Why oh why can't 4th Gen Golfs be reliable?

Ditchdigger wrote: In reply to clutchsmoke: I hear that a lot but being involved in the local VW club and whole NW scene for over 15 years I have never smelled it, nor did any one else I knew. They all "knew someone" who's car smelled like crayons but no one had first hand experience. Even the 5 or 6 VW dealer mechanics I know well have never directly experienced it.

My wife's Beetle from before we were married reeked of crayons. We parked next to a Jetta once at Whole Foods, and it did it too - enough to make me have a bit of PTSD about the Beetle.

So now you know someone who has directly experienced the crayon smell.

As previously stated (by me), I had always thought of VAG like I did of Series II Land Rover Discos: look great... On a ramp truck. Plus they nickle and dime thier owners.

If the consensus is that they'll get you to work even if you can't roll down the windows or without a glovebox door, I'm good!

If it's a gamble every morning whether I can get to work, I'm outta there.

I see such high consumer ratings in the used car sites, higher than 5 of its direct competitors, even in the 70-120kmi range. Higher than the Corolla I might add and with a fair larger amount of character I might add...

EastCoastMojo wrote:

DrBoost wrote: I have a MK IV TDI golf. Manual trans, manual seats, manual windows, manual HVAC, aftermarket radio, upgraded suspension, some other stuff. 250K and will be getting a timing belt/water pump in the spring. I've been thinking about selling it, maybe. If you're interested, let me know.

What is a manual hvac? Is that where you build a small fire on the floorboard to stay warm in the winter and use a handheld fan to stay cool in the winter?

No silly. Manual HVAC is when you get yourself as hot as possible in the house before you go anywhere, then never turn the heat on in the car. Same with A/C.
What I was referring to is no auto climate control. Basically, I wanted as few wires as possible in the car. That way the only thing I have to worry about is the interior bits that are made out of graham crackers and baby spit.

ugh.. I hate climate control. My saab NG900 had it, and my Disco has it.. in both case I either turn the heat to full and adjust by fan or turn it off. I -never- use aircon

wow you guys must live in climates that don't require A/C at full blast just to get the car to a bearable temp.

Florida problems.

2003 Jetta TDI wagon GLS 5 spd. Purchased new; ordered to spec. currently with 329K miles. Original clutch. I've done maintenance to it, but that's pretty much it. All work DIY.

Issues have been few:

Sunroof developed a mind of its own and would open/close by itself. I never use the sunroof (part of the GLS package that was required if I wanted leather) so my solution was to pull the fuse.

I got a bunch of CEL related to the glow plugs, and I replaced them twice. I replaced the wiring harness at 200K and that seems to have fixed it.

One MAF sensor at ~140K miles. Went into limp mode and smoked like an old truck. No CEL. Pulled the harness plug (that gave a CEL), which puts the ECU into a 'default' setting and it'll pretty much drive normally until a new MAF can be had.

They're prone to coking up the intake manifold and EGR valve. I pretty much swap the manifold as a maintenance item every few years (have #3 waiting to go on). It's amazing the engine will still run with the manifold 75% clogged. Other solutions are to delete the EGR (requires an aftermarket tune), turn off the EGR via VAG-COM/VCDS, and put a oil separator into the PCV line. The latter doesn't solve the initial EGR coking and the former options tend to reduce fuel milage.

I received notices for three recalls: the break light switch, the sunroof drains, and the seat heaters. The break light switch I bought for $5 and replaced myself (less hassle than havign the dealer do it for free), a GRM member sent me the bulletin to fix the sunroof drains, and I ignored the seat heater recall since I'm 99% sure the 'fix' is to swap the switch out to one that will reduce the power to the heaters and I didn't want that (the seat heaters can cook you!).

I added an aftermarket coolant heater to plug in during the winter. The car still starts fine in sub-zero temps, but it's just a lot happier if it's been pre-heated a bit. Especially if I can't put it in the garage.

Now I'll admit I haven't driven the car since November. The inspection expired 2 years ago, and I suspect the turbo is about done, so I was collecting parts to replace everything. I finally got it into the garage last w/e, but I stuffed the mother's Volvo into the garage as well until the pending snow is passed.

I agree about manual HVAC controls. I like having 3 simple knobs that will do exactly what I tell it do when I tell it to do it. I have a rather intense hatred of the Auto HVAC system in the MINIs. The A/C in my wagon works very well and has no trouble cooling the car even on 100+ high-humidity days. The heat works well too after the engien finally warms up (although the TDi warms up faster than the damn 3.3L V6 in my Caravan).

I would buy a Golf diesel. No electrical ignition system makes them more reliable. My dad used to have a Jetta diesel and it was reliable.

I believe the answer to this question is less of a mystery than many make it out to be.

You see, we're still at war with Germany. Even though Hitler was killed by a spy, his girlfriend Eva, the war has still raged on. Initially, it was fought with the introduction of the Beetle. It's diminutive design was to ensure maximum casualties in auto accidents. This initially worked, until our gov't caught on and brought out safety regulations. Soon, they introduced the diesel engine to the US in droves. Their intent was to destroy our air supply and permanently scar our lung tissue so they could outfight us in the next invasion.

Luckily, for us, the CIA figured it out. That's when they pushed General Motors to introduce their crap diesels to ruin the US for future generations of oil burners. It worked and soon the german diesel engines were few and far between and our air slowly cleaned itself.

Their latest plan is actually two fold. The color orange in their CEL bulbs is specially configured to slowly make the driver blind to that color. They have since designed their airships and tanks in this same color orange. Our troops will never see them coming.

The second part of that plan is to tie up all our resources keeping our driving machines running. The more time and money we spend, the less time we have to train and the less money we have to put into defending ourselves.

So there it is. We're still at war people. The sooner we all realize it and start fighting back with our own plans of attrition, the sooner we can keep the Germans from winning. War on Terror ain't got NOTHING on this.

DirtyBird222 wrote: wow you guys must live in climates that don't require A/C at full blast just to get the car to a bearable temp. Florida problems.

we get up into the high 90s with high humidity here in South Jersey.. I just do not use Air Conditioning

00 golf with 230xxx miles. Tdi 5 speed. Everthing Lan F said...and stay away from the automatic, drive it like you stole it , and make friends with the guys at the tdi form

Ditchdigger wrote: In reply to clutchsmoke: I hear that a lot but being involved in the local VW club and whole NW scene for over 15 years I have never smelled it, nor did any one else I knew. They all "knew someone" who's car smelled like crayons but no one had first hand experience. Even the 5 or 6 VW dealer mechanics I know well have never directly experienced it.

We regularly serviced a few VWs that we sold off of our used car lot at the Nissan dealer I used to work at. I have first hand experience with the crayon smell from at least two New Beetles, and there was a MKIV Wolfsburg Jetta that had a hint of crayon smell on top of the pot/b.o. smell.

Our MKV TDI Jetta has never smelled like crayons, it currently smells like Stanadyne Performance Formula, because the little bottle I keep in the trunk leaked.

• Lee

I went on a tour of the Wolfsberg factory back in the early 90's. One of the things I remember was that the cars were effectively dipped in wax for rustproofing. Our 1991 Passat would actually drool wax on hot days even when it was nearly a decade old. This could potentially be the source of a crayon smell, although mine never had a whiff of it. Then again, I didn't have the internet to tell me it should.

I'm getting really excited now guys! I think I can convince the wiffe that I need a Golf.

Let's cut to the chase. Step 1: Give me $500. Step 2: I kick you in the 'nads. You will have the VAG ownership experience for much less dollars than the car will cost you, and I will have $500. Win!

[former Jetta GLi owner here]

ebonyandivory wrote: I'm getting really excited now guys! I think I can convince the wiffe that I need a Golf.

Wait, so you've actually read the horror and STILL want it? WTF is wrong with you?

In reply to Bobzilla:

Some of us are just gluttons for punishment...

...speaking of punishment... Dr Boost, when you're ready to unload that Golf TDi send me a note. I keep having this itch to build a FSP/RallyX car out of a TDi and I really don't want to eff with the wagon... I might be interested.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Huh? A few accessories to fix every now and then but very unlikely to leave me stranded?

What's the horror? I didn't read that in the replies.

Hey, if you like constantly fixing crap, go for it. THat's not "reliable" to me. Glowing CEL's are also bad for Gingers as it can give us burns so we tend to stay away from VAG stuff.

And the name.... "VAG". Really? That my explain why every 28 days something goes to hell.... ba-dum-dum.

clutchsmoke wrote: The interior also smells like crayons. That is all.

\

Seriously, what is UP with that??? A lot of my VWAG customers have that. My '89 Golf had it. My new '86 Quantum has it but my old one does not, nor does my GTI. The '12 A4 sitting 30 feet from me doesn't.

I got no clue.

Incidentally, for a Mazda guy, I sure do have a lot of VW ownership going on...

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: I would buy a Golf diesel. No electrical ignition system makes them more reliable. My dad used to have a Jetta diesel and it was reliable.

Not sure if serious.

The "no electricals" made sense when diesels were all mechanical and gasoline engines were all mechanical, including the points in the distributor that were a frequent maintenance item, but today? There's no effective difference. Diesels today are electronic everything, the computer controls injection timing and duration. Diesels have catalysts. Diesels have EGR and MAF and they even have throttle bodies. The only thing they don't have is spark plugs... just the glow plugs that suck 100-200 amps of battery power on a cold morning.

In reply to Bobzilla:

Well, if it's a choice between a Corolla and maybe a Sentra the things I'll probably need to fix aren't nearly the punishment that the sheer boredom would certainly be.

Would I rather fix a sunroof and a few other mostly convenience items or lose my car in a Bingo Nite parking lot?

I don't consider cooling issues, clogged intakes, broken AC and windows "a few convienence items". But if you do, go for it. More power to you. I'll keep my super reliable Korean crap and keep rollin'.

In reply to Bobzilla:

No, I value your opinion as I do the other more positive thoughts. Thanks for that. I've got some thinking to do.

I will admit, while I've had a positive experience with my MkIV, I know many who haven't. For example, my MkIV has been far more reliable than my '91 Acura Integra was, and those are generally considered "good" Hondas. But the simple fact is, over fewer miles and less years (when things broke vs. the build year of the car), more things broke on the Honda: blower motor, LR caliper, radiator, muffler, A/C. All parts that are still original and functioning on my VW.

With this crowd, assuming a certain level of DIY aptitude, I'll somewhat recommend them (TDI's 2003 and older; 1.8T models), but to the average person I meet who is lucky to change their oil, I don't.

Ian F wrote: I will admit, while I've had a positive experience with my MkIV, I know many who haven't. For example, my MkIV has been far more reliable than my '91 Acura Integra was, and those are generally considered "good" Hondas. But the simple fact is, over fewer miles and less years (when things broke vs. the build year of the car), more things broke on the Honda: blower motor, LR caliper, radiator, muffler, A/C. All parts that are still original and functioning on my VW. With this crowd, assuming a certain level of DIY aptitude, I'll somewhat recommend them (TDI's 2003 and older; 1.8T models), but to the average person I meet who is lucky to change their oil, I don't.

Being in this business and seeing 50-70 used cars come through the shop every single month for hte last 13 years..... I know that there are some things you just don't buy (for sanity's sake). You don't buy German. You don't buy mid 90's GM/Chrysler/Ford. You don't buy Honda V6 auto's. Anything else? You're probably good to go. You want a truck to use as a truck? Buy domestic.

That's just what I've watched happen for almost 13 years.