VW issues

Could you folks enlighten me with some of the most annoying or serious issues common to modern (about 5 years old or newer) VW’s, gas and diesel? I’m looking to built a witty retort to a rather snarky comment about VW reliability. I know VW’s have electrical issues and isn’t there an issue with carbon built up on some or most of the issues? I know New Beetle tail light sockets have an issue with melting. Anything else? Thanks folks.

Cam followers on the newer FSI motors, pumps continue to dump fuel on them, washing away all the lubrication, cam lobes put a hole in them...

Really?!? VW only has one problem that we, the greatest collection of automotive knowledge knows about?

In reply to DrBoost:

You might try again with a more leading title... I thought you were soliciting help diagnosing an issue with your VW. Then again, maybe with the compulsion for diagnostics in this group, everybody really has looked at this thread...

I have a friend with a kaput TDI Jetta, but diagnosis is ongoing, so I don't know what the root of the issue was, nor whether it's common or an anomaly. All I know is that there's apparently an ugly spot in one bore, and a non-viable piston. Awaiting pictures...

LOL. We were being polite.

FSI Cam followers and FSI pump

Pumpe Duse (or as I call it Piece of Duse) engines... pick a failure point, injectors, pump, tensioners, followers.

ALL OF THE DIESEL ENGINES WEAR OUT CAMSHAFTS AT 200K

ALL FSI ENGINES WEAR OUT CAMSHAFTS AT 160K

DSG Transmissions.

You mean, besides recurrent CELs that factory techs cannot diagnose, let alone repair, despite replacing all components involved at a cost exceeding the value of the car?

It seems like every new(ish) car that has a tail light or head light out is an VW or Audi. Seems strange

As i think i said last week in another thread...

If the CEL isn't on, replace the bulb.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: As i think i said last week in another thread... If the CEL isn't on, replace the bulb.

My 99 Passat, for all the bitching I did about it (its sold), never turned the CEL on in 7 years of ownership.

Yes the bulb worked.

Knock on laminate my GLI has never either.

Maybe a couple years out of date, but they had a rash of dead ignition coils not so long ago too.

I think he's asking for specifics from actual owners. Not hearsay CEL jokes.

My '03 TDI has been the most reliable car I've ever owned - which includes a '91 Acura. Closing in on 246K miles. Besides typical wear items for TDI (glow plugs, glow plug harness and CTS), the only bit of electrical weirdness is the sunroof will randomly open and close on its own without touching the position switch. I never use the sunroof anyway, so eventually I'll remember to yank the fuse.

Cam follower on the FSI motors, Mechatronic unit on the DSG, and the Diverter valve failures are the first 3 that I can think of from the MKV.

Oh and all VW owners are tools!

In reply to John Brown:

Agree 110%, except for me...

But yea, Waterfest is more like Jersey Shore Fest, would rather watch paint dry than go up there every year

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my title could have been more gooder.
Basically, I am looking to reply to an errogant German that said most of the "reliability issues" with VW's are because the American owners don't understand the features.
So, I'm going to try to come up with the features we aren't aware or, like: The check engine light is actually a "engine is running" light, we just are unaware. FSI Cam Followers are actually variable thickness cam scrubbers. The throttle bodies are also Carbon Containment Units. What can you folks come up with? I'm looking for problems that are common so I can shut this dude up.

Ask him why 40 years of the vaunted "German engineering" hasn't managed to come up with a simple electrical switch or wiring connector that can do its job?

I mean, my BMW was not cheap when it was new, and the taillight connectors have both melted themselves. Don't get me started on the factory HID headlights. I may be a stupid American, but I understand that when you turn the switch, both headlights are supposed to come on.

Ask him if he really thinks Americans are out of line to believe that when you push the window switch down, the window should follow suit?

Lucas engineers don't retire... they cross the Channel to work at Bosch.

Germans tend to think their stuff is perfectly engineered and everyone is an idiot. Seen that way too many times.

I've been away from VW for lo these many years (thank dog) but man the weirdness still haunts my nightmares. Many of the following were problems back then but still plague the Mercedes I see every day: poor grounds, cheap metal connectors that lose their grip when heated, wires which are one color in the wiring diagram and something completely different on the car, sockets and lamp housings which warp due to bulb heat, switches which are so fragile they literally explode when operated, I could rattle on for a while.

Getting off of electrical for a minute, I see (and a lot of this is on later model cars through at least 2008):

transmission control units which fill with ATF due to poor sealing of the transmission wiring connector (the unit in question is in the control box main mounting area in the right rear of the engine compartment, meaning the ATF has to travel nearly 6 feet in a linear direction and 2 feet uphill to get there),

poorly designed cowl drains which causes them to flood in a heavy rain which pours water into the blower housing leading to all sorts of nastiness,

$15.00 A/C servo levers made of what seems to be spun sugar which require a 10 hour dash removal to access,

random shutdowns due to various software problems (many of my customers are used to coasting to a deadstick landing on the side of the road to cycle the ignition so it will run again),

Airmatic struts which barf with alarming regularity,

112 engine timing chain idler gears which wear out prematurely (50-60k miles) filling the engine with all sorts of metal shards,

cables and control units on sunroofs which break while opening it (of course now you can't close it),

diesel ML's which have the throttle actuator motors disconnect themselves from the linkage at highway speed causing the engine to drop to idle with no way to get rolling until you pull the intake to replace the 75 cent plastic connectors that are 3" below the turbocharger and have no heat shield,

trim stuff that fits nice at first but pops off like Mercedes bought all of GM's leftover 1970's plastic interior clips,

convertible top cylinders and hoses which are poorly placed and poorly routed. Anybody out there have a CLK 320/430 convertible? Pull the headliner back at the center 'hinge' point for the top frame (midway along the top of the door glass) and look at the routing of the plastic lines. Then look at the plastic clips which hold those lines in place. Word of advice: you don't want to wear a real nice suit in one of those cars.

German engineering my ass.

Tell him to go out and look at the front end of a B5 Passat (4 individual aluminum control arms) that cost about $600 in parts alone to replace ( I did em twice in 7 years).

Then compare it to a simple stamped steel control arm (look at a A3 Golf just for E36 M3 and giggles) . They never wear out

Then get him to explain that German Engineering has improved things - over-thought and over-priced.

A German counterpart and myself were discussing vehicles one day when I decided to come clean and tell him I drive a Land Rover. After the 'what?' look subsided I told him it was because my S4 was so unreliable and I needed something I could count on

DrBoost wrote: Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my title could have been more gooder. Basically, I am looking to reply to an errogant German that said most of the "reliability issues" with VW's are because the American owners don't understand the features.

Well, IMO..anyone living in anyplace other than the US doesn't understand that VW no longer wants to be an average carmaker here..VWoA wants to follow Porsche (1950s), Merc (1960s), and BMW (1980s) and move "upmarket" so that they're considered a "luxury" brand here. I'm hoping 16v Corey, Paul VR6, and the other VW regulars here comment upon this thread, just to see if I'm alone thinking this stuff, or if I'm really right. Again, IMO..there's a reason we don't get the Polo here, and it's not just related to the fact that "Most Americans" won't buy a Golf with cloth interiors and wind-up windows. Gotta admit..VW may be making such poor choices on a global basis-monstrosities like the Phaeton give evidence for that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Phaeton

Anyhooo...the only problems I have with my Corrados (designed/built during the era when VW wished to move "upmarket") are the with the "luxury" nonsense. Power windows, power seatbelts, power sunroof, power rear spoiler, etc. The VR6 is strong, the suspension is robust, the rustproofing is as good as any other car from the 1990s, and the cars handle quite well, even in stock form. It seems that every single problem I have with the car is with complicated creature comforts..and all of my conversations with Mk.4/5/6 Golf & Jetta people seem to reinforce my position on the issue.

It seems that VW's current model lineup in the US is trying to be a luxury car on the cheap. If a US owner doesn't "understand the features", it's because there's features on a US market VW that a lot of German VWs don't have, and they haven't used quality suppliers for those parts on cars intended for the US market.

Or else, the guy you're talking to is either rich enough to fix all that electrical crap..or young enough to have a blind allegiance to his marque. Or he's somebody like me who drives his old VWs, and hopes that they'll come back to what made them a great car company all those years ago..

Seriously, I was looking for a Honda Fit before I got laid off. I've given up on VWoA ever demanding they get US maket Polos.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my title could have been more gooder. Basically, I am looking to reply to an errogant German that said most of the "reliability issues" with VW's are because the American owners don't understand the features.

Well, IMO..anyone living in anyplace other than the US doesn't understand that VW no longer wants to be an *average* carmaker here..

I doubt that. VAG wants to be the largest auto manufacturer in the world, which means downgrading their offerings. Hence the Scheißewagen that is the 2011+ USDM Jetta. VAG only wants to keep the illusion that they are a premium manufacturer.

RexSeven wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Thanks for the replies guys. I guess my title could have been more gooder. Basically, I am looking to reply to an errogant German that said most of the "reliability issues" with VW's are because the American owners don't understand the features.

Well, IMO..anyone living in anyplace other than the US doesn't understand that VW no longer wants to be an *average* carmaker here..

I doubt that. VAG wants to be the largest auto manufacturer in the world, which means downgrading their offerings.

Oh, yes..but only elsewhere in the world. They haven't discovered that recent economic changes in the US easily make our market the equal of any "third world" country.

RexSeven wrote: Hence the Scheißewagen that is the 2011+ USDM Jetta. VAG only wants to keep the illusion that they are a premium manufacturer.

You make some good points, especiallly about the new "US market only" Jetta. And as an owner of an A2 Golf, I laughed when I saw that the A2 was their chosen platform when they got serious about that "largest manufacturer" thing in China. I'd buy a new A2 Golf/Jetta in a heartbeat. The "new" US only Jetta that still has a ton of cut-rate electrical "luxury" crap, not so much.

Some of the other guys here have already said it..the only reason people don't make warm beer jokes about the electrics on German cars is only because the UK actually attempted to build cars during the 1950s-70s.

friedgreencorrado wrote: Anyhooo...the only problems I have with my Corrados (designed/built during the era when VW wished to move "upmarket") are the with the "luxury" nonsense. Power windows, power seatbelts, power sunroof, power rear spoiler, etc. The VR6 is strong, the suspension is robust, the rustproofing is as good as any other car from the 1990s, and the cars handle quite well, even in stock form. It seems that *every single problem* I have with the car is with complicated creature comforts..and all of my conversations with Mk.4/5/6 Golf & Jetta people seem to reinforce my position on the issue.

That's been my impression. What I tell people is that the VW will run forever (though I'm doubting that as I read this thread) but they will have issues with everything electrical in the car. And that's where things get very difficult and expensive to diagnose and repair.
And like someone else said, this just just the errogance of a German engineer. I worked for a German company that made automotive parts before I got laid off. There was a known problem with a previous product and production method. So, we discover that the new product they spent years and millions of dollars engineering uses the same processes and materials that has cost the company much money. Another tech-support guy and I asked the German engineer why they still are using this and he looked at us like we just punched him mama in the gut and said "why do you ask this question? There is nothing wrong with this. I don't understand?"
He looked offended that we dared to question his superior engineering, what being dumb Americans and all.