Opinions sought, 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit, 2.5 S 5-speed

Curious to hear opinions on reliability on a 08 Volks Rabbit with just 87k miles.  Let's hear it!

Considering as transportation for college student.

Thanks in advance!

Probably not the worst.

Rabbits spec'd out like that tend to have very few options, which means fewer of VW's mortal enemy: electronics

I've also heard the 2.5L was fairly reliable

I hated mine. It got terrible fuel economy (16mpg) in town, the interior pilled up like an polyester blanket at less than 10k miles, i still have a scar from the seat heater burning my back, it had the worst AC of any modern car I have ever been in and a terrible dash rattle that the dealership couldn't solve. 

It made me swear off VW's and I was a long time enthusiast. 

So it would seem that we have one vote up and one vote down.  Hardly conclusive.

Any more takes on the 2.5-liter?

Hoping the car doesn't have a seat heater. 

My wife has an 09 Jetta wagon with the 2.5. We picked it up with 110k, and has 192 now. It's been pretty solid, especially compared to my mk6 GTI. Only issues so far have been spark plugs and coilpacks to fix a misfire, a little exhaust work, and brakes. The parking brake on the rear calipers freezes, especially in the winter. I'd buy another.

The head is the "same design" as the Gallardo V10... So it's practically half a Lamborghini. 

I suppose I should clarify that mine was a 2006, 150hp version.  The 5cyl had great torque but ran out of breath at 4500 rpm. Very diesel like. I know they bumped up the power to 175 in the later years. That had to help with wheezy feeling it had up in the revs.

It was my first experience with a manual transmission car that would not engine brake. You could be doing 50mph in third and pull your foot off the gas and the car would coast like you put the clutch in. If you had enough road it would slow to about 20mph and then engine brake hard enough to bounce my head off the steering wheel. 

The traction control was unstoppable in the snow and I do wish my R55 Mini was anywhere near as good. 

As far as modern vw's go I don't think you get much more robust than that combo. 

A friend had a 2011 Jetta with that combo (2.5/5 speed manual)  He commuted from Kendal to Marathon for 8+ years with that thing and racked up over 300K miles.  The 2.5 is a tank, the transmissions it's attached to.. not so much.  I think he went through 2 transmissions and had problems finding the 2nd replacement.   I'd recommend though, dude is hard on transmissions.  He shifted that thing like a dog box 

1988RedT2 said:

So it would seem that we have one vote up and one vote down.  Hardly conclusive.

 

I wouldn't count mine as an upvote, per se. Just pointing out that you're buying the friendliest pitbull at the dog shelter.