FU Volkswagen

jfgrad06 · October 2009

I hate you and your sh*tty cars. My Jetta went in the shop this morning because it cut off while I was driving the other day. I turned the key and it started right back up, and I went about my business as usual. But, better safe than sorry, so in the shop it went.According to the technician working on my car, the catalytic converter is going bad and it has to be replaced to pass inspection (due next month). I don't even know what that is, but I do know it will cost me almost $800 to replace. And thanks to the awesome catalytic converter failure, it has caused another several hundred dollars worth of damage to my vehicle. Oh, and throw in that inspection and an oil change, and my total comes to just over $1,300. FML!

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

Ew! But for reference, (and I'm assuming you live in the California area?) they convert the exhaust and fumes that your car produces into not so bad exhaust. You have to have them fully functioning to pass your SMOG inspection.Does your interior smell like crayons?

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

Oh, not from California. Huh. I didn't know anywhere else had those kinds of inspections.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · October 2009

Oh man! I was thinking about getting a VW in the future. I have a GM now, so imagine THAT! Kidding. Car repairs suck. My last car was going in every few months and racking up bills of several hundred dollars. When it got to the point that I needed to pour $1500 to get a 12 year old car working, I said, "no thanks." How old is your car? How long have you had it?

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · October 2009

I think JF is in Virginia. California doesn't have inspections. You just need to get smog checks to make sure your emissions are okay every 2 years.

Stackeye210 · October 2009

The catlytic converter if not replaced will do bad things to your muffler system and wear it all out pretty fast.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

No, I'm in Virginia. All I know about the dumb thing is it's part of the exhaust system (and that still may not be exactly accurate). But they said it won't pass inspection without the repairs. It's a classic case of one thing goes wrong and Fs up everything else in its path.Ugh. What horrible timing. Christmas is right around the corner.

BecW2be · October 2009

I had a 2005 Touareg, and that POS just about broke me. I ended up almost filing a lemon complaint, but I was able to trade it for a Honda Pilot for what I paid for it, so I traded it and ran! That stupid thing had 13 service calls in 12 months, and left me stranded twice. I was terrified to take it more than 15miles. I HATE VW!!!!

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

When did California stop doing inspections? You used to have to have all of the exhaust stuff (including the catalytic converter) working correctly to pass inspection and the smog inspection

jfgrad06 · October 2009

My car is a 2000 model. I've had it for 4 years or so. It's a nice car in general, but any time it needs repairs, it super expensive. It's going on ten years old, but about 3 years ago, we had a brand new engine put in. There was some rare problem with a leaking gasket of some sort. They said it was easier to install everything new, then to tear apart the old stuff, fix it, and rebuild it. It was all covered by the warranty we purchased when the car was bought so it was free.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · October 2009

Maybe having a non-functioning CC would mean you would fail the smog check.When I lived in NY, EVERYTHING had to be inspected on your car. If one of your tail lights was broken, you would fail. If your wipers didn't work properly, you would fail. In CA, you see the worst looking POSs on the road, but as long as the exhaust system doesn't emit too many smog particles (unless it's a classic, then you don't need any inspection at all), you can drive any kind of car in any kind of condition you want, basically. I swear, some are probably not safe to drive. But I've also heard that 25% of California drivers don't have valid insurance.

danieliza1127 · October 2009

Uh that sucks so bad! I hate car repairs. I knew a few people back in early 2000s (like around 2002-2004) that had Jettas and they ALL had problems with them.

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

I really am curious if your interior smells like crayons? A couple years ago, the glue that they were using to glue in the carpet smelled like melted crayons when it got hot. I think there was even a recall and if you were still under warranty you could go get it replaced.

runnrgurl · October 2009

I feel your pain. I don't have a VW, but FI and I decided to write a big check and pay off my car. THE VERY NEXT DAY it was in the shop, requiring $1500 in repairs IMMEDIATELY, and another $1000 within the next 2 months! OUCH!!!I hate cars.

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

Oh, ok. I was talking about the smog inspection. They check everything from your fuel injectors to your muffler and everything in between that deals with your exhaust. The converter is the biggest thing for the inspection because it converts the bad exhaust fumes into not so bad ones.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

I'm sorry you had so much trouble Bec! I'm about to sell the damn thing. I can't handle bills like that. This time last year it cost me $600 to pass inspection, and I didn't know a single thing was wrong with it.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

Msmerymac, the inspectiosn here are equally detailed. I can handle a few bucks to replace a tail light bulb, or wipers, but $1,300 makes me want to cry. LVB, nope, no crayon smell hah.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · October 2009

Oh wow. And I'd heard VWs were reliable. Someone told me American cars are cheaper to fix because the parts are always available, but I think that's BS. VWs are plenty common. Is it expensive because you have to do a ton of stuff or do you think the parts are more expensive than other cars?Screw it. I think I want a Volvo.

louisvillebride21 · October 2009

The parts aren't really more expensive on them, they just have a ton of problems. I have a chevy and the parts are pretty cheap, but then again, I've only had to take it to the shop once and it was still under warranty. I'm really really lucky that FI is a car guy and has fixed every single thing that has gone wrong with it since we've been together.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

Is it expensive because you have to do a ton of stuff or do you think the parts are more expensive than other cars?Well replacing the CC is $800 which sucks big time all on it's own. But because that part went bad, it caused a lot of other things to go bad as well. So it needs a ton of repairs.I don't know enough about cars to answer this. I would guess the parts are more expensive for foreign cars, but I can't say for sure.

tidetravel · October 2009

Holy crap - it took me a whole 2 minutes to figure out how a 2000 model car could be almost 10 years old. Time flies.

BecW2be · October 2009

That's why I love my Honda. Super cheap to fix and maintain. The damn oil changes on that touareg were $150. Tires were $250 a pop, and it took premium gas... I hated it before it even started giving me endless problems. VW is horribly expensive for parts and labor.

salt78 · October 2009

You have no idea what you are talking about. VWs are awesome. I have lots of friends that drive them and they haven't had any problems.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

Holy crap - it took me a whole 2 minutes to figure out how a 2000 model car could be almost 10 years old. Time flies.Tide, you made me feel like I made a stupid typo and I actually went back to re-read my post just to make sure =P

TurtlesAllTheWayDown · October 2009

Yeah, I guess I don't know enough about cars to know how expensive parts usually are.I DO know that Saturn tried to wiggle out of covering anything wrong with my car, even when it was under warranty. Sorry, I shouldn't have to pay $700 out of pocket to fix a 2 year old car. I had oil changes included for 3 years in my car payment, but now that my car is over 3 years old, I think the dealership is going to charge me something like $90 for each one. So long as there IS a Saturn dealership.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

Wish I could have been that lucky Salt!

salt78 · October 2009

I'm sure you do. I just don't think it's right to put down an entire car company just because you had a bad experience. My first Mini had a lot of issues, but I didn't shiit on the company as a whole just because I had car trouble. I even bought another Mini after that and it's the best car ever.

BecW2be · October 2009

Yeah, there are a few lucky ones, Salt. But for everyone else, theres www.myvwlemon.com.

salt78 · October 2009

Eh it's a lot more than a few. I was part of the VW car scene around here since the late 90's. Maybe the mid-Atlantic just gets waaaay more good cars than other places.

BecW2be · October 2009

I was a fan until I actually owned one. Then I justified the expense because "it's a VW! It's worth it!" Then it left me stranded twice within a year, and had 11 other problems that inhibited driving, and every tech kept telling me my car was unique and they'd never seen or heard of the problems I was having. Then I googled, found some sites where EXACTLY what was happening to mine was happening almost across the board, and finally found myvwlemon.com and started pulling info from there to combat the "we've never seen this!" crap they kept pulling. I'm betting my name is still on file at VW headquarters. It was that bad. So, no, every car they make is not bad, but if I find half a rat in my soup once at a restaurant you can bet I won't be having soup from there again, and I'll probably hate them for life. A $35K car is no different.

jfgrad06 · October 2009

I agree with you Bec. Obviously, they aren't all full of problems like ours, but I've seen more than my fair share with just my own car. I would not go out searching for another one if/when mine breaks down for good.

FU Volkswagen

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