My mechanic is so against VW's. Why? Are they really that bad of cars?

Are they "that bad of a car"...nope
But based on my personal experiances working on my old '86 VW Bus, they're a bitch to work on! Everything is packed in there, not organized at all, and you never know where to put anything unless you have a manual telling you.
EG: Brake Fluid resevoir is IN the dash...to check, or add to, you have to remove part of the dash where your tack/speed/etc is

Mechanics, and people in general, are afraid of things that they are not familiar with. My guess is your mechanic is not very familiar with VWs so he is afraid of them. It's a lot easier to trash talk a make or model than to read up and learn how to repair it (assuming your mechanic can read).

Find a German mechanic for your German car.

My mechanic was a VW technician for like 8 years and a Bimmer tech for a dealer for another 6. He must know something we dont if he doesnt like them that much.

So your mechanic was a WV tech between 1990-1998? I've been out of the loop, did VW have a lot of quality control issues 1990-1998?

I always have found that German cars are put together a bit different than American or Asian cars. If you don't know the "trick" you are going to be stumped. Once you know the trick a German car is a lot easier to work on than an American or Asian vehicle.

All car makers were having some problems meeting the USA's exhaust emission standards and keeping the engine on the easy side to work on. Finally they have all learned to do it and keep the engine compartment relatively clean looking.

Working at a dealership can be tough [that's what I do]. You get to see all the manufacturer's triumphs and failures. If you work in a dealership long enough you will see just about everything imaginable happen to each and every model of vehicle. At times it can be tough to feel good about the brand you represent. You just have to remember that the failures you are seeing amount to less than 80% of the vehicles on the road.

If your mechanic doesn't like VWs find one that does.

I would guess he is in the wrong business ... being a mechanic nowadays means being computer literate along with knowing what each part does and the theory behind each part. Once you got that down .. the turning the wrenches is the easy part.

thats a good idea that i should find a mechanic who doesnt mind vw's. instead of hearing, "u shouldve bought a camry" i can get "this problem is easy to fix." plus dad is getting a kharma gia - nice.

Starting in the 90's VW, like most, have new computer read out systems ONLY available at the dealerships. Thus if you want to have your car read via computer you must go to the dealer.

Starting in the 90's VW, like most, have new computer read out systems ONLY available at the dealerships. Thus if you want to have your car read via computer you must go to the dealer.


actually for VW's and other makes like Audi I'm sure, you can get a tool called VAG-COM that hooks up to your laptop and can read error codes, as well as make minor adjustments to things.

My buddy has on and uses it quite frequently. Has used it to reset codes for me whn changing out my intake till I got the intake rigt where it didn't throw codes, as well as set me up so all the doors unlock when the car is shut off.

here is a place where you can buy one

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/pricing.html


edit: heh heh spelled error wrong ...

You guys rock, and this sites rocks! I have three VWs from a 80 rabbit, 91 passat, and a 98 jetta VR6, and I can never find helpful people on these forums. I've seen nothing but great advise and people who are knowledgable about, and love VWs

hey JakeA ... another great site for vw's is vwvortex.com
if you have a diesel rabbit the place to go would be tdiclub.com ... they have a lot of good advice there as well.