Anyone owned a VW Golf?

ruxCYtable

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Aug 29, 2007
7,137
3,929
113
Colorado
I’m usually a Toyota fan boy but I do love hatchbacks. Looking at a 2019 with 44k miles.
 

iowa_wildcat

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2008
2,329
807
113
75
Ames
After selling cars for over 20 years, all I can tell you is that German cars are like a high maintenance girl friend. If you love them enough they are worth the time and expense. Don't expect it to be as reliable as your Toyotas. You might want to consider a service contract.
 

Agclone91

Well-Known Member
Feb 5, 2011
2,527
559
113
Ames
I had a 2013 GLI for about 18 months...super fun car that I loved to drive, but my experience echos the sentiments that they are high maintenance. In that 18 months I spent over
$3k on repairs, which seemed excessive for a car that only had 60k miles. The final straw for me was when I had to replace the intake manifold because the plastic arm that controlled the runners broke.

Word of warning, do a little research on their transmissions if you drive a lot of miles. The DSG is a sweet transmission but requires a fluid change every 75k (I think) miles that costs over $1k. My car had a manual for that reason and the transmission was one of the few things I didn't have a single issue with.

Edit: I was way off. Looks like it is a 40k interval and cost closer to $500..so I guess it's about the same cost over similar life to my initial guess.

I had a negative experience, but I will say that I have friends with VW's and no issues.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: ruxCYtable

Stewo

Well-Known Member
Oct 29, 2008
16,856
14,812
113
Iowa
I have a 2013 Golf TDI that I picked up not quite 2 years ago. I've put nearly 50k miles on it so far and haven't had any issues. You do have to replace the transmission fluid every 40k miles (DSG), but even through the dealership, it was only $300.
 

RedDog

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2014
4,736
6,318
113
We had a VW with a 1.4L turbo. It was solid and fun for a while but turned into a cash-hole.
 

dmclone

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
20,787
4,919
113
50131
I had a VW GTI, which I liked. My wife has a VW Tiguan, which has as very similar interior quality. I probably will never buy another VW. No big issues, just not up to my expectations.
 

jbhtexas

Well-Known Member
Oct 20, 2006
14,128
4,083
113
Arlington, TX
We had a 2014 Jetta Sportwagen TDI (which is a Golf wagon renamed in the US for marketing purposes) that I bought as a salvage/rebuilt for real cheap. It was wrecked and totaled out with 5000 miles on it. The damage wasn't that bad IMO, and the repair work was done well. My wife and I both really liked it, and had absolutely no trouble with it for the 3 years we owned it. It was a great car for city traffic driving (it was my wife's daily driver when she was commuting about 30 miles each way).

I submitted the Sportwagen to VW for buyback during dieselgate. I didn't really expect VW to accept it because of the salvage/rebuilt title. After about a year of back-and-forth, VW sent back a phenomenal offer (full current market value + restitution). We couldn't turn that down, so we turned it in.
 

83cy

Well-Known Member
May 14, 2006
1,120
640
113
After selling cars for over 20 years, all I can tell you is that German cars are like a high maintenance girl friend. If you love them enough they are worth the time and expense. Don't expect it to be as reliable as your Toyotas. You might want to consider a service contract.
Interesting. I've never owned a VW but I've owned BMW's Audi's and one Mercedes and rarely had any problems with any of them. Very reliable. I had a lot more issues with Chevy Suburban's and Danali's, YMMV.
 
  • Creative
  • Agree
Reactions: Macloney and JP4CY

JP4CY

I'm Mike Jones
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
64,573
78,129
113
Testifying
Interesting. I've never owned a VW but I've owned BMW's Audi's and one Mercedes and rarely had any problems with any of them. Very reliable. I had a lot more issues with Chevy Suburban's and Danali's, YMMV.
Denali is a trim package, not a vehicle name like Suburban.
 

Macloney

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2014
5,194
5,667
113
Up Nort
My wfe has an Golf Alltrack Sportwagon coming off a Passat Wagon.

They are expensive to maintain and we have had very few issues with her VW's. They are good cars with great style. Toyotas are good cars with no style.
 

ianoconnor

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Nov 11, 2007
13,192
6,975
113
Johnston
If you want Toyota + hatchback, get one of the new GR Corollas. Not dropping until fall though.
 

83cy

Well-Known Member
May 14, 2006
1,120
640
113
Denali is a trim package, not a vehicle name like Suburban
So what? Point being I had more problems with Suburban's and Suburban's in Denali trim than German cars. Bunch of ball busters on here. YMMV!
 

JP4CY

I'm Mike Jones
Staff member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Dec 19, 2008
64,573
78,129
113
Testifying
So what? Point being I had more problems with Suburban's and Suburban's in Denali trim than German cars. Bunch of ball busters on here. YMMV!
AffectionateGleefulHarborporpoise-size_restricted.gif
 
  • Haha
Reactions: motorcy90