Toyota Vs. Volkswagen Quality

I haven't heard of any Subie engine failures and quite a few owners on my DSM board race them and have owned them long term. They are known for having some weaker transmissions on the 5sp and dated auto's, but I haven't heard of a single engine failure. Cracked blocks should be a thing of the past. Got pics?

I think he was referring to common head gasket failures in 1997-2003 Subarus with the 2.5l H4 engine. People would overheat engines and warp blocks in the process. Subaru was forced to issue a recall on some of these HG leaks. I had a 2000 Subaru and it did have a small external HG leak fixed by TSB. The car was totaled before it developed any major engine problems (at 60000 miles) but I had a lot of recalls and annoying electrical and timing belt issues that spoiled my image of Subaru. BTW, Subaru cars are more maintenance intensive and the dealers are much worse than Toyota.

I haven't heard of any Subie engine failures and quite a few owners on my DSM board race them and have owned them long term. They are known for having some weaker transmissions on the 5sp and dated auto's, but I haven't heard of a single engine failure. Cracked blocks should be a thing of the past. Got pics?

I think he was referring to common head gasket failures in 1997-2003 Subarus with the 2.5l H4 engine. People would overheat engines and warp blocks in the process. Subaru was forced to issue a recall on some of these HG leaks. I had a 2000 Subaru and it did have a small external HG leak fixed by TSB. The car was totaled before it developed any major engine problems (at 60000 miles) but I had a lot of recalls and annoying electrical and timing belt issues that spoiled my image of Subaru. BTW, Subaru cars are more maintenance intensive and the dealers are much worse than Toyota.

you are right. gasket failure and overheating causing total block failure.owners without a clue about engine lights or gauges. the shop had one guy whose sole job was engine and trans rebuilds. mostly motors. i have no pictures except in my mind. it was a few years ago. i recall a full room of subaru engines on stands. waiting for evaluation, warranty confirmation , and parts. most failed about 80000 miles so no coverage unless you had the extended warranty. plus my hardcore mechanic friend telling me to never buy one.good enough for me. so 2-6 weeks without a car and a 2-3000 dollar bill to boot. I'll take my corolla instead. 240,000 on the original motor and trans. burns a quart every 1-2000. 40 m.p.g in summer .

or my 2000 sienna . 125,ooo miles. ran it 2 years on 5.5 quarts of synthetic oil and one filter change. lets see .tires, battery, full brakes, rotors , full fluid change , air filters, and spark plugs. thats it. works for me.

I haven't heard of any Subie engine failures and quite a few owners on my DSM board race them and have owned them long term. They are known for having some weaker transmissions on the 5sp and dated auto's, but I haven't heard of a single engine failure. Cracked blocks should be a thing of the past. Got pics?

I think he was referring to common head gasket failures in 1997-2003 Subarus with the 2.5l H4 engine. People would overheat engines and warp blocks in the process. Subaru was forced to issue a recall on some of these HG leaks. I had a 2000 Subaru and it did have a small external HG leak fixed by TSB. The car was totaled before it developed any major engine problems (at 60000 miles) but I had a lot of recalls and annoying electrical and timing belt issues that spoiled my image of Subaru. BTW, Subaru cars are more maintenance intensive and the dealers are much worse than Toyota.

you are right. gasket failure and overheating causing total block failure.owners without a clue about engine lights or gauges. the shop had one guy whose sole job was engine and trans rebuilds. mostly motors. i have no pictures except in my mind. it was a few years ago. i recall a full room of subaru engines on stands. waiting for evaluation, warranty confirmation , and parts. most failed about 80000 miles so no coverage unless you had the extended warranty. plus my hardcore mechanic friend telling me to never buy one.good enough for me. so 2-6 weeks without a car and a 2-3000 dollar bill to boot. I'll take my corolla instead. 240,000 on the original motor and trans. burns a quart every 1-2000. 40 m.p.g in summer .

or my 2000 sienna . 125,ooo miles. ran it 2 years on 5.5 quarts of synthetic oil and one filter change. lets see .tires, battery, full brakes, rotors , full fluid change , air filters, and spark plugs. thats it. works for me.

So, are they failing due to over heating and owners not taking care of them? A lot of folks called the 4G63t a POS because they failed around 80K. Little did they know that a t-belt was due at 60K, even tho the dealer has huge posters on the wall, probably send the owners a notice or two in the mail. You sure something like a t-belt isn't happening with the subies? Google isn't even flooded with information on it. I could find a lot more hits by trying to find oil sludge and toyota.

I wouldn't be afraid to get a subie. They get pretty piss poor fuel economy, but the full time AWD does rock out.

I wouldn't be afraid to get a subie. They get pretty piss poor fuel economy, but the full time AWD does rock out.

You are absolutely right about the fuel economy. My 2000 subaru AWD with H4 and 165HP had exactly the same MPG (both city and hwy) as my 2006 toyota RAV4 V6 4WD with 269HP that drives like a rocket and seats 7.

You sure something like a t-belt isn't happening with the subies? Google isn't even flooded with information on it. I could find a lot more hits by trying to find oil sludge and toyota.

T-belt in subarus is good for 105,000 miles and breaks rarely. My car had an issue with T-belt tensioner that sounded like connecting rod knock. I had to fix it twice within 60,000 miles. This is not unlike the serpentine belt tensioner in my Corolla that sounded like spark knock.

As for the Google search: LOL!!!!

Check this: http://www.subaruheadgasket.com/

I definitely would not like to purchase a vehicle which is prone to head gasket failure.

Well, I have recently gotten a furious bug about possibly selling/trading my '03 Corolla for a new model 2006.5 VW Golf or Jetta TDI. I view diesel engines as the way of the future, and I want to get on the bandwagon.

Does anyone have any experiences and well-founded opinions regarding the qualitative differences between Toyotas and Wolkswagens? I have a friend who's owned a TDI New Beetle, Jetta, and Passat all within the last few years, and he claims they have been bulletproof -- albeit not crash-proof in the case of the Beetle. A neighbor has just purchased a TDI Jetta, but she obviously wouldn't have any experience with it yet. I want to know just how good they are, and not just in terms of drivetrain reliability. I want to know how everything from the door locks to the turn signals hold up, how expensive and owner-maintainable they are, basically, everything we already know about our Corollas.

I don't take the notion of giving up my Corolla likely, but with no prospect of Toyota giving us a diesel-powered version any time soon, I don't want to go any longer without the ability to exploit the virtues of diesel power and it's biodiesel fuel flexibility. Comments, please!

LARRY,

as a proud owner of a vee dub, i can tell you that veedub is going to give you more fun driving then toyota. I do have 03

golf that i had no problems whatsover zilch (since new). On the other hand my friend has 3 dubs all diesels and he has had problems on jetta 02 and 01 bettle, such as turbo needed to be replaced 2500$. But again he is happy because those cars have torque like you would not beleive it.

my corolla is 95 so it is stupid to compare it to 03 golf. Corolla is in good shape but interior is way cheaper then in vw and also driving toyota and vw is like night and day. I do love my corolla beacuse it is relatively trouble free for an old car with high mileage.

my 5 cents

best place to find out more is vwvortex.com where i hung out also a lot. parts are pricier for sure then toyota

ie muffler is 400-500$ etc but people seem to forget that when they see how vw are fun to drive......

Well, the concept of a car which is "fun" to drive is totally lost on me, mainly because I simply don't drive my personal automobile enough to cause that to enter the equation. I only live 2.1 miles from work, and, including vacations and other driving, barely put on 10K miles/year. I am more into solid dependability, and I have no interest in replacing $2500 turbochargers. Moreover, I work as a Paratransit bus driver, and as someone who makes his living on the road, I have a completely different attitude toward cars and driving in general. I'm not out there to have fun; I just want to survive and be able to enjoy a reasonably safe working environment. This is often complicated by people who are experiencing the "fun" of driving their "vee dubs" and other boy racer toys.

My $.02.

Well, the concept of a car which is "fun" to drive is totally lost on me, mainly because I simply don't drive my personal automobile enough to cause that to enter the equation. I only live 2.1 miles from work, and, including vacations and other driving, barely put on 10K miles/year. I am more into solid dependability, and I have no interest in replacing $2500 turbochargers. Moreover, I work as a Paratransit bus driver, and as someone who makes his living on the road, I have a completely different attitude toward cars and driving in general. I'm not out there to have fun; I just want to survive and be able to enjoy a reasonably safe working environment. This is often complicated by people who are experiencing the "fun" of driving their "vee dubs" and other boy racer toys.

My $.02.

I once had a 64 Vette that was fun to drive.

It had the 327 small block mated to a Powerglide.

Rock solid reliability in a real fun sports car. The old VW bugs were not fun but bulletproof.

VW knew how to do it but forgot.

How could a 'vette with a Powerglide possibly be fun? Unless you were drag-racing it -- which, IMHO, is probably the best (and only) application for a Powerglide. Shame, because the Powerglide was a fairly bullet-proof tranny -- it just galls me to be limited to 2 speeds! I guess if you're just tooling around the city in your '63 Bel Air at no more than 45 mph all day, then a Powerglide would suffice. However, I cringe at the waste of fuel.

How could a 'vette with a Powerglide possibly be fun? Unless you were drag-racing it -- which, IMHO, is probably the best (and only) application for a Powerglide. Shame, because the Powerglide was a fairly bullet-proof tranny -- it just galls me to be limited to 2 speeds! I guess if you're just tooling around the city in your '63 Bel Air at no more than 45 mph all day, then a Powerglide would suffice. However, I cringe at the waste of fuel.

Back then, premium was 36 9/10 and the fiberglass Vette even got good mileage.

The Powerglide was very strong and had quite decent pickup. Selected the automatic version because many 4 speed Vettes bought used had been beaten to hell by aggressive driving.

Well, the concept of a car which is "fun" to drive is totally lost on me, mainly because I simply don't drive my personal automobile enough to cause that to enter the equation. I only live 2.1 miles from work, and, including vacations and other driving, barely put on 10K miles/year. I am more into solid dependability, and I have no interest in replacing $2500 turbochargers. Moreover, I work as a Paratransit bus driver, and as someone who makes his living on the road, I have a completely different attitude toward cars and driving in general. I'm not out there to have fun; I just want to survive and be able to enjoy a reasonably safe working environment. This is often complicated by people who are experiencing the "fun" of driving their "vee dubs" and other boy racer toys.

My $.02.

This just shows how all of us different and how everyone has different understanding of fun. I dont make living on a road so driving to me is fun and privilege. To me corolla is fun to drive in a way that when I close doors on my 95 dx they sound like a tin can, fun in a way that acceleration on a ramp is so bad that it takes forever to get to 100km/hr unless you are all by yourself and with an empty trunk.Fun in a way that I have replaced front oem speakers with pioneer ones and now panels covering doors vibrate so much when you turn up the volume..........to me that is fun, i like the car dont get me wrong.

vw on the other hand is fun to me because doors close with klak sound you would think they are selaed, monsson stereo is amazing, car accelerates like crazy and you acctualy smile and not worry about anything... handling is wow wow wow that is also fun to me. my wife will "let me" take it for a spin every once in a while and boy the difference is HUGE,HUGE no comaprisson. maybe if you would compare eating a raw potato with kiwi

I had a 99 Jetta TDI that I bought brand new. It was a wonderful car and consistently got 50mpg. I drove it 60,000 trouble free miles before I sold it. Wish I had it back now. At the time, fuel prices had gotten really low and I needed a truck so I sold the TDI and bought a Toyota pickup. Maintenance is relatively expensive compared to a Corolla. The timing belt, for example, needs to be replaced on schedule (100k miles) and it's a pretty high priced job. I've heard other people complain about reliability but I've owned 2 VWs (the 99 Jetta and a 2003 New Beetle 2.0) and both were very dependable. If you get a 2006 TDI your fuel economy is not going to be that great compared to your 03 Corolla. The 99 that I had averaged 50mpg but the newer ones don't do anywhere near that good. VW redesigned the TDI in 02 or 03, not sure which year. They gave it more horsepower and torque but sacrificed fuel economy in the process. My brother had a 2004 Golf TDI and he never got more than 40mpg with his. An 03 Corolla with a 5 speed will do just about that good. Plus, gasoline is cheaper than diesel fuel. Also, the oil, filters, etc. are cheaper for a Corolla. If you get a TDI you need to use the best synthetic oil you can get. Amsoil or Mobil 1 Turbo Diesel Truck oil or something like that. If you really want to know about a TDI you might want to visit tdiclub.com. Those guys are obsessed with TDIs and can tell you anything you want to know and then some.

For quality there are none better than toyota and honda in overall reliability. VW just doesnt compare. So far as the old bugs the engines constantly broke down and were tempermental. It was no different with me or several of my friends who had them. We were all glad to get rid of them despite our affection for customizing them. Now if we wouldve customized them with the porsche engines as some do to make them fast then maybe it wouldve been different.

A lot of anecdotal evidence has been presented here.

That's good stuff, I have nothing against it. But, here are some

hard statistics. I am looking at a PDF document of the 2004 J.D. Power

and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study. Here are the 2004 Corporate

VDS Rankings (from best to worst):

1) TOYOTA 2) Honda 3) Porsche 4) GM 5) BMW 6) Nissan

7) Ford 8) Subaru 9) DaimlerChrysler 10) Mitsubishi

11) Suzuki 12) VOLKSWAGEN 13) Hyundai 14) Isuzu

15) Daewoo 16) Kia

Accoring to this study at least, Volkswagen is the worst of the German

auto brands when it comes to reliability.

A lot of anecdotal evidence has been presented here. That's good stuff, I have nothing against it. But, here are some

 

hard statistics. I am looking at a PDF document of the 2004 J.D. Power

and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study. Here are the 2004 Corporate

VDS Rankings (from best to worst):

1) TOYOTA 2) Honda 3) Porsche 4) GM 5) BMW 6) Nissan

7) Ford 8) Subaru 9) DaimlerChrysler 10) Mitsubishi

11) Suzuki 12) VOLKSWAGEN 13) Hyundai 14) Isuzu

15) Daewoo 16) Kia

Accoring to this study at least, Volkswagen is the worst of the German

auto brands when it comes to reliability.

This year's Consumer Reports auto issue says the same about VW.

Here is some more current data.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/ne...7_best_cars.htm

I still wouldn't fear the German built ones as much. For some reason, VW can't seem to control it's global quality.

Good and current link gvr. I see that honda and toyota are still the best, and that mitsubishi still doesnt hold a candle to toyota quality. A guy on another forum was actually going to choose the lancer over the corolla despite everyone's recommendations and was annoyed with all the corolla talk but he bought a prius at the end of it all.

I never understood why VW gets any good reviews considering their horrible quality. My wife had a new beetle and it was always acting up especially with the most annoying kind: electrical. I guess reviewers don't realize that whoever buys them, they have to own them for more than an hour.