Volkswagen GTI Maintenance and Repair
ngiordano
Member Posts: 4
in Volkswagen
well it appears that history has repeated itself for me. My last new VW was a 95 GTI vr6. In a nutshell it was a lemon, everything about the car's delivery condition and subsequent need for service was terrible. Fast forward to 2006 March 29. I after having purchased like 6 new cars since the 95(none of which were VW) buy a new GTI. Mistake number 1. I wanted a pk 1, XM with port options installed and nothing else. So I put a deposit down on a car that was at port so i could get the port options. After being told that we can't get the options and the car was slow in shipping(delivery) i decide to take the GTI on the lot that "supposedly has all the same stuff, less port optiuons and has 18" wheels " so I don't miss out on the $500 loyalty. I know that is where i went wrong. anyway so here is my list of problems with my new car with less than 100 miles;
Radio volume hunts
scufs on door panel, seat trim
chips, scratches on paint
paint flaws
wrong radio on delivery
dealer purposely withheld window sticker
sunroof rattle
sunroof liner tight(hard to close)
trunk doesn't seem to unlock
steering wheel has rugh edges(flaws in leather that catch hands like grit)
poor radio fm reception
horns sound loose when used (blow the horn and it vibrates the whole car)
remotes don't work too well(if at all)
windsheild has a 3" scratch and will need replacement
rattle from center dash
alarm honks when it feels like it when you lock up
grease (under coat?)is dripping from the sills in my driveway
car dings all the time (i know rtfm)
car had oils at delivery...but no washer fluid
1 spring spacer out, other i took out
dash doesn't seem to fit al that well around base of windsheild
did not see any wheel lock key (i better not have locks...did not look)
the interior fabrics although the same, oddly seem different
no way is the speedo accurate
shifter boot isn't flush with console
antenna isn't straight(it isn't aligned straight to center of car)
had car not start when i turned the key...infact it didn't do anything
I am completely and absoluetly disgusted with VW. I have to wait for a zone rep to appove repairs on a car that was driven home from the dealer and once to my job (has now 177 miles).The field rep isn't coming till the 27th of this month so I am out a car till then...they are goinna be over the time before it is fixed. period end of story, game over. How pathetic is it that I buy a new car and can't use it for over a month because some rep has to "approve" paint and windsheild repair?
Radio volume hunts
scufs on door panel, seat trim
chips, scratches on paint
paint flaws
wrong radio on delivery
dealer purposely withheld window sticker
sunroof rattle
sunroof liner tight(hard to close)
trunk doesn't seem to unlock
steering wheel has rugh edges(flaws in leather that catch hands like grit)
poor radio fm reception
horns sound loose when used (blow the horn and it vibrates the whole car)
remotes don't work too well(if at all)
windsheild has a 3" scratch and will need replacement
rattle from center dash
alarm honks when it feels like it when you lock up
grease (under coat?)is dripping from the sills in my driveway
car dings all the time (i know rtfm)
car had oils at delivery...but no washer fluid
1 spring spacer out, other i took out
dash doesn't seem to fit al that well around base of windsheild
did not see any wheel lock key (i better not have locks...did not look)
the interior fabrics although the same, oddly seem different
no way is the speedo accurate
shifter boot isn't flush with console
antenna isn't straight(it isn't aligned straight to center of car)
had car not start when i turned the key...infact it didn't do anything
I am completely and absoluetly disgusted with VW. I have to wait for a zone rep to appove repairs on a car that was driven home from the dealer and once to my job (has now 177 miles).The field rep isn't coming till the 27th of this month so I am out a car till then...they are goinna be over the time before it is fixed. period end of story, game over. How pathetic is it that I buy a new car and can't use it for over a month because some rep has to "approve" paint and windsheild repair?
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1) Take the car back for a refund and buy something else.
2) It's not polite to submit the same post in multiple forums.
For future reference, when someone states incongruent laundry lists and sounds like a car evangelist, few readers pay attention to details.
Scratches on the windshield that are an integral part of the air bag system (?) and justify leaving the car in your drive way so you can claim it is not drivable for 30 days --- that just does not make common sense.
Research the dealership and research the car:
If the dealership is terrible, you probably could have found this out ahead of time by searching for user reviews on the internet. Also, if you read over the GTI forums before you bought your car, the radio volume and reception issues would not have been a surprise. Even the lack of sensitivity of key fob buttons on VW's are common knowledge. You have to deliberately press the button for about half a second to lock/unlock or open the trunk. The key fob sensitivity is low to prevent accidental commands while it is floating around in your pocket.
A well informed buyer is often a happy buyer.
FYI: Your laundry list of complaints and posts in multiple forums just makes you sound like a lunatic.
You appear to be one of the most clueless car buying consumers I have seen in these forums. Based on your post, you must be blind or completely ignorant. Let me explain...
Eleven (11) of your complaints could have been avoided if you had just performed a visual inspection of the car prior to buying it. It would have taken only minutes to spot these obvious flaws. You are entirely responsible for all of these issues:
scufs on door panel, seat trim
chips, scratches on paint
paint flaws
wrong radio on delivery
dealer purposely withheld window sticker
windsheild has a 3" scratch and will need replacement
shifter boot isn't flush with console
antenna isn't straight
dash doesn't seem to fit al that well around base of windsheild
did not see any wheel lock key (i better not have locks...did not look)
the interior fabrics although the same, oddly seem different
Seven (7) of your complaints could have been discovered without even starting the car. You should have taken ten minutes to sit in the car try out/operate all of its features/functions prior to buying. These are entirely your responsibility:
steering wheel has rugh edges(flaws in leather that catch hands like grit)
poor radio fm reception
horns sound loose when used (blow the horn and it vibrates the whole car)
remotes don't work too well(if at all)
sunroof liner tight(hard to close)
trunk doesn't seem to unlock
alarm honks when it feels like it when you lock up
Three (3) of your complaints could have been discovered by a 10 minute test drive. These are your fault:
Radio volume hunts
sunroof rattle
rattle from center dash
This leave you with only 3 legitimate complaints, which could quickly and easily be taken care of by the dealer.
grease (under coat?)is dripping from the sills in my driveway
car had oils at delivery...but no washer fluid
1 spring spacer out, other i took out
I'd say your dealer is more to blame for most of this than VW. I have had a great experience with all my VWs...but I think the dealers I have used are exceptional. Consequently, I have loved all the cars.
Thank you.. :confuse:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=109825
1) by edmunds.com: they compared the 6-speed gti with the si. the si won.
2) by car and driver: they comapred the dsg gti with the civic si. the gti won.
3) by motor trend: they comapred the dsg gti with civic si. the gti won
4) by car and driver: they comapred dsg jetta gli with Pontiac G6 GTP, Mazdaspeed 6, Acura TSX, Honda Accord EX V-6. the gli won.
but your question was about dsg gti with the rsx AT. i woudl think that the rsx (AT) with 160 horses will not have the oomph to compete with the gti. the rsx (AT) will also be a LOT LOT cheaper than the gti. a valid comparision woudl be between the gti and the rsx - type s. but i guess, that this is an aging car at the end of its production. acura is looking to replace the rsx with a new model sometime soon. i have driven the type s. but i woudl take the gti without a second thought. as far as the gti and the rsx (AT) go, the gti, in my opinion, is the hands down winner.
hope this helps. and dont get too confused. drive both cars. decide what your heart tells you and buy that one. then come back to the computer and see what the critics and everyones else thinks of your car. if they all agree that the car you bought is the best in it class, then, well, you couldnt be happier. if they disagree, well then, tooooooo bad, they are plain WRONG. then go drive your car with a big grin on your face because it will always make you happy!
The RSX will have a regular autostick, will be down on power, and will be way down on torque vs a GTI. But like it has been said before on this forum, drive both and buy the one you like best. Take all the negative (and positive) things said on any of these forums with a grain of salt. All of the forums regardless of the car, have people that can't say anything good about it and people that can't say anything bad and will defend the car against any critic. Buy what you enjoy the most.
I have the cloth seats which aren't as body hugging as the leather though.
Have you tried messing with the lumbar?
I'm not sure that purchasing a car that doesn't fit you makes it a lemon or is VW's problem though...
On a totally different topic: Anyone have any favorite interior cleaning product for the dash and door plastic in VWs? On my old car I always used armor all, but have never been really happy with it.
i just bought the consumer reports summer car buyer's guide, and it predicted that overall reliability for the new MkV GTI would be below average. it looks like it was based more or less solely on its electrical issues, and something they called "body integrity", "body hardware", and "fuel."
being a non-vw owner, i have no idea what kind of electrical issues vws have. i've heard that the worst of it actually is only that the check engine light comes on when you don't tighten the gas cap enough, for some reason. do any of you new MkV owners have any similar issues with your GTIs yet? i know it's only been out for like three months stateside, but i was wondering if you've had any problems at all.
second, can someone tell me what "body integrity" and "body hardware" means when consumer reports writes it?
many people have said that reliability-wise, the GTI "takes care of you if you take care of it." i test drove this car and love it, but i don't want to have to do much more than your normal preventative maintenance for at least 50k miles. i know that this isn't a camry and it's built to perform, but i'm a commuter who works long hours and can't always pay attention to every little detail of the car.
i was also wondering about the real-world gas efficiency of the vehicle. there probably has been a lot of posts about this already, but consumer reports' june issue gave them 25 mpg in mixed driving. given that i drive roughly 75% hwy, could i expect the same kind of performance? would it be worthwhile to own this car, esp given the premium fuel?
thanks!
also, thanks to jitteryjoe for pointing me in this direction. sorry for reposting.
The odd thing was that when i pulled the full beam lever the lights came on and all the electrics started working again until i let go of the lever. How weird.
Has anyone got any idea what could be wrong? I've checked all the fuses could it be a relay?
Thanks for any help
Jay
I think the consensus so far is that the reliability of the MkV is decidedly better than the previous generation(s). Those tended to fluctuate quite a bit - some people reported many problems, others few. My two VWs have a combined mileage approaching 250,000, with very few problems after some initial teething. Also, I have never had any electrical problems. The two items most owners complained about (coil packs and window regulators) were taken care of by VW, and they are no longer an issue. Regular maintenance is enough, it is just important that you have the maintenance actually done, and use the right spec oil specified by VW. In my Golf, I do oil changes every 10,000 to 15,000 miles, and have had no problems. YMMV.
By the way, VWs warranty is great. Just try to find a good service place (which does not have to be the one you are buying the car from). Some are unfortunately still quite bad.
As far as premium gas is concerned, perhaps calculate how much money the difference is, over a year or so. I think it is completely negligible compared to the purchase price. The GTI has a high performance engine, and I would not recommend skimping on gas. You would get less performance and likely worse mileage. Speaking of which, many users have reported over 30mpg highway; the EPA numbers are easily achieveable. If you know how to drive saving gas, you can easily beat EPA numbers in VWs.
The RX8 was on my list and it dropped down a few notches on that list because of the horrible real world mileage. Little did I know that the GTI is the same.
Perhaps you could try this for a few days, and report back.
23 in hard city driving
25-28 in suburbia
30-33 highway.
I just took a 900 mile trip this weekend and it got 30.5 mpg at 75 mph through the PA and NY hills. I've been pleased with mileage so far.
vooch - don't know what to tell ya :confuse:
Do GTI's have high rolling resistance? Is your GTI an R32 (those have fantastic resale value, btw !)?
Maybe the '07's VW's will do better? Maybe VW will reconsider and bring over the turbo/super charged Diesel they have in Germany they won't sell here? :shades:
I will try your WOT suggestion though.
The majority of my driving is to and from work, which is only 4 miles away and is pretty much gridlocked both ways. When I'm out farting around, I can get low 20's to mid 20's per run. But on a full tank, combined with the deadlock driving I do it averages to about 19 it seems. On the highway I can get around 30 mpg per run. The Celica just seemed to get better and better mileage, but it had 40k miles on it. Hopefully when it is fully broken in I can break 20 mpg with my normal driving.
I've noticed the GTI gets poor mileage when the engine is not warmed up. If you have a later model Celica your engine has an aluminum block. The GTI on the other hand is a cast iron block, which takes longer to heat up.
I have a 4 mile drive to work as well, and I've noticed that mileage doesn't get respectable until about mile 3 (watch your instant mpg display). Since the GTI is fun to drive, I've changed my route so I now have an 8 mile drive to work. It's a dumb argument to drive farther to get better mileage, but like I said I'm doing it for the fun.
Also take a long trip someplace. Get it on the highway for a few hundred miles and punch it a few times. I noticed better mileage after a couple of excursions. Guess I freed up the engine a bit.
For a four cylinder 2.0 liter turbocharged engine, 200 hp and 207 lb-ft of torque are performance numbers. There aren't that many cars running four bangers that can hustle to 60 in 6.7 seconds (ok, so the srt4, evo, and sti are freaks). Sure there are lots of v6 and v8 engines with more hp and torque, but they have a lot more displacement to work with. If you felt the need for better numbers you could even chip the 2.0T engine for 30-50 more hp (while voiding your warranty).
In addition, the new 2.0T engine is far superior to your old VR6. The edmunds library cites the VR6 as having only 172 hp and 173 ft-lbs torque and a zero to 60 time of 7.1 seconds. I wouldn't judge the new GTI based on the prior 1.8T mkIV
http://www.gti-vr6.net/library/specs/Edmunds_1998_VW_GTI_VR6.htm
I'll stick with my 2.0T thank you very much.
In the event that the mkV R32 makes it over to america it will be sporting the next gen. VR6.
...Powered by a 24-valve 3.2L V-6 that generates peak torque of 236 lb.-ft. (320 Nm) at 3,000 rpm, the R32, which debuted at the 2005 Frankfurt auto show, will be available with VW's Direct-Shift Gearbox dual-clutch transmission...
http://wardsautoworld.com/ar/auto_vw_highlights_lean/index.html
If VW makes good on it's word, you can party with the new R32 summer 2007. Since north america usually gets the europe vw table scraps, it will probably be some bastardized version.
I plan to talk to the dealer about it, but wanted to know if anyone else had experienced similar, or had ideas on what might cause this.
Well, yes, performance is relative to engine size (displacement), and the 2.0TFSI rates very well, which got VW/Audi yet another Ward's Auto award...
Of course, this engine is underrated, with close to 200hp/lbs-ft wheel (rather than crank), as many dynos have shown. It has already been sold in ~225hp versions in the European A4, and close to 260 lbs-ft is the norm for simple and inexpensive tuner ECU re-flashes. At any rate, don't underestimate the significance of the direct injection technology.
I have not seen any plans to move production of the left-hand-drive (right-side-of-street) MkV Golf/GTI outside of Wolfsburg. The MkVI will be arriving shortly (late 2008 Germany production) - so that will be the time to stay tuned for.
When you REALLY get tired of visiting the VW dealership for this-and-that defects and :sick: breakdowns, take a step-up to the plate and invest in an Acura or a Honda...and then you can do without the snooty :mad: VW dealership attitude too.
By the way, Acura's 4-cyl makes 200 HP without a turbo (TSX) and 240HP with a turbo (RDX). :shades: The Honda Civic's base 4-cyl (140hp) makes about 17% more hp-per-cyl than VW's noisy 5-cyl...and the Japanese achieve WAY better mileage.
Now you know.
The upcoming Civic Si 4-cyl is rated near 200hp.
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"Yes, dear, rabbits do make cute pets...but who has the time for all that maintenance."
Be careful when drawing conclusions. This is still a new car and it's way too early to speak to long-term reliability.... and that's what really matters.
I hope you're right, but I'll need a lot more validation from owners.
Additional information on the issue: I have verified by using an accelerometer based performance product that the torque curve is pretty sloped up to about 3000 rpm. I've also determined that apparently it's not just my car, because I test drove another one at my dealer's, and as far as I could tell, it accelerated the same way.
BP Ultimate with an Octane of 93 has been tested as the best of other major brand as Shell, Exxon and Sunoco.
Try a tank to see if there is any difference.
I'm new to this forum, and have a question regarding the care and maintenance of turbos.
I will be purchasing a 2006 or 2007 VW GTI, and I'd like to know what I should do as good preventative maintenance to ensure that the turbo is well taken care of. I have heard that I should let the engine continue to run for 1 minute after stopping the car, or that I should get a turbo timer that will do that for me. Is this absolutely necessary, and is there anything else I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance!
To me, driving a Japanese car is like submitting your form, checking in your identity and becoming one of the masses...
"I drive a Japanese car. Me too. Me three...etc. etc..."
The reliability of the VWs I've owned are equal to the Japanese offerings. The Japanese have been good at copying someone else's design features rather than being the pioneer. For example, when VW/Audi brought drive-by-wire technology to their models in the late 1990s, they were ridiculed. Honda just started to use drive-by-wire recently and nobody says a word - because in their eyes, Honda could do no wrong. The same thing is happening to VW again with the criticism of their electromechanical steering. Guess what - I predict that Honda and the other Japanese makes will soon follow suit. But once again - its all right if they do it. VW is unreliable, VW is a piece of junk, blah, blah, blah.
To me, the Germans are the innovators. Anything else is a compromise. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
There is a lot of truth to that statement but I think you draw the wrong conclusions.
Yes, in many ways the Germans ARE the innovators. And yes, in many ways the Japanese ARE good at copying someone else's design features.
But what you leave out is the fact that AS IMPLEMENTED, these innovations end up having a fair number of bugs as initially introduced on German cars. Which is fine if you want to be on the bleeding edge with new innovations. But the Japanese take those innovations and work the bugs out.
Perhaps this is one reason why folks become leary of new 'innovations' on German cars but don't worry about the same thing appearing on a Toyota or Honda.