CD Article: Used Review VW Passat

[Benhaze]

Thanks KTM. I was well aware of the misfire problem VW experienced but that wouldn't trouble me as I have lots of experience when OBDII started (misfire monitor) in 1995. As long as there no base engine root cause of course.

But if you take the time to read some of the postings, there are many more serious and frustrating potential issues than the misfire one. The engine oil issue was surely not as critcal for the V6 engines.

I'm glad to hear yours has been trouble free. But I am myself not willing (anymore) to gamble on a VW.

[johngenx]

VW simply suffers from the 2000-ish German-Car-Itis disease that plagued all of them: sun-burning the owners with the Check Engine Light.

The problem that VW had that made it worse was the inability for the dealers to fix those problems.  Many VW owners drove their cars home with problems still evident.  Mercedes has (had, we hope) the same problems, but the dealers were better at sending people home with cars that were "repaired."  Sure, the MB would fall apart again next week, but once again, they would have it fixed.

Thanks to the high cost of recalling/repairing an entire production run of cars, makers are "head in the sand" all the time now.  Toyota had to be sued by that feisty woman in the US to admit that their long oil change intervals were ruining engines.

The Germans have to work to rebuild their rep.  Why bother buying a VW/Audi, BMW or Mercedes when you can get great products with great performance from others and have great build quality?  The Germans idea to source all their electronics from a WWI Russian Submarine factory was a bit of goof...

[Shnak]

The Germans have to work to rebuild their rep.  Why bother buying a VW/Audi, BMW or Mercedes when you can get great products with great performance from others and have great build quality?

If someone loves how german vehicles drive, I firmly believe that there isn't much else out there that drives as the same as them, other than maybe Volvos and Saabs. So for these people, it becomes a question of deciding if the extra reliability I'm getting with a Lexus or Infiniti worth it when it's driving characteristics aren't up to what I'm getting with a BMW or Mercedes. That's a question I asked myself a while ago when I was in the process of trading in my Golf, and I'm sure I will ask myself that exact same question when it's time to replace the Jetta.

[quadzilla]

So for these people, it becomes a question of deciding if the extra reliability I'm getting with a Lexus or Infiniti worth it when it's driving characteristics aren't up to what I'm getting with a BMW or Mercedes.

That is fine for us that can actually tell the difference but I believe that 80% of the car population can't tell the difference enough to worry about it.  They will choose reliability first.

[Shnak]

So for these people, it becomes a question of deciding if the extra reliability I'm getting with a Lexus or Infiniti worth it when it's driving characteristics aren't up to what I'm getting with a BMW or Mercedes.

That is fine for us that can actually tell the difference but I believe that 80% of the car population can't tell the difference enough to worry about it.  They will choose reliability first.

Which is why the Accord and Camry are leading the sales in the mid-size market...

But there is still quite a bit more BMWs and Mercedes than Acuras or Lexus on the roads, even though Acura and Lexus are a lot more reliable than these two german brands... although image has a lot to do with it, I think their driving characteristics also have a lot to do with that stats... people wouldn't buy $50k+ vehicles if they drove like Cavaliers, no matter what image they projected. I think most people that buy BMWs and Mercedes appreciate the cars for what they are, and didn't simply buy them for the brand and image they project. Sure, some only care for the image, but in my opinion, most look for more than that in a car.

[quadzilla]

Yes you are right (did I just say that?  ).  I think BMW does win with its image though but I also do think that is starting to change. 

[Howswedeitis]

VW's dealer network is a joke! Frankly, who recommends using mineral based oil in a turbo charged engine? VW did and you know something it was only last year that they sent out a service bulletin to advise owners to use synthetic oil because of oil pump/premature engine/turbo wear...
The poor ownera of 1.8T equipped VW's or Audi's should get together and do something!