Are VWs really expensive to maintain/repair?

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JCDU@reddit

In Europe they're just another car, in the US they seem to somehow be treated like rare exotics.

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I don't think as many mechanics here know how to work on European cars, just a guess. They'd rather work on high volume American and Japanese. But some of our VWs are actually made in USA or across border in Mexico so if I'm right that's kinda strange.

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JCDU@reddit

European cars are just cars, that's like saying you don't know how to eat a sandwich if the guy making it spoke French. There's nothing special or different about a European car vs an American or Japanese one, these days the supply chain is global and the same parts crop in cars of all origins.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

All I know is I have a Volvo 2.5t and my general mechanic recommended I go to a specialist for a timing belt change, because that requires a special tool he did not own

And we have a bmw e90, they don't like to work on complex repairs on those either. probably more customers from other easier brands, or something like that. The N52 has a magnesium block and you can't change the crankshaft seal like normal, you need a special sealant or something weird.

Also European parts prices can be pretty horrific if you don't know where to look! I had a control arm replacement, it cost like $200-300 more at my generalist mechanic than the Volvo specialist. I also needed a driveshaft, the only one my general mechanic could find was like $900 and not close by, my Volvo specialist has a parts yard and he put in a used one for like $200 or $300, something like that.

Do you have a different experience?

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JCDU@reddit

I'm not about to list off cars and parts and repairs like an encyclopaedia, all I'm saying is that here in Europe our regular mechanics fix all these cars day in day out with no problem - the parts and tools and diagnostics are all available.

Yes some cars/parts/tools have special cases that cost more or need some weird approach but it's not rocket surgery.

Yes some of these cars are rarer in the US and therefore parts are harder to find or more expensive but that's not the same as the design being bad or the car being impossible to repair - if you brought an F150 to Europe you'd find it hard & expensive to get parts. Hell I was talking to a guy the other day with an old shitbox Explorer and he was about to junk it as most of the parts have to come from the US and cost a ton. A mate with a Jeep has similar experience, while Land Rover Defenders are cheap and plentiful here but the vehicles go for 5-10x the price in the US.

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Aggressive_Ask89144@reddit

Americans do not understand the concept of preventive maintenence. I sell car parts and many will refuse to replace a set of spark plugs or a pair of headlights, much less doing things as determined by the manufacturer on time.

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JCDU@reddit

I think that's fairly universal among the general public though.

What is scary in America is the states with no safety inspections.

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Tuques@reddit

100% yup. My wifes 2013 jetta needed a new gas cap as it was getting an evap error and it cost almost 100 bucks cdn. An equivalent part from canadian tire would cost me 20 bucks for a domestic make. It also just cost me almost 7 grande cdn to fix after just taking it in for an oil change. It needed a couple new shocks, an e-brake cable, and an electronic control module (the car was blowing lightbulbs every 3 months). The dealership was horrible and had the car for almost a month because they broke the driver side locking mechanism and then charged me an additional 300 bucks to replace it. I could have bought the parts and did the work myself for less than half that amount.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

Oh yeah. The Europeans like to use stretch bolts which are 1 time use. Japanese have reusable bolts. If you replace a suspension part, you have to get a new bolt for the VW which costs extra.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

Also, comparing parts prices on Rockauto for a 2012 Camry vs Passat, for a suspension component: the Camry had way more parts brands, some super cheap parts.

(Like, Camry had probably 50 brand options, Passat had 8-10 options)

But if you were to choose a part that wasn't so cheap, was probably better quality, that might be MOOG.

The VW MOOG part was actually $10 cheaper than Toyota! (For the lower control arm)

The Camry has a simpler rear suspension. So if you worked on the rear, the Camry would cost less labor hours. But it may cost more labor hours for the front, since unlike the Passat the Camry may require loosening of subframe or engine bolts.

But you can go super cheap on the Camry for parts (lower control arm). It had like $10 options but I am very suspicious of their quality.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

The gas cap is $10-43 on Rockauto (not including shipping)

Maybe it's the dealer and physical store prices that are bad for VW vs domestic but online doesn't seem horrible

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Leody@reddit

Yes. Yes, they are. They're usually harder to work on too because they're over engineered. Fun to drive, but harder to fix and complicated in comparison.

This guy is from my area, and I just happened to watch this video this morning. https://youtu.be/LVbOMpnQ2qA?si=Z7foXoDHnAndRhtj

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Weldertron@reddit

What's over engineered on a vw? They're super easy to work on.

The MQB chassis is great.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

Maybe it's because you need special computers scan tools to work on them well. In a Mazda you can use a 100% free program FORSCAN to reprogram modules and read codes. (And a reasonably priced dongle )

In a vw I think you'd need like 80-120 USD worth of software and another reasonably priced dongle.

That's to swap in modules, replace parking brakes etc

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Entertainment_Fickle@reddit

Bruh... Thanks for the video link. I had a B5 A4 V6 about 15 years ago. .. I did a ton of work on it... although it was tight, was doable.

Then a few years later i bought a B5 S4, thinking it was the same basic engine and chasis... that thing was a motherfucker to work on. Same engine but with 2 turbos + 2 intercoolers+ a bunch of other engine... all crammed into the same size enginer bay... after a few day of wrenching on it I thought " this is dumb, why am i making myself this miserable"

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SecretOrganization60@reddit

Look around at all the cars, start spotting older cars. You see lots of old Toyotas, old Fords, old Mercedes Benz. But you wont see a lot of old water cooled VWs.

But you know where to find old water cooled VWs? In Craigslist under "Mechanic Specials"

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

I see a lot of vw Jettas in my area honestly. A ton of them

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InvestigatorKey3959@reddit

My 2012 Passat started burning oil right after 100k. Great ride, terrible reliability. I spent more time checking the dipstick than enjoying the drive.

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Purple_Concentrate64@reddit

If it has the 2.5l that's supposed to be the good one So I wonder if all of them do that also a bad pcv system can cause oil burning but I assume you went through every possibility to fix it

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That70sShop@reddit

Never under any circumstances buy a product from Volkswagen of alQmerica. At some point and you don't know when it will be, there will be a part that you can't get any other place than the dealer. The dealers know which parts you have to buy from them, and the expense will be rapacious.

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dontake_mycashplease@reddit

Yes, stay away, far far away.

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TheCarcissist@reddit

Nothing more expensive than a cheap German car

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Naive-Direction1351@reddit

I will tell you right now from my bff dad that worked on only german cars fkr 35 years.. VW and audis are only got for 40000 miles and than they are garbage

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mattc4191@reddit

I’m a vw lover so maybe some bias and I take better care than most but tell that to my Passat wagon at 120k, my golf at 150k, my Jetta at 120k, my alltrack at 100k, and my gti at 70k all without any issues, routine maintenance is key man

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banmeharderdaddy42@reddit

Would you consider $2000 for a fuel pump expensive?

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sohcgt96@reddit

If you're paying $2000 to have a fuel pump, you're at the wrong shop, its not because of the brand of the car.

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Big_Smooth_CO@reddit

Bullshit. Porsche fuel pumps will always be more than that

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Big_Smooth_CO@reddit

Specifically the 911s.

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InternationalHermit@reddit

I own a 2019 vw atlas. and I take it to the dealer for maintenance. I will give you some concrete examples to make you understand some of what the other comments are talking about.

1) there are no factory approved jack points besides the four intended for use by a car lift or emergency tire swap. good luck trying to put the car on jackstands.

2) engine air filter box is held by 8 torx screws. I guess two hand clasps was too simple for the Germans. btw, pretty much every uses torx screws or triple square. be prepared to buy some if you never had a German car before.

3) you can’t change your wipers without first putting them in maintenance mode, or else you can’t lift the arm up. the wipers also use the less common square thing instead of a j hook.

4) replacing the battery requires a programming by computer/scantool. can not buy a battery an swap it yourself.

5) german cars use a different engine oil formula. its somewhat debatable, but you should be putting only euro spec oil into a vw. euro spec oil is harder to find and costs more than regular off the shelf American/japanese car approved synthetic oil.

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Serious-Mission-2234@reddit

buy a Mazda save the grief of vow and subi

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sohcgt96@reddit

Just be careful about which one you get, they can be hit and miss. My 2015 GTI has been only slightly more expensive to maintain than my past cars, and its only because of the periodic DSG fluid changes and that the water pump and housing were a little more expensive than normal. Apart from that though, its honestly been one of the lower maintenance cars I've owned. But be careful not just about models, but which engine and which generation of that engine.

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Trogasarus@reddit

Yes and no. They have some maint items that need to be done, but nothing absolutely crazy. The diesel will have more compared to the gasoline engine. It will depend on the conditions the vehicle is in, how you drive and take care of it. If you want something that you just put fuel and do oil changes, theres better options.

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DJScaryTerry@reddit

No more than really any other car. The difference is you do the maintenance it asks for on time, and it doesn't break on you.

That said, I'm not sure what version of the ea888 that car has, it's right on the edge of being one of the bad ones. I'm sure if you post about it in the VW pages, you'll get an answer on that.

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_no_usernames_avail@reddit

More hours of labor means the same job will cost more even if the parts are the same price as a Subaru.

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KaiserSozes-brother@reddit

A 2010 Subaru is a rock solid car, with one of the most reliable engines out there until it leaks oil. No VW product will compare mechanically. VW has better style. But get another Subaru

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Uncle-Istvan@reddit

Get a 2016 or newer sportwagen if that’s what you want.

In my experience: more expensive to maintain per fix than a Subaru, but less overall problems.

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IBoughtACobra@reddit

No different than my Hondas and Toyotas. Someone lied to you.

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MattTheMechan1c@reddit

Not really. I owned 3. If you buy a model that has less known issues and stick to the maintenance they’re alright. They will be a bit more complex than a Toyota or Honda but far easier to live than a BMW.

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cookie-ninja@reddit

I had my 8 years old Jetta, 10k km per year, maintenance cost was pretty standard. Most years just an oil change so like 50$ if you do it, 100$ if you do it at a shop. Otherwise had a 2000$ major service and 1200$ for minor service including sparks and brakes on one year. Average $500 CAD per year?

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Hersbird@reddit

Yes. But lucky for you so are suabrus so you are used to it.

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mc_nibbles@reddit

They don't handle neglect well and parts/labor costs can be higher than other brands, but it's not as bad as it use to be mostly because all cars are becoming expensive to maintain.

I would buy a Buick Regal TourX or a Subaru Outback before I bought a Sportwagon, especially if you're coming from a Subaru.

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Plane_Geologist8073@reddit

Not particularly. But diligent maintenance is really important to keeping them reliable and not causing other more expensive problems. If you’re the type to ride around with a Christmas tree on the dash, squealing brakes and bald tires, thousands of miles overdue for an oil change, then a VW might be an expensive ownership experience for you.

I’d definitely recommend getting a pre purchase inspection before buying one. For the reasons above, you want to start out with something in good shape that’s been taken care of.

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Gradstudentiquette69@reddit

That seems to be the trend with most European cars, that subie you have is much cheaper and easier to work on in comparison.

VWs are built decently well, but they are complex machines. I would argue overly complicated for what they are. When they do break, they require more specialized tools and procedures to fix. The parts are also not shared between models, something subarus are known for, so the parts are less universal and thus demand a higher price point. I'd go with anything Japanese or most American cars before I bought a EUDM car.

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troyberber@reddit

Nah not really. They’re difficult to work on as most German cars are therefore labour costs add up. Otherwise they’re just above average in parts costs. Also depending on what VW or any VW group automobiles; there are many MANY aftermarket products and DIY sources available.

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Jumpy_Childhood7548@reddit

Relatively. Do a search on the topic.

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Ok-Situation-9199@reddit

No