Talk me out of buying a VW (Rabbit/Jetta)?

You have an interesting situation: The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and (though you haven't listed it) the Mazda 3 vs. the VW Rabbit/Jetta/Golf.

Firstly, all three of the vehicles have good strong points and weak points, it depends upon the balance between features, price and driving style.

I assume from your listing that you are talking about purchasing a used vehicle, because if you're talking about a new one, that would change what I'm writing here.

The VW has a nice interior, good driving dymanics and safety features that are either optional or not available on the others. It has comfortable seating for 2 adults, a smallish rear seat, average luggage space and (for base editions anyway (other than the 2.5 liter 5 cylinder) the lowest standard horsepower of the above vehicles. The fuel economy is on the low side and parts and service are the most expensive of the lot. It does have low depreciation (good resale value), a fair number of aftermarket performance parts, and a somewhat weaker dealership body.

The Honda Civic, has a good balance between ride and handling; its softer riding than the VW's, has less grip, is noiser, can be somewhat spartan in the interior and a lot people don't care for the "space ship" split instrument panel with the speedometer on the top. It does have a higher price used than the VW's, but also has among the highest resale percentage of any car sold in the US. Fuel economy is second only to the Toyota Corolla, is among the cheapest car to maintain (lots of spare parts available ) and has a large following in the aftermarket performance area. Engines are smoother and more willing to rev than the VW units and the manual transmission is among the slickest shifting.

The Toyota Corolla is the world's best selling automobile; there's a reason for that: one of the most reliable cars on the road... Handling is the weakest of the three: soft riding, low tire grip, a tight rear seat area, no hatchback design models, and an engine that isn't happy at higher rpm's. Balance this against the highest fuel economy, good (but not great resale value), a car well suited to driving in traffic with a minimum of effort, but a poor road car for high speed driving.

The Mazda 3, is an interesting vehicle: almost as expensive (new) as a Civic, but with excellent driving dynamics. It truely deserves the "zoom, zoom" label it has in the ads. Firmer ride than the VW, but not quite harsh, the 2.3 motor is rough at high rpm's, and only delivers average fuel economy (lower than the other Japanese vehicles, matching the VW). Matches the VW for available features (at least new one's do), with a quality finish inside and out that is equal. Comfortable for 4, tight for five, smallest trunk of the group.

Its the sport car of the group:, parts and service better than the VW, but not as inexpensive to run as the Toyota or Honda.

More dealers than VW, less than Toyota or Honda.

With the VW, if you're purchasing used, you need to be sure that the vehicle service has been performed to meet or exceed the manufacturer's requirements. A lot of the problems that some owners have had are because they did not follow the factory recommendations and/or they did not have a VW specialist service the vehicle. European vehicles in general, have to be serviced by someone who understands the engineering quirks that they have and can deal with them. In the dealerships I've been in, I've always made it a point to tell people what needs to be done to prevent trouble later, based upon our experience with the vehicle. If people followed our advice, then in general, they had a lot less concern with issues like the check engine lights than most people and for the most part, avoided unscheduled repair visits. The serving persons need not be a dealership, but someone who understands the vehicle!!! This is so important, I cannot overstate this at all!

The Japanese cars are much less prone to having or needing a specialist to service them. There is more price competition among them, so service tends to cost less, this is especially true of the Civic and Corolla.

Finally, if you choose to have dealer service, Honda and Toyota have better factory service technical support than VW. From my personal experience, Honda and Toyota are very good in this regard, ( I cannot comment on the Mazda, I haven't worked in Mazda dealership in a long time), while VW is on the weak side.

This is just based upon my personal experience; I have actually driven all of these vehicles at one time or another (mostly as rentals)... but your experience may differ. If possible rent each of the vehicles for the weekend if possible, do your own comparison. In my area, Enterprise Rental actually has all three vehicles available to rent... hopefully, that's the case where you are...

Hope this helps, a car nut.

2007 Vw Rabbit Problems

What kind of personality do you have?

If you're boring and practical, get the corolla.

If you're average and practical, get the honda.

If you're full of life and want to drive something fun, get the VW.

Also keep in mind, the VW has a 5 cylinder engine, so it will have more pep than the Honda or Toyota.

Many of the Mexican built VWs of the past few years have had electrical issues. These Mexican models are the 4th generation golf & jetta, and beetle.

HOWEVER, rabbit production hasn't been set up yet in Mexico, so they're all manufactured in Germany. For some reason the German built cars (Passat, GTI, Rabbit) have fewer problems than the Mexican built ones. Hurry though, supposedly American market Rabbits will soon start production in Mexico.

My daughter has a 2007 VW Jetta Wulfsburg edition. She loves it, its had little problems with it. First day, ipod adapter broke which was fixed. I happen to like it, drives great handling is very good also. I paid 23 thousand for hers almost fully loaded. Spoiler, leather, 5 cylinder, moon roof, etc. I would highly recommend a Jetta. My son has a 2006 BMW 325xi, which has had way more problems then my daughters Jetta. When the warranty runs out on the BMW I'm screwed, it seems its in the shop atleast every 2 months. I happen to think its all luck! Good Luck and get the VW!

As with ANY car - you have to follow the maintenance schedule if you want it to last. The VW's are great safe cars. We work on a lot of cars in our shop and if I were looking to replace what I currently drive I would not hesitate to buy a VW over any of the Honda's or Toyota's.

I know this is old BUT you will spend so much money on dealership only parts....such as wipees $50 a pair, tgey have to take tge dash apart to change the xabin air filter, costs you $100 to change some bulbs....it will be very expensive!

the MK V which is the new body they are very reliable, while the MK IV 99.5-2005(or something like that) they are notorious, do not get the MK IV

Follow the maint. Schedule & any car will treat you right. If you like them go for it. Good luck

I will not talk you out of it....if you like it buy 2. if I like a car that I can buy, why will ask strangers to talk me out of it.