messed around and almost bought a GM

I've wanted a diesel hatchback for years. You're sol if you're in the US. Few diesel options and none in a hatchback. Until 2017 that is. Chevy Cruze offered in diesel hatchback.

Been watching videos of it for a couple weeks. Loving it. Did a deep dive into some of their message boards.........absolute trash quality cars man.

I don't get why American brands can't get their shit together and produce cars that don't constantly need parts replaced. I've been a lifelong Toyota customer. You just can't beat its reliability. I can't afford a car with a high cost of ownership right now.

So many posts on the Chevy message boards about XYZ part going bad. And these are at relatively low mileage cars too. With a Toyota I don't expect any surprise expenses until at least 100k miles, if that.

With the Chevy cars I'm reading about master/slave cylinders going bad @ 30k. Water pumps...what is it with GM and water pumps?

So why can't American brands make quality products that last long?

It's not an issue of where they are made. Japanese automakers have plants in the US, Canada and Mexico banging out top quality products.

So now I'm looking at Golf TDI. Come to find out they are a PITA for DIYers. Apparently Europeans like to simple things such as fasteners and complicate them. Needs specialized tools. Just can't win. Well I COULD win if Toyota ahead an introduced a diesel engine in the US.

Anyway, long winded post I know. Venting.

Anyone here have experience with Volkswagen? While I am a DIYer for simple to moderate repairs it's only so because with Toyota I just need to watch a video and things are pretty intuitive under the hood.

 

My only experience wiith a VW was my 07 GTI. Youre right, it was overly complicated, needed special tools to work on, and mundane parts were two to three times more expensive than equivalent GM or Ford vehicles.

For what it's worth, my Taco needed a new water pump at 30k miles, and I installed helper springs to avoid leaf spring sag and help with axle wrap. Both of these were relatively common issues, but after that it was trouble free until 90k miles when I needed new front wheel bearings. Beyond that was just regular PM and typical wear and tear replacements.

Good luck with your choice!

 

German cars in general are over-engineered and expensive to work on, which has always scared me away from them.
I've never liked the build quality and longevity of any GM car, and I've driven quite a few of them. I helped a friend replace the thermostat on his Chevy Sonic and it was a total nightmare. It was an overly complicated design that was destined to fail, and the connecting lines and hoses broke while attempting to disconnect them due to cheap materials and crappy design, which made the project drag out over several days because we had to keep ordering parts.... for a thermostat replacement.

My '94 Ford Ranger was super easy to work on and one of the most reliable vehicles I have ever owned. I've always had good luck with the Fords that I've owned, but I'm loving the build quality and reliability of my '00 SR5.

 

About to hit 100K!



Let's see a Cruze do that so flawlessly...

 

you think too much, just get a 4 cylinder Tacoma if you want simple reliability, who cares about what GM or Volkswagon are doing

 

Bet you're glad you didn't make that financial mistake don't you. They legitimately suck.

 

I work at a Chevy dealer as a technician, and let me tell you, I’ll never own any GM product, but the Cruze might be one of the worst possible buys right now with GM. Utter garbage.

 

wow

 

audi/vw really aren't that hard to work on once you familiarize your self with them, all you need is a torx set and your golden. my buddies mk6 gti is worlds easier to work on than his old sti he had. I guess it just comes down to what your comfortable with.

 

Triple square sockets too...

 

Until you use the wrong Torx and round out the head.

 

I think I've rounded out the head of every single Torx bolt I've ever touched.

 

yeah that's why you buy this torx set

 

Where does one get said torx set?

 

I got the exact set at princess auto for like 45 bucks

 

sorry that would be our Canadian version of harbor freight, I think.

 

For me these were difficult to find and relatively expensive. Sold the car in 2011, now the set just sits in my toolbox. I also had to get a set of 3/8 drive oversized allen's wrench sockets.

Oil changes were a PITA because the filter canister was plastic, so the 21 mm socket needed to get it off would deform the nut on the end of the canister. Not to mention the recommended expensive Euro spec oil.

VW loves stretch bolts too, they use them on practically everything and recommend replacement once removed.

I replaced my turbo at 30k miles (babied the car, no performance flashes) and the new OEM kit was almost $2000. That was with doing all of the work myself. Xenon headlights were $650 each for new ballast and light.

So glad I sold that car. It just nickel and dimed me with all the issues. It kinda turned me off of European vehicles altogether.

 

Read so many posts about people having had multiple transmission rebuilds under warranty. How do they remain profitable?

 

VW also use triple square bolts a lot.

 

how does Toyota stay profitable with all these frame replacements lol