Why isn’t Volkswagen more popular in the U.S.?

Posted by phtphongg@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 630 comments

I’ve been wondering why Volkswagen isn’t more popular in the U.S. compared to other brands. From what I’ve heard, in Europe VW is often seen as kind of like the “Toyota of Europe.” A lot of people say they can be very reliable if you stay on top of maintenance. But in the U.S., I often see them ranked pretty low on reliability lists from places like Consumer Reports and other review sites. So I’m curious why the perception is so different here. Is it because some owners don’t keep up with maintenance as much? Are parts or repairs more expensive in the U.S.? Or is there another reason why VW doesn’t have the same reputation here as it does in Europe? Just trying to understand the gap between the European reputation vs the U.S. reputation. Would love to hear from VW owners or people who’ve worked on them.

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ms_merry@reddit

VW needs commercials like this [https://youtu.be/KmQvOT1Sxkg?si=uOHSOfudtWxlkup8](https://youtu.be/KmQvOT1Sxkg?si=uOHSOfudtWxlkup8)

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Seismofelis@reddit

There's already a "Toyota of the U.S.". It's Toyota.

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Lunaticllama14@reddit

This is basically it. I have a Toyota and have rented for work a ton of VWs for whatever reason. They cost the same as Toyotas but everything seems a little lower tier and they are more expensive to maintain here vis-a-vis a Toyota. Although, the Jettas are quite popular.

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rhysisacreep@reddit

You’re the first person I’ve ever heard say Toyota seems like a tier up from VW - Toyota was still selling new vehicles with a 5 speed transmission in 2024. And then there’s the interiors.

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

I mean, have you seen a mk5 jetta interior after like 150k? At least the Toyota door cards and headliners dont spontaneously disassemble themselves

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lifewasted97@reddit

Have the MK5 GTI in my garage 140k miles. Headliner with push pins, backseat fabric sagging and the orange foam exposed. Driver door card in tact passenger loose. Had some EPC throttle issues and bottom of engine is an oily dirt mess lol

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

God, that orange foam shit gets everywhere, especially after ive hit it with fabric adhesive a couple of times lol. I never thought about using push pins for the headliner, need to try that one. And yeah, my entire undercarriage is perpetually coated in oil also, I just never cared enough to track the source down. Just throw a quart or 2 at it in between oil changes and send it

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lifewasted97@reddit

Exact same situation when I first attempted to fix some sag. Used a spray adhesive and that was not the right move. The proper fix is to scrape it all off then glue new fabric. Totally know what that sticky flaking mess of orange foam is 😆. I've parked the car for years and saved money, had EPC and throttle issues. The throttle body was very difficult to DIY. Love the car but it might be time to move on for me had it since 2015. Drove it a couple times last year but some alignment issues / wobble at sweeping banked turns keeps me unmotivated

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

Gnar, I'd park it over those issues too. But so far good, at right about 250k. Been my daily/work car for the last 8 years and its a piece of shit, but at least its been a fairly reliable piece of shit. Im just more amazed i havent had more issues with it given the abused history it had when I got it from a family member who doesn't seem to believe in maintaining anything

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SEKPopulist@reddit

I don’t consider a 5MT or 6MT an indicator of low quality. In fact, I prefer a manual for a utilitarian, reliable car. That said, auto transmissions are light years beyond what they were in 2015, when I bought my last stick shift.

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rhysisacreep@reddit

…ok? We’re talking about a five speed automatic that debuted for the 2009 model year and continued till 2024 as the only choice.

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Quaiche@reddit

Toyota is definitely shit when it comes to interior quality compared to VW but the 5 speeds example that you used just doesn’t mean anything as VW does still sell cars with 5 speeds. Example the Polo can be optioned with a five speeds manual. Same for the T-Roc. If you want to be more surprised, then know that you still can order from factory an Audi with a 5 speeds. The A1 as example has them as option.

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rhysisacreep@reddit

Sorry, in the USA, Toyota was the last manufacturer to have a 5 speed transmission on a mass produced vehicle. It was an automatic and the only transmission option for the previous generation 4Runner, even though that vehicle could be sold for over $60,000.

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Hersbird@reddit

Does the average person even "feel" a 5 speed vs a 8 speed? They sure do when that 8 speed needs replaced at $10,000

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Lunaticllama14@reddit

No one cares and VW interiors are sub par for the price.

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rhysisacreep@reddit

I personally love having a five speed - engine drone makes cruising on the interstate so much fun, I love not being able to pass people when going up a mountain, and who doesn’t appreciate getting stuck behind a tourist in a canyon. That I could have all that and worse gas mileage - why would I give that up for a ZF 8 speed? I’ll take the proprietary 5 speed developed in 90s. That’s the good decision.

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Ambitious-Intern-928@reddit

But then there's the reliability and "maintenance" aspect. Buying a VW new is compatible if not more expensive than Toyota/Honda. My 2021 Hyundai, which is priced competitively to GM models, has traveled me 85k miles without issues. I know of a friend who bought a top trim tiguan and was in and out of the dealership for months for dumb tech stuff that never worked right. Hasn't racked up enough time/mileage to see LTR. Have another friend with a 5 year old Jetta with 80k and all 4 shocks are completely shot driving on the same roads I do.

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rhysisacreep@reddit

Ok? I was speaking specifically to the claim that Toyota feels like a tier up from VW.

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Weak_Engineering_824@reddit

That's so weird lol It's a night and day difference of interior quality between a Toyota and a VW, at least in Europe. I can just drive at 100km/h and see the difference in sound insulation. Toyota will be much noisier.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

We buy VAG group cars because they feel/drive nicer than Toyota/Honda. I point people at Honda/Toyota if they just want a “car that works and will run even with neglect”

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MindsetB@reddit

Lmfao no Vws are trash. Inside and out. Driving dynamics are HIGHLY debatable as far as relative to toyota and not really debatable compared to Honda or Mazda God awful reliability, needlessly complicated and cost an arm and a leg for anything

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Iron_Burnside@reddit

Current gen Toyota steering is better than current gen BMW steering IMO.

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RScrewed@reddit

Agreed.

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Ambitious-Intern-928@reddit

I can completely understand that, never drove a WV, but my first car was a Grandma Buick that drove like a boss for such a big car, then I had a Malibu that I never liked but it served me well, then I had a rebranded German Buick, 2011 Regal. Drove like a beast but had a shitty GM engine. Now I've got this Accent I bought new in 2021 and it's honestly an amazing car for 18k new, but I miss driving a "drivers" car😅😅 Real bad😅

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that_guy_who_@reddit

IMO one thing VAG cars have nailed across all their brands from VW, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, etc has been best driving experience vs their competition. Our Tiguan drives/feels nicer than the same priced RAV4, Outback, etc. Our Porsche blows away every single competitor but that goes without saying.

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_whatever_idc@reddit

Wait wait wait. You guys think Tiguans handle good? How the fuck then regular cars you drive handle?

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Ambitious-Intern-928@reddit

I can say the 05 Malibu and my 21' Accent both handle like absolute shit at high speeds. That German build 2011 Buick Regal I had, had me constantly pushing that tiny GM engine to it's limits because it handled amazing even at 100mph on winding mountain highways. The Malibu and the Accent I don't even feel comfortable driving over 80. Almost lost control trying to play tricks the 1st week I had the Accent and after that I made peace with the fact that I bought a cheap ass car and need to drive it accordingly. I plan on driving this car as long as I can, it's the 1st car I've bought new and it's treated me well, but I will definitely be buying a driver's car when it's time. I still don't think I would pay for a VW with all the issues my friends have had.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Handles better than a RAV4 (and other same class vehicles). Wife drives the Tiguan I drive a 992 911.

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_whatever_idc@reddit

Yeah but Tiguan doesn’t handle all that well. Unless its a R line, I haven’t driven that one.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

I said “in class” which means compared to its competition of mid-sized entry level SUVs.

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_whatever_idc@reddit

Yeah I hear you. VW is rarely considered good when it comes to handling, in any class. RAV4 must be dogshit then.

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sand_mac1805@reddit

Just recently had a Taos for a rental while the fiancé’s rav4 was in the body shop after getting hit. Overall I wasn’t very impressed with it but I do miss the steering/handling of it, I can definitely understand why there’s a following with German cars

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Lunaticllama14@reddit

They don’t. Volkswagen interiors suck.

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fried_chicken6@reddit

Lower tier my ass. The gti is a class above any Toyota within $10,000 and is a better car is every single possible aspect aside from "reliability" (which is very much up in the air on modern Toyotas)

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Lunaticllama14@reddit

LOL. VW interiors are trash. No one cares about performance because that is not important for the overwhelming majority of people buying these cars.

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fried_chicken6@reddit

VW interiors are better than Toyotas in every single possible way. You Toyota butt boys are something else. Your precious car brand that you dedicated your life too is falling off hard, get over it

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

The true Big 3 today by market share in the US is Ford, Chevy, and Toyota together they make up nearly 50% of the Market.

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Splenda@reddit

The US actually has a Big 5, with Tesla and Honda pretty closely following those you mentioned. VW is way down the list.

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Educational_Bench290@reddit

My 1986 Jetta (German built) was one of the best cars I have owned. My 2014 Passat (US built) was meh. Comfortable and all, but needed warranty repairs and did not last as well: interior quality wasn't good. Also, they proved to be lying MFrs as a company: see dieselgate

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Rough-Transition-954@reddit

Last year I rented a Jetta with a dual clutch transmission. I expected a fun to drive car. It was a horrible car which was hard to drive smoothly off the line. The transmission was awful. I rent \~ 30 cars a year and now tell the rental clerk "no Jeeps, no out of sate plates and no VWs"

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FordF150ChicagoFan@reddit

They cost more than a Honda, Chevy, Ford, or Toyota, are more expensive to repair and don't offer anything to offset that. Not a big market for a vehicle that's a Camry with BMW running costs.

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PivotdontTwist@reddit

I loved my Jetta. Then it started having problems too often and had to migrate to Toyota and haven’t had problems since.

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cormack_gv@reddit

My impression -- and it's just an impression -- is that VWs are overpriced and overcomplicated. In my experience, VWs and German cars in general are hard to work on, and not outstandingly reliable.

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Weak_Engineering_824@reddit

that's why i have a skoda. it's a vw just cheaper

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

My beef with the low tier interiors notwithstanding, the 2.5 was an absolute workhorse of an engine. Im right about at 250k and it's still going as strong as it was at 90k. Fuck that dual mass flywheel though, expensive, cant resurface it, and godawful heavy. It doesn't help with the rev hang issues at all either

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Lunar_BriseSoleil@reddit

I had a Jetta with the 2.5. The engine was bulletproof but everything else on that car was a delicate POS. I had *two* indicator stalks break. I’ve never even heard of that happening elsewhere, they snapped off with the pressure of the side of my pinky finger pushing on them.

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

I believe it, the engine is good, the rest of the car not so much... its kinda like when I used to have a 2006 Range Rover Sport with the Jag V8, great engine, not so great everything else lol

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seasonal_jesus@reddit

I actually really liked the dual mass flywheel in my TDI. Them being heavy made it harder to stall the engine, and shifts were buttery smooth. I just replaced my original DMF and clutch at 250k miles with a single mass flywheel and I wish I would have bought another LUK DMF

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Desperate_Platypus34@reddit

Thats fair, I personally have the opposite problem, where I find it kind of has a weird rubber band feel to it. Kinda like im constantly trying to fight the DMF to rev match accurately or where it just doesnt seem to bite where I expect it to sometimes. I think its just a personal preference since Im much more used to lighter flywheels.

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K2e2vin@reddit

When my Audi had a huge oil cooler leak near Corpus Christi, I had a hard time finding a shop that'll work on it, including "European" specialists. Only company that wasn't a dealership that'll touch it was VW/Audi-specific shops. When I asked the other shops why they don't work on VW/Audis, their short answer was "too much specialized tools".

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soul_motor@reddit

I remember when the New Beetle was actually new. It cost so much more than any similar sized vehicle on the market at the time. I haven't looked at them since, especially with the perception VWs were cheap growing up.

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Squagloids1@reddit

New Beetle was $30,000 when it should have been $20,000

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ShatterProofDick@reddit

Not an impression that's an objective fact. Same with Audi.

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You_Cant_Win_This@reddit

Audi is under VW so not sure why that surprises you

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ShatterProofDick@reddit

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. I owned a 07 A3, it was a GTI that snuck into to the country club with somehow worse electronics than a MKV GTI.

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Anxious_Power_7206@reddit

He didn’t say it surprised him

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Hersbird@reddit

Special simple tools, items placed in the most difficult spots, even simple things like relays and fuses buried under multiple panels that require tools to take apart. Just no good reason for their placement.

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MosesCoulee@reddit

I was big into VW’s back in the day. They def needed constant attention. Now I drive an old Subaru (I know, right?) and it’s given me such minimal trouble. I think I’ve replaced o2 sensor and a neutral position switch in the last 10 years. Whereas my VW’s need a new MAF, o2 sensor, throttlebody, light switches, etc within a year. Good engines and transmissions. Very fickity electrics.

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CaptainHubble@reddit

Worked on a lot of VWs and did 10 semesters engineering. And I can confidentially say: VAG builds overengineered and really bad maintainable cars. What they come up with does work. Until it inevitably doesn’t anymore (which is kinda normal on cars where parts wear out) and then it’s really annoying to repair.

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Cold_Specialist_3656@reddit

Yeah you've got the unreliably of US domestics with the weird hokey hard to fix stuff of luxury brands. If you wanna buy a VW, just get an American generic SUV brick. It will be equally unreliable except Cleetus can fix it in your driveway.

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PulledOverAgain@reddit

I had a Jetta that I liked. But nothing pissed me off more than having to order some triple square sockets to work on some dumb basic thing. The airbag light was on for a crash sensor code but when some chick ran a stop sign in front of me the airbag still worked so that was nice. But now I have triple square sockets and no car to work on with them. Seriously though. I think the European folks just put things together differently. Across the pond it's probably completely normal but over here it just grinds our gears.

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TheApplefan94@reddit

Idk, a torx or triple square set isnt that bad in the grand scheme of things. Ive rounded a fuck ton of hex bolts, but havent had an issue with a triple square yet.

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woofer2609@reddit

The Germans engineer cars and expect people to behave and maintain the car like an engineer. The Japanese observe how "normal: people behave and maintain a car and design and build around that.

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scoopny@reddit

My Jetta S was 21K with tax.

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trivialempire@reddit

When? Or was it used?

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scoopny@reddit

2022, it was new. I think it’s 24 or 25 for the base model now. The top of the line Jetta GLI is about 33K. I think all the other models are relatively expensive but the Jetta is a decent price.

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cans-of-swine@reddit

I've never worked on German cars, but I have worked on a Deutz tractor. What would be a simple valve or pump on a different brand was an overengineered overcomplicated part that was a nightmare to get to and try to fix.

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jag_design@reddit

They’re probably fine but given that Toyota and Honda exist I can’t imagine even considering a VW.

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No_Tower_7026@reddit

Not sure if serious. Reliability. Maintenance. Diesel gate. German car stigma in general. And I’ve owned quite a few VAG cars

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cmcms@reddit

Had a 2009 Jetta TDI that I loved until it was discovered that they cheated on the emissions tests. Wrecked their reputation forever.

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RickyRatardo@reddit

Very expensive. The older ones I liked better. The more modern ones I've had a lot of issues with.

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ConwayTwitty91@reddit

"Toyota of Europe" LOL

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Confident_Introvert@reddit

Chrysler level quality for a German brand

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brakeled@reddit

I live in Denver and VW is super prevalent. You can get them serviced properly and see a lot of them on the roads. My hometown in PA has no dealership for 100+ miles. You only see the older models and can assume they’re used and not properly taken care of because there aren’t a lot of mechanics available to work on European brands. They’re popular where you can actually get them serviced. I love mine.

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HeavyDutyForks@reddit

Parts and repairs are way more expensive here. US models have more problems than the European ones. The early Mexican VWs were notoriously unreliable

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easylife12345@reddit

Had a 2000 Jetta - first new car. Had YEARS of engine light issues. VW couldn’t fix it and after warranty, was my problem. Scouring VW blogs at the brine, I finally replaced two sensors they fixed the problem. I did get 200k mikes out of it before donating it to wounded warrior foundation.

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calidude415@reddit

2000s VWs definitely tainted the image. My brothers 1996 Jetta VR6 was a beast until my sister crashed it. His 2000 Jetta VR6 crapped put in the driveway. Oil flowed throughout the engine. My sister’s 2002 Passat also had many issues. They drive great, but they’re complicated machines. I love my 2017 GTI but the dealer couldn’t figured out multiple issues on it. Not catastrophic, but very annoying.

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BeignetsAndWhiskey@reddit

I had a '99.5 Jetta VR6. Unbeknownst to me at the time since it's not like it was easy to find this information on the internet back when I bought it (2003 or so), it was probably one of the first ones off the line in Mexico. I loved that car but I swear something would break on it if you just looked at it the wrong way. It was the only car I've ever owned that left me stranded on the side of the road

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FSUNolesWarchant@reddit

Owned two 2dr TDI Golfs from this body style for commuting. Solid MPG, decent looks, and reasonably comfortable but I have never seen a more unreliable brand than VW. These cars break something if you just look at them slightly wrong - be it sensors, electrical gremlins, exploding clutches, etc. Dealership experience at VW is atrocious. Independent shop repair is hit or miss. Parts never in stock and delays common for certain factory parts. The 1.9 ALH TDI motors in those years, while finicky, are solid and will unfortunately out last the rest of the car 3x over.

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Gringuin007@reddit

Injector failed Friday before Christmas 2024. Only one shop answered phone Saturday. Was 90 minutes from relatives. Drove 60 minutes to hotel with check engine light. Shop recommend replace all 6. Cannot find 6. I had to leave the car and go back to work 6 hours away. No idea if this is common repair. Labor $1.6. Parts $1.2k. Car starts screaming after I drive car home 6 hours. Oil separator was failing. It was next to the repair area performed. Oh yeah the shop got a pre-signal and cleared it with a chip. The oil separator is also 1k labor. Had to do it 6 months later. 3 month nightmare of repairs. 135k miles. $7k repairs and maintenance. The car never been able to align since dealer did not honor CPO.

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Oak510land@reddit

I think everyone knew back then if the vin started with W then it was made in Germany.

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BeignetsAndWhiskey@reddit

Maybe 1% of the general population maybe knew that. I was 23 years old and it was my first car

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Oak510land@reddit

There was a massive VW forum back then called VWvortex with plenty of discussion of Mexican vs German made cars.

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Novogobo@reddit

Vw was the pioneer in making regular cars needlessly complicated and thus expensive to repair.

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FaithlessnessEasy276@reddit

This is a trait all German designed cars have

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Novogobo@reddit

yea but volkswagens are supposed to be regular cars. i mean it's literally the name of the company. wagons for the people

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FaithlessnessEasy276@reddit

Yes but they’re not. Not since the original beetle.

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Gringuin007@reddit

Omg yes. Standard repairs of few bolts end up costing $1k. Look up oil separator. Idk which models. I read one repair required unbolting engine or something insane.

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MindsetB@reddit

Thermostats...

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Gringuin007@reddit

Yup. Oil separator linked up to thermostat. Connected by a plastic pipe that cracks upon removal. Replace all when you do one. Some plastic reservoir also cracked and had to be replaced. Most parts aftermarket from OEM and NOT dealer. Shop said thermostat had to be from dealer. $1000+ labor for 6 hours. Few hundred for parts. An Audi dealer quoted each separately for a massive $3k. Good luck selling car for $5k in aviation repair,,, 60% of value is BER beyond economical repair. Yeah. Should’ve bricked it.

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MindsetB@reddit

I have a friend with an eos. Needed thermostat changed. I said sure whatever, usually a 5 to 10 minute thing if they put it in a good spot...wow wtf... It's crazy but I don't understand. Yea you can keep cranking out slop year after year and design cars so poorly we have to keep buying them, but there's another universe out there where cars are affordable and maintenance and parts are affordable enough for people who don't know how to fix their car to go and maintain it. Oem parts, trained techs, you COULD have loyal customers in a totally different level but I guess that doesn't pay the short term sugar high need for profit

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Gringuin007@reddit

Co-workers failed on his VW and he was lucky. 4 bolts and done

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armand55@reddit

My mechanic avoids working on them bc they often need special tools to do basic stuff.

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obotrobot@reddit

I’m getting tired of this sentiment that Volkswagen requires special tools. I have owned two and work on them myself. The only things I have had to buy are a set of torx bits and a set of triple squares. About $40 in extra tools and I have been able to do all my maintenance and repairs.

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SEKPopulist@reddit

What about VAGCOM?

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MindsetB@reddit

Seriously I'm obviously no vw expert but from helping out my neighbors I've had to learn some and after seeing battery coding for and regular battery no thanks

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armand55@reddit

Thanks. Food for thought

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Ch4rlie_G@reddit

I have 2006 Audi A8 and I need my laptop to change the brakes. Or really diagnose anything. You really need to be an enthusiast to diagnose issues on these cars. Parts slapping mechanics won’t do a good job. My two local German shops have a bunch of old guys with silver manicured facial hair and they do great work.

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MindsetB@reddit

It's crazy Battery coding? Foh with that bs Not you lol. I mean vw

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NeverEnoughSunlight@reddit

There was a focus in the 90s on engineers showing off a bit, but it's important to note the design philosophies of each nation's respective engineering culture: * Japan doesn't drive fast. When I visited Okinawa I don't think I broke 60 MPH, and that was away from populated areas. * US drives a little faster but tends to cap it at 75 MPH. * Germany has the Autobahn with no speed limits out in the open. Ask anyone who races: safely driving at 120-150 MPH requires a higher-performance vehicle. We Americans find this useless because of our arbitrarily low speed limits.

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Ch4rlie_G@reddit

Michigan and Texas have entered the speed chat. Average left lane speed in Michigan is 82mph. State did a study. Some places in Texas it might be 100 lol

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Particular_Bet_5466@reddit

Arizona is removing speed limits from I think I5 entirely as a proof of concept for removing speed limits entirely from a few of their interstates

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squidphillies@reddit

Here in Germany I drive 90mph in the rain in the slow lane.

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Gringuin007@reddit

80 in the snow in Michigan.

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miseeker@reddit

I came off a ramp getting onto I 94 and I hammered it. Unbeknownst to me there was a state cop right there. He pulled me over and I was doing 95 in my 08 focus. He said do you know how fast you were gone and I said yeah, I was speeding that was going to 85 miles an hour. He says if you were only going 85 I wouldn’t have pulled you over.

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Gringuin007@reddit

I did a double take. We have a 94 here. I think cal state hwy. It has a nasty merge from I-15 South. Few days ago I got tail gated merging from I-805 north. I felt an accident coming and let the guy do his thing (like pass me in the merging lane). The tailgater shared a lane up ahead of me and got lit up by patrol. Guy deserved it. BUT patrol pulled over the other vehicle! So when you said 94,,, Anyways snow on ground in cali is 4wd or chains 25 mph

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Objective-Deal8745@reddit

Florida has entered the chat: I-95 averages 80-85mph in the passing lanes. The turnpike is a steady 85 in the left lane. At 11-3am the average speed on I-95 South of West Palm Beach is 90mph+. South of Ft. Lauderdale everyone is way over 100mph. Most are burying the speedometer.

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uvdawoods@reddit

The difference between my 2001 GTI and my 2001 Nissan Maxima. GTI, water pump takes a shit a mile from home, $5000 repair because all 20 valves were cooked. Maxima, alternator literally blows up, I drive it 10 more miles home to Pep Boys (damn near across the street) to replace it under warranty.

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nolo4@reddit

The problem is you went to the dealer. Find a privately owned vw / audi shop

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kyson1@reddit

And those seem to only exist in bigger cities and more populated areas. In a more rural area, good luck. Everyone can work on a Ford or GM though.

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nolo4@reddit

Good point

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katmcflame@reddit

^^^^This on dealer shops not being able to diagnose or fix problems in the aughts^^^^

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calidude415@reddit

Still going on now. My 2017 GTI was in the shop for a week and they couldn’t diagnose the problem. I found a tech bulletin online and had to diagnose it for them. It was the torque pulley. They also can’t figure out why my license plate light keeps going on. They said the rewired a guys car and it went out after. Just VW things.

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

My 2000 Jetta lately got to 100k. And that was with tons of work. Had a 10yr warranty and it had a replaced transmission and severe oil consumption problem. Windows always broke, plastic interior parts always snapped off Such a POS

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Remarkable_Meat666@reddit

And it smelled like crayons

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padeye242@reddit

My Scirocco totally did!

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Overweighover@reddit

Those leaked out of the doors

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keep_username@reddit

I’ve smelt this on Volvos

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

Yes! My old Gf used to make fun of that. I totally forgot. lol

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Lunar_BriseSoleil@reddit

This was my experience with a 2007 Jetta. Complete pile of shit.

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DickWhittingtonsCat@reddit

VW Jetta were the it car in a while. Several folks in my family, social circles and coworkers for a while. And it was a complete fiasco in every case. Manual/automatic, miser edition, loaded, garage kept, grindy commuter car, don’t think one made it to 110k and then with just ludicrous repairs that would get you multiple cobalt powertrains.

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Oceanbreeze871@reddit

Looked cool and were fun to drive, but were not built well. My dipstick broke towards the end. It was plastic glued to a piece of metal.

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AncientMisanthrope@reddit

Everyone I have ever known who owned a VW had a "trick" that you needed to know to be able to get the door handle to work.

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zombie_harv@reddit

Just had a flashback to the VW my dad had when I was younger. I had completely forgotten about that car.

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brownja1116@reddit

Yep. I had one around 2000. Jetta VR6 wagon. Sharp looking car. Engine was sweet (when it worked). 2 sets of ignition coils (or whatever the hell it used). 2 cats. Smaller stupid stuff Regular maintenance was expensive. All fixed under warranty. Sold it when the warranty ran out. Never again.

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augustwestgdtfb@reddit

had a 2009 passat -was a great car i leased sharp looking too would have kept if but i got hit by some lunatic and it was a bad accident so i turned it in at lease termination 30 days to fix - i was saddled with a nissan altima rental ugh the horror

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NeverEnoughSunlight@reddit

At least everyone in front of you parted like the Red Sea. XD

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JaniceRossi_in_2R@reddit

This. All of my 90s and 80s VWs were tanks. I delivered pizzas and always am had two or three in rotation. They were fun and most all parts were interchangeable between models for decades. They were pretty easy to work on too

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Busterlimes@reddit

Thats because the VR6 isnt the 1.8T which is a fantastic engine.

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2fast2nick@reddit

One of my first cars was a 94 Jetta with the 8v 2.0, that thing was bullet proof. The 2000’s VW’s kinda tainted my opinion too. So many problems

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AcesAnd08s@reddit

My 1996 Jetta ran forever. Never had any problems with it up to 100k miles when I finally traded it in. I heard the later models had a lot of reliability issues, and parts were really expensive, so I never bought the brand again.

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Herroo-There@reddit

my friend had a VW CC back in the day, it never blew me away but constantly had little things in the peripherals go wrong

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Warm_Objective4162@reddit

I was stupid and bought what I thought was a low mileage, well kept B5.5 Passat back in 2010. Only had 50k miles or so, five years old at the time. It left me stranded six times in the six months I had it before I gave up.

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Iamthe0c3an2@reddit

That’s interesting seeing americans comment here. In Europe they have a reliable perception. Especially in east Europe where seeing 200k mile Jettas and golfs with the 1.9TDI is common. Even in west Europe it’s normal to see high mile and cheap reliable golfs and polos. It’s a shame diesel for passenger cars never took off in the states.

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rectalhorror@reddit

Had a Mexican Jetta TDI sedan and it was constantly in the shop: window regulators, glow plugs and assemblies, brake boosters. Finally got crushed by a tree. Turned around and bought a German made TDI wagon and had the same issues. Whatever money I saved getting 45MPG went into repairs. Ended up buying a 2005 Jeep LJ a decade ago with cash and it's been rock solid with regular maintenance. Only time it's left me stranded was when the generator died, but I figure if it's 20 years old, it's allowed to drop dead.

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FivePointsFrootLoop@reddit

Deutschicanos were so bad.

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STS986@reddit

Plus reliability is poor

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lando-hockey@reddit

I liked, but didn’t love driving my 1996 Jetta. The electrical system failed on me, and it seemed like there were always little things that wouldn’t work. I drove it for 2 years and got rid of it. It just felt like it was going to fail on me.

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International-Mix326@reddit

They aren't reliable in the us and expensive to work on

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Single-Inspector-845@reddit

To me, it is poor quality. I worked for VW from 1982-1995 in various dealers in both parts and service. The cars then were definitely more reliable than they are now and better priced in a range that gave consumers the ability to get a decent car without a high payment. There were still models that gave more luxury and cost, the Quantum, but they also had the affordable end with the Rabbit/Golf and Jetta.

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TurboJobo@reddit

Also keep in mind here we get better specs than in europe. By that i mean cars have more horsepower and better engines than in europe. Look at bmw and audi lowest engine size is 2.0 turbo. Volkswagen is good but we get the expensive versions and they require more upkeep

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Sufficient_Fan3660@reddit

They are unreliable.

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nolo4@reddit

Im amazed at all the bad experiences people have mentioned here. My 2010 golf highline was built in germany and so was my wifes comfortline. Both great cars to us. But we dont so lots of mileage. Maybe 10k kms per year on a heavy year. Also our 2023 GTI was built in germany. Id say ditch them after 10 years and I dont really want one that is out of warranty. We got the extended 10 year warranty on the GTI now. Also dont maintain them at the stealers unless it a warranty item. Id find a well rated privately owned vw/audi specialist. But as others have mentioned thats only really an option is a well populated city maybe… we live in a city… but yeah experience at the dealers was atrocious to pit it mildly. If we didnt have the mechanic we are with for the last 15 years I think I would have a very different opinions. Super fun cars to drive… nothing like driving a crappy lackluster corolla

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Spiritual-Crab-2260@reddit

All the problems of an Audi, and it's not an Audi.

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Patient_Bandicoot_24@reddit

American automotive industry gate keeping out particular manufactures and/or models. Tariffs also now help keep them out. Weird how most “American” vehicles are mainly built in Mexico, maybe we should begin saying “assembled in America”.

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Patient_Bandicoot_24@reddit

American automotive industry gate keeping out particular manufactures and/or models.

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Simp4Toyotathon@reddit

Completely anecdotal evidence, but every person I know with a VW product has had an issue. 2 had to replace transmissions and the other had so many electrical gremlins. I have a feeling that the smaller cars they sell overseas are less complicated and in turn more reliable.

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0311_till_I_die@reddit

Honda and Toyota and ford exist

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Sad_Pear_3709@reddit

the regular maintenance is ridiculous in the us on them, they put the oil filter in the worst possible place, so an oil change runs upwards of 100 here.

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txtoolfan@reddit

They are horrible on reliability.

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Key-Chart-3170@reddit

Reliability concerns vs the Japanese brands.

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ChadTitanofalous@reddit

Frankly, most people in the US don't like adhering to a maintenance schedule, which is detrimental to European cars. First new car I ever bought was a Brazilian-built VW Fox, and it was super reliable for over 100k miles, but it was maintained as per the book.

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Famous-Print-6767@reddit

>most people in the US don't like adhering to a maintenance schedule, which is detrimental to European cars. Lol at the old ~its reliable if you replace all the things that fail~. The point is on an actually reliable car you don't have to replace anything.

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jawshoeaw@reddit

most cars are incredibly reliable to 100k miles . a japanese car will get you close to 200k

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Living_Natural1829@reddit

Funny how you want to blame a crap car discussion into a typical “Americans are bad” discussion. 🤦‍♂️ A car that lasts a long time with minimal maintenance is by definition “more reliable” than one that lasts a long time ONLY IF you spend tons on maintenance. Imagine how long a Toyota would last if you spent the same amount on maintenance as you had to on that VW.

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Cbrandel@reddit

Every time oil is discussed Americans brag about their 3k miles oil changes or how "oil is cheap, engines are not". Meanwhile in Europe we do 10k+ and cars run perfectly fine. So I'm not sure I agree (unless they actually lie about how often they service their cars).

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Beanmachine314@reddit

There's far more involved with preventative maintenance than just oil changes and in general, German cars have a more stringent maintenance schedule than others. Americans want to buy a car, only change the oil every 3k miles, and swap it out with a new one when it hits 100k miles.

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stelvy40@reddit

That's because German cars are pieces of shit

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espressocycle@reddit

I always see people saying this but then the official VW maintenance schedule is just oil changes every 10,000 miles, brake fluid every three years and visual inspections.

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KillerKittenwMittens@reddit

Americans generally only change the oil then complain when other things break. Additionally, most people here wait for things to break before fixing them instead of just replacing them before they go break.

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egowritingcheques@reddit

Even well maintained they have a lot more problem. I have 3 x VAG cars now, they all have annoying problems. One is only 6 months old (a cheap work Tiguan with rattles everywhere). One is three years old (broken cup holders, dash rattles and just repaired a broken away bar linkage). One is 11 years old. The 11yr old vehicle has given about three or four times the problems as my 17yr old Mazda. All three VW also have personality to their electrical systems - ghosts.

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Fargraven2@reddit

Bingo- finally someone said it. Europeans vs Americans have a completely different mindset when it comes to vehicle ownership. VWs can be reliable, it’s just a matter of how you treat it. We like to beat our cars to shit here, and many people don’t know/care about their cars. I’ve heard Toyotas/Hondas compared to the “AK-47 of cars”, ie you can completely beat on them and take zero care and it’ll still start up and work. European cars are NOT like that

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CountHoliday8311@reddit

Total Cost of Ownership is high to comparable vehicles. Reliable is also a major issue

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Perryfl@reddit

bro they have stop sells on those right mow in the us because of issues.... they are about as good as mitsu's were in the 90s

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Visible_Joke_9482@reddit

I won’t drive one because of their cheating on emissions tests a while back.

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Vivid_Budget8268@reddit

CW isn't popular because they dont make full size pickups that tow 10,000 lbs. In 2025, the American automotive market was characterized by a resurgence of traditional internal combustion and hybrid pickups, while the purely electric segment experienced some volatility. While individual leaders like the Ford F-150 are often credited for these results, a structural analysis suggests that massive fleet contracts, regional infrastructure for heavy-duty work, and the expiration of specific EV federal tax credits in late 2024 played equally significant roles in shaping these rankings. Top 10 Best-Selling Vehicles in the USA (Full-Year 2025) | Rank | Make & Model | 2025 Units (Est.) | Change vs 2024 | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Ford F-Series | 828,832 | +8.3% | | 2 | Chevrolet Silverado | 580,368 | +4.0% | | 3 | Toyota RAV4 | 479,288 | +1.0% | | 4 | Honda CR-V | 403,768 | +0.2% | | 5 | Ram Pickup | 374,059 | +0.3% | | 6 | GMC Sierra | 356,218 | +19.3% | | 7 | Tesla Model Y | 317,800 | -22.0% | | 8 | Toyota Camry | 316,185 | +2.4% | | 9 | Chevrolet Equinox | 274,356 | +40.4% | | 10 | Toyota Tacoma | 274,638 | +42.4% | Critical Analysis of the 2025 Market * The Pickup Hegemony: The continued dominance of the "Big Three" pickups (Ford, Chevy, Ram) is often attributed to brand loyalty. However, the 2025 data shows this is a structural necessity of the American economy. Heavy-duty sales and commercial fleet renewals drove the Ford F-Series to its 49th year as the top truck. * The Tesla Contraction: The Tesla Model Y, which held the #4 spot globally and in the US in 2024, fell to #7. While skeptics might blame leadership, market analysts point to the "refresh cycle" for the 2026 Juniper model and the saturation of early-adopter markets like California. * Hybrid Momentum: Toyota’s decision to move the RAV4 and Camry to hybrid-only or hybrid-heavy lineups paid off. These vehicles captured buyers who were wary of charging infrastructure but still sought fuel efficiency. * The "Great Man" Fallacy in Automotive: Many credit Jim Farley (Ford) or Elon Musk (Tesla) for these numbers. In reality, the 42% surge in Toyota Tacoma sales was less about executive genius and more about the clearing of supply chain bottlenecks and the release of the long-awaited fourth-generation redesign. Impact of Tariffs It is worth noting that Q1 2025 saw a massive spike in "front-loading" sales. Consumers rushed to dealerships in March to avoid the 25% tariffs on imported passenger vehicles and parts that began in early April. This artificially inflated numbers for several manufacturers early in the year. Since you are a Client Advisor at Ciocca Ford Lincoln, you likely saw this F-Series surge firsthand. Would you like me to look into the 2025 sales performance specifically for the Lincoln brand or the Ford Maverick to see how they fared in your local market?

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ComfortablyNumb8357@reddit

Search VW dieselgate 2015. They took a reputable hit when they got caught with some emissions issues. Affected 11 million vehicles.

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General_Awareness_65@reddit

I rented a VW atlas suv a couple years back while our car was getting repaired, worst driving and riding car I had been in for quite a while. Wouldn’t waste my money on one now. Much better values out there honestly, just my opinion though

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r4d1229@reddit

Knowingly falsifying emissions data 2009-2015 hasn't helped VW's image in the US. I wouldn't go near a VW dealer.

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Ok_Height3499@reddit

Junk. We had 69 and 72 Beetles. Great cars. We went for larger card when kids came along. Friends have a two year old VW, and when I rode in it my thought was, functional junk.

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WackedInTheWack@reddit

I rented a small Volkswagen suv for 2 weeks and it was the worst vehicle I have driven in many years. Suspension terrible, no power or handling. They have abandoned the German feel.

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Nodeal_reddit@reddit

I heard Click and Clack refer to a Jetta as “not a Lemon - yet”

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coogie@reddit

It has the same European over engineering and expensive repairs without any of the excitement of the More exciting European cars.

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LandscapeNo775@reddit

Vws are unreliable

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keithnteri@reddit

They did this to themselves. First was diesel gate, then as a “punishment” we got Electrify America. They spent the money mandated as their “punishment “ then let their network go to shit with not fixing the chargers when they broke. Would you go to a gas station that the pumps only worked 50% of the time? Loved the Id Buzz but the range was shit for the $70k they wanted. If you want to sell a vehicle you have to give the consumer what they want.

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Particular_Dare2736@reddit

Volkswagen is the Ford of Europe, fix or repair daily

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Particular_Dare2736@reddit

Can’t wait til they get the new leadership

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Chance-Scratch-8804@reddit

They have a bad reputation in America for being unreliable, and frankly their US lineup is subpar compared to their global offerings.

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Difficult_Camel_1119@reddit

cars are different in the US than in Europe even if they look the same. Some years ago, the passat in the us was like half of the price than in Germany. They reduced quality and comfort to get to that price

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crookedledder@reddit

Volkswagens like all German vehicles are expensive and costly/difficult to maintain and repair. There are better, cheaper, simpler vehicles available.

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pwnageface@reddit

Iirc starting roughly in the 80s they started cheaping out on parts. Most notably they saved a ton of money by lying about their emissions. I believe there are thousands of vws just sitting in yards waiting to be crushed. So they lost the public trust that solidified them into the American market in the first place. Small, economical, and reliable are no longer associated with the brand here. Shame too, because I was once a big fan.

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Skivvy9r@reddit

From my perspective, they’re reliably unreliable. 1989 Jetta - replaced the water pump four times is 90k miles. 2011 GTI - replaced the water pump twice in 25k miles. Both vehicles purchased new and dealer maintained. I loved driving these cars, but I will not buy another.

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bbroecker37@reddit

I own a 2016 VW GTI and also do all the maintenance and modifications myself. I have put 60k miles on it so far. I think it's not hard to work on compared to other vehicles I've owned. Although this car requires a lot more maintenance than a Toyota just to be reliable. The VW has left me stranded before due to one of the fuel injectors getting stuck open at 85k miles. I had to get it towed to my house. Never had a car break down on me like that. But it's probably my fault for running e85. Swapped out the injectors and did an engine oil flush, and the car was running like brand new.

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FrankCostanzaJr@reddit

because they're crap compared to japanese cars. they're overfly complicated to repair and the parts are expensive.

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GonzoTheGreat22@reddit

Dieselgate really hurt them. VW was cookin stateside when that whole thing went down

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CarsAndPhoto@reddit

All speculative BTW. Volkswagen is extremely popular in the US.

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ChemistRemote7182@reddit

Anecdotal but personal experience makes me wary. The dumbing down of the line up did not help either (they did reverse course on some of those decisions)

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u700MHz@reddit

Manufacture in USA vs. Manufacture in German

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mattee78@reddit

Europeo qui. In Italia molti modelli che avete voi in america non ci sono/ sono molto rari, tipo la jetta. Abbiamo per lo più golf, polo, Passat, Tiguan ecc Specialmente quelle con il 2.0 TDI sono molto affidabili, e anche io cambio dsg lo è.

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Jacklon17@reddit

VWs reputation in the US through the years (summarized) 1950s - Weird foreign cars 1960s - quirky foreign cars 1970s - quirky foreign cars 1980s - fun foreign cars 1990s - fun foreign cars 2000s - over engineered money pits 2010-2015 - good foreign car with value for dollar due to performance 2015 - emission cheaters (this destroyed the good will they started to build in the late 00s early 10s) 2016-present - why would you buy a VW over a Honda or a Toyota?

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Mundane-Exercise6333@reddit

VW had to get cheaper by making cheaper cars past the mk 5 Jetta. Needed to compete with civic. Also we have more Audis where I live than VWs. VOA headquarters just down the road also.

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Soigne87@reddit

Parts and repairs are more expensive, it also seems like they're bad at predicting and meeting American demand. 4 of their 10 models right now are cars and 2 are low range EVs. No trucks either.

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quake-n-doom@reddit

"European toyota" only by volume. VW lost a lot of goodwill in Europe and half of the people would tell you to stay away from VAG (except for škoda). I would rather shoot myself than buy a VW.

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Hutcho12@reddit

Honestly I can't understand why they are so popular in Europe either. They basically cost as much as a premium car now.

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SlimRoTTn@reddit

Back when I was a mechanic in a major city, we had issues getting parts. Now I live in the middle of nowhere and VW isn't an option, I've barely seen any.in years.

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Squagloids1@reddit

Expensive and unreliable

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fotun8@reddit

Ever try to get a VW fixed ??

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cbelt3@reddit

They lost the quality / affordability fight to Honda and Toyota. Decades ago.

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Gamelorn@reddit

They lost a lot of US business after the 2015 emissions scandal.

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AvidGameFan@reddit

I think VW was suffering before Dieselgate. A lot of their models seem kind of bland, so I don't think they really get much attention. And for a while, they had a bit of a poor reputation for quality (in the US) while in Europe, they were considered one of the more reliable brands. Our only VW was a diesel Golf, which we quite liked. I especially liked the nimble handling, and plenty of driver space, and a sporty feel, even though it wasn't really all that sporty. I wish they had something like the Golf but maybe a tad sportier or a bit bigger. Corrado?

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TurkishSwag@reddit

You get the worse end of German reliability with all of the repair costs, combined with fewer options and a worse driving experience than other German brands that can be had for the same price when used. Basically if I’m willing to spend thousands a year on maintenance, I’m going for something nicer like a BMW or Mercedes. If I’m trying to save money, I’ll go Japanese. It’s in a weird mid-luxury, mid-economy category here that not many people are looking for, especially when they are out of warranty.

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AvidGameFan@reddit

I've had little maintenance on my prior car (BMW) or current (Mercedes). Although, I had a couple of big fixes for the BMW under warranty, it was pretty much standard maintenance for several years. Well, if you ignore the broken sunroof shade (which requires the whole assembly to be removed and possibly the whole sunroof to be replaced). Other brands can have sunroof issues (even our Toyota!). Anyway, I never did bother to fix the sunroof, and with the other two big fixes under warranty, I hardly spent any money on maintenance -- certainly not thousands. And I'd get out of my Mercedes real quick if I started having bills in the thousands.

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Living_Fig_6386@reddit

In the US, VWs are moderate to moderately high priced cars of average durability and high maintenance and repair costs. A decent car that costs significantly more to own and drive than most of the other options available. Many VW models that might be more popular in the US are also not available here because VW presumes that there's no market for them. They also had a spat of quality issues in the early 2000's and suffered a drop in reputation when it was discovered that they were cheating on emissions tests for diesel cars. Americans wither want a pick-up truck, or a reliable car at a decent price (typically Toyota or Honda). VW would not generally occur to most people, frankly.

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RespectSquare8279@reddit

VW's are fine cars but need TLC. A friend is still running his 2008 diesel Jetta with 300,000 kilometres on the odometer ; he does the routine repairs and maintenance religiously.

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WinterTourist25@reddit

[https://www.vw.com/en/models.html](https://www.vw.com/en/models.html) Well...look at them. Except for the Buzz, they are generic-looking. If I saw any of those on the street I wouldn't even remember them or associate them with VW. They have no "wow factor".

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JT-Av8or@reddit

Kinda the whole Nazi thing. Hitler’s old car company kinda makes it cringy. Beetles build by slave labor and all.

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Icy_Truth_9634@reddit

Volkswagen brought us a great car until 2000. After having several VW’s- ‘68 Beetle, 76 Rabbit, 82 Scirocco, 84 GTI, 90 Passat, and finally, a 2000 Passat, we hit a dead end with the last one. Within weeks of buying the 2000, I regretted it. Dealer was incapable, VW management did not want to get involved. The car would simply shut down, with no warning. Towed into the dealership 4 times within the first 5,000 miles. I traded it for a Honda. Lost several thousand dollars. Never again. I continue to share my story with anyone that mentions looking for a new car. I like to believe that I have stopped them from getting the opportunity to sell at least 25-50 times over the years, maybe more.

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OkDirection8015@reddit

Maintenance costs, questionable reliability and the fact that VW’s success in America came from the simpler, cheaper air cooled models. Once they started get fancier the quality went downhill.

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Gringuin007@reddit

I have an Audi. Glorified Volkswagen and fn hate it. I’ll never buy or recommends an Audi / VW. The engine is VW 3.2L. The car has never been in alignment. The Bluetooth cannot be used for phone calls. The road noise is hideous. Speed bumps have to be take at 10mph or less. CPO was not honored by dealership. Apple does not fall far from the tree. Everything plastic is breaking after 15 years. No parts are cheap. My German repair shop does not recommend German cars lol. Buy one for 100k miles then dump it

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mikeymcmikefacey@reddit

Reputation of being hard to fix. And styling of all their cars is very feminine.

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CoachOpen1977@reddit

They have an enthusiast following but European cars are widely considered unnecessarily complicated and overly difficult/expensive to maintain and repair. As a mechanic I never wanted to work on Euro stuff. Some stereotype VW’s as “girl cars” or “gay cars”. Also, diesel gate.

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PleasantProblem5877@reddit

They are reliable as long as you POUR money into them

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HeavyDutyForks@reddit

I poured money into mine and its still an unreliable POS lol At what point does it become reliable?

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kartoffel_engr@reddit

They’ll typically sit pretty reliably in your garage /s

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OregonMothafaquer@reddit

The diesels are reliable

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HeavyDutyForks@reddit

Mine hasn't been so far...

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Graywulff@reddit

When you run out of money and sell it and get a Honda when you have money again.

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hikeandbike33@reddit

When you buy a new one and keep it for less than 3 years

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Luggage-of-Rincewind@reddit

And then the other sting hits. Severe depreciation!

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JonohG47@reddit

That’s why you actually lease it. Allow VW Financial Services to subsidize the car for you. As a general rule, with any German car, the 36 (or even 24) month closed-end lease is the optimal way to have the vehicle at your disposal.

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GilgameDistance@reddit

In which case, you may as well just lease a comparable BMW for about the same price and just enjoy a better car.

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That70sShop@reddit

Hot potatoes. Get rid of it before you gave to replace anything. I gave away a Passat years ago.

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Many-Item6718@reddit

Lmaoooo

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ATertiaryEffect@reddit

You put the wrong money in

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Natural_Ad_7183@reddit

Should have used metric money

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ATertiaryEffect@reddit

I've heard metric money, or some coin called triple square.

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Cranks_No_Start@reddit

Never.

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PleasantProblem5877@reddit

I never got that far 😭

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trickedx5@reddit

no they're not. They're dead last in alot of reliability rankings.

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BrokenTestAccount@reddit

Yup. Also they aren’t remotely called the Toyota of Europe.

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MCMLIXXIX@reddit

Surely these ones must be built in the us or something, the euro ones are like brick shithouses. Im sitting in the back of a 295k mile sharan right now driving through italy, done 8 hours faultlessly getting here and it only really asks for fuel, oil and random maintainence. No dramas with it....which is probably really dumb of me to say tbh 😅

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that_dutch_dude@reddit

Thats ford as well, or basically an american brand for that matter

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free_billstickers@reddit

And who can afford having two wives, really?

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Level-Brain-4786@reddit

Because lots of people are like me: owned a VW product in the past and promised myself never to again.

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trickedx5@reddit

reliability and they're just ugly.

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Overall-Dealer-4026@reddit

CRAP.....

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cleetusneck@reddit

It was - the whole diesel affair didn’t help much. Jetta’s were hugely popular and tons drive their SUV’s.

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Otherwise-Ask7900@reddit

Love how yeah, the government making diesel standards impossible to pass in order to phase out a product was fucking crazy work.

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it-takes-all-kinds@reddit

The diesels were up to 60mpg, better than most hybrids. It was a rather funny situation.

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espressocycle@reddit

Diesel is more energy dense (and more expensive) so mpg isn't actually as good as it sounds

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it-takes-all-kinds@reddit

It is more energy dense but not true that it’s always more expensive. Price is market driven.

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benign-affair@reddit

The gist of the difference is this - EU prioritized climate changing CO2 emissions, while the US shot for a fuel-neutral standard. Much higher EU end-consumer fuel prices drove demand & industry for diesel passenger cars. I don't know if you remember the smog in those cities, at its peak, it was a dreary time. I too had a diesel rabbit & golf (and tank in the garage that my oil company was nice enough to fill). I don't understand why VW felt the need to cheat in the US market - it in effect cooled demand the diesels across the EU too and stained the public's perception of VW. I stopped buying after that - at first from disdain, and now it's just habit.

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Lunar_BriseSoleil@reddit

The California emissions prioritized smog reduction. So that penalizes diesel. Even fairly recently, if you got high up enough in a European city like Rome or Madrid to see the horizon you could see a reddish ring around the horizon from all the exhaust particulates.

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benign-affair@reddit

I am in Milan a bunch - talk about horrible air quality....

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Hersbird@reddit

I mean they just made it so a diesel couldn't produce more NOX or CO than a gas. But right, that made the standards difficult to pass just like they are on a gas car. You don't think gas cars could be much simpler, more reliable, and get better mpg if they could just have whatever emissions they wanted?

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WorkerEquivalent4278@reddit

I love my emission cheating Jetta and Golf MKiv. I maintain them myself, and they are both reliable and way more fun to drive than any Toyota. I’ve had the golf 20 years now.

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zespak@reddit

European emission standards were way too focused on CO2 rather than anything else. Diesels emit less CO2 so they were taxed favourably. They have much higher NOx and fine dust emissions though, which was more strict in the US. Now EU regulation has adjusted accordingly. In a crowded place, in winter, I dread that I live in one of the most diesel centric countries in the world.

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redditseddit4u@reddit

California often has stricter emission standards than the EU. Californian standards usually set the standards for the rest of the US since car companies don’t want to make multiple variations of cars for the US market. And VW’s diesel gate heavily impacted Europe too. They thought their air pollution should be go decreasing faster than it did….with Diesel gate they figured out diesel actually isn’t more environmentally friendly than gas. I had an Audi TDI at the time and I’ll never buy another VW affiliated brand. They outright lied to and scammed millions of their customers. If anything I wonder why they still have as much market share as they do in Europe

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xmodemlol@reddit

This isn't just a US government thing. Diesel has become far less popular in Europe as well. It pollutes substantially more. Europe didn't have the most strict emissions in the world. They knew diesel would pollute more but went along with it because it also gives higher fuel efficiency.

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Xyzzydude@reddit

Volkswagen had a cult following among US diesel fans. It was pretty much the car to get if you wanted a diesel. This includes the biodiesel enthusiasts who wanted cars they could run on used veggie oil. Dieselgate killed that and they lost that audience completely because they stopped selling diesels here. Yes it was a niche audience but they were dedicated and influenced a lot of normie purchases too, and they are all lost to VW.

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Cultural_Thing1712@reddit

It was a shame because that generation's 2.0 tdi engine was probably the greatest diesel engine ever made. It got 50 mpg!! That's prius territory! Excellent durability, beautifully designed, very refined, just an excellent diesel engine that put all the diesel naysayers to shame.

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jimschoice@reddit

I loved my 2004 diesel golf. It drove great and never had any problems until the dealer dud a recall on it, then left some bolt off the exhaust manifold because they are too hard to get to. This caused a cascade of problems. I ended up selling it after only 8 years.

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cleetusneck@reddit

So the rabbit was really popular and all my middle class friends parents drove Volvos or jettas.. mostly standards and diesels. But this was when Hondas and Toyotas didn’t have as nice of cars - especially their interiors. In many ways my 2012 tundra reminds me of the Jettas interior. Simple to clean and mostly plastic but not cheap feeling like the early Hondas/toyotas.

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tigers692@reddit

I can Nazi why not….

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Ray_Sky7659@reddit

The maintenance part is what makes VW unreliable. Because most Americans defer maintenance to the next interval due to lack of money or time. Unlike the Japanese counterparts which can handle deferred maintenance without worry. Japanese cars can easily outlive a VW with very little maintenance.

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oIVLIANo@reddit

Import cost. Also, because our diesel emissions requirements are ridiculous.

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It_Slices_It_Dices@reddit

Because they are no good after 110000 without major repairs

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One_Flow3572@reddit

It seems their cars, GTIs, Jettas and Sciroccos, were more exciting and cool 20-30-40 years ago. Their recent offerings aren't reputed to be really reliable. With the exception of the GTI they aren't sporting or cool. Their SUVS are kind of OK, but somewhere on the progression from "meh" to good. The 2.0 liter 4 cylinder in the VWS and Audis is an engine I personally want to avoid, but I am more informed than most car buyers.

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zimbabwes@reddit

Because you get all the typical reliability and higher cost maintenance concerns of a German car without the same prestige as the other German brands

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Mindless_Job3481@reddit

I think they are relatively expensive to maintain and not as durable.

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sitdownheckler@reddit

I loved my 2002 Golf, super fun to drive and could fit a ton of camping or music gear in it. I paid like 6500 for it in 2008 and it's still running, it's my sisters backup vehicle. I had to replace the oil pan after I hit a rock that fell off a truck, but other than that it was super low maintenance. Did it have some quirks, sure, the power window buttons were very finicky and if you didn't cut the rubber valves in the door, rain water might come into the car from the sunroof. It was easily my second favorite car after my Honda Element and I've had much more fancy and expensive cars

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grumpyoldman10@reddit

I used to own a 2015 Passat. Really liked that I could get the diesel engine with a manual transmission in a regular sedan. Easily got over 50 miles to the gallon. With that said, they really screwed the pooch on the whole diesel gate thing. I always found it a little bit hard to drive because if I let the speed drop below idle, even just a little bit, it defueled the engine and shut off. But the biggest thing was expensive repair bills. They had a lot of issues with high-pressure oil pumps that cost something like $5000 to repair.

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Available_Bus3602@reddit

Three year dependability rankings has had them in bottom five for 25 years

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dufcho14@reddit

VW focuses on smaller vehicles. The US market heavily favors large SUVs, pickups, and large engine cars. 20% of the US market is pickup trucks which VW doesn't offer. Toyota, Hyundai, Honda, and others are more reliable in the US for the same or lower price.

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Katyw1008@reddit

Kinda B's that they don't sell the amarok in the states.

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dufcho14@reddit

VW would need to open manufacturing in the US for it to avoid the 25% tariff (originating in 1963; not recent). It also doesn't mean US safety or emission standards.

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Katyw1008@reddit

And in case you forget they have a plant in Chattanooga

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dufcho14@reddit

Which they build trucks at? They'd need to drop production of other vehicles or expand. They're not set up for it. That's the point.

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Katyw1008@reddit

They would have to retool and add a shift. They are on a two shift scheduled currently running at less than 90% capacity for the vehicles they built. The retooling would not be difficult. Volkswagen simply does not think they would make money selling the amarok in the United States which is probably true because truck buyers are a weird breed. The Tacoma and frontier got any long time ago. If they were to try to bring them here now after not having sold them in the United States before they wouldn't sell. It's a matter of market demand not that Volkswagen can't do it. Even on the two shifts they still have capacity for $1,100 more vehicles a month which if they could sell that many amarocks they would probably do it in a heartbeat.

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Katyw1008@reddit

However it's a Ford ranger vw basically just throws a body onto a bare chassis. It would be easy for them to do it here in the us they just don't feel it would be profitable

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SecretDragonfly6343@reddit

What do you think of the 2018-24 Tiguan as a family SUV? Is its downside just the maintenance costs? It seems like there are a lot on the used market right now, so maybe they have some aspect that makes drivers not want to keep them. I was at the dealer recently, shopping used, and my salesperson and his manager kept pulling them up despite me expressing that I wasn’t interested.

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dufcho14@reddit

I have no opinion of it. Why would you randomly pick me to ask this to?

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SecretDragonfly6343@reddit

You seemed to have some thoughts on US market preferences for cars that size

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dufcho14@reddit

I'm not sure how that translates into an opinion on one specific vehicle for an 8 year people in the past. I have no opinion or knowledge on specific vehicles that matter.

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Hot_Storm3252@reddit

No hybrids and shit fuel economy doesn’t help VW either

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scoopny@reddit

My Jetta is listed at 40 MPG highway and regularly gets 45+.

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Hot_Storm3252@reddit

That may be, but I recall reading an article their corporate average fleet economy is atrocious. I believe BMW beats them. VW is hoping to manipulate it with the ID.buzz, and another possible electric vehicles in the future. Whoever is in charge of the NA division needs to be fired. Americans want hybrids. Americans want good fuel economy, top safety pick awards, affordable, and reliable. It’s the reason the Camry and rav4 are dominating the market. Neither have any real competition.

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Gian_Doe@reddit

> Americans want hybrids. > Americans want good fuel economy I'm guessing you live in California. Judging by all the massive trucks and SUVs I see daily, Americans don't give a flying fuck about MPG. In fairness I do see Teslas all the time too, but seeing another type of electric car is rare.

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Gian_Doe@reddit

> Americans want hybrids. > Americans want good fuel economy I'm guessing you live in California, because that's woefully out of touch with reality.

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Havilend@reddit

I really think that it just boils down to reliability and avaliable models here. Not so much the idea that Toyota is cheaper. That hasn't been true for at least 15 years at this point. Both the Rav4 and Camry are more expensive than the VW equivalents. Also, I do kinda doubt the fuel economy as a motivation. I don't think all the huge SUVs and Trucks point to Americans choosing their vehicles with much thought to MPG.

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scoopny@reddit

Yeah I know nothing about their other cars.

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friendIdiglove@reddit

VW was also quite late to introduce *any* SUV-shaped vehicles. While demand for crossovers from other brands was positively exploding, VW was like, whatever...

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Bob-Roman@reddit

We like to live large; big car, big HP, and big rims and tires. Most VW are small. Want a GTI 4-banger or Charger with V-8.

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LazyAssLeader@reddit

VW made a deliberate decision to drive up-market in the 90's, and traded marketshare for 💵.

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Glum-Welder1704@reddit

My niece had a Jetta for a while. One day it over heated, I had no clue, so off to a mechanic. Turns out VW put a plastic impeller (like a fan) in the water pump. It disintegrated, and left her stranded. I figure it must have saved VW a buck or two, and cost my niece hundreds. As is said, "if you can't afford a new German car, you most certainly can't afford a used German car".

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LazyAssLeader@reddit

They are not the only ones doing it. Maybe modern engines across all OEMs have known failure points due to "optimization". It's just very few of us own enough cars of the same generation to see the big picture.

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Fargraven2@reddit

The plastic water pump is notorious, I had to change mine last summer to an aftermarket aluminum one. I changed it myself, is a big job. Huge PITA Still love my VW though. We’re masochists haha

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LomentMomentum@reddit

Ask any domestic automaker from the 1970s on: when you let your reputation go to shit, and people have regrets making the second most expensive purchase they’ll ever make with you, you never fully recover.

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supern8ural@reddit

They've had a bad rap for decades and I don't know why. I miss the days when I could pick up an '80s VW for under $1k, do some minor repairs on it, and drive it for 50k trouble free miles or so. That bad rap worked in my favor :)

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UIUC_grad_dude1@reddit

I know why. VW interiors are crap and they are expensive to own.

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supern8ural@reddit

That wasn't my experience though. The seats were the most comfortable of any car I've owned save for Porsche and they were very inexpensive to run.

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UIUC_grad_dude1@reddit

I’ve had super comfortable seats in may brands, driving for days at a time. Comfortable seats are not that hard.

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supern8ural@reddit

It would seem that all-day-comfortable seats \*are\* difficult, as American brands seem to be incapable of making them. I had no problem with VW ergonomics and in general I find German cars to be the most ergonomic, with BMW having the most little niggles. Of course, I'm ethnically mostly German so maybe somehow in my DNA I'm predisposed to like them...

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TeamDisrespect@reddit

80’s VWs were simple and cheap/easy to fix. So you could buy a beater, fix it, and drive it for years with minimal issue. Later model VWs are complicated and expensive to fix. My last (final) VW was a CC that grenaded at 7 years old and 122,000 miles. Timing chain tensioner. New engine needed that cost more than the car was worth.

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supern8ural@reddit

That's a shame, my newest was a 2002 that I still own. I remember well showing my ex that I could do an oil change entirely from the top of any of my A1 or A2 chassis VWs save for loosening the drain plug itself, and i didnt even need a jack or ramps. After I was pitching about burning my arm doing the same job on her Sentra...

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reddit_pug@reddit

I had a college professor that also worked as a consultant on lean manufacturing and quality for multiple automakers. He said Volkswagen could never seem to get quality nailed down.

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supern8ural@reddit

I did prefer the German built cars, but my mom drove a Westmoreland built Golf for something like 20 years. I still have a Brazil built Mk4 GTI.

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FwenchFwies_911@reddit

I always wanted a golf. Heard they were zippy and fun

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supern8ural@reddit

they are nice to drive. The main reason \*to\* buy a VW is that they handle well, and at least back in the 80s their engines were nice and torquey compared to their competition (mainly Honda) making them feel quicker in everyday driving. Now in Honda's defense they had much more sophisticated rear suspensions; VW was still using a twist beam axle which worked fine but Honda definitely was superior here. but if you daily drove a Civic or Integra you'd have to wring it out to keep up with a VW who wasn't really trying.

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I_AM_AN_ASSHOLE_AMA@reddit

Drop in quality, reliability, oh, and the giant Dieselgate scandal.

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ARottenPear@reddit

Dieselgate had nothing to do with their perceived reliability though, just their honesty.

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keithrc@reddit

"Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"

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Dr_Lebron@reddit

Could be the whole diesel engine fraud they pulled a decade or so ago.

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supern8ural@reddit

They had a bad rap long before that, i was buying used VWs cheap in the 90s

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SignificantTransient@reddit

Everyone forgot the sludge problem

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Orcapa@reddit

Quality went way downhill in the mid to late 90s.

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motorboather@reddit

They’re more expensive to maintain and repair than Japanese vehicles that are more reliable. End of story

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Kaiser-Sushi@reddit

Quality issues. I had a '98 Jetta, and all the windows had that damn plastic tab break, the one that holds the windows up. I replaced the driver one, obviously, but just had the mechanic block up the others so they wouldn't roll down. Never buying a VW again.

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floatyfloatwood@reddit

I wanted to love my 2012 Jetta. It was annoying when I had a headlight go out every 3 months. Really annoying when my windows stopped wanting to go up and down. Then finally it became a death trap when my windshield wipers stopped working in downpour with my baby in the back.

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REITlol@reddit

Repairs are more expensive in the US. Their reputation is poorer than Toyota and Honda. Dieselgate. After warranty ends it’s still a European used car with more expensive repairs and parts than a Japanese or American one. Pretty straightforward, actually.

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Ch4rlie_G@reddit

And soooo many one time use bolts. Now there are sites like fcpeuro and shopdap that have hunted down the parts suppliers for VW and sell the original parts without the logos on them. Just the parts for remanufacturing a head on a 2.0l turbo are more than 3 grand from VW and about a grand on those sites for the same part. It’s crazy.

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Jswazy@reddit

Too expensive

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bigjimnm@reddit

I have a 2019 VW Golf GTI and love it. It's been the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned, and I've owned a Toyota in the past. It's got 130,000 miles (>200,000km), too. I would definitely get another one.

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Agreeable_Blood_4957@reddit

Cuz they don’t make trucks lol

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Electrical-Reason-97@reddit

Any imported car has to meet more stringent US safety and emissions standards. So every vehicle imported had to be re-engineered in some cases to meet those requirements. For example, EU Volkswagen’s are often lower by about a half inch than they are in the US. Heightening spring weight is not complicated but if other mods are not made to, let’s say anti-sway bars etc, it can cause problems later on. I’ve had 30 Volkswagen and Audi products. The last three AUDI‘s I had I drove to about 180 to 190 K without major problems. No heads ever came off, no transmission work, no leaky sunroofs, no timing belts or chains broke, no alternators or compressors replaced etc. My first A3 did eat up wheel bearings having to replace four at about 100,000 miles. I replaced one window regulator out of all 30 vehicles, and had to have another A3 cleaned due to carbon buildup. These cars are meant to be driven fast and hot. If not, they don’t perform as well.

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Moonsquirrel89@reddit

They’re much better made now but the damage has been done to their image. They made too many unreliable cars in years past. Affordable cars that are unreliable is antithetical idea.

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Csharp27@reddit

My brother had a 2012 CC that was slick as hell when he got it, but he couldn’t afford more than basic maintenance and by the time he got rid of it the entire transmission was failing, pieces were falling off left and right, nothing worked, and it just had to be scrapped. Meanwhile my ‘04 Lexus has been fucking crushing life for 22 years with basic maintenance and a new timing belt.

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Glittering_Bar_9497@reddit

At 150,000 miles my brothers Jetta is lit up like a Christmas tree and drives horribly. I remember 60,000 miles ago it drove like a luxury car(he has the sport model). He is over the expensive repairs and constant maintenance granted he didn’t take great care of it, but probably did way more than I did with my Nissan Sentra that made it to 187k miles with half the drama.

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MostlyBrine@reddit

VW had a very good reputation from late 1950s until early 2000s. The quality went down a lot due to brazilian supplied components and mexican assembly. At the same time Honda, Toyota and Subaru became better and cheaper than VW and Audi. To quote a Canadian friend who had a Golf 4 with a bad engine at 50,000km: “you pay good american money for complicated german engineering and cheap south american crap”.

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Ok-Situation-9199@reddit

Huge VW fan after 5 beetles! Bastards grabbed our 2010 diesel Touraeg with 98,000 miles for dieselgate. Had the first bright red Golf R in the southeast - no problems. Drive a Really nice VW SUV now - new Bentayga.

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mrsockburgler@reddit

They are expensive AND over engineered.

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aloofman75@reddit

Several reasons: - Parts, service, and labor all tend to be more expensive compared to similar cars their classes. - The cars VW sells here are not the same as the ones they sell in Europe and are often of poorer quality. Almost no one here puts them in the same quality tier as Toyota or Honda. So in many cases, you’re paying premium prices for non-premium cars. - The diesel emissions scandal several years ago severely damaged the brand here. Many previously loyal VW owners never went back. And many who might have considered a VW for the next car didn’t buy one.

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Hot_Storm3252@reddit

Never met anyone that cared about the diesel fiasco when it occurred other than when dealers flashed the ecu without customers permission, which resulted in less MPG. 100% understand it was probably mandated by the EPa for VW dealers to flash all the ecus upon service

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keithrc@reddit

You might not know anyone who cared, but believe me: a lot of people cared.

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Scoot_AG@reddit

How do you know? I'm not trying to be a dick - I've spent a long time upset that they pulled this shit and no one seemed to care; I'd like a bit of closure

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UIUC_grad_dude1@reddit

After diesel gate, I saw a buddy’s VW become worthless overnight. Decided would never buy a VW ever.

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keithrc@reddit

I used to be in the business, and I still follow Automotive News. In the period following dieselgate, VW's sales were off like 25% (in the US). They did some market research around it and dieselgate was the #1 reason for buyers moving from the category of "would consider a VW" to "won't consider a VW."

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Prestigious_Tiger_26@reddit

ChatGPT answer

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Aaarrrgghh1@reddit

I’ve had 2 cars. 2015 diesel Passat. 2019 Tiguan So far I’ve been happy. I do all the maintenance Yes it’s more expensive than a ford or Chevy for repairs however I’ve had to do less repairs on my cars than on a domestic. My dad was like an oil change is 100-200 dollars. I’m like right but I do it once a year.

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DoireK@reddit

I presume this is mainly a US sub. You guys don’t really like diesel all that much for cars, we do because we pay a lot more for fuel and diesel engines provide much better mileage. Also the VW 1.9 tdi engine was genuinely one of the best engines ever made. The 2.0 tdi that replaced it had some early year troubles while they worked out how to implement a dpf but once they did that has been brilliant as well up until recent times when emissions got super strict and they had to add in adblue to meet regs but even with that its still a good engine, just adblue issues can pop up. However aside from that both their 1.4/1.5tsi engines and 2.0 tsi petrol engines are very good in terms of performance and efficiency but both had early year troubles as well which dented theor reputation. Being turbo engines though they aren’t going to be as reliable as Japanese naturally aspirated engines. If I wanted to buy a car just to be a tool personally I would buy a Toyota or Mazda 2.0 petrol engine. But they don’t have the low to mid range torque that Europeans are used to and want from their vehicles as our roads are completely different from the US which makes torquey engines more desirable.

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WorkerEquivalent4278@reddit

We can’t even get any Japanese diesels here. I don’t think we ever will apart from big trucks with Nissan diesel engines.

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DoireK@reddit

You aren’t missing out on much.

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WorkerEquivalent4278@reddit

Honda Accord or Toyota Corolla diesels are crap? I didn't see many when I lived in Ireland, driving my 2006 Golf TDI that I really loved.

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DoireK@reddit

Toyota recently aren’t great. The old stuff up to about 2010 were really good engines. Honda diesels were generally excellent other than the odd timing chain issue but they didn’t bother making them anymore once EU regs got really strict.

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throwmethefrisbee@reddit

The problem is that as nice as the 2.0tsi engine was to drive, things attached to that engine failed and were expensive to fix, and it was across close to a decade that those problems happened. I had a 2012 Audi A4 with that engine. Water pump at 50k, two years later the class action settles and the settlement company gives a complete runaround and I never got reimbursed. Mass air flow sensors died. Finally, you know that great timing chain that means you don’t need to replace timing belts? Well, it doesn’t break, but the tensioner does. That was the last time I saw my A4. The extended warranty settlement meant they would have paid 10% of the cost to replace the engine.

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DoireK@reddit

2012 was very much the early years I was talking about. It didn’t have most of the problems sorted out until about 2015.

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throwmethefrisbee@reddit

That engine had been in use since 2008. The timing chain settlement covered through some 2014 cars. The water pump problems were up through 2015s or so and there has been another class action settlement on them for the water pump that replaced that one. The problem is that that engine was in almost every VW and all the small and midsize Audis.

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DoireK@reddit

Again, it isn’t as big of an issue in Europe as anyone who had them over here tended to have them in a gti, R, s3 etc so tended to be enthusiasts and knew when to change them. Normal people would have driven either the smaller tsi engine or more likely a tdi. It’s not really until quite recently there has been a decent amount of the standard 190bhp tune version of the engine in regular cars since diesels have become too complicated and by that stage they had the ea888 more or less sorted and any issues remaining mechanics over here are well aware of them.

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friendIdiglove@reddit

Diesel shines in towing, trucking, and other heavy duty applications, where their efficiency at sustained high loads really is much better. For light duty and performance vehicles though? Considering the cost difference between fuels, normal passenger cars cost pretty much the same to run, or less for hybrids. The fuel evaporates if you spill a few drops, it burns clean in modern cars, and it (almost) always stars no matter how cold it gets. Diesel on the other hand? Frankly, it sucks. The fuel smells nasty, it's oily and doesn't evaporate, the pump handles and the ground around the pumps are always dirty, you gotta preheat the glow plugs and worry about having the right fuel in winter or it won't run. And now there's DEF which is required to *still* not burn as clean and odor-free as gasoline. The juice isn't worth the squeeze.

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DoireK@reddit

Yeah that’s all fine. But you are ignoring why Europeans like diesel. For a lot, diesel is cheaper at the pumps and you get more mpg. And as I said, our roads benefit from the low down torque. Much easier to overtake someone on a winding country road when you eventually get a long enough straight. A Toyota hybrid for example lacks that same punch compared to a VW 2.0 tdi. I was just highlighting why Europeans buy diesel and how diesel historically was what VW excelled at creating engines for. So that same level of popularity never translated across the Atlantic.

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keithrc@reddit

I could put up with the inconvenience of diesel fueling, but in the US it's really about the ROI: a diesel costs more, the fuel costs more, and the increased fuel economy and engine durability just don't math out those higher costs.

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apoleonastool@reddit

I owned all types of cars: turbo diesel, hybrid, electric, regular gas. Turbo diesel in a passenger car has some benefits: extremely low fuel consumption on the highway, you can get +40mpg from a 180 hp engine doing 90mph (also in many European countries diesel is cheaper than gasoline), lots of torque so passing is a breeze, you can do 600 miles on a single tank, no need to rev it high to get going, many people like this characteristic.

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74orangebeetle@reddit

I know fuel prices vary... But in my state in the U.S., diesel is a good bit more expensive than gasoline... Maybe 25% it so (again prices vary) but it kind of negates the fuel efficiency advantage here.

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that_dutch_dude@reddit

The comparion is irrelevant between petrol or diesel when its 10 bucks a gallon by comparison.

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DoireK@reddit

Yeah that’s my point. In Europe it is around the same as petrol. Less than 10% more expensive. If we had petrol as cheap as the US we’d be driving more performance orientated cars.

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Icy_Site_7390@reddit

People are tired of lousy reliability in cars VW and next is Nissan. No question why sakes are down for Ford and in a few years GM will be looking for Govt handouts

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PugDriver@reddit

Still miss my 2016 GTI

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BeepoZbuttbanger@reddit

My son bought a used CC against my very strong advice. It was a money pit almost from the start and he spent the last two years making payments on a car that wouldn’t run because it needed a new engine. It was a good-looking driveway ornament, though.

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Hersbird@reddit

Overpriced, unreliable. Might as well buy a Hyundai and get more features for less price and a longer warranty.

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Delicious-Ear8277@reddit

I am in an Audi Q7 now and love it. I had a 2000 Passat and it had problems with seals. I had coolant in the oil and VW said it is no big deal. Sold it and never looked back. The Q7 is a 2019 and it is much better than that 2000 Passat. I did buy the extended warranty due to known issues and i have a good friend who works on all German cars. Find a mechanic and try to barter if you can. I do HVAC stuff and he needs a new indoor coil. I am helping him out.

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OkCartographer175@reddit

American cars were/are popular in America because they're American Japanese cars were/are popular in America because they were good quality and fuel-efficient at a time when American cars were not (late 70s, early 80s) German cars just haven't done anything in America that American or Japanese cars haven't.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Germans have the corner on luxury cars and have since the 90s

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WeinerBarf420@reddit

The people in america wealthy enough to buy luxury cars are old people who still think Cadillac is the peak of luxury

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that_guy_who_@reddit

The swaths of BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, (and Land Rover, etc) by me say otherwise.

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Intelligent-Tiger289@reddit

Most of the BMWs I see in the USA A are assembled in Spartanburg, SOUTH CAROLINA

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that_guy_who_@reddit

And a lot of Toyotas are built in the USA too.

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WeinerBarf420@reddit

Cadillac was outsold by BMW and Volkswagen but outsold the others by units sold

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Cadillac sold half of what Mercedes and bmw did. They barely sold double what Porsche did which is a caliber much higher. It BARELY outsold just Audi which has been in a sales slump. **USA 280,383** Cadillac 173,515 Lincoln 106,868 **Japan - 556,539** Lexus 370,260 Acura 133,433 Infiniti 52,846 **Germany - 933,258** BMW 388,897 Mercedes 303,200 Audi 164,942 Porsche 76,219

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OkCartographer175@reddit

A foothold, sure, but not a corner.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Take a look at cars sold in the USA vs the competition. USA 280,383 Cadillac 173,515 Lincoln 106,868 Japan - 556,539 Lexus 370,260 Acura 133,433 Infiniti 52,846 Germany - 933,258 BMW 388,897 Mercedes 303,200 Audi 164,942 Porsche 76,219

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OkCartographer175@reddit

That's a lot more than I would have guessed. Thank you for sharing. For what it's worth, not every model by each of these brands (except Porsche) is a luxury vehicle. Like how many of these Mercedes sales were their Sprinter vans being sold as fleet vehicles, you know?

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Mercedes sold more GLE/GLC/GLS SUVs than Cadillac sold cars period. Cadillac weirdly sold almost as many EVs as Escalades. They only sold 49k vans out of the 374k units. So, excluding Sprinters still outsold Cadillac 2:1

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OkCartographer175@reddit

Right on. Coming full circle then, "Why isn’t Volkswagen more popular in the U.S.?"

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xangkory@reddit

Their one attempt at a luxury car didn’t go well and they basically ended up going with the Japanese model of having Volkswagen as their mainstream brand and Audi as their luxury offering. And they don’t have compelling mainstream offerings. Just look at the ID Buzz, the electric bus. It starts at $60k. The market for that sort of thing is nearly nonexistent.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

The demographic who generally buys in that price segment in the US want neglect tolerant cars and Toyota/Honda generally has files that gap since the 90s. I do question with recent troubles they’ve had if that tone changes in the future. Also Korean cars are really punching into that space. I see a lot of Kia Karnivals displacing Toyota Sienna buyers. Japanese brands imo have been resting on a long earned reputation but have really driven up costs recently, had some pretty bad failures on new drivetrains, and aren’t keeping up with interior features like others.

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

Ford really needs to be putting more effort into Lincoln they should not be selling worst than Acura. Cadillac after 20+ years finally has shed their car for old people image for the most part and has really come into their own when it comes to BEVs. If they play their cards right I think they could become the top Luxury brand in the US again. But you are right Mercedes and BMW are the gold standard for luxury vehicles in the US and the world which is why so many countries choose them for their official state vehicle.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

As a buyer in the segment I really wanted to buy a CT5V Blackwing but what kills me is the GM cheapness in places it shouldn’t be in a 120k+ car. Drives great, looks great but that GM plastic where I can touch/see it daily would drive me insane. If they fix that I think they could change minds. Lincoln imo lost their way long ago and just lost mindshare. I also know a Navigator owner who had a ton of issues so went Alpina and has zero regrets.

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

A lot of carbon fiber and nice metal too though in the interior but yeah still some classic GM cost cutting like with the buttons and switches. Something I personally wouldn’t care about but if you are used to the quality found in a top class Mercedes I understand the hesitation. With the BEVs they seem to be slowly moving away from that trying to create space to make more room for mid luxury brands like Buick and GMC.

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Disastrous-Group3390@reddit

Lexus would disagree with you.

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that_guy_who_@reddit

Lexus sold less cars than just BMW alone in the USA. Acura sold 1/3 of that.

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Intelligent_Part101@reddit

The question is: Why does almost nobody own a VW in America? Why did they lose the marketshare they had? I think you would have to lay that at the feet of VW management.

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ifulbd@reddit

I want another Volkswagen Fox. True, the interior plastic bits were flimsy, but the manual transmission was bulletproof.

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Less_Improvement8583@reddit

Euro cars need a lot of extra for the care... Repair is too expensive

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Michael4593@reddit

Parts are expensive. I had a 2013 Passat. Brakes cost more on my VW than my buddy’s Acura RDX both at dealership pricing. At least for modern VWs there isn’t much work you can do without a scan tool. In order to replace a battery you need a scan tool that will tell the BMS system the serial number of the new battery and reset the BMS system. Electric parking brake you should use a scan tool to retract to do a brake job but that’s nearly all cars now.

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ratchet_thunderstud0@reddit

Dieselgate.

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WorkerAmbitious2072@reddit

They aren’t that great and aren’t cheap

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Savilly@reddit

You mention maintenance several times. They are way more expensive to maintain than other cars. They also keep screwing up and have been caught lying about MPG and stuff.

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neomateo@reddit

Americans treat their cars like shit, that is why.

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Aquamansuckss@reddit

World War Two

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NeverEnoughSunlight@reddit

Another issue is VW slots their brand in the same market segment as Honda & Toyota. You can neglect oil changes on the latter for some time and the cars will still run. VWs are Euro cars and don't function like that in the least. Accordingly, many neglected ones end up on the market here for very little money.

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Mayor_of_BBQ@reddit

my ex wife bought a new 2001 Jetta off the lot and it was an absolute nightmare… she ended up trading for a 2003 Passat a couple years later and it was a POS too… I swore off VW for life. It’s a shame because i really like their wagons

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luecack@reddit

Never had an issue with any of mine. I maintained them well though. My issue is that I feel they cheapened the build quality and I outgrew the them GTI’s and two kids)

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kd0g1982@reddit

I see VWs all over the country, I’d say they’re fairly popular.

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ottrocity@reddit

I want a GTI. I worked on a friend's GTI years ago, and I needed to buy like 5 specialty bits just to change the brakes. An hour-long brake job became a 2-day ordeal. Kinda soured them for me.

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TrueEnthusiasm8242@reddit

I would never buy one because of dieselgate. If they are actually going to screw with customers like that, I’m staying away

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One-Lynx4519@reddit

Biggest piece of crap I ever owned

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steveoa3d@reddit

Reliability, cost of ownership, cost of repairs. I was a watercooled V-Dub guy in the late 80s owning multiple Rabbits, a Scirocco and a Cabriolet. The best ones were the 78 Rabbit and the Cabriolet both made in Germany. As soon as they started making cars in Mexico the quality went way down. The repairs started coming at 85K and never stopped. Dumped VW for Honda and Toyota. Fast forward to 2012 and my girlfriend at the time got a VW Tiguan and it was a nightmare. If you want a new car all the time then lease a VW and give it back to them before the repairs start..

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Limp-Plantain3824@reddit

Electrical systems.

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Knifehead27@reddit

I have the feeling that they've fallen off, globally, since the early 2010s.

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kvsig@reddit

they are reliable, if you maintain them properly. I had 4 passats over 20 years, and put at least 175K miles on each, and I never had an issue with them.

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ct4funf@reddit

There are better options. I wanted to buy a T-roc but you can get one in the states, only Europe

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sblack33741@reddit

Their electrical systems are shit.

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keithrc@reddit

My wife's Jetta had an electrical gremlin rhat the dealer could never find. But she loved that car. Fortunately for me, some jackass wrecked it out from under her and I could stop spending money on it.

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sblack33741@reddit

My sister-in-law had a Jetta whose window would get stuck down, and they could not figure out why as well.

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Kickstart68@reddit

Wiring that isn't really up to the job. Neighbour had an Audi where the tail light stopped working. I looked at it and found the earth had burnt out. Cable was very thin and only for low ampage, and suspect it had failed when everything was on (eg, someone sitting on the brakes, turning right, with the fog light on - which is probably at least 5 amp draw)

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NowExciting@reddit

Because they aren't made well and don't last

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Lumpy-Significance50@reddit

Friends in the bmw club in the 1990s owned bmws and friends had vws. In the us, parts for vw cost more than bmw parts, they found.

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Used-Chard658@reddit

\>A lot of people say they can be very reliable if you stay on top of maintenance. People say this about every unreliable car. I have a VW with the 2.5 5 cylinder. Its fine and hasn't let me down yet but it does have some weird design quirks. Meaning you kind of have to know what you're doing. Driving up maintenance and repair costs. There was also a long stretch where the automatic transmissions were junk at 100,000 miles and we buy autos here wile expecting to get 200,000 miles out of our cars.

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Zealousideal-Term-89@reddit

Bought one of the first Atlas’s. Never had a car with more issues in my 40 years of driving. All covered under warranty. Sold as soon as warranty neared expiration. Repair that pissed me off the most was the cracked plastic seats after three years. I should have known better, but the salesman and literature indicated this new plastic was superior. I’m now either a fabric or leather person, no plastic. And no VW.

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Donutordonot@reddit

I drive a vw golf tdi. It’s 12 years old and runs like a champ. Solid diesel, no dtf required. Get great mileage. Would buy a new one but diesels have massively fallen out of favor in the personal vehicle market.

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pastrythug@reddit

VW mechanics are a special breed.

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EffectiveRelief9904@reddit

They are popular amongst the tuner crowd. I like them. I think the epa seriously put a damper on them with that whole smog defeat thing

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EastRoom8717@reddit

Because it’s the Volkswagen of the USA.

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sjm845@reddit

After they went water cooled they were no longer unique and simple to work on making them no different from cheaper japanese cars. I replaced an engine on the side of an interstate in my 71 camper. I built all the engines in my VWs. Back in the 1900s you could buy a 72 Beetle for $900 brand new. My cars were 67 Beetle $700, 74 Beetle $Free, 71 Camper, cost 74 Beetle a Chicken Parm hero and a 1/2 case of beer, 65 Van $1100, 71 Karmann Ghia $650, 74 914 $1200, 86 Scirocco $1500. Gas was under $1,00 Rent was $275 a month. Electricity was $25-$30 a month Phone was $20 a month. Life was good...

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Kickstart68@reddit

Possibly part of the difference between Europe and USA for this is how long it takes to change a reputation, with that reputation being often divorced from the reality of the car. VW quality went down hill 30+ years ago (BMW and Mercedes also went down hill in different ways 25~35 years ago), but in Europe their reputation managed to survive this. When their reputation eventually suffers it will take decades to recover (look at Alfa and jokes about rust based on 40+ year old cars)

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Lumberjax1@reddit

Parts, Repairs, the whole "had to kick their collective ass twice and put them back in their box" thing is also part of it.

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Fuzzy_Club_1759@reddit

Because of all the issues ..

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set-monkey@reddit

Once you have a Toyota, you're spoiled.

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MusicalMerlin1973@reddit

I had a 2001 passat with the 1.8T. Bought it new. Loved it, got great gas mileage. It didn't like cold weather. I didn't find out the first winter I owned it. Oil passing the rings in 0-5 degrees F. Pretty disconcerting seeing blue smoke billowing out the exhaust pipe. Not right away, took 5-10 minutes driving moderately through town first thing in the morning. They either didn't know what the issue was or didn't want to fix it. First time I had it towed. They coudn't reproduce it. Second time I drove the car straight to the stealership, left it running, went in and got a service advisor. They saw the evidence. Still couldn't/wouldn't figure it out. You're damned skippy I traded that sucker in the next spring. More recently that whole scamming the emissions test has left VW in the permanent no bucket.

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akhimovy@reddit

For a European perspective, Eastern at that. I have a nearly 25 y.o. Seat so it's also Volkswagen Auto Group. The thing survived a period of bad neglect and I managed to bring it back to shape at a cost for which I wouldn't buy anything else. Parts are interchangeable between different models so they keep being available and dirt cheap. Like, clutch is falling apart? No biggie, some $180 equivalent and here's a new one. At this point everything works like a clockwork and I think that rust will take the car out before engine failure. Toyotas on the other hand are relatively rare here and they don't seem to have this opinion of supreme reliability that I see on Reddit.

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WiseSubstance783@reddit

Shitty cars

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NeverEverMaybe0_0@reddit

Their interiors can be fragile. Plastic things will break, and I had a doorhandle that just got more and more loose as time went by. But the actual issue is mechanical reliability. Preventive maintenance doesn't have jack shit to do with any of the problems I had. I had an interference fit suspension part that loosened awfully quickly which made the car feel like it was floating while driving. The speedometer cable broke; what cars have speedometer cables break? And it wasn't the actual cable; it was a plastic gear inside the damn transmission and I couldn't just be replaced with another plastic fucking gear. The water pump failed, which blew the head gasket before any indication showed. The brake master cylinder failed, the replacement was pretty easy, but it was a really cheap plastic assembly again. And none of the parts are cheap.

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madstonk@reddit

My friend has an Atlas and it's a piece of junk.

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WittyNameChecksOut@reddit

I drive a 2019 Atlas V6 with almost 120k, and it has been bulletproof.

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viole_8@reddit

that's not impressive mileage though

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MattWolf96@reddit

I work in the parts industry. Parts are expensive, almost always have to be shipped in, rarely have third party options and also just aren't available a lot of the time requiring you to go to the dealer. I'd imagine that a lot of this is due to them not being popular though. Working on them is a nightmare, they are over engineered. Maybe the German built ones are better but a lot of ours came from Mexico and didn't seem to be built well. I knew someone with a 2002 Beetle, by the time this car was 13 with 140,000 on it it was absolute junk, absolutely horrible car. Leaky sun roof, the heater didn't work because for some asinine reason VW drilled holes in the blend door and put foam over them which rotted away, the transmission shifted very rough, the engine stalled with the MAF sensor plugged in even after it was replaced, it had tons of electrical problems. I've known people with older and more high milage Hondas (one even reached 400,000) wanna know how many problems they had? Zero. I also knew someone with a Mazda which outlasted the Beetle, the only part it ever needed replaced (apart from obvious stuff like belts) was a brake master cylinder. Maybe the diesel ones are better but a lot of those problems weren't even related to the gas engine. They are expensive compared to other brands in the US. I like their looks but I honestly don't think they look that much better than Honda's which are cheaper and more reliable in my experience.

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badtux99@reddit

Expensive to buy, parts are expensive and hard to find for older models.

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Ultrabananna@reddit

Parts. Maintenance? Older Toyotas just need oil changes what maintenance? The last time I worked on a VW. The bumper radiator etc had to come off to access the starter motor.

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schmuckmulligan@reddit

Yeah, I have an older RAV4 that I drive rarely. It's basically worthless, and I'm perpetually on the fence about whether I should get rid of it so that there's no shitbox sitting in front of my house. Oil gets changed once a year when it goes in for a safety inspection, and that's really it. I can't kill it. It laughs at my neglect and starts every time.

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Ultrabananna@reddit

Hahaha my friends Lexus lived till 4xx,xxx miles. He gave up on it when the fuel lines were so old they were dry and cracking. It was a 2001 he kept it for 20+ years. The thing still started every damn time and never failed.

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that_dutch_dude@reddit

Too small for the tiny penises Freedom-Man

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PPVSteve@reddit

Germans ideas of maintinance and an Americans idea of maintinance are two entirely different things.

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papayafighter@reddit

Boring cars really. Me and my wife were just talking about this earlier. I get more excited for a Ford Fusion than a VW

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Quaiche@reddit

Americans can’t follow maintenance intervals. When an American sees the car telling you it needs a service within the 30 days, they will ignore it for an entire year and some more and then be completely surprised that the German car designed to function with an engine full of oil doesn’t work anymore. The Japaneses are apparently designing cars with this type of abuse in the mind whereas the German cars you need the follow the maintenance intervals because who in their right mind wouldn’t just service their car when your dashboard tells you to ?

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H0SS_AGAINST@reddit

Honda prices, Chevy reliability

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jonathaz@reddit

I bought one once, never will again. The windows that fall into the door because the clips are made of plastic was probably the most egregious of the many issues it had. They were so brittle you could break into a VW with a suction cup.

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Fine-Huckleberry4165@reddit

Toyota is the Toyota of Europe. VW is seen as nearly as reliable, but slightly more premium, less dull. The Skoda brand is probably closer to Toyota in image terms than VW (and they tend to be slightly more reliable than VWs).

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Cars_Bars@reddit

Because for the price point you can get a better deal. Audi and BMW in the US are largely known for being bank cleaners. My buddies Mercedes C300 quit reading the fob one day, $3500... the ECU apparently corrupted its self out of warranty of course.. while rare it happens, and likely to you. You get the shit end of the stick.

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QuasimodoPredicted@reddit

People hate on Elon, maybe they started hating on Hitler, especially after dieselgate and how VW is far from reliable nowadays.

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OopsItsMikaela@reddit

Nonstop electrical problems lol

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groshreez@reddit

I like sporty coupes and VW doesn't make any, so I have a BMW. I also don't like 4 cylinders, front wheel drive or all wheel drive so I could never consider the GTI or Golf R.

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ExcellentWinner7542@reddit

VW just doesn't have much to offer in the US.

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Chessdaddy_@reddit

The diesel thing was bad for reputation, and German cars aren’t known as reliable, people buy Audis for fun fast cars which regular vw’s are not

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OddCombination123@reddit

Because it's still an unreliable, overpriced brand.

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FettesBrot@reddit

Simply put - Dieselgate, wildly cheapening the quality of the products (ex material), expensive repairs, perceived unreliability compared to Toyota/Honda.

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AccomplishedWay6141@reddit

They are ass cheeks. Built like ass. Handle like ass. Ass to repair

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nolo4@reddit

Ive had great experiences with vw golfs 2010, we owned two of them. We now have a 2023 gti and I love it. Dont do non warranty work at the dealer though. Find a privately owned vw / audi specialist. Ive been with the same mechanic for 15 years and its been great. Every experience with the dealer was a nightmare

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Munky1701@reddit

They’re a cunt to work on.

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Emergency_Feeling_75@reddit

2020 Tiguan . Code p0491 . According to the dealer "very common issue on these cars" and "can only be replaced not repaired" the issue. Quoted $8500 for 3 day 20 plus hour job. Getting a second opinion for pricing but damn. That's why they're not popular. Word got around about the class action lawsuit.

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Leverkaas2516@reddit

They're popular enough. They tend toward ho-hum styling, and in my opinion the Jetta and Passat, which I see on the road more than any other VW's, manage to not have much to distinguish them relative to the competition and yet be overcomplicated at the same time. I have a '19 Jetta, bought used from a VW dealer after dieselgate, it seemed like everything on the lot was marked way down just to get people to come in. Have had no big problems but the transmission makes an alarming noise in 5th gear and the service guy (who I know and trust) says it's an artifact of the way it was designed. The manual says not to run the car in neutral too long to prevent overheating.

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whogivesaf_9@reddit

Why aren’t ugly high maintenance, poor resale German economy cars popular? I dunno

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joshisboomin@reddit

Great cars, but higher maintenance costs, more expensive to run and more likely to have something break: water pump/thermostat, PCV valve, carbon buildup, sunroof leaks, wastegate actuators, etc

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Prize-Mail-6769@reddit

How many eights does your W have?

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GoogleK3@reddit

They suck. That's why. Toyotas don't need maintenance to be insanely reliable. A car is as reliable as it's maintenance, of course someone on top of it will have a reliable car. European cars are overcomplicated compared to America, ones as well.

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_redlines@reddit

I’ll put forward a different perspective. 1998 Passat wagon one owner, we took it from 0 to 244,000 miles before we drove it to the yard. 2013 Passat TDI that one got to 123,000 before a 2nd turbo failure (both under warranty) but dieselgate killed that one. 2017 Golf SE, that one is still running w a son in grad school. You have to stay on top of maintenance. If you buy used you are buying ALL the previous owners AND their mechanics as well as the car. Did I spend a lot on maintenance? Likely. But I enjoyed driving them, none of them left me stranded. I’ve had a really good mechanic who knows me and how to repair cars. I have always insisted OEM or better and he lives that mantra too.

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niack1@reddit

Jetta’s are shit cars

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Galromir@reddit

VW is considered one of the most notoriously unreliable brands (not as bad as American cars, but poor by European standards and awful by Japanese or Korean standards.) They also have one of the worst reputations for screwing over customers and ignoring consumer rights.

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

Non Stellantis American brands tend to rank higher than Volkswagen these day with a few exceptions.

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Galromir@reddit

In the US maybe. As an Australian I would never buy an American car (I know the ford ranger is the best selling vehicle here but that’s its own other can of worms.)

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

Well only Ford and Tesla are really there right now right? GM only sells specialty vehicles (“Yank Tanks” and the Corvette) from my understanding. So yeah can only know GM’s quality since Ford’s stuff for Australia is made in Thailand and South Africa from my understanding. While Aussie Tesla’s are built in China.

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Galromir@reddit

I mean I would certainly never buy a Tesla. I’d be reluctant to buy a ford, even if they sold a car worth buying.

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Mac-Tyson@reddit

Why brands do you like? Personally I like American and Japanese brands the most. Never had much interest in European brands though respect them.

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Galromir@reddit

The only brands I’d consider buying from are Mazda, Honda, Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, Hyundai/kia/genesis, and BMW. In practice I’d be most likely to buy from Honda or Mazda.

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woofer2609@reddit

I mean, I used to say my VW Bug was Hitler's revenge on North America.

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DragonfruitInside312@reddit

Cuz they suck

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Bigshitpiper@reddit

Shit cars

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woofer2609@reddit

The electrical systems of the late 80s/ early 90s were pretty bad

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Substantial_Eye_7225@reddit

Toyota in the States is just better in providing what customers want in the price range we are talking about. So does Honda, Hyundai, etc.. A bit more basic and thus more reliable. Typically also better guarantee and cheaper parts. Because all of that they also keep better value which enforces the idea that they are just better cars. Go one step up and Audis and BMWs are actually pretty popular. I am not sure though if VW made a mistake. Point is that US costumers associate European cars with something something extra. VW does not have that. It is a Toyota. Just as bland. In that segment Americans buy an Asian car. Mind you we do not even know about Renault or Peugeot. There is no way to compete in the lower segment. Just because the cars are bad. But if Toyota or Honda is just fine why take a chance on a let’s face it cheaply made European car? All your uncles and friends will think you stupid.

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Some_How_I_Manage@reddit

It is because VWUSA is about as exciting as tepid water. Even Audi has become the milk toast of luxury brands. It used to be, but VW destroyed their image with going direct injected gasoline first and diesel gate. Their DI motors were bad, namely in the 00-10s. like terribly unreliable. That coupled with the extra maintenance and oil burning really hurt the brand. They really haven’t recovered since then. Dieselgate cost them a lot of money which made their offerings pretty limited as far as new things. VW got on the EV wave late and with not great offerings here in the states. Lastly, they have made some very questionable moves to keep up with the US trend of CUVs. Traditionally, VW/Audi were sporty hatchbacks and sedans. Both have given up that ethos here in the states unfortunately.

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klzthe13th@reddit

Because Hondas and Toyotas are cheaper. That's it lol. Cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain. VW is barely any cheaper than Audi's here

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Worldly-Mirror-7593@reddit

Absolutely loved my TDI JEtta until Volkswagon got caught scamming the emissions tests.

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RabidLizard@reddit

honestly i see VWs all the time, i wouldn't really say they're unpopular here at all. that being said, they are more expensive to repair, generally not as reliable as toyota and dieselgate certainly didn't help

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VeeDubBug@reddit

I always thought the hate VW caught for dieselgate was goofy. Meanwhile, GM over there had cars turning into the accessory position due to cheapening out on a part, disengaging basic safety features that resulted in at least one death and a woman being unfairly jailed for it-- but you rarely see that brought up. My Pontiac G5 had some CRAZY recalls. Power steering suddenly going out while driving, the accessory switch, the gas tank developing a suction crack that could also cause it to catch on fire, the airbag wiring getting sliced up by the seat rails.... Or JEEP blaming owners for their Wranglers catching fire. "Well don't take it off road". Bitch what, they're literally advertised to do that. But yeah sure, VW cheating on emissions is enough to taint their reputation on the US market. Had to roll my eyes every time that shit was brought up when I was hunting for a new car. :/

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RabidLizard@reddit

the difference is that I'd say there's a great deal more brand loyalty with jeep and GM buyers in the states. I live in the south and I've known so many guys whose entire families stretching back several generations have only ever bought one type of american-made truck. I also think jeep and GM being american helped soften the blows. obviously that's stupid as hell, but that's what several decades of appealing to american car buyers' patriotism gets you I guess

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fredout1968@reddit

I had VW's for a while. They were engaging to drive and the motors and trannys were solid. That said they rattled like a can with coins in it and the electrical and HVAC problems were non stop.. I switched to Japanese cars and haven't looked back.. They are so much easier to live with...

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ZealousidealCrew1867@reddit

Germany VW just doesn’t care for American VW. Germany doesn’t want to put in the time and effort to win over the American consumer. They continue to miss the market. Discontinuing the manuel transmission in the Golf R and GTI. The extremely expensive I.D. Buzz. The list is endless…..

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DifferenceWestern752@reddit

40 years of electrical problems might have something to do with it

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Confident_Pace4554@reddit

I mean I’m Canadian we have a pretty similar market to the USA. Why would someone waste the same money on Volkswagen when you can get a Honda or Toyota

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garden_t00l@reddit

I bought my kid a used 2000 something VW Passat that needed some work. Personally I have Mercedes and BMW along with American vehicles and I do my own mechanic work as much as I can. I remember I replaced some parts that seemed to wear much more quickly than the German vehicles I was used to. There were also some other weird things that required removing the front bumper and what not. I didn’t find parts price all that much different than other things, but we weren’t going to VW for parts either. The ABS controller was bad and needed replaced by a dealer, which we never did as the price was knocking on the value of the car. It eventually was passed to my second kid and sold shortly after for a profit at the beginning of when used cars began getting stupid the expensive.

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Accomplished-witchMD@reddit

Unpopular opinion I love my TDI Beetle. But I fully admit the maintenance is STUPID expensive at the dealer and finding an independent diesel engine mechanic is a pain. And once you find one they will curse everytime you bring your car in. But shes fun to drive, gets 40mpg (used to get 50mpg before the scandal and "fix"). I dont recommend unless you are in love with the car and have the money.

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VeeDubBug@reddit

My parents love their VWs. Had a 2001 TDI Jetta that was a few miles shy of 200k miles when it was taken out by a wrong way driver. The Passat they had during "dieselgate" was a favorite to replace the Jetta, but they sold it back for more than what they paid for it. They have a couple of CCs now that have needed cosmetic work after one hit a deer and the other a black bear. Both still going strong otherwise. I had a 73 beetle. We had a love/hate relationship. Adored driving it around, but it needed something done to it every single time after it was parked. I miss it, and it's still one of my favorite vehicles. *motions to username* Friend also had a Golf for a while - fun car, just expensive.

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FaithlessnessRich490@reddit

CVTs ruined their reputation.

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Frequent_Cut_1251@reddit

I daily’d a mk7 gti for 7 years. I did maintenance according to the schedule. Replaced the front pads. That’s it. Everything always worked every time. They are well built cars.

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FakeWhiteMan@reddit

My mk7 is about to hit 160k miles and I’ve never had a single issue with it.

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BC999R@reddit

Our Mk 7 non-GTI Golf is 11 years old, zero issues, other than a handful of minor recalls for problems we never had. Original brake pads still. Our Mk 4 is 25 years old now, passed on to one of our kids. It’s had a few problems but has never “broken down” and I think it’s also still on the original front pads although I had to replace the rears at about 35k miles.

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kurai-tsuki@reddit

They're not very competitive. They have some interesting quirks but tend to be average or below average in fuel economy, but then cost more to buy and a LOT more to maintain. (My local dealership prices labor at 200/hr for Honda and 250/hr for VW, for example) What's especially weird is that VWoA doesn't sell any hybrids in the US. I think there's some perception that only Audi gets to have fancy hybrids. The other thing to keep in mind is that in Europe, VW is a premium brand that butts up against the low end of Mercedes and BMW.They are supported by mass market sales with Seat and Skoda, neither of which exists in the states. As a result, VW sits in a weird spot where it's too nice to compete with affordable mass market cars like Toyota or Honda, but not nice enough to go up against BMW. There used to be more brands in that space (like Mercury & Chrysler) but they've all either fallen off or died. The only other company in that space anymore is Buick.

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RustBeltLab@reddit

Perhaps their Nazi past is one reason?

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oldfartjr@reddit

1. Dieselgate 2. The Rabbit was accepted because it was so different. Nothing since then has come even close to the air cooled vibe. It’s just another car

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jemlinus@reddit

I have no brand loyalty. Because they are POS garbage with endless issues. I don’t even know how they can’t get Bluetooth connections right, constantly disconnecting. Seems like VAG cars have constant electronics issues so I probably won't ever buy anymore of these garbage.

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analfarmer2pnt0@reddit

Because they make terrible cars and Lexus, Toyota and Hondas exist.

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R1200@reddit

My 2000 Passat 1.8t was one of my favorite cars of all and I’m not young. I’ve had a lot of cars. Sold it at 205,000 miles still with original clutch and exhaust. cloth heated seats were my favorite too, no cold leather or plastic and the cloth still looked good. and the dashboard! red and purple! ahhhh…. I’m still in love….

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R1200@reddit

My 2000 Passat 1.8t was one of my favorite cars of all and I’m not young. I’ve had a lot of cars. Sold it at 205,000 miles still with original clutch and exhaust. cloth heated seats were my favorite too, no cold leather or plastic and the cloth still looked good. and the dashboard! red and purple! ahhhh…. I’m still in love….

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That70sShop@reddit

Because anyone thst has ever had to pay the rapacious cost of a dealer-only part after GM's partnership infected them with that idea never buys VW, ever again.

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Broke_Dick_Honda@reddit

Americans don't perform scheduled maintenance.. from oil changes to everything else like air filters spark plug charges transmission fluid replacement etc... they complain and moan saying it's not reliable... Had VW and Audis half my life and been predictable and reliable but also use the correct fluid and get them serviced.

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Bubbly_Pool4513@reddit

The Toyota of whatever is Toyota. Why would someone buy an inferior product for the same price?

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Gladiz1972@reddit

2015 VW Jetta 1.8 T engine had to rebuilt at 72 k miles thank goodness for the extended warranty from GEICO only cost me $250

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Classic-Artist8102@reddit

They need to start putting swastikas on them they would sell in the south

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retrobob69@reddit

They build garbage. Keeps my pockets full, but instill hate working on them. Constant oil leaks , broken plastic, and wiring that falls apart.

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FrostyVariation9798@reddit

VW started going three way of Audi with overly complex systems, and they also stated using that wiring insulation that degrades faster. Too many bad ideas for a 250,000 mile keeper. Then there was that huge fiasco with the luxury SUV's that used what might have been a Porsche designed diesel? Anyway, that screwed the clients VW wanted to most.

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VeryStableGenius66@reddit

VW builds good cars that are like a needy girlfriend. Neglect them at your own peril. If you perform maintenance on time and take care of potential issues right away (e.g., a piece of electrical tape is not a good repair for a check engine light) you'll most likely end up with a car that gets better as it ages. It will be a lovely longtime companion that you grow old with.

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Paqza@reddit

Used to. Their current stuff sold in the US is mid.

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WittyNameChecksOut@reddit

Every new car being sold in the US now is “mid.”

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Middle-Reindeer-5031@reddit

German engineering without German build quality. I had a Jetta, all 4 door handles stopped working (not at the same time). They used a plastic mechanism in the doors that would just snap off with just normal use. $500 to replace each door mechanism. The VW dealer who repaired it said that this was a very well known problem that Volkswagen never fixed. He seemed kind of proud when he was telling me this. I will never get another VW in my life.

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marshrabbit1@reddit

All of the German car headaches without any of the performance, luxury, or prestige. I was a car dealer in a former life and no one alI worked with would buy VWs. "Over engineered" was a common refrain from our mechanics.

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cheeseypoofs85@reddit

VWs havent been good since they stopped making the OG bugs

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No_Organization_7509@reddit

A lot of us still have nightmares from the B5 Passat. Didn't stop me from getting two pretty decent NMS's though.

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toybuilder@reddit

Unlike in Europe, the VW was not marketed and sold to consumers looking for "Toyota" quality. The buyers bought a VW because it was a fun performance oriented car. They bought it on emotions, not sober practicality. They stretched their dollars. And they deferred maintenance. The more boring practical cars that would have established the reputation for being reliable were not the cars that were sold in the U.S.

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Crowlady77@reddit

Their reputation here is not good for long term reliability.

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it-takes-all-kinds@reddit

Owning a Volkswagen is an art. You pay attention to it and make repairs before something catastrophic happens. Then get the repairs at an independent shop that doesn’t overcharge. The benefit? They feel, drive, and are in general much more fun to drive than a Toyota.

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Lazy_Review3707@reddit

Too unreliable. That stunt with cheating on emissions testing didn’t help.

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Meinnocenthaha@reddit

i LOVE my VWs. they have been better than previous hondas and toyotas ive had. maintenance is not any more expensive than the hondas/toyotas either.

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seanx50@reddit

Boring. Poor reliability. Lots of companies make better, more interesting cars

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Twit_Clamantis@reddit

Why buy “the Toyota of Europe” when you can get a Toyota and enjoy the real thing?

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Booyahshakeit1@reddit

Yea they kind of rare here in tx there is one at my work though he likes it..it’s bout 4 years old

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QueasyAd1142@reddit

I had a used VW station wagon in 1978. It was the old-fashioned kind of VW but it was one of the biggest POS I ever owned. Once was it for me. Never again.

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OofNation739@reddit

1. People in US drive way more than people of Europe. 2. Cars in Europe are even more expensive and can be smaller. Most people who do get cars un Europe are either getting stuff we dont have or are wealthier and getting vehicles similar to what you see here. Because of this and where parts are from/cost of everything. VW in Europe can be cheaper and more economic than here in the states. All while the Cars here get ALOT more usage on them. So the reliability and life expectancy are vastly different as are repair costs. Those driving them in Europe arnt driving and servicing them the same as people do in the states.

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secderpsi@reddit

VWs are everywhere. Half my friends drove Jettas or bugs or busses in high school.

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AutoRepairGuide@reddit

A big part of it is expectations and maintenance culture. In a lot of European countries, people are used to following the factory maintenance schedule pretty closely and doing things like DSG services, timing belt intervals, specific oil specs, etc. VW engines tend to be designed with that in mind. If you keep up with it, they can run a long time. In the U.S., many drivers are used to the “Toyota/Honda model” where you can stretch maintenance a bit and the car still tolerates it. German cars in general are usually less forgiving about that. Miss a couple of services or use the wrong oil and problems can start showing up sooner. Another factor is cost and complexity. Parts and labor for German cars are typically more expensive in the U.S., and some independent shops don’t specialize in them. So when things do break, the repair bill feels worse compared to a Japanese brand. There’s also the Dieselgate situation that hurt VW’s reputation pretty badly in the U.S. for a while. Between that, higher repair costs, and different maintenance habits, the perception gap between Europe and the U.S. kind of makes sense.

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ZaphodG@reddit

I had 2001 and 2007 VW GTIs as my commuter car. I put 142,000 miles on the 2001. I had one repair to some turbo plumbing. The timing belt and water pump replacement was the most expensive thing I ever did on the car. The 2007, I put 100,000 miles on it and an air conditioner solenoid was the only failure. I had a couple of bad dealership experiences. A car is only as good as the service network. I had some that were excellent. My biggest problem was boy racers in slammed Civics and Sentras wanting to race.

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keithrc@reddit

Several reasons: They're not as reliable as they once were. Dieselgate cost them a lot of goodwill. They used to have unique products in the US market but now they have the same sedans and crossovers as every other brand. I'm sure there are other reasons I'm overlooking.

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DistinctAsparagus421@reddit

I’ve driven two Volkswagens. Both were rentals, and I disliked both of them. They were underpowered and were overly opinionated about how I drove. One yelled at me for having the AC on with the windows down. I could never figure out how to adjust or disable the driving assist features. Lane assist would often struggle on the older roads that didn’t have clear lane lines. On one of them the screen was positioned really low on the center console, so I had to actually look down to see the map. I’m sure if I owned one I’d get more used to it, but it just wasn’t intuitive to me. Also I’ll never get over my car yelling at me for rolling the window down

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Comfortable-Help9587@reddit

Every one of their vehicles have a better and cheaper alternative. They used to make cool, quirky cars; now they try to do what all other manufacturers do and they don’t do it as well.

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Booyahshakeit1@reddit

I have a 25 Sentra I love it I looked at Camry and Honda gonna take big pass on getting my bank highjacked every month thank u

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phtphongg@reddit (OP)

We’re talking about Volkswagen lol

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Flamadin@reddit

They used to be popular in the 70's and early 80's. Some fun, good looking cars, with real good mileage on some of them. Mostly expensive and/or boring now.

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Booyahshakeit1@reddit

Nissans are literally everywhere u look 👀 just count them tmrw when u go run errands then do same for Toyo and Honda

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hotpenguinlust@reddit

Had a Golf.All the dealers I dealt with were horrible.

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cabo169@reddit

Ranked one of the worst car brands by the US Ranking System.

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MoveWithTheMaestro@reddit

Google “dieselgate”

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Enough_Price8160@reddit

The diesel scandal didn’t help.

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PaulClarkLoadletter@reddit

Americans don’t all believe that a car should be maintained according to the manual and would never accept responsibility for when their meticulously engineered Volkswagen is driven like the owner hates it. Then when that car is purchased used and the engine needs to be replaced they’re labeled as unreliable. VWs also don’t like it when you spill your Diet Coke on the HVAC controls. They’re simply not made for the US market.

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Paige_McMullin@reddit

Never had engine or transmission issues with mine. Everything else just fell apart..... By the time I got rid of my Jetta the mirrors were zip tied together and the door locks were broken. That is just bad engineering and has nothing to do with how it was taken care of.

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PaulClarkLoadletter@reddit

They’re designed for smooth roads perhaps?

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SmallHeath555@reddit

My 98 Jetta GTI was a thing of unmatched farfugnugen. So god damn fun to drive. It was DEAD at 105k. That was after pouring thousands into repairs to the head gasket, radiator. gaskets. electrical system efc

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ianhen007@reddit

As a transplant from UK and I worked in Germany there is one huge difference. The distances in Europe are much less. When you break down you are closer to home. When my old crap cars broke I always managed to get them home in UK. Here my first vacation was 7007 miles from Houston to San Francisco and back!

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thunderfroggum@reddit

They have this soft touch bullshit covering all the plastics on the inside. At least they used to in the early 2000s or so. It does deteriorate, much much much faster than the rest of the car. And for some reason, some of them smell like crayons on the inside. Fuck that noise

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PhotonDealer2067@reddit

“From what I’ve heard, in Europe VW is often seen as kind of like the “Toyota of Europe.” A lot of people say they can be very reliable if you stay on top of maintenance.” You can ignore routine maintenance and abuse Toyotas and Hondas and they’ll keep on going. Try that with a VW.

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Sea-Rip3902@reddit

They are poorly made I bought a new and it fell apart.

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WeinerBarf420@reddit

I've heard mechanics estimate that probably 1/4 people actually keep up with scheduled maintenance, there's your answer

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corndog46506@reddit

$$$

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Swarez99@reddit

There model line up isn’t really built for the US. Look at something like the Atlas. This is what is for the US, is it better than the competition in anyway ? Basically every car brand beats the Atlas with there offerings.

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Colonel460@reddit

The Junkwagen Junkka had something to do with it. That and most everything else they made .

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AfrArchie@reddit

I can't believe I scrolled so far down and haven't seen resale value yet! We own a 2018 Tiguan in the newer body style. Meticulously maintained, excellent condition. If we had bought a 2018 Crv it would be worth $5-7k more. That is not a trivial amount of money.

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TNShadetree@reddit

Funny seeing someone compare Volkswagens to Toyotas. Volkswagens have shit quality. I had a friend buy a Passat new. He lived downtown and kept it parked in a garage, mostly biked around town. So it was always garage kept, used occasionally and low mileage. I helped him repair it when the drivers window fell into the door. Cheap plastic brackets had broken. I also replaced the orange plastic oil filler tube which had broken into 3 parts.

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Individual_Step2242@reddit

I stayed on top of maintenance of mine and it was still an unreliable piece of shit that took a $5400 bite out of my wallet in one shot. No more VWs for me.

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bangbangracer@reddit

Cost. They've almost always been just a hair more expensive than their competition, both in upfront cost and maintenance.

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Cutthroat21@reddit

Diesel mileage fraud?

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cptchnk@reddit

Former owner of several VWs here. The way I see things, there are 3 reasons: 1. Ownership cost. The cars might not be all assembled in Germany, but a lot of the parts still are. That means expensive repairs because the parts are expensive. 2. Dieselgate really tarnished the brand image here. 3. For the most part, they don't make standout cars in this market anymore. People used to buy VWs because they were different and quirky. Today's models are mostly homogenized to look and feel just like every other boring economy car. There are exceptions of course like the GTI and the Golf R, but those cars have both lost touch with reality when it comes to pricing. They (but the GTI especially) used to represent somewhat affordable fun. But now, both cars are very expensive and overly tech laden. And you can't even get a manual in either car anymore.

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Booyahshakeit1@reddit

U know people bash Nissan and talk so much how great Toyo is u know what I see 10 of at least every day in a 20 minute commute Nissans where are all the toyos at since they are all that and a bag of chips ??honda as well.ive seen 2 new Hondas in the last 3 months

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phtphongg@reddit (OP)

Yeah I get what you mean. I actually see a lot of Nissans on the road too, especially Sentras, Altimas, and Rogues. If they were really as bad as people say online, you’d think there wouldn’t be so many still driving around. Sometimes the internet makes certain brands sound way worse than they actually are in real life. Most cars will probably last a long time if people just keep up with maintenance.

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MassholeThings@reddit

Because they’re shit and cost a shit ton to fix.

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Xyzzydude@reddit

Volkswagen had a cult following among US diesel fans. It was pretty much the car to get if you wanted a diesel. This includes the biodiesel enthusiasts who wanted cars they could run on used veggie oil. Dieselgate killed that and they lost that audience completely because they stopped selling diesels here. Yes it was a niche audience but they were dedicated and influenced a lot of normie purchases too, and they are all lost to VW.

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worstatit@reddit

Good drivers, lousy runners.

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CpnEdTeach384@reddit

2011 Jetta SEL 2.5 over 200k miles. Had to replace most of the suspension and frequent tire problems. Our roads in SE Georgia aren’t the autobahn… good not great car. Moved onto a Ford Maverick hybrid which has much nicer road manners (very quiet on the hwy while getting 40 mpg. We shall see how she holds up

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Booyahshakeit1@reddit

Nissans are everywhere no question this is Dallas tx

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Wonderful-Victory947@reddit

Sell your plasma to get a VW repaired .

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Former-Wish-8228@reddit

I have owned more VWs than any other brand…first car, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 8th and 10th. From a 60s Baja, 70s Squareback, two vans, sportwagen and a modern Beetle. I waited for two decades for the new van promised in the late 90s…then it finally comes and it is a complicated mess of a vehicle. VW has lost the thread in design and execution. We have one left after giving one away and donating another. This will be our last…for as long as I can keep it in the road.

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RespectYourEldersE34@reddit

How about Dieselgate?! They lied to consumers and the gov and it cost them billions, then they said they were going all electric and now that’s backfired. Oh and the mk8 GTI with its all touch display killed it for enthusiast… Still better than an Audi…

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_jagwaz@reddit

If you’re going to sink the money into a maintaining a Volkswagen, you might as well just get a Mercedes/Audi/BMW instead.

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1911Earthling@reddit

Uncomfortable noisy buzzy claustrophobic.

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Ecosure11@reddit

My son desperately wanted a Manual transmission Jetta. I do a fair bit of maintenance work on cars but virtually everything is different. Want to replace the headlights? Oh, you need a special tool to extract the light. I just replaced the bulbs on my Lexus and it took about 15 minutes, no special tool. Eventually the car had a seized engine and we junked it.

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BadDadSoSad@reddit

I work as a tier one supplier who supplies to every oem. I have been working with VW the last couple years. Their engineers in Mexico are a joke. Nothing against Mexicans, some plants down there are great, theirs is not. And they don’t work well with their counterparts in Europe. They’ve had a design issue going on for 3 years and aren’t even close to solving it. it’s embarrassing how little they understand about their own vehicles. I think that is an example which reflects on the overall quality of the vehicles coming out of that plant. I think the atlas from Chattanooga is a little better.

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kjstech@reddit

I had nothing but problems with my 07 gti once it got past 90,000 miles. I switched to Mazda after spending thousands and thousands on that car. Kid I sold it to blew the engine then. Dont get me wrong, fun car, cool community.

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magichobo3@reddit

Why would you buy a car that's only kinda reliable if you are on top of maintenance? You can get a Toyota or Honda that will be reliable with almost no maintenance and indestructible with the amount of maintenance a vw needs to stay operational.

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Tall-Control8992@reddit

In EU, car ownership is much more of a luxury rather a necessity like it is in the US. So the folks in EU understand that when you buy a piece of machinery you have to also budget money and downtime for maintenance beyond the usual oil and filter changes. Especially with boosted engines like the 2.0 TSI. Sure, that motor puts out way more power than most NA V6s built for longevity. With similar or better fuel economy on top of that. The downside, of course, is you are looking at an engine overhaul around 100k miles/150k km if you want it to make to the 200k without something going kaboom. New timing chain, water pump, high pressure pump/sensor/injectors, and a new turbo for the sake of completionism. So about three dollars for parts and about the same for labor. It's a tough one if you can do the work yourself, but will probably total the vehicle to have a shop do it.

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Jamestown123456789@reddit

Do you guys in Europe not get up to high enough mileage where the turbos die? VW BW turbos usually die around 60-75k miles(96,000-120,000km). I get it’s a wear item but BW turbos in other makes usually last 75-150k miles. I’m just wondering if the relative small size of Europe has anything to do with it. I drive around 200km a day and don’t leave my city limits, i’m assuming that’d be a long journey in Europe. Relatively cheap mechanic labor probably plays into it a lot too. It’s $1-2k USD in labor to change a VW clutch here. I’ve heard it’s as cheap as $250 Euros for labor in some places. My area is at $200 USD each book hour for VW maintenance.

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bananaland420@reddit

I have known 6 people that have VWs and 5 out of 6 were complete shit ranging from electrical issues to catastrophic engine failure. I suspect the 1 without issues is on borrowed time if I’m going to judge it by the others.

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Lower_Kick268@reddit

Expensive to maintain and less reliable than other choices

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Opposite-Disk8645@reddit

I remember the emission scandal where they were caught cheating the emissions tests. I thought that was not only clever, but hilarious. Made me want to buy a VW. I didn’t though.

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craigleary@reddit

Their emissions cheating scandal is what I remember them mostly for now and that was 10 years ago or so.

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Madmike215@reddit

Because of the implication..:

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Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit

Because they are crooks that have had there pee pee slapped on a couple occasions!

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Jamestown123456789@reddit

VW maintenance can be very expensive, in my area it’s around $200 an hour book time, and most mechanics don’t have any specialized knowledge or tools for them. I haven’t compared recently but for example a 2006 Passat in the U.S. was $30k for the base model, a more stripped down base model manual transmission version in Slovakia was $10k. Audis went from being kind of obscure to really popular in the U.S. mostly with the leasing crowd that was formerly leasing BMWs. VW Jettas are almost exclusively driven by attractive young Women. The U.S. didn’t get many or any of some of the smaller more stripped down VWs. Like the Polo for example, or whatever the modern equivalent is.

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Maddad_666@reddit

Because they cheated

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Uni_tasker@reddit

They were late to the rise of crossovers. VW was still holding onto the wagons for far longer than Americans had an appetite for them. The Tiguan launched in 2007, around a decade after most of the competition; RAV4, CRV, Forester etc. VW had the Touareg out 5 years earlier, but that was a premium SUV that was too expensive to be a sales success.

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mhatrick@reddit

Most Americans see VW as expensive to own and maintain, relative to a Japanese or even American car. Americans will pay for German luxury, but a German economy car just doesn’t make sense. I really can’t imagine why any American would buy a brand new VW, considering what’s on the market here. It just does not make sense.

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Perfect-Light-9647@reddit

I’ve had a VAG product in some form since 2001. Hit and miss in reliability unless it’s a base model Jetta. Right now I’ve got a 2020 Jetta base manual and a 2025 Atlas with all the toys. My Atlas is an electronics nightmare, I’ll spare the long list of repairs like headlight assemblies and infotainment replacements. Why do I keep going back? I’m an idiot I guess but I’ve test driven Honda and Toyota and they are great vehicles. My wife has a 2025 Highlander. Great vehicles but my VW interiors, driving experience and materials just feel better than other brands. That’s just me, not fact, but I love the interior of my Atlas. The seats are thee most comfortable out of all the cars I’ve had since 1991. Again, quality is hit and miss, their brand strategy has made awful decisions like the electric bus, Phaeton, id Buzz, Arteon. The bus was a disaster and it’s like they never looked at the market. A low range electric van priced at an insane msrp for a niche audience. Who approved that?

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michaelfkenedy@reddit

My friend has a 2017 GTI from new. Electrical gremlins. 4th battery. Bad alternator. Parts are expensive. The dealer here isn’t great. He showed the bill for his breaks and rotors and I spit my drink out.

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TendieMiner@reddit

All their vehicles are FWD (or FWD based) slop.

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dj7811@reddit

VW gives you Audi prices for lesser status and less luxury.

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thatc0braguy@reddit

Less reliable than Japanese Less national pride than domestics More expensive costs than both Japanese and domestics

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lostagain2022@reddit

Horrible, scammy dealers.

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Radiant-Percentage-8@reddit

I had a Volkswagens until I could afford BMWs and just upgraded. We had a TDI Jetta that fucking rocked, and a GTi we loved. Sold our GTi to our neighbor

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tiredofwrenches@reddit

Vwhas been enshitified to a major degree. They used to be cheap, durable, easy to repair. Also very basic. People preferred fancy, high powered and fast. So vw went to that. They became a,fancy luxury car. German cars are fast, and polished also hard to repair and expensive. Mercedes, porche, audi all the same.

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Manyconnections@reddit

Unreliable

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CarmichaelD@reddit

All of this makes me wonder what the Scout brand will be like?

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Seanyd78@reddit

The late 90s/early 00s killed them. They actually dropped the factory warranty to only 2 year/24k miles because the vehicles were super unreliable. I remember a 2000 Passat came into the shop I worked at for a failed alternator. Unfortunately the real issue was the mount for it broke. It required an engine replacement because VW decided to make the alternator mounts part of the engine block, not separate like everyone else. Then they redesigned the Jetta in 2010 to try and regain market share with lower pricing. Unfortunately they made it even worse and priced it higher than a comparable Corolla or Civic.

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Any-Contract-9152@reddit

I see Volkswagen everywhere

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PrizeAnnual2101@reddit

Had a Rabbit diesel that was reliable OTHER than going through several crap radiators Had TWO liquid cooled vans both had all kinds of head gasket problems So after the second one I look for more realiable transportation

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The_real_P11@reddit

Their engines blow. I had a 2012 VW GTI ... Had to sue to get reimbursed. Never touching a VW again because of their lack of accountability.

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nearbysystem@reddit

I'm sure it's partly the same reason that Ford/Chevy/Chrysler are traditionally popular in the US - but a few things I notice as a European living in the US: \* Toyota is the Toyota of Europe, just like it is in the US. Most VWs are seen as more expensive cars - they're not even the cheapest German brand traditionally (Opel is, or was when it was German). But they're still much cheaper than luxury brands. So they fit into a similar slot in people minds as the Detroit cars do in the US. \* VW do sell cheaper cars over there in vast numbers, in addition to the ones familiar in the US - for instance the Polo is a very popular small, cheap car but I've never seen one in the US \* Diesel is way more popular in Europe, and VW has made great diesels for a long time \* The Golf has always been the gold standard in what most Europeans consider a medium sized hatchback - bigger and more comfortable than a Polo or similar, nicer to drive, but still handy to park. Cars of roughly this size and shape are enormously popular in Europe, and VW just kind of makes the best one that has stood the test of time.

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KAIMI01@reddit

Maintenance hogs

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Possum_Jenkinzz@reddit

Because frankly VW is shit. They're unreliable as guck the moment you exit the warranty period, parts are expensive, labor is expensive, they're hard to work on for the most stupid reasons, and like every Euro brand they make critical parts out of plastic so when they fail you catastrophically ruin shit.

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Ok-Switch9308@reddit

U.S. model sucks. Dad has the 80s Santana and it’s more than 1M kms and still running well.

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silicontruffle@reddit

Former VWVortex member here. Last one I owned was the MKV GTI. They really aren't as high quality or reliable as they could be. I'm a Toyota and Hyundai owner now.

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el-conquistador240@reddit

Volkswagens aren't reliable and they're difficult to work on you have to take the front bumper off to change the headlight bulbs on most models

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awqsed10@reddit

Unreliable by our standards, expensive parts and labor are less familiar with then hence the labor rates are higher.

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roosterjack77@reddit

VW is a huge manufacturer in Germany. Parts are cheap and plentiful in europe because of it. Its a domestic car. In the US its an import, parts are imported, more expensive

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Comfortable-Figure17@reddit

Up until a Jetta and a Fox nickel and dimed my daughter into giving up on them we thought they were great. The diesel subterfuge killed off any lingering respect I might’ve had left.

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Reasonable_Tax_5351@reddit

Well Europeans are more likely to buy European cars, and European mechanics will be able to work on them better, and the parts will be cheaper. That said I don't think VW is comparable to Toyota in terms of reliability, yes they have a had a few good engines, but their 4 cyl turbos are abysmal compared to anything Japanese and diesal gate is still fresh on peoples minds.

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debuggingworlds@reddit

The 4 cylinder diesels turbos are totally bombproof. Japanese brands haven't been able to get anywhere close to them.

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Reasonable_Tax_5351@reddit

Good luck finding a turbo diesel in the states these days. The gassers are garbage.

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Hawk13424@reddit

Americans don’t buy diesel cars. None sold now days.

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Miller335@reddit

German car repairs without the brand recognition of BMW, Audi or Merc.

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rowyourboat740@reddit

I had one and was happy to get rid of it. It was the ownership experience of a Honda with the ownership costs of an Audi. Also the seats were really uncomfortable.

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Robviously-duh@reddit

best man from our wedding is an award winning service writer for VW... best friend from high school parents ran a VW repair shop.. I worked on air cooled back in the 80's and 90's... still like the air cooled, diesel fubar sealed their fate...

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My2026GV70@reddit

Volkswagen is huge. The family includes Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini and others. Do Porsche owners know that they are actually driving a Volkswagen?

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dcamnc4143@reddit

I've had a '15 gti since 15, so 11 years. It's been perfectly fine. Yeah it's had the odd problem like any car, but it's been far more reliable than the honda crv it replaced.

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Ecstatic-Compote-399@reddit

They’re more unforgiving when it comes to maintenance, but they are reliable as long as you keep up with it. Parts are just as expensive as German luxury brands like BMW and Audi. Diesel-gate also hurt their reputation.

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Secret_Act987@reddit

Americans also drive way more than Europeans due to a lack of good public transit. Few German cars have parts that last past 100,000 miles- Toyota etc can run on same transmission for 200,000 miles easily.

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Pineydude@reddit

Parts and repairs are big money here. They were one of the first cars to be really really fussy with using the correct fluids. I can recall a early 2000’s jetta that required bumper and grill removal for radiator replacement. Their electrical systems are infamous for quirky issues. From 85’ to 2000 if you were behind a car with a flickering dim taillight it was a VW. There were aftermarket places that installed stereos and remote starts that wouldn’t touch VW’s ( well into the 2000’s)

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SurlyJohn009@reddit

I owned 3 different VWs in the US, all 3 were money pits and had so many electrical and mechanical gremlins. In the shop often, cost me a ton of money before I realized the quality of the builds. A brand I will never buy again.

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ATertiaryEffect@reddit

I enjoy my money

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QuantumFX321@reddit

The most employees of all automotive companies and still the least reliable.

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SailingSpark@reddit

Part of vws bad rap was their wiring. They went to a more ecologically safe coating on their wires.. mice and squirrels found it tasty. And yes, your average American doesn't think of maintenance beyond changing the oil. Any European can can be 100% reliable if you follow their schedule to the letter. As for parts. The same time I had my e36 BMW, my girlfriend had a Hyundai Elantra, parts were more expensive for the Korean car.

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RoosterzRevenge@reddit

Because there are better options available for less money

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Austinist@reddit

Everyone i know who has bought a VW in the past 20 years has regretted it.

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unbroken_cycle@reddit

🙋🏼

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et_hornet@reddit

The ones they sell here tend to be shitty

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__nullptr_t@reddit

The German made VWs used to command a premium here. The Mexican built ones weren't all that great at first.

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calidude415@reddit

As someone who owns a 2017 GTI, it’s gotta be the electronic gremlins and complicated repairs. And notoriety of 2000s VWs crapping out. My car had the heater malfunction before it hit 50k miles. I love how it drives and the engine on this model is solid, but there’s always one issue or another going on with it.

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Dieselfumes_tech@reddit

I have an id4, I hate that car. Glitchy as all hell

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BeaverMartin@reddit

When they eliminated the transmission fill port I saw myself out. I still roll with air cooled VWs though.

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negitoro7@reddit

Seems really popular in Canada. Especially the Golf R - I swear we have the most Golf Rs per capita here than anywhere else in the world.

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throwawayyourfun@reddit

Because you can neglect a Toyota halfway to death and it will still get you to 200k miles. A VW cannot be neglected at all. And parts are more expensive. And Euro mechanics are pricier.

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kinetogen@reddit

Ive owned a 1997(MK3), a 2001(MK4) and a 2008(MK5). I can't fault the MK3's clutch failure, it was a supercharged VR6 and pushing decent power, but the MK4 was a heap of shit, and the MK5 did not hold its value and interior quality deteriorated faster than expected. Headliner fell within 4 years, seat bolsters going flat (I'm not a heavy dude), soft touch surfaces crumbling at 50k... By Contrast, my (current vehicle) 2010 Honda Ridgeline (2nd owner) runs smooth, the interior looks new still.. nothings falling off of it.. it's been an uneventful, utilitarian ownership experience. The VWs were an abusive relationship with a car.

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Fancy_bakonHair@reddit

Overcomplicated to alot of people, the people who drive them tend to be douches, although tbf that doesn't stop people from buying other brands, and alot of people just prefer Japanese or American cars But mostly because they're expensive and overcomplicated

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mrjeepbeepbeep@reddit

I dunno. Every girl I dated in my twenties drove a VW.

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Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit

They’re crap and expensive to repair. If I want to spend a lot fixing a German car I’ll just get a bmw

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Glop1701d@reddit

Cause of hitler

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Better-Credit6701@reddit

OK, used to work for a super large used car company with over 150 lots and kept track of the repairs. Volkswagens had a 37% repair rate. Granted better than American makes but no where close to what the Japanese repair rate. Toyota 20%, Honda 24%, Mazda 28%. Yeah, my wife and I own a 2022 Honda CR-V and a 2021 MX-5 miata.

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Affectionate_Sort_78@reddit

The company cheated on smog testing, just plain lies to the govt. and to all their customers.

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Cocoa_map@reddit

Would rather drive bmw

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FixingandDrinking@reddit

Ever since the whole emissions fiasco VW has changed a lot was bought by the Chinese and is now going in a different direction under a new ceo

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Whiskeymyers75@reddit

I might argue their designs are rather boring.

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Jumpy_Childhood7548@reddit

Reliability, cost of parts and service, fraud…

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capjustcap@reddit

Ridiculous cost of parts and bad engineering along with unreliability. My daughter has an 07 GTI and is a money pit, but she loves that little car. His name is Vinny.

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knowitallz@reddit

Cheap parts. Bad design decisions. Lots of repairs I have had two vw in the life of my family. They were both cars that were often in the shop. Not worth it

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jiggiwatt@reddit

Hagerty has a good thing on VW and how they go through this cycle of being cool/fun, to conservative and then lose market share in the US...then reinvent and do it all over again.

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RevolutionaryAge47@reddit

Horrible reliability, massively unethical company, boring designs that are vanilla to the extreme. Absolutely no reason to consider buying a VW.

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