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Anyone have a new VW Rabbit?

Stridder44

Stridder44

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 24, 2003
3,973
198
California
I was looking around for a new car and thought about getting a VW Rabbit. Anyone on here have one/test drove one/etc? The price seems pretty reasonable too
 
Lemme guess, you typed "I" and then you either accidentally clicked "send" or your brower frose up, and then you reposted the thread not knowing that it posted the first one?
 
My friend used to drive a beatup Rabbit from yester-year. That said, I should check out the new ones.
 
It looks pretty cool. Just watch out for Volkswagen's outrageous repair and maintenance prices. Its seems like every time my moms Touareg goes in it has like $3000 work done (luckly it is under warranty). My uncle has a 2003 Passat V6 and he has spent a fortune keeping it running as well.
 
cycocelica said:
VW quality has been in a slow decline recently.
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Sadly, this seems to be the case as of late. Consumer Reports can back this statement up. :eek:


I would recommend one of the new Honda Civic Coupes. :)
 
When I think "small car" one of the biggest draws for me is gas mileage yet the Rabbit gets the same mileage as my 2006 Rav4. To me that is ridiculous.
 
I actually just traded in my 2003 Jetta, because it had 67000 miles on it (I drive alot), and the Check Engine Light, and EPC light were both coming on. The brake light switch was broken (again) which caused my brake lights to come on and stay on at random times WITHOUT anyone in the car or the car being on. Despite all the lights, which were only on every once in a while it still ran great, but I didn't want to wait until the engine blew up, and I couldn't really afford any repairs at the moment. I traded it in for a Toyota Corolla, which should last me quite a long time. I loved my Jetta, but it was starting to make me nervous.

EDIT: And yes their maintenance costs were high, I got most of mine done at a private shop.
 
is it me or did they drop the tdi? the golf had a tdi engine available, but i cant find that option for the rabbit at vw's website.
regardless of that engine's availability, i want one so bad...:eek: that or a mini cooper.
 
Okay, I just went to the site, and didn't realize they just replaced the Golf with the Rabbit. Whoopdee-doo! :rolleyes: How is the Rabbit "back" now? It's just a name change.

I still love the car, especially the 2 door, but I wouldn't buy one. Too expensive to fix, and I love reliability.
 
AlBDamned said:
By "Rabbit" do you guys mean GTI or something else?
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According to VW.com there's two different models - the GTi and the Rabbit, which is like our normal Golf, only with a 2.5 litre 5 cylinder engine as standard.
 
medea said:
When I think "small car" one of the biggest draws for me is gas mileage yet the Rabbit gets the same mileage as my 2006 Rav4. To me that is ridiculous.
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Yeah that was a big thing once I saw that too. 22 city/30 hw?? That's not that great at all. The sad thing is the GTI (the sportier higher end vw hatchback) gets about the same milage (think Rabbit = MacBook, GTI = MacBook Pro).
 
Yeah, but it comes with a larger engine than most "small cars." It's only a small car if it comes with a small engine. The standard Rabbit does and it doesn't. It's not very powerful, but is compared to the 110 HP/80 kW small cars out there. It's powerful relative to it's size.
 
That's funny. The first generation Golf was called the Rabbit in the US, then they changed it back to Golf for the next three generations, and now it's back to Rabbit.

Personally, I liked Golf better.
 
Anyone bought a new VW Rabbit?

So I'm gonna have to sell my '06 WRX wagon unfortunately, and I am thinking of getting one of the new VW rabbits. I've got a soft spot for euros, and the rabbit ( with some minor suspension tweaking ) seems to fit the bill very nicely.

I'm curious as to if anyone here has bought one yet? and if so, How much did it run you after all was said and done?

pictures would be nice too :)

[Moderator note: threads merged]
 
I got a GTI in April and love it. I heard the reviews about the quality being bad as well, but most of those cars were manufactured in Mexico. My GTI was built in Germany and considering its been out for 2 years in Europe, I figured most of the bugs have been worked out.
 
Abstract said:
Yeah, but it comes with a larger engine than most "small cars." It's only a small car if it comes with a small engine. The standard Rabbit does and it doesn't. It's not very powerful, but is compared to the 110 HP/80 kW small cars out there. It's powerful relative to it's size.
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Even though it has a larger 2.5L i5 engine it still produces only 150HP. Adding on the fact that the car is tiny and the engine produces only 150HP (which isn't much) I think its disgusting that the car only gets 22/30MPG. The 2.4L engine in a Chevy Cobalt produces 173HP and 163lb ft of torque yet manages 25/34 in a bigger sedan! The rabbit sedan also starts at around $17,000! $17,000 for tiny, underpowered, and bad fuel economy. I believe you are better off with a Honda Fit, Civic, Corolla, or even a Cobalt. :eek:
 
CompUser said:
It looks pretty cool. Just watch out for Volkswagen's outrageous repair and maintenance prices. Its seems like every time my moms Touareg goes in it has like $3000 work done (luckly it is under warranty). My uncle has a 2003 Passat V6 and he has spent a fortune keeping it running as well.
Click to expand...

Given the record of the Rabbits, I'd recommend not getting one.

On another note, my 2001 Volkswagen Jetta has had very little issue.

1) Was rear-ended last October. $1080 USD to replace rear bumper.
2) While driving on I4 from Tampa to I-95 to get back to Jacksonville, my oil pan shield fell off (more like broke off)
3) Four months ago, I lost my callings (the plastic boots under my car). Ended up driving home with plastic falling off my car.
4) On occasion, I have an EPC light that comes on. This doesn't seem to mean anything, other than my Cruise Control doesn't work :)mad:, particularly when you have to drive 382 mi from Jacksonville to Miami :mad: )
5) This doesn't really affect anything, other than the fact that I can't drink in my car unless it has a cap on it (it must be bottle), because the damn cup holders won't come out. :mad:
 
I had a 2000 Passat 1.8T for 3 years before i got my Subaru,

that car only required regular maintenance ( you know like the regularly scheduled checkups )

nothing ever broke. I put over 30k on it in those 3 years and it never had issues. it was even in two accidents, and the repairs weren't that bad.

I am considering still getting a rabbit because of my positive experience with the Passat. I wanted a new Gti about 6 months ago, but I simply couldn't afford it,

now I can't afford my Subaru lol. ( anyone want a 2006 WRX wagon? )
 
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