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Comments
The second Passat has had fewer problems, and doesn't burn oil. I had been pretty set on buying out the lease, but the various horror stories have given me a pause. If don't buy out the lease, I will almost assuredly get another VW.
Perhaps the key to happiness is only keep 'em while on warranty?
For the Passat vs. Accord, was that a fair comparison? The GLX is the top Passat, while the LX is the "bread-and-butter" Accord - can't get sunroof, leather, NAV etc. on it.
The 5spd 1.8T with the Wett chip is a joy to drive...smooth and powerful. The difference between 166 ftlbs and 250 ftlbs is dramatic...the power differential is night and day.
A few extras that I have added include...
>VW GLX rims with michilen pilots
>passat W8 dome/sunroof controller (buttons&sunroof control are backlit, plus 2 led projectors providing ambient light to the stick..very cool)
>vw oem sport aluminum trim from the european passat sport package, very similar to the US Audi interior aluminum sport trim ...not the stick-on junk from vw drivergear
>Shift knob from a 2004 european A4...super super nice and uses the same connection as the passat factory knob
>VW new beetle sunglass holders..replaces the front grab handles
>XM roady2
>VW euro triangle...factory bracket and triangle which installs under the trunk lid...see that molded triangular impression under our trunk lids...euro passats have a warning triangle installed there...US Audi sedans have this same triangle installed from the factory.
Hard choice for me...thanks!
Subaru has it all over VW in the long-term reliability department. Plus there seem to be fewer gripes about Subaru dealers.
But there is another Subaru value that is usually missed in these conversations and I think one is of real value. Subaru, in conjunction with Chase Bank, has a credit card that accumulates points on all your purchases. They give a 3% credit on each charged purchase and everytime that accumulation hits $100. they issue what they call a Subaru buck in that amount. These bucks accumulate and can be used towards the purchase of a new car, or they can be used for service and parts at a Subaru dealer. I had accumulated $500.00 (5 $100 bucks) during the time I owned my car. Unfortunately, in my case they were a waste because I traded out of that line. They also were not transferable to anyone else and they were not usable for other things. Nevertheless, even with some of their limitations I thought they were a great deal especially as the car got older.
Here is the official TSB from VW about this subject.
http://pics2.tdiclub.com/members/dieseldorf/PDFs/oil%20level.pdf
From the research I have done on this subject, the root of the issue seems to be improper breakin procedure when the vehicle was first purchased. Some people do not leave the special breakin oil in the engine long enough, some people "baby" the engine so the rings do not properly seat.
In any case, it is not a problem unless you allow the oil to get too low.
I hope I do not have to tell you that if you allow the oil to get low enough that the oil-pressure light comes on that imminent engine damage will occour. (you will have a nice boat anchor under the hood)
"In any case, it is not a problem unless you allow the oil to get too low."
Burning oil like that CAN'T be good for the catalytic converter.
Also, the only thing that TSB shows is how to do a consumption test. It says to fax the consumption sheet to VWoA for "further instructions"
It is a good thing that the catalytic converter is covered by FEDERAL warantee for 10years 100K miles. (in the USA)
I wouldn't wait until the catalytic converter starts to go bad. They go bad gradually, and gradually decrease performance.
I'd take it in and get it fixed. A quart every thousand miles is excessive and WAY out of line for a modern gasoline engine.. If they don't fix it under warranty and tell you it's "normal", I'd try to find another dealership, or I'd sell it and never buy another VW again. That's just me though.
I suggest you do a google search on "vw 2.0 oil consumption" or visit "myvwlemon.com" or "vwsucks.com" and search for oil consumption on those sites.
They provde the warranty, they get to set guidelines for their "standards" as well as their maintenance requirments.
That's crazy.
I've had 7 cars and NONE of them used anywhere near that much oil.
Actually, the only car I've had that used oil was my 91' Mustang 5.0L and it was modified. It used 1/4 to 1/2 quart per 3000 miles.
VW just lowered their standard a few years back, and since they provide the warranty, they get to make the rules.
If some don't use any oil, and some burn oil like a diesel, then I don't know how VW can say it's "normal".
Using little to no oil, and using a quart every 1000 miles is quite a variance.
If I had a VW that used that much oil the fact that VW says that it's "normal" wouldn't put me at ease.
Seriously, the 2.0L holds, what, 4 quarts of oil? Do the math. Burning 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles with 5000 mile oil change intervals. Sooo....if you don't check your oil between changes, you'll run the engine dry and blow it up? That's "normal"? Screw that. I do check my oil, but I know a lot of people who wouldn't unless the "check oil" light came on. I wouldn't buy a car that hold 4 quarts of oil while at the same time burning 1 quart per 1000 miles is considered "normal". There are plenty of cars available now that don't use oil like that.
I don't, but I'm sure people never even open the hood, except to add some washer juice when the tank runs dry...
I agree that it's wrong, and no engine should consume like that - my point was from a legal perspective, though, indicating that we can't sue them under the lemon law or for breach of warranty when they set the standards...regardless of how cheesy those standards may be.
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Some of the GM vehcles go longer than that based on their Oil Life Monitor. The distance is similar to that of the few cars in Europe that still specify dino oil--the synthetics go 20,000 or so.
VW builds a crap product and has an arrogent dealer service network. I owned a 2000 Paasat 1.8T and it was a freakin' nightmare- way more problems (and serious one's, like oil sludge) than any other make I've ever owned. And the dealer service sucked, period. I would buy an American car (gag- I never thought I'd say that) before I'd buy another VW. I went back to Honda, now to Mazda and they have been absolutely trouble-free. Until VW pulls their thumb from their a** and fixes their quality-control issues (and dealer-quality issues) it is not a brand worth considering.
Good luck with your Honda and Mazda. The Honda, I'm sure, will be a great car. The Mazda on the other hand....my family has had reliability issues with Mazda's in the past so, I will not pass judgment at this time.
Also, does anyone have any suggestions on wether or not I need to purchased the 7 year extended warranty? I never needed extended warranties with my Japanese vehicles, but this being my first experience with the Germans, I am not sure on that issue. Thanks!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
http://www.vwitc.com
Standard Feature #51. The Golf, New Beetle and New Beetle convertible are equipped with one year of automobile insurance coverage at no additional charge.
Yes, you read that right. Get a new car, and we'll pay the insurance for a full year. It's our way of saying "Happy New Year". But only if you hurry, because this deal only lasts until March 31, 2005.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/03/pf/autos/car_insurance/
Apparently, VW is testing this program during a 3 month period to grudge consumer interest. If this test is successful, VW may release this nationwide and other manufacturers may follow suit.
I know for a fact that Hyundai has a similar program in the UK, which has been very successful.
If this was available for Washington state residents, I would probably buy a new VW immediately. I crossed VW's off my list of cars due to their questionable reliability, but free insurance would be too good to miss out on!
I don't know if it would get me though. I insure two cars for far under $1000 a year...it's not a big deal relative to the price of a new car.
I work on cars quite a bit, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to replace the burnt out headlight in my wifes New Beetle. I now know, after some research, how to replace the headlight bulb but it was not at all clear initially.
Fortunately, the burnt out bulb was covered under warranty at the dealer.
The advice in the owners manual is, for most people in my opinion, justified, at least for the New Beetle design.
I just put Silver Stars in both vehicles - on both the truck (04 Dakota V-8 4x4) and the car (Ion Redline), I had to remove the entire headlight housing from the vehicle - it isn't like the old days where you do the quarter turn thing and pop the bulb out, or with sealed beams where two screws and a metal ring was all you needed to play with.
I'm ASE certified and have been working on cars since I could see over the hood, and I'm now 41, and both jobs weren't easy for me - most people don't even know how to check their oil, so no, I wouldn't want to be the manufacturer and trust someone to change a light bulb.
I always hated working on aircraft systems where some engineer had never thought about service requirements when it was built. Design engineer - "Hey, lets put the highest fail unit back behind this fixed panel and put all the never fail units around it. And for the hell of it, just JB- weld this sucker shut while we're at it. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Huh, what? What's going on?