My main beef is Check Engine Light. The CEL was on more times than I can
count. My favorite was it was on and the fix was a "new version of
firmware". I left the dealer and was about 5 miles away when it came back
on again. One other time I was short on time because I was leaving NJ going
to WA so I had the dealer fix a couple of things, a headlight that rattled
and the CEL. Turns out they did nothing with the headlight, it still
vibrated and the CEL was back on before I got to the 100 miles into PA. I
call the dealer to complain about both items and I contacted VW America.
Short story was by the time I got to WA I had put enough miles to be out of
my warranty period. It was up to me to fix the issues at that point and VW
refused to do anything I was more than pissed. I will never purchase their
products again.
Funny thing is the Outback is a very useful and versatile car and I love it.
My wife's main complaint is that it has more road noise and does not ride as
good as the VW and I agree. Tons of people lover their VW, but not me. I
want my wife's car to need very little care, just routine maintenance and
oil changes.
-g
On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 5:06 AM, Bud Osbourne <abcoz@hky.com> wrote:
> Bill,
> Not meaning to "dis" you in any way, but, you don't mention if you bought
> it new or used, how it was maintained and by whom it was maintained. This
> is VERY critical information. Also "steaming pile" doesn't tell us anything
> relevant.
> As far as VW products are concerned: I just rolled past 296,000 miles last
> week, with my '98 Golf (2.0 liter, 4 cyl. gas engine w/automatic). I bought
> it new and have maintained it very meticulously via the same dealer I bought
> it from and the same mechanic working on it every time it went in for
> service. Aside from a fuel pump relay failure at around 250,000 miles and a
> rear wheel bearing failure at around 180,000 miles (I now have wheel
> bearings serviced at least once a year), it has never failed to get me to
> where I needed to go. I am confident of another 300,000 miles with the car,
> although I realize I will eventually need to replace the transmission (I
> mean, how long can an automatic transmission last????).
> Without a doubt, the weak link in any VW product is Bosch electrics.
> Basically, they suck and have been of inferior engineering and quality since
> the early eighties. I keep hearing rumors that BMW (more) and Mercedes
> (less) are also having reliability issues due to Bosch electrics. Porsche
> does not seem to be immune from this, either.
> Subaru.......I wouldn't own one, but not because I don't think they are
> good cars. I've driven plenty of them (my dealer is a VW/Subaru store &
> their loaner fleet was all Subies) and just don't like them as much as the
> VWs.
> Bud Osbourne
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Gilroy" <wmgilroy@gmail.com>
> To: "Peter Caldwell" <peter@nosimport.com>
> Cc: <spridgets@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 4:15 AM
>
> Subject: Re: [Spridgets] paging Peter C
>
>
> My wife had a 2002 1.8T Passat. It seemed to be a steaming pile. It
>> was a
>> great day when we replaced the VW with an Outback. I would never buy
>> another
>> VW product and I would never, ever take a Passat for free!
>>
>> -g
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