VWs - I dont get it....

[AnthonyG]

 

My main point is the Golf wasn't the first of its kind.

 

My point was that to the average punter (ie non-car enthusiast) in the 70, the Golf was far ahead of its competitors.

Thats how the reputation has come about.

 

No it wasn't, a FWD transverse hatchback car was hardly new in 1975 - various BMCs/Fiats/Citroens/Simcas/Renaults preceded it. Even Datsun had the FWD Cherry out in 1970, although it wasn't a hatchback.

 

The first ones were also unreliable and rust prone, they weren't really sorted until 1977/8.

[Guest]

Don't forget the Honda Civic! Came out 1972, arrived here in 1973, transverse engine, front wheel drive, hatchback available, well-known for its specification, quality and reliability. Likes a good old rotfest too, "just like a Golf".

[Pete-M]

Don't forget the Honda Civic! Came out 1972, arrived here in 1973, transverse engine, front wheel drive, hatchback available, well-known for its specification, quality and reliability. Likes a good old rotfest too, "just like a Golf".

You forgot to mention "Built by an Axis power"

[warren t claim]

Is it just me who thinks the Talbot Horizon was a rush job Golf copy? Made to be badged Dodge and sold to fat yanks? Mind you I'd love an Omni.

[Mr Lobster]

MK3s had galvanised tailgates, ...

FAIL.

 

I worked for VW when Mk3s were current. There was actually a recall on that very corrosion there. It was caused by some sort of elctrical 'reaction' with the heated rear screen.

 

There was also a big recall on Mk2 Golfs where they recalled every Mk2 built for a modification to the heater matrix - this would have been about 1997/8 and the cars coming in included the very first Mk2s built. It did impress me that they were concerned enough to cover the cars that had long since abandoned the dealer network although this would really have been to cover their own arse.

 

Also, I recall our service manager at the time going round all the local scrapyards getting chassis numbers for every scrapped / written off Mk2 in there...

[GJR 11L]

Better rephrase that then; MK3s from the 1995 model year to the end of production had galvanised tailgates, as did my '92, 'cos I plucked it from a 'P' plater in a scrapyard.

Late, beer, blah, blah.....

 

[Pillock]

My '93 is going bibbly around the corners of the windows, was there really a recall?

 

Yeah the Mk2 Heater Matrix recall must have cost them a bomb, there were stories of them repairing 10-year-old cars for free and it's an all-day, dash-out job so easily £600 at dealer rates. It was quite the safety concern though as a failure could apparently lead to hot water from the cooling system being fired at close range onto your legs. Nice.

[In The Pit]

take Quentin Willson he always used to rave on over anything german mainly Mercedes Benz but if it was a group test between say a Toyota, Renault, Vauxhall and VW you just knew he’d pick the VW (the Vauxhall would probably have come last with all that Vauxhall bashing Top Gear used to do in the late 90’s).

 

Check this out for his love of VW as he tells us to buy a Golf as it wont rust!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWwmdoMO-AI

No, some punter said it wouldn't rust.

QW never mentioned corrosion.

QW does mention rust, 54 seconds in, and seems to imply you neednt worry about them rusting.

[Des]

VW should have galvanised the bonnets as well, I see quite a few Golfs with the bonnets all rusted over, and look at the collapsed suspensions they suffer, all 4 corners! Funny that it only seems to affect the cars owned by total fucking mongs.

[Cavcraft]

VW should have galvanised the bonnets as well, I see quite a few Golfs with the bonnets all rusted over, and look at the collapsed suspensions they suffer, all 4 corners! Funny that it only seems to affect the cars owned by total fucking mongs.

[ProgRocker]

I quite fancy a SEAT Toledo, but the one I've been in inherited the Mk3's rock hard itchy seats and didn't seem well put together either.

I've got an '04 Toledo - the last of the saloons before they turned into some sort of frog shaped people carrier thing and I love it. I've owned it about 3 1/2 years and it has been mega reliable, it's quick and comfortable. Reasonable MPG on a run but constant round town work does mea it gets a bit thirsty.

My sister & bro-in-law had a metallic burgandy 2000 W-reg SEAT Toledo 2.3 V5 in 2002 for £10k (OUCH! ) and I loved that car, although never driven it. I wanted it from them once they finished with it. Sadly it was never to be as it got written off circa 2007/8 when my sister hit another car. May consider one as my next shite car - a 1.8 125 bhp would suffice.

 

Was also rather pissed off when the booted Toledo got replaced by the blobby MPV. SEAT went on an MPV frenzy in the mid-2000s with the Altea, new Toledo and the bread-van Leon.

 

I had a 1999 SEAT Ibiza for over 7 years (until I foolishly decided to drive it in the snow just before Christmas and slide into some poor bugger's Focus. ) and it was a really good, if unexciting car. The interior trim was certainly more lower rent then the equivilent Polo and it had a 1.4 60 bhp MPi engine when other manufacturers were getting at least 60 brake from 1 litre - 1.2 engined cars.

 

The VW Fox is terminally dull, IMHO. VW should have kept the funkier Lupo on sale at a reduced sale price. The Lupo could have been the 21st century 'People's Car'

[shite_meister]

Yeah the Mk2 Heater Matrix recall must have cost them a bomb, there were stories of them repairing 10-year-old cars for free and it's an all-day, dash-out job so easily £600 at dealer rates. It was quite the safety concern though as a failure could apparently lead to hot water from the cooling system being fired at close range onto your legs. Nice.

 

As I understand, the issue was solved by fitting a pressure relief bypass valve in-line of the heater hoses.

 

The valves were put in as a part of a recall. Mk2 matrices could burst if the pressure got too much. Hence the recall and fitting of the bypass valve. When these fail, they stop the coolant getting to the matrix and give you cold heater. People replace them with copper pipe to get round that. That means if you still have a mk2 matrix in the car, it's prone to the bursting. If you know you have a mk3 matrix fitted then that's not an issue. If you don't know that....When they burst, they tend to cover your feet in coolant at near boiling temperature

 

I was quite impressed with my mk3 golf gti even if it was quite dull and only a gutless 2.0 8v, it felt quite solid in a way that similar Jap cars didn't but that might be because VW obviously paid more attention to the bits you touch i.e switches and doors to infer a sense of quality than the the real overall quality of the product, incidently my view on Jap cars has changed over the last ten years, I think within the last ten years or so the quality has in alot of cases exceeded their German competitors.

 

I quite liked my mk2 Golf in an old 80s hatch sort of way but I think I'd prefer a mk2 Astra GTi 16v, the Golf was just a bit more old fashioned than most of its rivals but felt solid especially when compared to French stuff.

 

Overall my personal and professional experience has led me to conclude that the mk3 Golf was better made than the mk4, the 2.0 8v was certainly better, so much so that VW brought it back from the dead and replaced their newer 1.8 unit in the mk4 with it. I do accept that my opinion and experience is just that though.

[CreepingJesus]

I know VW dealers have had a mauling in the annual J D Power survey, more than once; but their parts staff have been helpful when I've been shopping for bits, and VW did cut prices of parts for older motors quite significantly some years back. And there's always Euro Car Parts and GSF anyway. So I'm offering some qualified support for their dealers.

The two Passat estates I've owned (a K-plate, and an L-plate) were good solid motors, which racked up large mileages, lugging everything and anyone around, and returning over 40mpg.

While I've found the handling of the few Golfs and Polos I've driven (in my trade years) to be a bit rubbery and vague; the Passat is a surprisingly swift and surefooted lump. Then again, my old man insisted I read the Police Roadcraft Manual cover-to-cover (he was IAM hardcore ), so that defines the way I drive!

I was just ogling newer ones on Arnold Clark's site; can't afford, but still, they're great VFM. Not a W8 4-Motion in sight tho'

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I like VW stuff. The Mark 3 Golf was a bit of a blip inasmuch as it was VW's pisstake - it drove worse than the Mark 2, wasn't that well made and was generally a bit crap. But the Mark 4 was a good car if a bit soft to drive, the Mark 5 much better and the current Mark 6 is a stonker. I used to sell new BMW's (and used ones) and have to admit that the VW stuff is very good now. I'd love a Mark 6 TDi 140 Golf. Over the crap winter I drove an 08 plate 90 bhp Golf Match Diesel and though it was a very good car. I can see why they're popular.

Yes, a new Astra is pretty good but the Vauxhall badge just destroys the resale value because GM just give them away. Right or wrong, that's just the way it is. That's why the Golf is a better car because after 4 years it's worth a lot more. The Focus was a good car 10 years ago but the current one is just dull and Ford/GM interior plastics - that's the stuff you see and feel every day - isn't as good. VW learned that you need to show the buyer where the money has gone.

 

 

Are VW's more reliable than French/GM stuff? Possibly not. During the snow when a BMW was utterly useless, I had three days in a 197'000 mile 2003 Puegeot 307 HDi. The drivers seat was wanked on the edge, the indicator stalk shagged and it had a few squeaks and rattles. But it was done almost 200k and was 7 years old. With the best will in the world, I can't imagine a 2003 197k Gold TDi would have been much better. I tend to keep an open mind - with modern cars it's the luck of the draw no matter what badge you have. My neighbours 3 year old Zafira has been perfect over 35'000 miles. Not even a blown bulb. Can't moan about that!

 

VW's aren't over rated at all. They are a good, well rounded product. Compare the real cost of 4 years with a Golf compared to 4 years with an Astra, 308 or Shitroen and the Golf will be a cheaper long term proposition as well as being a pleasant and agreeable mode of transport.

[shite_meister]

VW learned that you need to show the buyer where the money has gone.

 

Thats what I was trying to say and the Japs know this as well now like tuning a door to produce a certain deep clunk when latching.

[Mr Lobster]

My '93 is going bibbly around the corners of the windows, was there really a recall?

 

Yep. I'm going back at least ten years though so whether they would still honor it is debateable.