Team-BHP - VW's suffer from poor reliability?

Quote:

Originally Posted by souravc (Post 2365997)

Well VW does not make music systems , there are vendors such as Blaupunkt (Vento's are Blau..) , etc who supply the equipment so blaming VW for the music system is a tad unfair ! Its laughable that door squeaking in one car should be attributed to a design flaw. Then most , if not all, cars of the make should have squeaky doors . I own a Vento and none of the doors squeak. Its simple common sense , check out the doors of 5 cars of the same make and find out how many are squeaking - let your friend not be taken for a ride!
I own a Swift and the front window has a flawed design - because of the huge size of the window and consequently the glass (which is heavier than sheet metal) it rattles . In most Swifts it rattles and that's a design flaw .

So what if the music system is out sourced? Is it not VW's job to check it for quality? If thats the case, you can never blame any manufacturer as most of the manufacturers out source internal components to other smaller, component manufacturers!
I'm not picking VW or Skoda, but 100 Polos and Fabias with interchanged hub caps reached the showrooms, ACI editor tweeted few weeks back! Thats actually laughable :uncontrol Its purely my view: I wont consider the VW as a reliable brand!

Quote:

Originally Posted by souravc (Post 2365997)

Well VW does not make music systems , there are vendors such as Blaupunkt (Vento's are Blau..) , etc who supply the equipment so blaming VW for the music system is a tad unfair !

lol:

So I guess if the seats wear off in a year or the paint fades away quickly then I should blame the cloth/seat maker or the paint maker for that and not VW.

lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by aravind.anand (Post 2365957)

True, but having to replace the music system twice was not at all reasonable! And claiming that the door squaks are a design flaw really tarnished the reputation of VW (in my mind that is) And I actually think that Honda did a good job by recalling as our country has no rules whatsoever regarding recalling of vehicles.

My ANHC was recalled too and I've been to the workshop 3 times after the replacement just to get the tappet settings right. It sounds really strange when they say that of the 800 cars that they have fixed mine is the only one which has the "missing" problem. I just got the car back two days ago. I have felt the occasional "miss" and I have a feeling that the problem will be back....

I just think that once the engine is opened it can almost NEVER go back to the factory like feel. The ANHC engine was so smooth even on idle that it used to be hard to tell if the engine is running without looking at the tacho.

There is another TBHP member who has faced a similar problem with the Honda recall. The only good thing, if you can even call it that, is that Linkway Honda always pays attention to what I tell them and take their job seriously.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010 (Post 2367156)

But the only issue here we are discussing is how Maruti would react when a customer complaints about say a transmission issue during warranty. Cost of ownership of Maruti is far far cheaper than owning a Fabia anyday.

I thought we were discussing reliability of VW cars rather than ownership cost.
There cannot be any doubt that ownership cost of a Maruti would be much cheaper than any car in India

I know a friend of mine who owns Polo and his car's LHS rear light set was fused after 6 month of purchase. I don’t know whether he replaced that in warranty or paid the charges. With reliability issues people have also questioned fit and finish of VW cars. Various such incidents have been reported here on team-bhp only. One such incident is here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/94990-volkswagen-vento-test-drive-review-107.html.

I know it’s quite difficult for new company to establish itself completely in the country and it will take some time for them to work in full flow, be it A.S.S or pre-sales or manufacturing their cars.

So please lets not start criticizing VW, just like lots of people did for Honda during their recall movement. Give the company sometime.

PS - I am sure to see a drop in VW sales figures this month just because of this thread:D.

When German cars were simpler, they were stunningly reliable. Without electronics & a cost-cutting culture, all that German engineers did was over-engineer the mechanical parts of their cars. The ONLY two reliable German cars that have sold in India are the W124 Mercedes and the Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi diesel (not the vRS).

Thereafter, electronics & complicated tech (DSG) made reliability patchy for the Laura, while Mercedes went on a cost-cutting exercise that could shame China factories. I thought BMW will do better; it probably is compared to Mercedes, but still not satisfactory (electronics, turbos etc. remain areas of concern).

The previous-gen Passat had a HORRIBLE reputation for breakdowns in India (Linky), while stories of stranded Superbs (failed gearbox, and conked off air-cons) are becoming common-place. The VW Polo has barely completed one year, and there are one too many reports of warranty replacements. If this is the start, I can only guess how they will perform over 5 - 10 year ownership cycles.

Bottomline : If you want absolute reliability, buy Japanese or Korean.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dot (Post 2365418)

Tell me one car manufacturer who has not thrown out lemons from their plants or had issues and recalls. Even Maruti cars suffer from all sort of issues, yet half of India continues to buy Maruti cars.

Every manufacturer has some lemons. What matters is the number of problematic cars as a % of total output (say, xxx per 1000). This is where European rankings tumble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 2365682)

That is why the parts in an aircraft are replaced at regular intervals, does not matter if they are still serviceable, they are changed.

I could also give the example of Lexus LS460 which has all the gizmos (and then some more) of a Mercedes S Class...yet is as reliable as a Toyota Corolla.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO

Bottomline : If you want absolute reliability, buy Japanese or Korean.

I'm not very familiar with this segment but heres a specific Q. How would you rate, Volvo, Tata Jaguar and Tata Land Rover in comparison on reliability? I sometimes seriously wonder that whenever I do come up for an upgrade from my civic, even if I indulge, stretch budget and spend 25 - 35 Lakh on a car, is there any product out there that will give a truly peace of mind ownership experience.

As you spend more and more money, you expect the level of product satisfaction to only improve - both in the capability as well as reliability. I'm just not sure thats the case here making this IMHO one of the most difficult upgrade sections to deal with.

Just to illustrate:

Take a 16 Lakh civic to 32 - 35 Lakh Merc, Audi or BMW for instance. For twice the price, you get comparable or lesser features (no paddle shifts - sorry the civic has spoilt my expectation levels), same or lesser inside space and much lesser reliability. Twice the money going oily towards engine and snob value.

You can take a step down on snob quotient and pick a passat and superb - great everything but lousy reliability and after sales experience.

Try choosing a Fortuner, reliable product but short changed on the luxury factor !!!

The only upgrades that seem to meet a combination of value, equipment and reliability criteria are the outlanders and the accord then (Accord too feels a touch under-specced though). But then again both are petrol offerings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by souravc (Post 2365997)

Well VW does not make music systems , there are vendors such as Blaupunkt (Vento's are Blau..) , etc who supply the equipment so blaming VW for the music system is a tad unfair ! )

I kind of disagree with this. VW doesn't build more than its engine. It outsources most parts. Who are we to blame ? Its VW. I buy a car at VW, I don't care whom he purchases stuff from. Its basic VW's responsibility to ensure QC for all. I shouldn't be running behind Blaupunkt to blame them.

VW has been doing good numbers with Polo and Vento sales. And these cars have been in the Indian market for a year or less. I can understand people's initial interest in "a new affordable VW car" in India which inflates the sales numbers in the beginning. What would be interesting to see is the sales figures one year down the line if these reliability issues persist.

Like someone said, new car buyers seldom think about ownership (maintenance) costs a year or two down the line.

Quote:

Originally Posted by snorting bull (Post 2368020)

Does that mean that just because " I have seen my friend get his music system changed twice" the car manufacturer becomes unreliable ? In my opinion it does not

Quote:

Originally Posted by souravc (Post 2365997)

Well VW does not make music systems , there are vendors such as Blaupunkt (Vento's are Blau..) , etc who supply the equipment so blaming VW for the music system is a tad unfair !

Hillarious. Check this thread for more such comments, http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...d-friends.html

Does VW provide extended warranty on the Vento now? If yes, I want my friend (owns a Vento TDi) to get one the day it's announced!

If no, why? VW loyalists can throw some light.