26th Apr 2026, 09:28
It's well known that VW did radical cost cutting measures in the mid 90ies, starting from late 1993, but this really started from MY 1995. So you might have a 93 or 94 that's well built, then you buy a 95 or 96 and they are complete basket cases. I've owned a 93 Golf and a 92 Passat, both well built according to old quality standards. The problem was worst in 95/96 but lasted until 98 in some aspects. Cost cutting means in real terms to start cutting corners and the quality took a nosedive.
27th Apr 2026, 14:46
Interesting comments because at least in the US, VW has never had that great of a reputation. I think because we got Japanese cars a lot sooner than Europe and Honda and Toyotas early on proved they would go 200,000 miles without a problem. Every other person I knew who had a VW had serious problems.
28th Apr 2026, 16:24
VW is a mixed bag. 60ies Beatles were extremely robust, well built and solid. 70ies Golf and Passats OK but not great, the infamous K70 pretty bad. 80ies was a great decade for VW, generally fantastic quality. Great quality until 1995 to 1998. After 2000 pretty mixed quality, some years and models pretty bad. Rust and galvanic slippage on some years. Engines like the 1.9 TDI PD, especially the early ones without DPF, are fantastic engines. Then the early 1.2 and 1.4 TSI are problematic. The 1.6 FSI is semi reliable, but otherwise a real turd. 1.6 TDI is a nightmare to work on. The early DSG transmissions a disaster etc etc. If you consider buying a second hand VW, you really need to know what you are doing and choose the good ones. A real minefield IMHO.
24th Apr 2026, 16:46
VW built their reputation for quality in the 70's 80's and 90's when most comparable cars were not as long lasting, and under par in reliability. I can comment as I owned a lot of cars from that time period, not just from VW (my worst cars were easily Ford's or Citroen's).
Incidentally, the coolant leak you mention at that location on the 1.8 from that time was a common fault, I had to replace it too on cars with the same engine. Other than that, I am quite surprised you had a lot of issues with your Golf at only 5 years old. I had many VW Passat's and Golf's from that time (early 1990's) and they all lasted to over 10 years and 100,000 miles before anything serious needed fixed. Easily more solid than others.