I have had my Jetta TDI for 8 days and I am averaging 44.3 MPG with a manual transmission.
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Car buying advice
- Thread starter waloshin
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I have had my Jetta TDI for 8 days and I am averaging 44.3 MPG with a manual transmission.
I really dont think the perception that american cars are junk is false. Yes there are a few rare instances of american cars that ran for years or foreign cars that didnt last over 100K. But I think the VAST majority of foreign cars (ie Honda and Toyota) outlast their domestic/US counterparts.
I also can only speak from personal experience. I tend to baby my cars - oil changes at 3K, garaged at night, I only wash them in my driveway (no harsh drive through washes), hand wax 2x a year, etc.
My last car was a 2000 Mustang. Before it hit 100K it had lost a water pump, the traction control module broke, the cd player stopped ejecting, the engine made a chattery noise when accelerating, and the car idled at about 30 miles an hour due to some issue I never figured out, b/c I traded it in around the time that started happening. The car was getting just to dangerous to drive.
Prior to this I had a Ford Explorer (eddie bauer) that had a 40K sticker. Before it even hit 36K miles, a radio died, its engine had to get valve adjustments, the cargo sunshade stopped working, and it rattled more than any other car I ever owned. And this was THE most expensive car I have owned to date.
My first car was a camaro I bought in high school, and it had its fair share of issues as well - some of them engineering defects that were known, such as putting the ignition system low enough that driving through puddles would kill part of the electronics - a $650 repair. It also lost an fuel pump that required dropping the axle, drive shaft, and gas tank to get to - this was an $800 repair. All this plus more before 100K.
My fiance had a Ford escort she owned from new that had its transmission fail at 65K. It also vibrated like a weed wacker at stop lights.
During this time my parents had a 1999 camry (which they STILL have) with about 180K miles that has only required 1 water pump, and a timing belt (which is considered reg maintenence) along with oil changes.
Her dad bought a honda accord in 1997 that her younger brother now drives - it has 220K miles and has never had anything other than a timing chain/belt and oil changes. The a/c is a little weak now, but what do you expect for a 14 year old car. Thats just impressive.
This is why this time around When my fiance and I bought new cars, we bought 2 honda accords. Other than one power window regulator, we have not had a single issue with either of them.
I would like to buy "american" cars but until I see some of these alledged new breed of reliable US cars driving flawlessly still at 10 years old, I am not likely to buy one anytime soon. Why reward a company with tens of thousands of my hard earned dollars for an unproven piece of junk? Even with a 100K mile warranty - big deal, these days 100K is not that impressive of a benchmark. 150K trouble free is when I am impressed.
One more point - there was some chatter about where these cars are built. I think more cars are built here in the US than one may think. The BMW Xs is built in Kentucky. The vast majority of Camrys and Accords are too. This is just a few examples. Likewise, a good deal of US cars are built in Mexico and Canada. Food for thought...
I also can only speak from personal experience. I tend to baby my cars - oil changes at 3K, garaged at night, I only wash them in my driveway (no harsh drive through washes), hand wax 2x a year, etc.
My last car was a 2000 Mustang. Before it hit 100K it had lost a water pump, the traction control module broke, the cd player stopped ejecting, the engine made a chattery noise when accelerating, and the car idled at about 30 miles an hour due to some issue I never figured out, b/c I traded it in around the time that started happening. The car was getting just to dangerous to drive.
Prior to this I had a Ford Explorer (eddie bauer) that had a 40K sticker. Before it even hit 36K miles, a radio died, its engine had to get valve adjustments, the cargo sunshade stopped working, and it rattled more than any other car I ever owned. And this was THE most expensive car I have owned to date.
My first car was a camaro I bought in high school, and it had its fair share of issues as well - some of them engineering defects that were known, such as putting the ignition system low enough that driving through puddles would kill part of the electronics - a $650 repair. It also lost an fuel pump that required dropping the axle, drive shaft, and gas tank to get to - this was an $800 repair. All this plus more before 100K.
My fiance had a Ford escort she owned from new that had its transmission fail at 65K. It also vibrated like a weed wacker at stop lights.
During this time my parents had a 1999 camry (which they STILL have) with about 180K miles that has only required 1 water pump, and a timing belt (which is considered reg maintenence) along with oil changes.
Her dad bought a honda accord in 1997 that her younger brother now drives - it has 220K miles and has never had anything other than a timing chain/belt and oil changes. The a/c is a little weak now, but what do you expect for a 14 year old car. Thats just impressive.
This is why this time around When my fiance and I bought new cars, we bought 2 honda accords. Other than one power window regulator, we have not had a single issue with either of them.
I would like to buy "american" cars but until I see some of these alledged new breed of reliable US cars driving flawlessly still at 10 years old, I am not likely to buy one anytime soon. Why reward a company with tens of thousands of my hard earned dollars for an unproven piece of junk? Even with a 100K mile warranty - big deal, these days 100K is not that impressive of a benchmark. 150K trouble free is when I am impressed.
One more point - there was some chatter about where these cars are built. I think more cars are built here in the US than one may think. The BMW Xs is built in Kentucky. The vast majority of Camrys and Accords are too. This is just a few examples. Likewise, a good deal of US cars are built in Mexico and Canada. Food for thought...
So you're basing your opinion on 3 bad vehicles that are almost 10 years old or more?
Just a FYI, BMW X's are built in Spartansburg, SC. The only vehicles GM builds in Mexico is the HHR, new SRX, Vue, and the Suburban variants( which are also assembled in the US). The only Ford I know that is assembled in Mexico is the Fusion variants. Those are not a good deal of their product lineup. Also, some of the plants that are being considered to be shut down by GM are Mexico plants.
3 horrible American cars vs 4 flawless foreign cars, I think that would be enough for me to form my opinion about which cards I'd buy in the future.
With car companies, there's rarely second chances because cars are so damn expensive. If I have a bad meal at a restaurant, I'll be willing to give it a second chance in the future because it's not really that expensive. And there have been many times where I'm glad I've given restaurants a second chance because I've had excellent meals the second time around. But I can't give a car company a second chance. Maybe they've improved, but what if they haven't? At a restaurant, I'm out maybe 20 bucks if it's still bad. If it's a car, I'm out $20,000.
I think Chrysler has some of the ugliest cars on the road. I also think most of the Chevys are ugly as well.
One of the ugliest looking cars ever built IMO.
And I hate the Chevy front grill.
I'm a fan of Japanese cars, definitely!
That being said, I've driven roughly equal amounts of both and been relatively happy with each.
When I was growing up, I drove a 92' Ford full size van, with a big 351 cubic inch engine and the whole 9 yards. My parents got it cheap when it had about 40,000 miles on it. We drove it problem free until 190,000 miles and then the oil pump started to wear out. I was married by then but my family was out of town when it wouldn't run properly. Rather than have issues trying to get back home, my dad decided that since it'd been paid off for something like 6 years at that point, he'd rent a car to get home in and then buy a new one, they left the van at a wrecking yard for a month before having it towed home. The Oil pump was about $800 so my dad ended up fixing it, then selling the van for $3,000 a few weeks later, it was running strong when we got rid of it and the oil pump was the only issue that we ever had.
I also had a Dodge Spirit (think it was a 1994) that I drove as a teenager too! It ran just fine until the transmission filter needed to be cleaned, my parents already had another newer car and decided not to worry about it, so they gave it to my uncle who did the cleaning himself and still drives the car today! It's gotta have well over 200,000 miles now.
Then my parents bought a Hyundai Sonata, good car, but nothing about it screamed that it was any better than the Dodge.
My mom is on her second Sonata now, still running pretty good with 70,000 miles.
Me personally, I've owned a Jeep CJ7 which needed a new engine at 150,000 but I caused that one with my neglect (didn't get the radiator fixed when it was leaking, It happened a few days before I got married. That caused an overheat and subsequent head gasket failure). I tortured that Jeep and it refused to die, until the head gasket issue it was running beautifully even though it was 17 years old at the time.
I've also had a 2002 Corrola that my wife bought before we were married. Good car, great gas mileage and we didn't have even a hiccup before we traded it in at 70,000 miles.
Then we bought a 2005 Mazda 3, which was sporty as hell and a blast to drive. We put 50,000 miles on that pretty fast when I was commuting 2 hours a day to work and school.
Now we have a 2007 built in Japan, Nissan Pathfinder. It drives great, has ample power, decent gas mileage for it's size and the fact that it's a 4 wheel drive. But honestly it's got some of the squeaks and other issues that most here are complaining about from American cars. The engine and transmission seem to be solid, but there are squeaks that are either coming from the suspension or the hood hinges, it's annoying and I plan on having it looked into during my break between school semesters. I love the car, but it's a $40,000 vehicle and I would have expected it to be just a little bit better in that regard.
So all in all, I don't see a huge amount of difference between American cars and Foreign cars, as long as they are properly maintained, I think they'll all suit you quite well.
SLC
That being said, I've driven roughly equal amounts of both and been relatively happy with each.
When I was growing up, I drove a 92' Ford full size van, with a big 351 cubic inch engine and the whole 9 yards. My parents got it cheap when it had about 40,000 miles on it. We drove it problem free until 190,000 miles and then the oil pump started to wear out. I was married by then but my family was out of town when it wouldn't run properly. Rather than have issues trying to get back home, my dad decided that since it'd been paid off for something like 6 years at that point, he'd rent a car to get home in and then buy a new one, they left the van at a wrecking yard for a month before having it towed home. The Oil pump was about $800 so my dad ended up fixing it, then selling the van for $3,000 a few weeks later, it was running strong when we got rid of it and the oil pump was the only issue that we ever had.
I also had a Dodge Spirit (think it was a 1994) that I drove as a teenager too! It ran just fine until the transmission filter needed to be cleaned, my parents already had another newer car and decided not to worry about it, so they gave it to my uncle who did the cleaning himself and still drives the car today! It's gotta have well over 200,000 miles now.
Then my parents bought a Hyundai Sonata, good car, but nothing about it screamed that it was any better than the Dodge.
My mom is on her second Sonata now, still running pretty good with 70,000 miles.
Me personally, I've owned a Jeep CJ7 which needed a new engine at 150,000 but I caused that one with my neglect (didn't get the radiator fixed when it was leaking, It happened a few days before I got married. That caused an overheat and subsequent head gasket failure). I tortured that Jeep and it refused to die, until the head gasket issue it was running beautifully even though it was 17 years old at the time.
I've also had a 2002 Corrola that my wife bought before we were married. Good car, great gas mileage and we didn't have even a hiccup before we traded it in at 70,000 miles.
Then we bought a 2005 Mazda 3, which was sporty as hell and a blast to drive. We put 50,000 miles on that pretty fast when I was commuting 2 hours a day to work and school.
Now we have a 2007 built in Japan, Nissan Pathfinder. It drives great, has ample power, decent gas mileage for it's size and the fact that it's a 4 wheel drive. But honestly it's got some of the squeaks and other issues that most here are complaining about from American cars. The engine and transmission seem to be solid, but there are squeaks that are either coming from the suspension or the hood hinges, it's annoying and I plan on having it looked into during my break between school semesters. I love the car, but it's a $40,000 vehicle and I would have expected it to be just a little bit better in that regard.
So all in all, I don't see a huge amount of difference between American cars and Foreign cars, as long as they are properly maintained, I think they'll all suit you quite well.
SLC
lol. So since your family has seen a few problems with your American cars makes all of them trash. Tell you what, I'll look at some more reliable statistics to base my opinions on. #1 in reliability for 2009 is Buick. Just in case you don't know (and you may not) Buick is built by GM. Cadillac, Lincoln, and Mercury aren't far behind. In other words, American cars rank right up there with the Europeans and Japanese. Quit believing the things you hear from people who don't know any better, American cars are just as good as anything out there. Read for yourself
I don't care what JD Power says. I've had terrible experiences with American cars, excellent experiences with foreign cars and will never buy another American car again. Ever.
Your ridiculous desire to burn as much food energy as possible only increases our nation's dependence on corn.
Oil 4 life!
Oil 4 life!
And thats fine for you, but don't try and brainwash people who are in the market with your biased opinion. You've tried less than a dozen cars, JD Power has tried them all.
I'm not brainwashing anyone. I'm stating my opinion and giving my experience with American cars. He wanted advice on what car to buy and I gave him my personal recommendation.
Everyone bases their opinions on personal experiences. I don't see anything wrong with having a strong opinion on something that you have had a reasonable amount of experience with, even if it doesn't match some of the data out there.
I've never had a problem with Hyundai, I've owned only 1, and my family owns 2 new cars. I have no problem recommending their cars in this thread, and yet Hyundai only gets 3 stars from JD Power. Is my opinion wrong?
If I'm posting in this thread, what else can I base my response on other than my own experiences? Sometimes there's a right answer, or a more correct answer. In this case, I'm not so sure, which is why I'm typing this. Enough people have problems with American cars that they complain. If Japanese car brands were equally bad or worse, there'd be a lot more people complaining about it, considering how many cars sold today are Japanese.
If you have had good luck with American cars, then buy one next time (if you want another one).
No, but to each their own.
I also think they're pretty girly. I think most of the new VW's look too girly, especially the Jetta's. They are alright in the right color, but they seem to be extremely prevalent in the grey, blue, or silver colors, which, IMO, look pretty girly.
I could live with a GTI, but only because the 2.0T is killer and so is their automatic transmission. I won't be buying one ever though, I'd much rather save a little bit extra and get a used Audi A4 if I'm going to buy a car I feel is somewhat girly looking.
Do NOT buy a Caliber, the interior is garbage, the mileage average, reliability uncertain and resale value terrible. It is overall an unrefined car and one of the prime reasons for why Chrysler is in trouble.
Having said that, I do think you should consider an American car over the VW, while VWs are quite refined and have terrific interiors and resale values, their reliability is shady and parts ad maintenance are expensive.
Take a look at GM and Ford, Both have made great strides in design and quality and are deserving of your consideration. However I do not think either has anything to compete with the Rabbit. You can also try buying used, there are many deals to be had on a variety of great cars. Personally I would look at the Chevy Cobalt Coupe, perhaps even in SS form if you prefer more fun.
I always find it amusing to see what JD Power thought five years ago. Doesn't do much for their credibility.
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