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.
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.