

if acura or infinity made a hatchback with manual transmission, i'd be taking a close look at it now.

rant over.

You have a bad dealership.

[a1fa]

Originally Posted by jdiaz

I assume you are talking about the subframe bushings making noise in cold weather. They all do it (every model!) and the dealers are told to ignore it because it will go away when the weather warms back up.

+1; wifes passat wagon made the same noise. dealer wanted $1000 to install aftermarket bushing that dont make noise... we used the $1000 for down payment towards 2010 Nissan Maxima. The air stopped working due to bad batch of Zyxel compressors. VW gave us $500 (out of $2000 to fix) allowance towards fixing the bad compressor, granted the car was out of warranty, but it was a clean 2007 Wagon with less than 34k miles.... So we took the $2000, and put it towards a down payment on the Maxima.

Nissan is just as fun to drive....

[RedRocket]

I once had a nice looking and driving Audio 100turbo.
My Audi mechanic convinced me to get a Honda Accord.




http://jalopnik.com/5968228/are-fuel...diesel-engines

[Bueller]

Originally Posted by RedRocket

I once had a nice looking and driving Audio 100turbo.
My Audi mechanic convinced me to get a Honda Accord.




http://jalopnik.com/5968228/are-fuel...diesel-engines

The article cites late model tdi cars, but that issue goes way back. My 05 tdi had the engine driven pump replaced under a recall at 5000 miles, and the in tank pump stranded the car at 85,000 miles. It was ridiculously expensive ($1200.00 including tow), but it was also one of the only things that went wrong in 100,000 miles.

There are many, many great things about vw tdi platforms. It boggles the mind that vw can't seem to deal with the remaining issues to make the entire car great.

[discochris]

Originally Posted by BobbySands

The joy of having to drive to the dealer in the pouring rain with a nearly new VW, its window being held up with a piece of duct tape.
For the SECOND time.

They replaced it under warranty, again, and left all the duct tape residue in place.

"You're car is ready, sir."

I was driving home from work the other day in the rain, and saw some poor sap at a stoplight holding his drivers side window up with his hand trying to keep the rain from pouring into his fairly new Jetta...

[urbancowboy]

Originally Posted by bigsnowdog

You have a bad dealership.

picked up the car this afternoon, and had a better experience. the service MANAGER was there. he brought my car out, and i recapped my experience. his response was much more productive: "if you're still hearing rattles or sqeaks, schedule another appointment and myself and a tech will drive around with you and you can duplicate the sounds. once we hear them, we can justify spending time taking things apart." or something to that effect. can't argue with that at all. i'm under 3k miles away from my 20k mile oil change, so that would be a logical time to try again, if necessary.

i guess that's why he's the service manager, and the other dude is a service advisor who had to cross someone else's name off a business card and write his own name on it when i asked for his card.