Stalked by a VW enthusiast...

amirza786 · Aug 22, 2019

jred721 said:
I've had a sour experience with VW, but also had great experiences at the same time. When I was in college, friend had a 2006 Jetta that we took on a roadtrip in from Pennsylvania to Florida, it had 97k miles on it at the time. We were 6 hours in when we decided to pull over and get a bite to eat. We came back, he tried to start the car and the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree. We thought it was the battery and luckily there was a shop at this rest area, so we rolled it over and asked for help. They checked the battery and it was perfectly fine, even a jump start wouldn't work. Eventually, the car started but it was in limp mode. Long story short, we ended up renting a car from a place nearby and completing the rest of the trip. A girl I was dating back then on the other hand had a diesel 2004 Jetta with a 5-speed manual, and that thing was damn near bulletproof. Had 140k miles, the interior was held together with duct tape, and the car's headlights were fogged up to the point where flashlights strapped to the front probably would have been brighter, but it ran extremely well. It's a shame that the whole dieselgate thing happened, they knew how to make diesels.

Ha...you reminded me....vapor lock. Very common issue I had with all my VW's in the summer. The car would be running fine, you stopped and then it would turn but not start. Wait an hour for it to cool down and the car would start. You were probably getting all the lights because of the ECU. There was no ECU in my day, just a simple EPROM

charleswrivers · Aug 22, 2019

amirza786 said:
Dont' get me wrong. I have a lot of nostalgia for VW. I loved both my Rabbit and my GTi. They were both fun to drive, fast, and handled windy SoCal roads with ease. My first love was in my GTi. But I just never knew when they would break down. Every morning when I was heading out for school or leaving school, I would always wonder...is it going to start today? In the summers in stop and go traffic I always kept my eye on the temp gauge, which always nearly hit the red. When I got my first Toyota in 1995, I couldn't believe that a car could be trouble free

Sound like a great, only 97% reliable, 5th car someday.

jred721 said:
I've had a sour experience with VW, but also had great experiences at the same time. When I was in college, friend had a 2006 Jetta that we took on a roadtrip in from Pennsylvania to Florida, it had 97k miles on it at the time. We were 6 hours in when we decided to pull over and get a bite to eat. We came back, he tried to start the car and the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree. We thought it was the battery and luckily there was a shop at this rest area, so we rolled it over and asked for help. They checked the battery and it was perfectly fine, even a jump start wouldn't work. Eventually, the car started but it was in limp mode. Long story short, we ended up renting a car from a place nearby and completing the rest of the trip. A girl I was dating back then on the other hand had a diesel 2004 Jetta with a 5-speed manual, and that thing was damn near bulletproof. Had 140k miles, the interior was held together with duct tape, and the car's headlights were fogged up to the point where flashlights strapped to the front probably would have been brighter, but it ran extremely well. It's a shame that the whole dieselgate thing happened, they knew how to make diesels.

Other than a 'bulletproof diesel' engine... there is literally nothing about your experience that'd make me want one. Terrible salesman!

jred721 · Aug 22, 2019

charleswrivers said:
Sound like a great, only 97% reliable, 5th car someday.

Other than a 'bulletproof diesel' engine... there is literally nothing about your experience that'd make me want one. Terrible salesman!

I mean back in college...you were lucky if you had a car that took you from point a to point b reliably. I was still driving my 2003 manual Tacoma at the time that I got in high school. Had 200k miles on it but had a slight lift, some meaty tires, and a awesome sound system. thing still looked new aside from a tad bit of rust on the fenders and ran like clockwork. It's still being used today by my dad as a beater car, running up on 300k right now. I'm more of a Honda guy as far as japanese cars go because they're a little more fun to drive, but I still have mad respect for Toyota building a thing that took a beating through high school and college.

amirza786 · Aug 22, 2019

jred721 said:
I mean back in college...you were lucky if you had a car that took you from point a to point b reliably. I was still driving my 2003 manual Tacoma at the time that I got in high school. Had 200k miles on it but had a slight lift, some meaty tires, and a awesome sound system. thing still looked new aside from a tad bit of rust on the fenders and ran like clockwork. It's still being used today by my dad as a beater car, running up on 300k right now. I'm more of a Honda guy as far as japanese cars go because they're a little more fun to drive, but I still have mad respect for Toyota building a thing that took a beating through high school and college.

In 1995 I bought a Corolla LE 5 speed. I drove it until 1999, I needed a bigger car with a daughter on the way and bought a 99 Camry. Gave the Corolla to my dad...long story short, my dad drove it until a few years ago, gave it to my nephew who beat on like crazy. 2 years ago he traded it for a Prius plug in through a program called Cash for Clunkers and got an $8500 trade in credit for it. The car had over 200K, was still running great, although the body was beat up. The 1999 Camry, sold it to a relative in 2004 as I needed to buy a Sienna Minivan as my second kid was on the way. He still drives the 99 Camry today, It still runs great, and I think the only thing he has done since is timing belt, water pump and alternator. It has like 250K on it

jred721 · Aug 22, 2019

amirza786 said:
In 1995 I bought a Corolla LE 5 speed. I drove it until 1999, I needed a bigger car with a daughter on the way and bought a 99 Camry. Gave the Corolla to my dad...long story short, my dad drove it until a few years ago, gave it to my nephew who beat on like crazy. 2 years ago he traded it for a Prius plug in through a program called Cash for Clunkers and got an $8500 trade in credit for it. The car had over 200K, was still running great, although the body was beat up. The 1999 Camry, sold it to a relative in 2004 as I needed to buy a Sienna Minivan as my second kid was on the way. He still drives the 99 Camry today, It still runs great, and I think the only thing he has done since is timing belt, water pump and alternator. It has like 250K on it

$8500 for a '95 Corolla? Even if it was 2 years ago that's a hell of a lot of money for a car of that vintage. Gotta love the resale/trade in value of Toyotas I guess.

Vegas Viking · Aug 22, 2019

Most reliable and low maintenance car I've ever owned was a Prius. Got rid of it last year at 235k miles. Engine and original hybrid better were still intact. Absolutely no problems for the first 210k miles, then lots of electrical stuff started failing. We figured the hybrid battery might be next and decided against putting any more money into it. Plus my wife no longer felt safe in it.

Actually my plan was to buy another used Prius, but I couldn't believe how much they were selling for. Used Prius for $18k or brand new Si for $23k. Of course I chose the latter.

amirza786 · Aug 22, 2019

jred721 said:
$8500 for a '95 Corolla? Even if it was 2 years ago that's a hell of a lot of money for a car of that vintage. Gotta love the resale/trade in value of Toyotas I guess.

It was actually more than 2 years ago, it was actually 2016, and it was a program in California, either funded by the State of CA or the Federal government to get older cars off the road that no longer passed smog: https://www.cashforclunkers.org/ and it was in credits. You used the credits as a trade in for a green car like a hybrid or plug-in hybrid

arpypat · Aug 22, 2019

The new VWs don't look that bad and the interiors are pretty luxurious in the top trim levels, but can't speak on the reliability.

My mom actually bought a 2019 VW Jetta SEL premium fully-loaded for like 25-26k late last year. I had a chance to drive last time I visited home and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. The quality of the interior materials is high and the digital cockpit is pretty damn cool with the Audi style navigation on the dash. ACC, LKAS, Heated/Cooled premium leather seats, heated steering wheel and a Beats audio system that is slightly better than the crap Honda systems. The turbo lag is definitely more prominent in the VW, but it didn't feel as slow as it is.

Mom only drives like 1,000 miles a year, so it should last another year or 2 without any problems

Ron R · Aug 22, 2019

My guess the person is a hardcore VW fan and ultra brand loyal. Besides the SI my other car is a '08 VW Jetta S and I love it. She has over 284K miles on her and still running strong.

The reason I bought my '15 Elantra Sport and than my SI, is that VW are pricey to repair and maintain after warranty.

For example the dealer wanted $2400 to replace the clutch and over $800 for tensioner and belt replacements. At the end I found private shops to do it lower.

Hopefully the person leaves you be.

saz468 · Aug 23, 2019

A friend of mine had a 1980 VW scirocco back in 1989 it was pretty well beat on when he bought it I think for 500 bucks he thought it was the greatest thing after putting a lot of money in it drove it for a week before it broke down again it sat in the driveway more times then the road junked it in 1991 he bought a 1984 Lincoln mark 7 with the bmw turbo diesel it also sat in the drive way with multiple problems Now come to think of it he should have kept the Honda Civic his aunt gave him in 86 when we graduated than again in the late 90s he did have a 1973 BMW 2002 ( IMO the best BMW) his proud and joy until his wife got it in a divorce settlement in 2000

saz468 · Aug 23, 2019

jred721 said:
I've had a sour experience with VW, but also had great experiences at the same time. When I was in college, friend had a 2006 Jetta that we took on a roadtrip in from Pennsylvania to Florida, it had 97k miles on it at the time. We were 6 hours in when we decided to pull over and get a bite to eat. We came back, he tried to start the car and the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree. We thought it was the battery and luckily there was a shop at this rest area, so we rolled it over and asked for help. They checked the battery and it was perfectly fine, even a jump start wouldn't work. Eventually, the car started but it was in limp mode. Long story short, we ended up renting a car from a place nearby and completing the rest of the trip. A girl I was dating back then on the other hand had a diesel 2004 Jetta with a 5-speed manual, and that thing was damn near bulletproof. Had 140k miles, the interior was held together with duct tape, and the car's headlights were fogged up to the point where flashlights strapped to the front probably would have been brighter, but it ran extremely well. It's a shame that the whole dieselgate thing happened, they knew how to make diesels.

My 2003 Jetta TDI had small little problems the stereo the glovebox for some reason and other odd problems and the worst was the transmission I did buy the car 75k on it 85 the transmission went it would probably be better with the 5 speed after a new not rebuilt transmission 5200 bucks later the fuel pump went on it but overall the Diesel engine was pretty bulletproof and the leather Interior was great but the rest of the car was crap these little problems started when the car was new it was my brothers wife’s car she bought a 2012 VW bug tdi also had stupid problems traded in for a Honda Accord coupe 2014 it has no problems also forgot Mercedes diesel also bulletproof

jred721 · Aug 23, 2019

arpypat said:
The new VWs don't look that bad and the interiors are pretty luxurious in the top trim levels, but can't speak on the reliability.

My mom actually bought a 2019 VW Jetta SEL premium fully-loaded for like 25-26k late last year. I had a chance to drive last time I visited home and I have to say that I was pretty impressed. The quality of the interior materials is high and the digital cockpit is pretty damn cool with the Audi style navigation on the dash. ACC, LKAS, Heated/Cooled premium leather seats, heated steering wheel and a Beats audio system that is slightly better than the crap Honda systems. The turbo lag is definitely more prominent in the VW, but it didn't feel as slow as it is.

Mom only drives like 1,000 miles a year, so it should last another year or 2 without any problems

I recently sat in a rented 2019 VW Jetta SEL premium and I have to say the interior completely beat's the Civics. The ambient lighting, the materials, the digital cockpit, and as you mentioned the heated/cooled seats and heated steering wheel are awesome and almost made it feel Audi-like. Engine felt strong enough for what it is, felt like it had plenty of torque. Honda definitely has some catching up to do interior-wise, the 10th gen interior is certainly nice, but they need to step it up in the 11th gen.

saz468 · Aug 23, 2019

jred721 said:
I recently sat in a rented 2019 VW Jetta SEL premium and I have to say the interior completely beat's the Civics. The ambient lighting, the materials, the digital cockpit, and as you mentioned the heated/cooled seats and heated steering wheel are awesome and almost made it feel Audi-like. Engine felt strong enough for what it is, felt like it had plenty of torque. Honda definitely has some catching up to do interior-wise, the 10th gen interior is certainly nice, but they need to step it up in the 11th gen.

To be perfectly honest all European and Japanese also Korean interiors are more inviting and better looking than American autos Not a big German car fan well not before the 2000s my oldest sister had a 1986 Audi 5000 Quattro bought it used from someone in the Hamptons in 1992 I was 24 years old then wow it was fully loaded and that 5 cylinder turbo inter cooled engine purred like a kitten that was a true German luxury sedan
In my opinion

amirza786 · Aug 23, 2019

saz468 said:
To be perfectly honest all European and Japanese also Korean interiors are more inviting and better looking than American autos Not a big German car fan well not before the 2000s my oldest sister had a 1986 Audi 5000 Quattro bought it used from someone in the Hamptons in 1992 I was 24 years old then wow it was fully loaded and that 5 cylinder turbo inter cooled engine purred like a kitten that was a true German luxury sedan
In my opinion

You and I are pretty much the same age. I turned 24 Dec 1991. How time flies...

unholy79 · Aug 23, 2019

I owned a 2016 VW Golf R. Fantastic car, loads of fun, couldn't beat the handling, acceleration, or gating so sloppy that for the first time in my life I missed a shift and money-shifted the car. Probably still have it had I selected the DSG model. Anyhoo, good job on handling the stalker.

Stalked by a VW enthusiast...

amirza786

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charleswrivers

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jred721

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amirza786

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jred721

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Vegas Viking

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amirza786

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arpypat

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Ron R

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saz468

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saz468

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jred721

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saz468

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amirza786

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unholy79

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