VW touran anygood

mikey72

Strider590 wrote: »

A 20 year old Polo back from when VW did deserve their reputation

Well, there's a thread on here about a 12 year old polo, with a common problem of the door locks going. (quoted by TitheRev)
Dealer has quoted over £700 to fix. That would put me off the car second hand.
To be fair, TiTheRev reckons it's a £70 fix.

(hope he's right, as the op of that thread will take it in based on the £70 price)

TiTheRev

I hope i'm right too!

Most VW Dealers will check a job before actually charging/doing work, so in this instance hopefully they'll check it and have the parts in stock (as most VW places do) and be able to fix it within the hour for about £70.

TiTheRev

jase1 wrote: »

Hey, I have no problem with VW -- in the main they build decent enough cars, and the customer service is far from being the worst in the business -- I've never claimed anything else. I personally wouldn't buy one, because I feel I can achieve the same level of dependability and customer service at lower cost. Skoda, for example

I also reckon Skoda is a great buy too...it's a cheap VW with a growing rep and good spec through the range!

jase1 wrote:

Your assertion that a 20-year-old knacker of any make would be more reliable than a brand new car from another "decent enough" manufacturer was absurd though. As was your shock at being told that, in reliability terms, Japanese is up there with the very best. As someone who works in the industry, you surely must realise that that is true.

I wasn't shocked at the fact that Jap makes good cars. I always suggest people buy Jap or German for reliability and quality, but genuinely believe that the VAG group is on a par with Jap for quality and build quality is better IMHO.

jase1 wrote:

At the end of the day you have your stars, your decent safe bets, and your dogs. In the mainstream (non-premium) market, the stars are Honda/Subaru/Toyota; the decent safe bets are VAG/Ford/Hyundai-Kia/Mitsubishi/Nissan (these days), and the dogs are Chrysler/Fiat (until recently, they seem to be improving)/Peugeot/Citroen and at the very bottom of the pile, Renault (although again they may just be edging into average territory again now after years of garbage). I will accept that GM are at the lower end of the mid-range; acceptable but no more. All IMO of course

Most European cars are poor - Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen especially, but to say that Toyota are stars after the year they've had with brakes/accelerators etc is pushing it a bit

mikey72

TiTheRev wrote: »

I also reckon Skoda is a great buy too...it's a cheap VW with a growing rep and good spec through the range!

To be fair, most of the press say the Skoda is a great car as it is produced by by the Czech factories, and far better than any of the VW's produced in Germany.

The Octavia is rated well above the A3 and the Golf it shares it's platform with.

So not so much a cheap VW, but a superior product with expensive poorer copies.

jase1

> but to say that Toyota are stars after the year they've had with brakes/accelerators etc is pushing it a bit

It's one year, and largely hyped up by a vitriolic US media who have their own agenda re the US car makers who need propping up desperately, and I believe that attacking the strongest competitor (in the US) to the domestic cars was orchestrated. Looking at the accelerator pedals in particular, the component in question was designed and manufactured by a US company part-owned by GM, and had also been included in a number of Ford/GM cars, including the Ford Transit -- and we at work had a 58-plate Tranny with a stuck accelerator pedal!! When the problem occurred, the driver put the clutch in, put his foot around the back of the pedal and pushed it back up, and went on his way. Ford replaced the part a couple of days later. Honestly didn't see a safety problem -- I've had it happen myself on an ancient Vauxhall back in the day.

After 30+ years of unimpeachable customer service (they had a well-known fault with the early VVTi petrol engines with oil leaks -- and have been routinely swapping engines out of 6 and 7 year old cars without quibble -- that's how you deal with a common, recurring fault), and what seems to have been a genuine attempt to root out any potential problems even where there have been no recorded cases at all of actual failures, I am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, for now.

goldspanners

TiTheRev wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with DPF's as long as they are recycled at the required intervals. They reduce emmisions and make the engine more efficient, so would be good for a cabbie?

well why in some cases does mpg go down?

it suffocates the engine causing it to work harder using more fuel.

goldspanners

TiTheRev wrote: »

Cam belt tensioners are all metal, you may be thinking of water pump impellers which are made in plastic so that IF they fail it wont jam and cause even more damage by locking the timing belt.



I am not putting anyone on a pedestal, but merely defending a brand against uneducated opinions.

heres an educated opinion on those water pumps.

ive had a few of those pump seize up on me,causing the timing belt to jump teeth well within the service life before change was due.

we now fit aftermarket pumps that have done vw's recommended service life no problem and haven't failed once.

johnnyroper

TiTheRev wrote: »

I wasn't shocked at the fact that Jap makes good cars. I always suggest people buy Jap or German for reliability and quality, but genuinely believe that the VAG group is on a par with Jap for quality and build quality is better IMHO.

My 2 pennies worth on the quality of jap,german cars as i have had both.

currently have passat 1.9tdi on 04 plate B5.5 platform? build quality and reliability all seem fine nice and comfy and good on fuel,i have also found genuine parts to be reasonable price. Having said that i would not touch the newer shape B6 passat as the build quality is not good in my opinion,i looked at several and they just had a cheap tacky feel inside and the reviews aint the best so decided to spend less money and have an older one,although the B6 shape is nice i just could not be bothered with trim falling off/breaking etc not to mention the 2.0tdi is not the most reliable engine in the world.

having driven both it is quite obvious the quality has gone down on the VW,and i do not see how it can be compared to JAP motors it is more on par with the mondeo than any of the jap cars.

BMW x3 was ok but not what i would expect from the BMW brand,3 series was a well put together and safe car although overpriced in my opinion.

ran an impreza for a couple of years not good on fuel but was absolutely bomb proof,rather basic inside compared to the german stuff no TC,ESP or other electronic gizmos but it was put together well and never had any issues with it other than routine service items and they were a very reasonable price from dealers.

i have also had plenty of french cars over the years and in the main were !!!!!! with the exception of the c4 i had which was fine in the time i had it,that said i do own a 205gti which in my opinion is one of the last decent pugs built.

bigjl

goldspanners wrote: »

well why in some cases does mpg go down?

it suffocates the engine causing it to work harder using more fuel.

Don't know which post Titherev stated that a DPF equipped vehicle would be suitable for a cabbie, but having used Zafira CDTi's around and about London for the best part of five years I would say that a DPF is a stupid idea for anybody who drives mainly around town with the occasional trip down a dual carraigeway.

They make fuel consumption worse, as when they get clogged and the regen is interupted the extra diesel pumped into the cylinders to increase the temp in the DPF ends up in the sump, you then get top end failures, bottom end failures and turbo failures, even at relatively low miles.

Yes the vehicles I am talking about are used harshly, on the go nigh on 24/7. Much like a cabbie's vehicle would be.

To get back to the Touran, they are a bit bland inside, but seem relatively well put together, if you could get one without a DPF then they may be a good car for such work.

Though Addison Lee has used VW Sharons for nearly 6 years now, all 1.9tdi S models with an autobox, they run them for 90k to 11k then seel them on, usually at 3 years old, they sell them onto the rest of the minicab trade from a site in NW1 for between £6k and £7k, they are well serviced at their own VW approved workshop and have proved very reliable, they have gone through about 3 or 4 thousand of them in the time they have been using them.

With this last paragraph in mind I would recommend a VW Sharon, not fancy, not luxurious or sporty, but understated and practical.

Don't forget that they recommend any person that spends a lot of time driving in urban environments not to buy a DPF equipped vehicle.

TiTheRev

goldspanners wrote: »

well why in some cases does mpg go down?

it suffocates the engine causing it to work harder using more fuel.

By definition then, in some cases it makes fuel consumption go up too

A DPF does not suffocate the engine, but help clear the soot that would naturally be there anyway. As Bigjl suggests, it is not ideal for those who are only doing Urban mileage (to the shops and back every few days), but for a cabbie who would hope to be doing a 10+ mile trip every day and keeping the engine warm with constant use, it would be fine? Overall the pro's outway the con's IMO.