In 2005 my husband bought a brand new VW Passat. That car has been nothing but a pain in the ass since we got it. I had a bad feeling about that car since the first day he drove it home & a warning light came on...it's been downhill since then. Luckily it's paid off now but even he said it was the worst car he ever bought (and initially he loved it). The car has just had a series of weird ass problems.

My husband works at a VW Dealer and HATES them. He says they aren't built well, need a ton of repairs and we will never buy one.

A transplanted Californian here, and I miss my New Beetle. Never had problems with it. But it did cost more than a Civic or Corolla at the time. Can't say about now. But much better power!

Anonymous wrote:OP- doesn't make sense...I would say the DC area is a bigger VW market than most in the US. VWs are really popular here w/ yuppies, young professional families etc....plenty of jettas, golfs, tauregs etc. around Arlington where I am...

The target demographic may be different than other countries...here VW is more like an apple/mac type of brand, e.g. trendy, urban, hip...look at the US ad campaigns...

Have one and love it, I see them a lot here as well! And we are in the stated demographic.

I love my 2001 Jetta which is still going strong. It has had irritating issues with the power windows twice (once for each front window, which haven't reappeared since being fixed), but no major problems of any kind. Knock wood. It's the first car I bought brand-new (instead of used) and has been totally reliable. Not to mention fun to drive.

Northern CA native, BTW, but I bought the car on the east coast ...

Anonymous wrote:isn't VW and Audi the same?

bring light to the ignorant in the dark please.

Audi is VW's luxury brand.

And anyone who needs VW service in NoVa should go to VolksWerks in Falls Church. Service on my VW got so much better and easier when I started using them and not the dealer.

isn't VW and Audi the same?

bring light to the ignorant in the dark please.

Funny, there are certain cars you don't have to ask about.

VW and Volvo owners are similar in that once you have had a lemon, as many (most?) do, they don't go back. But BOY do they swear by them before that time!

We loved our '02 Jetta. It ran like a top and never had any issues that weren't fully covered under warranty.

Anonymous wrote:OP- doesn't make sense...I would say the DC area is a bigger VW market than most in the US. VWs are really popular here w/ yuppies, young professional families etc....plenty of jettas, golfs, tauregs etc. around Arlington where I am...

The target demographic may be different than other countries...here VW is more like an apple/mac type of brand, e.g. trendy, urban, hip...look at the US ad campaigns...

You don't say? I got a diesel wagon last year and think of it as sexy-ugly. I never thought ^^. Though I love going to fill 1/mo.

They are relatively expensive and they're not reliable. The stats are pretty bad. I loved my cute, perky Golf...until it died at a young age and I had to scrap it.

I owned one and it literally completely totally died on me the second the warranty (which sucked, btw) ended. I mean, wouldn't make a sound or anything died...I was on the way to get married when this happened, so we had to rent a car! After that the repairs ($$$$) and constant sucky breakdowns led me to sell the thing. I will NEVER own another.

This was a Jetta - I want to say 2000 model year.

Have a Jetta TDI sportwagon and love it!