New car quality survey: Lexus holds off Jaguar; Volkswagen still struggles

By Tim Beissmann
June 21st, 2012

FIND DEALS

Lexus has retained its title as the highest quality vehicle manufacturer according to the latest JD Power and Associates study, narrowly holding off inspired tilts at the top spot from Jaguar and Porsche.

The 2012 US Initial Quality Study reveals Lexus matched its industry-leading rating of 73 problems per 100 vehicles (PP100) from 2011 to maintain the number one ranking.

But Jaguar has been the biggest improver in 2012, falling just short of pulling off a massive upset over Lexus. The British marque slashed its rating from 114 PP100 in 2011 to just 75 PP100 – a result that sees it leap from equal 20^th last year to equal second.

Porsche also made considerable gains in the 2012 initial quality survey, improving 25 PP100 over last year to tie with Jaguar. The Porsche 911 continues to set the quality benchmark, averaging just 44 PP100 in 2012.

Overall, the industry average fell to 102 PP100 – a five per cent improvement over 2011.

Japanese brands again ranked highly, with Honda, Acura, Infiniti and Toyota filling positions five to eight, with General Motors’ luxury American division Cadillac jumping from ninth to fourth and improving 23 PP100 versus 2011.

BMW, Nissan, Ram and Chevrolet joined Jaguar in climbing above the industry average, with Nissan rising 11 positions and shedding 18 PP100.

At the other end of the scale, Smart and Fiat both debuted in JD Power’s initial quality survey only to tie for last place with a 151 PP100 average.

Mini, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen each improved their ratings marginally but remain disappointing overall, with all three failing to climb out of the bottom five.

Audi, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru fell just below the industry average along with Volvo and Jeep.

In-car technology issues continue to see Ford languishing towards the bottom of the table. The blue oval was ranked fifth in 2010 before glitches with its Sync infotainment system, among other factors, crippled its quality rating.

Despite its lowly 27^th-place ranking, Ford matched Lexus with three individual segment wins, while Infiniti, Nissan and Toyota each claimed two.

The JD Power 2012 Initial Quality Study is based on the responses of more than 74,000 owners and lessees of 2012 model year vehicles surveyed after 90 days of ownership.

Best cars by segment:

Sub-compact – Toyota Yaris
Compact – Toyota Corolla
Compact sports – Mazda MX-5
Compact premium sports – Volvo C70
Entry premium – Lexus ES350
Midsize premium – Infiniti M-Series
Midsize sports – Ford Mustang
Large premium – Lexus LS
Midsize – Chevrolet Malibu
Large – Ford Taurus
Premium sports – Porsche 911

Best SUVs/pick-ups/vans by segment:

Compact SUV – Honda CR-V
Compact MPV – Kia Soul
Entry premium SUV – Infiniti EX-Series
Midsize SUV – Buick Enclave
Large SUV – Ford Expedition
Midsize premium SUV – Lexus RX
Large premium SUV – Cadillac Escalade
Large pick-up – GMC Sierra LD
Midsize pick-up – Nissan Frontier
Minivan – Nissan Quest

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Tim

Here we go, VW enthusiasts getting ready for a long night of damage control.
- Sumpguard
  
  Too funny.
- Robin_Graves
  
  They’re used to it. Thats what happens when you try and spruik up a lemon.
  - Lbrinsmead
    
    Curious, did you previously own a Volkswagen lemon?
    
    Volkswagen should’nt continue making cars in Mexico or Spain if it wants to retain it’s credibility.
    
    Most of the German-made Volkswagens are better than the industry average. Much better than French and Italian-made cars. Just take a look at TÜV for proof.
    - TG
      
      Utter rubbish. The MKV GTI (3 door) we used to have had plenty of problems (burning oil, losing coolant, dropping coil packs, electrical glitches), it was built in Wolfsburg.
      
      VW make nice cars, they just need to up the ante ten-fold with reliability.
      - Pirate Post Office
        
        I also had a Wolfsburg built lemon Golf, over 70 faults… Never again!
      - F1
        
        Burning oil and smoke from exhuast is a common inheritance amongst all German cars.. It’s their trademark
        
        My friend has a 2010/09 328i and it always emits blue smoke especially during cold start..
      - Phil
        
        So what are you smoking when you see this?
      - Lbrinsmead
        
        Well here’s the facts from the 2011 TÜV report for vehicles between 4 and 5 years…
        
        6.7% of Golfs had faults. Compare this to Toyota Corolla’s 6.4%, Mazda3′s and Ford Focus’s 6.6%, Nissan’s Almera (Pulsar) 8.8% and Honda’s Civic 9.1. Maybe you were just plain unlucky.
    - ninja
      
      Oh really? I wonder why my brand new 2007 VW Golf R32 was one of the worst cars I have owned. I still blessed that I was able to get rid of it last year before it had chances to develop more problems.
      FYI, my car was made in Germany. Doesn’t make any difference.
- F1MotoGP
  
  There is no damage control. This is a US survey. You got English, German…etc it is all different. 2012 JD Power survey in England 1 Jaguar, 2 Lexus, 3 Skoda….8 VW, 13 Kia ( first car below industry average), 16 Ford, 17 Mazda, 24 Suzuki and last Chevrolet.
  Source: JD Power survey 2012 England
  - Ford Fairlane
    
    Yes there is,thats what VW dealerships do.
  - Robin_Graves
    
    German survey? Try Autobild, not the mickey mouse ADAC one. No excuses here, the Mexican plant is owned, managed and run by VeeDud, if it truly is an issue they should have sorted it out years ago.
    - F1MotoGP
      
      The real survey is done by TUV
    - F1MotoGP
      
      Sam for Honda. Read any report in this website. The quality of Honda made in Thailand is not as good as the Japanese.
  - F1MotoGP
    
    This is how JD Power survey works:
    
    The survey was split into four sections: vehicle quality and
    reliability, vehicle appeal, service satisfaction and ownership costs.
    The first section allowed owners to comment on any problems their cars
    suffered; the second recorded what they thought about design and
    functionality; the third concerned the quality of service dealers
    provided; the fourth covered how satisfied owners were with the cost of
    running their cars.
    
    Each category was weighted according to how important owners rated it.
    The total scores awarded by owners were split as follows: vehicle
    quality and reliability (22%), vehicle appeal (31%), dealer service
    satisfaction (22%) and ownership costs (25%).
    - Phil
      
      Thats the “satisfaction survey”. This is the “initial quality survey”, which is focused entirely on “problems that have caused a complete breakdown or malfunction, or where controls or features may work as designed, but are difficult to use or understand.”
      - F1MotoGP
        
        Yes Phil I know. I just copied from English JD Power website. The US is a quality survey. I checked it and not all VW are bad. The best is the VW Eos which finished 2nd in Compact Sporty Car category behind Mazda MX-5. The worst VW was Jetta from Mexico.
        Something interesting from the website:
        
        For the first time in the 26-year history of the study, owners report
        more problems related to audio, entertainment, and navigation systems
        than in any other vehicle area. This is driven in part by a rapid
        increase in the fitment of new technology, such as voice recognition on
        mainstream models.
      - ge6257st
        
        off yourself cretin.
      - Don Quay
        
        “where controls or features may work as designed, but are difficult to use or understand.”This probably means that the owner couldn’t be bothered to read the manual or where too stupid to understand it. I also wonder about a malfunction. If the glove box lid doesn’t latch, then is that malfunction weighted the same as the gearbox blowing up? I’m very suspicious of these surveys and their value.
      - Jumid
        
        Well in Volkswagen’s case both of them are common occurrences, the latter is the more common..
    - ge6257st
      
      go off yourself dolt.
  - Legnab
    
    Agreed , the yanks do very poorly in the UK survey .
    
    Funny ford is down the bottom of the US survey , maybe they have issues with ecoboost , not a good result for ford lovers .
    - Robin_Graves
      
      Ford had 3 first places in their respective segments. How many did VeeDud have? If you look at the other article you will see that the dodgy entertainment system dragged Ford down. Not a good result but much easier to fix than a blown motor or tranny and wont leave you stranded needing Barry to pick you up with his flat-top.
      - Phil
        
        I looked at the other article – VW was not mentioned in it once, yet when I looked in the comment section you left this:
        “another massive FAIL from VeeDub”
        So Fords entertainment system is VWs fault? Or did VWs own entertainment system drag their own result down and motors and gearboxs aren’t the problem?
      - Ford Fairlane
        
        Get some straws and clutch at them.
    - JJJ
      
      “The blue oval was ranked fifth in 2010 before glitches with its Sync infotainment system, among other factors, crippled its quality rating.”
      
      Ecoboost not mentioned unless you extrapolate “other factors” to mean this?
      
      Infotainment has caused a few headaches this time round – be good if the quality rating had some sort of weighting to the quality issues.
    - MattW
      
      Legnab, do some reading and you will find out its problems with SYNC and the touchscreens that dragged Ford’s result down, not the rest of the cars. Cars are getting updated software sent out to owners or done when getting serviced, next year Ford will be back up the list
- Golfschwein
  
  Nah, I reckon I’ll just stay quiet, a bit like you guys did on the story just 2 weeks ago where VW did well in the UK, with Skoda equal second. Nun o’yers wuz anywhere to be seen.
  - pixxxels
    
    I think the main issue here is the POS Mexican made models, particularly the new, bargain-basement US Jetta, and the persistently woeful Routan, are dragging the whole brand down.
  - Robin_Graves
    
    They were satisfaction surveys. Everyone knows VeeDud drivers are satisfied with their lemons and they also tend to satisfy themselves way above industry average.
    - Legnab
      
      Iam absolutely satisfied with my lemon , no issues what so ever ,its a blast to drive , i always smile as i scoot past your mate barry with nemo riding shot gun of to the dump with another falcoon .
Ryan

vw fanboys on the roll !

quit the damage control really.. guys just admit that vw are just not the most reliable cars..
- Robin_Graves
  
  Facts are facts, plenty of sand in the VAG at the moment.
  - twincharger
    
    Robin the Americans have 4 words for it.
    Das Towing+Breakdown Autos.
    Phone=1800 KABOOM…
- Daniel D
  
  Thats like getting some Ford fanboys to admit that the Ford dealer network is shonky.
  - Robin_Graves
    
    The Ford dealer network is atrocious.
    - Legnab
      
      YES we all no that dobin , and rubbish interiors , no economy , too heavy , just plain out of date , the use by date on the fuel lid says dont use after 2014 , goodbye falccon , hope you have a booking with barry/nemo for a tray top .
Phil

Mitsubishi and Suzuki down the bottom as usual – and unlike VW they were also down the bottom in the recent UK results too.
- F1MotoGP
  
  NO! You did not check the result.
  - Phil
    
    Excuse me? YOU did not check the result.
    
    This US one, Suzuki came 24th and Mitsubishi 30th!
    
    In the earlier 2012 “JD Power UK Satisfaction Survey”; Mitsubishi came 22nd, Suzuki 24th!
    - F1MotoGP
      
      Sorry, I was talking about VW in UK. VW finished 8th from 25 manufacturers.
      - Robin_Graves
        
        You VW fanbois are in so much of a flap you are squabbling amongst yourselves now?
      - Able
        
        Robin do you have to lend your ‘wise’ words to EVERYTHING on this website? No wonder CA sucks, you’re always here trolling! Get a life stoopid!
      - Captain Nemo
        
        Able
        i think you’re being a tad hypocritical in your comment to Robin. Your fellow VeeDud fanboy Bungel/ Legnab/Spellbound/Phildo or whatever he is calling himself today always trolls the Aussie built car stories but i don’t see you having a shot at him. If you think CA sucks DON”T visit simple as that.
      - Legnab
        
        Nemo/robin/twin/barry do you know which one you are , keep getting mixed up about who’s who . maybe you should lay off the bogan juice/smoke , never mind wont be long till they send the last falcoon down the line , tears in heaven , hahahhaha we wont shed a tear .
Henry F

I saw a Cadillac CTS parked at Melbourne Airport the other day. Whilst Cadillacs rank #4 in this quality survey, it’s certainly one of the least attractive cars I’ve seen in a while..
- pixxxels
  
  Really? i love it. Especially the CTS-V wagon, which certainly beats the RS4 and C63 estates looks-wise. It’d be great to see Cadillacs here, although I doubt they’d sell in enough numbers to make it worthwhile.
  - Dominique Vøn Hütch
    
    Maybe they might even build this one…
  - Henry F
    
    I think it’s one of those cars you either like or dislike. Whilst it might be a good car, I’m just not a fan of the trapezoidal headlights & grille.
    
    Anyhow, it’s a personal take on it.
    
    And I have no doubt about it’s performance – look up Hennessey cts-v hammer wagon. It’s one quick car!
- MattW
  
  I was in the US last week and saw a number of them… got to agree, nowhere near the top of good looking cars
Des KSA

You have to take these results with a pinch of salt. Honda and Acura (Posh Hondas) are virtually the same score. When you get to Lexus, Toyota and Scion (all owned by Toyota) you find they are 40 points apart. Is there really that much difference between the Toyota brands?
- F1
  
  Yeah there are..
  
  Lexus are produced at different production facilities. They have the highest production standards and very low tolerances..
  
  Honda & Acura are made in the same place..
twincharger

Blow me over with a feather.What a surprise to see Veedud fighting for the wooden spoon again.Legnoddy and Phildo drive VW because there Fathers and Grandfathers did.It will take more than the truth to get thoes blokes out of there rolfs.
- Legnab
  
  GEE nemo/barry/twin so original , my grandpappy drove fords and my daddy drove chryslers , both loved their V8′S , me a collection of big 6 BMW’S , but in these times of respecting our enviorement i choose small but powerfull turbo’s , economical but exciting drives .
  
  Iam still waiting for my lemon to have a fatal corruption , you keep peddling your valueless dino falccons and crummers , while i am assured of a great retained value .
  
  The sales charts tell the story , slip sliding away , falcon below 1000 a month , whats the bet it wont see out 2013 .
  - twincharger
    
    Legnoddy
    Small but powerfull turbos for testosterone deficient people.
    Brother get your self into a HSV of FPV while there still around.Also like the BMW”S big 6″s there cool.
    - Legnab
      
      Why waste money on a fast depreciating tank , HSVand FPV magic cars for appendage deficient bogans .
      - Jober As A Sudge
        
        Legnab…why the hate for HSV/FPV? Badge snob?
      - Robin_Graves
        
        He knows that his stage 7 hairdresser’s car will get blown into the weeds when anything with a FPV/HSV badge on it pulls up beside him.
      - Jober As A Sudge
        
        Robin…you come across just as bad with your constant VW bashing.
      - Legnab
        
        DONT HATE EM MATE just laff at the robins of this world living in the 70′s with their old world crummer/coons ,.
D4D

VW = Vehicle that won’t Work
- VW Damage Controller
  
  Hey, there are 2 W’s in the above sentence. It should be VW = Vehicle that Work.
  - D4D
    
    VW car is lemon car and there is the prove…end of story!
    - Able
      
      “There is the prove”
      
      Get some proper English.
      - Robin_Graves
        
        Being a grammar nazi isnt going to help VeeDud’s reliability.
VW Damage Controller

It’s because the VW dealerships that aren’t up the scratch. VW cars are great. So please blame the dealer.
- Des KSA
  
  The wouldn’t need a dealer if they were reliable.
Rightindicator

Blame the euro crisis. The greek caused it.
- F1MotoGP
  
  It was USA, subprime mortgage.
- Pere
  
  Taliban mate
- F1
  
  Haaa you know absolutely nothing about economics, let alone politics..
Tony

The Suzuki position interests me – the only people i know with Suzuki’s own the Swift (numerous varieties) all of them very happy, none have suffered any sort of mechanical or electrical glitch.

Is it a case that the Jap manufactured models are good, and anything outside Japan (e.g. India) are crap? Or do people know of quality issues with the Swift? (apart from hard scratchy plastics)
Ttr

Lexus are very premium..

No compromises what so ever..

Every aspect of Lexus is nice, the way the windows go up and down etc, just very nice and refined
- Phil
  
  Lexus don’t seem to be able to stop their smoking problem (nor do the fans!).
  
  My freinds 2012 IS350 puffs out clouds of pink smoke, particulary on hot starts. My Neighbours 2010 RX350 also smokes, but it blows out bright blue on cold starts.
  - nugsdad
    
    You see right there is the difference between the Lexus and the VW To blow smoke the engine had to start.
    - Phil
      
      Wow, another person who thinks Lexus is a VW competitor. Very interesting.
      - Polo
        
        I’m not surprised by such comments anymore, considering how often VWs are compared to BMW and Mercedes vehicles.
  - pedro phil
    
    Must be a common problem I guess. A friend’s 3 series blows blue smoke during cold starts too. A strange phenomenon indeed.
Schn

There just always has to be a fierce argument between the VW, BMW, and other German car enthusiasts, and the Toyota and Japanese enthusiasts.

It’s really quite entertaining sometimes to watch.
- F1
  
  All I see are the German fanbois vs the bogan fanbois
  - Tell It As It Is
    
    Golfs are bogans’ cars in the European countries.
  - Schn
    
    Sorry, there’s that too.
- VW Damage Controller
  
  You can’t compare VW’s with the J4p cr4ps. One is a luxury car brand and both are in different worlds.
  - Schn
    
    Skoda isn’t a luxury brand. Lexus is a luxury brand.
  - MazMagic
    
    DSG breaking, Electrical Faults, Engine Issues that cost $$$$ to fix – VW is just Euro trash – just look who makes up the majority of the end tail! VW (and fans) just don’t get it – even a competitor site to Caradvice has mentioned this too!
  - Sydlocal
    
    VW is NOT a luxury car brand, VAG have Audi etc for that. VW is their mainstream brand and is no different to Ford, Chevrolet, Fiat, Opel, or everyday Japanese brands like Toyota, Nissan and Honda. I hope you are not one of those people who have fallen for the VW “prestige” spin that is promoted in this country…
UMWHAT

Am I the only one who’s surprised with FIAT? every man and his dog in italy has a FIAT. I’ve seen 30 year old FIAT Pandas still driving around just fine
- Robin_Graves
  
  The multiair valvetrain is an engineering masterpiece. Pity that increased complexity doesnt help reliability. Its a very new technology so hopefully they iron the bugs out or they’ll probably end up selling the patents to Bosch like they did with the common rail diesel technology.
Pirate Post Office

VWs are an evil plot to place unreliable cars into human hands by aliens! When the aliens are ready to strike Das Autos will have their engines blow up.
F1

Though I do see many ‘new’ Volkswagens pulled to the side of road with blinkers on..
- VW Damage Controller
  
  That’s because VW’s could easily score the girls and they are parking on the side of the road for quickies.
GIG

I was shocked by seeing Jaguar in the 2nd place…
- Peter
  
  you shouldnt be, they are pretty special and quite reliable these days, though I wonder whether the owners like them so much that they gild the lilly a bit (I say that as an owner)
  - heavy metal
    
    Nah, they are very reliable now – and affordable after you let the first lessee or owner take the steep depreciation :). Which means that there is more good stuff available for us enthusiasts.
Jzz

Lexus fans must be of a very humble nature.. I don’t see them ever bragging..

Imagine if Volkswagen was at the top? Even above industry average, you will never see the end of it..
- Johnson
  
  No one buys them you see
- Phil
  
  Lexus fans are often bragging. However they tend to be so dumb, they brag about things that are actually Lexus’ weakness rather than their strengths. Some examples, which you can find randomly inserted across non related CA articles, include:
  
  RX is the most powerful SUV (in reality one of the LEAST powerful SUVS)
  IS350/GS350 fuel economy (one of the thistiest cars in its class)
  IS350/GS350 engine features to control emissions (one of the most polluting in its class)
  - Robin_Graves
    
    To make power, use fuel and generate emissions the engine actually has to run. I suppose you can call a broken VeeDud good on fuel and green as the emissions are coming from the towtruck.
    - Phil
      
      Oh Robin, you think VW is a competitor for Lexus eh?
      - Robin_Graves
        
        Definitely not, one is at the top of the reliability charts, the other is near the bottom.
      - Phil
        
        So why immediately respond to a Lexus comment with information about VW?
  - pil
    
    Methinks those are possibly…plants?
- Golfschwein
  
  You want bragging? Count Robin Graves’s posts here. 13 out of the 106 here so far. Aha. Busy boy. VW scores 5 stars in Australian Canstar surveys and came 8th in the UK JD Survey just two weeks ago. Clearly, when it comes to surveys, you can pull any result that suits your point of view. Robin does it all the time. I just did it then. Easy.
  - Legnab
    
    YES dobin’s trying to save his mates jobs at ford , anything to make the old falcoon look like its the bees knees , trouble is no one wants them anymore .
Devil’s Advocate

Nothing like the results of a JD Power survey to get the conversation started….
- Henry F
  
  lol, yes I remember someone posting that a pro/anti VW debate was worth getting the popcorn out.
Tell It As It Is

I know people that own Grand Vitaras and Swifts both new and old. All have 0 problems.
Showtime

Surprised to see Subaru didn’t do so well with its Japanese rivals. I’ve owned 2 Imprezas from the last 2 decades and couldn’t be happier! Although the running costs are expensive, the cars themselves are faultless.
- Pirate Post Office
  
  My Subaru is not a reliable as my previous Toyota. Fuji Heavy Industries is a small under capitalised manufacturer.
MB

Not entirely sure how Jag made it to no2 – my XJ is in got its fourth visit next week and is only 6months old…
Edward

And here i was, expecting some kind of intelligent conversation
F1MotoGP

On Drive website Serrera comment about Lexus.

“Bought a LS460 last month Needs new gearbox, steering box failed and front lower control arm came loose. Lexus ? no thank you. My 1998 S-class feels tighter and better build and never had any problems like that.”

I am very surprised!!
- Chinohill
  
  Please, I doubt the drivers of an LS460 complain online..
  
  Besides the Lexus LS is one of the highest quality cars made, they’re literally of superb quality in very criteria..
  
  The LS460 is a velvety smooth silky car, which glided effortlessly..
  
  J.Clarkson himself has regarded the Lexus LS460 as been on par and even surpassed Rolls-Royce in some aspects
- Robin_Graves
  
  Someone called something on some website said their Lexus had xyz problems. And then?
Johnno

On my survey of one owner… me… that has had both Lexus and VW , Lexus is a clear winner and the comments above that someone bought a dud the LS 460 …frankly I would say it was an impossibility unless it was second hand and had been used to dredge the ocean floor
ninja

I was in and out of the dealership 10-15 times with various minor and major faults in the 4 years I owned my 2007 Golf R32 DSG. My brother-in-law bought a brand new 2008 Jetta, just after outside of warranty period (3 years) the roof lining collapsed. Knew another person with a Jetta that was purchased brand new. Too many problems to recollect now.
Met another R32 owner through an Australian VW forum that had identical issues that I had with my R32. Much like me, he went through hell with VW Australia and VW dealerships acting like bunch of assses and trying to dodge any responsibility. He gave up and just sold the car. I lasted a little longer, but sold it before it started developing more problems.
You can see why I personally don’t have any faith in the brand.
If you had good experience with your VW, good luck to you.
Just don’t accuse me of making up these stories. First reaction of any VW fanboys when I tell them my own experience with the brand lol
http://www.facebook.com/people/Batsosi-Busang-Motsepeng/100002297622666 Batsosi Busang Motsepeng

Honda is the best mainstream brand. More people experience Honda reliability than Jaguar and Lexus combined.
- JooberJCW
  
  No according to this survey…
Rick

This survey must be wrong ! All the reviews on volkswagens say they are excellent quality , class leading even . I guess that’s the joys of being a journalist the car only has to last a couple of days or less
- Tell It As It Is
  
  I don’t bother with motoring reviews’ recommendation or the car of the year thingy. Most can’t review the cars’ reliability and durability in half an hour.
  - JooberJCW
    
    Exactly its one of those things time will tell, sure there can be off the showroom faults but generally things start to uncover themselves after a few odd hundreds of Km’s
ZR6

Well Jaguar hardly sells any cars anyway.. Last month May 2012 U.S sales

Lexus ; 21,463

Jaguar; 1075
Nada

A poor and unreliable article in its self.

All brands try hard with customer satisfaction survey, they beg you to fill it in while making sure that you are happy with everything, one even suggested to sit with me to fill it.
- JooberJCW
  
  Huh this is a New car quality survey, not customer satisfaction. If the car breaks the car breaks and gets noted no matter if the customer is happy or unhappy.
Arrox3

Would never buy a VW again. Bought a 118tsi golf and problems with it from day 1. 2nd problem came in second week of driving. Dealership were reluctant to fix and I was told engine chirping noise was a “known problem with no solution”. I gave up trying to get a warranty fix after 1 year! Nobody cares at VW. “Das not care Auto”
legocar

I had a Golf GTI MkV and the clutch and dual mass flywheel went under 50K, just out of warranty and I dont drive it hard. It would of cost by VW $3.2K to fix. Had a bad experience dealing with the local VW dealer over this. Car waiting for 6 weeks to be looked at and fixed. . In the process of considering another car, and still scarred from VW experience. Also have known friends with earlier VW which were lemon.
B4ref33t

Even if you were to accept reliability issues, you still have to deal with VW and its dealers. I had an issue on a Touareg that they could not correctly diagnose or fix for a year, and VW says, keep paying.
Lbrinsmead

Curious, many people have criticised Volkswagen’s poor performance in this report, why not do the same for Mitsubishi and Ford while your at it?
legocar

Because VW is the worst on all accounts and factors by far (my experience and others). I could eventually resign with either I got a lemon or bad service, but not both. I have owned new cars from Ford, Toyota, Honda, VW, and Audi. Honda and Audi together cant fault them (reliability and dealer service) then Toyota and then Ford and far from the pack VW. Honda service and car was great, from the era when Honda was great. Cant recall having any problem with my Honda car. Still see it being driven around presumably from some one who purchased it from car yard that I sold it too.
legocar

Because VW is the worst on all accounts and factors by far (my experience and others). I could eventually resign with either I got a lemon or bad service, but not both. I have owned new cars from Ford, Toyota, Honda, VW, and Audi. Honda and Audi together cant fault them (reliability and dealer service) then Toyota and then Ford and far from the pack VW. Honda service and car was great, from the era when Honda was great. Cant recall having any problem with my Honda car. Still see it being driven around presumably from some one who purchased it from car yard that I sold it too.