Thursday, January 13, 2011

Is a 2008 Volkswagen a good car? Please help!!?

Question 1
Is a 2008 Volkswagen a good car? Please help!!?...  So i just got my perment and I have all ways loved beetles puferable yellow :)) The only proablem is i dont know much about the car, and is it even a good first car. I know there good on gas too so thats a big plus.And if i did go with a bettle would it be better to get a convertable or a hard top roof with a sunroof. Please help!! Leave your personal oppinon too
thanks,
xoxoxo

Answers
1)   yes they are good cars
for sure
but they are the same as a vw golf just with a different body placed on top
therefore it is a novelty car
and due to the unique shape of the body it is a difficult car to work on
repair bills could be higher on this car then others

and if you live somewhere where you get really cold and snowy winters and plan on driving the car in the winter
then a convertable is not reccomended - jared

2)   Not a bad car at all. It shares most of its spares with the Golf 4 (suspension, engine, transmission, some interior bits). Biggest problem would be if you are involved in a collision - body panels might take a while to source.

If I had to buy one, my order of preference would be: hardtop, hardtop with sunroof, convertible. Remember to take someone with you before you buy, preferably someone who has owned a newer VW before. Modern VWs can be very unforgiving if you do not stick to the maintenance schedule and follow the user manual and information stickers under the bonnet to the letter.

If the coolant is not a bright pink colour, steer clear. This indicates that incorrect coolant was mixed in the coolant system, and could possibly hint at general neglect of the car by the previous owner.

EDIT: To John S - Lucky for us, not all Volkswagens fall apart as soon as you drive off the lot. It's just a small percentage of the North American ones that are held together with chewing gum and duct tape (to compete with GM's products). I know a lot of people with a variety of VWs, and none of them have ever had any major issues. Most of the issues you have listed can be rectified in an hour or less, and the boot lock that failed can be attributed to abuse. It WILL jump out of alignment if you slam the boot shut every time. Seat belt latch covers that cracked within a year? You definitely bought a dud. - Chris

3)   I know the car is cute, but I can tell you from experience that any Volkswagen product is garbage. I purchased a new 2008 Beetle for my daughter as a first car, and below I listed everything that went wrong after owning it for only one year
1. The mass airflow sensor failed causing the engine to die.
2. The radio antenna stopped picking up radio stations.
3. The hood T-handle broke so I couldn't open the hood of the car.
4. The electric trunk latch failed and could not get groceries out of the trunk even with the key.
5. The lights started flickering
6. Headlight and Taillight bulbs burned out.
7. Seat-belt latch covers cracked and fell off.
VW's are world class pieces of garbage, but if you still want one, I would go for the Beetle without a sunroof or convertible. I read that both the sunroof and convertbile leak when it rains. - John S

4)   You also should compare car insurance quotes for cars before buying one, for example here - carinsurance.deep-ice.com - Vins

5)   They are pretty but not particularly reliable or depenable
Even in Europe people are falling out of love with VW because the quality is , at best average, and can be poor - I am in the UK

It was ( I think) built on the Mk iv golf - a real low point in terms of quality and quite quickly replaced

@chris slamming the boot is normal use - I am sure they didn't intend to break it - other cars don't break in this way- to blame the customer is what VW dealers do which is why the are hated. - Oli Uk

6)   They are a Golf at heart but their mexican build compared to the Golf's German build really shows in their reliability ratings. I'm not trying to be a jerk or racist or anything. It is just a fact. The things that tend to go wrong are the electronics and the automatic transmissions. This car gets a terrible reliability rating and if you get a well optioned one with all of those fancy gadgets, you will have a nightmare on your hands. If you get a manual in the lowest trim, I think it is GL as opposed to GLS you basically have a Golf with a different body and without all of the electronics that like to crap out. Golfs are fantastic cars with very high ratings so I can recommend that type of beetle as long as you don't have a problem cranking the windows and giving up other fancy stuff. I have no idea what trims the convertibles come in but hopefully you can find one with a non-power top if they make them. Also, stay away from the gas turbo beetles. Get the 2.0L gasser or the turbo diesel. They will give you far fewer problems and the diesel is fantastic on gas. - Yardjass

7)   they are very good i got an 03 lime green beetle for my sweet 16 and ive been in love ever since. a hard top would be better since ur an new driver. - Joann Armstrong


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Question 2
Do I need a new windscreen pump?...  Hi,

I have an old Corsa and the windscreen washers have stopped working. There is water in the tank and it's not frozen or anything. The motor is still working as I can hear it but no water coming through? Do I need a new windscreen pump, how much does this cost to repair. Any help would be much appreciated :-)

Answers
1)   it could be a blockage in the tubing for windscreen washers try cleaning nozzles, blow through tubing - Frank

2)   If the motor is running then the fault is either blocked jets or lines. The jets you can sometimes get a pin into, the lines you can possibly disconnect and blow through them. If you can drain the tank and fill it up with hot water that sometimes helps too. - EvelynThe ModifiedDog.

3)   What can happen is that the washer water freezes, you operate the motor and a pipe blows off.
As you can still hear the motor running and assuming the jets are clear this is most likely. Finding the ends of the pipes can be challenging, but worth the effort. - Bazza

4)   Having just fitted a new pump to a Berlingo I will throw this suggestion at you. The water froze where the pump enters the reservoir tank. The washers were activated and the motor spun into life. On the end of the motor metal drive shaft is a plastic "paddle" which was frozen in the ice, the powerful little motor merely split the tube of the paddle which press fits onto the motor metal shaft. Once this has occurred the paddle cannot spin and force the water through as it no longer sits tight on the motor metal shaft. So ! yes your can hear the motor working but it no longer pumps the water up the tubes and to the screen. The answer is another pump. - L G

5)   pull the pipe off one of the jets under the bonnet flip the bottle cap off and blowdown the pipe to clear the filter in the washer bottle , now operate the washers withe the pipe disconnected, water should gush out , reconnect and it will be ok . some people put washing up liquid in and the frost makes it go lumpy, put a hose in the bottle so that it over flow`s leave it over flowing for a while to get the lumps out - J R

6)   Your pump is working, you can get a new one for about £10/€13 if trying these dont work.
1 pull off the hose from behind the washer. get someone to pull the stalk. if water comes out, the jets are blocked. if not.
2 take off wipers and grille underneath them. this gives you full access to the bottle and pump. carefully take off one of the hoses from the pump. then get someone to work the washer. if water comes out. the hose is blocked. if not.
3 with wipers etc taken off. undo the one bolt on the bottle. pull the electric connection from the pump and take it out of the bottle. take the bottle out and check the filter where the pump sits isnt blocked. if it is, wash it clear in the sink. if not.
4 take the other hose off the pump, get a new or 2nd hand one. put hoses on, fit into bottle, bolt into engine bay, attach electric connector and try again - tike


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Question 3
my vw golf sensitive wipers are not any good?...  57 plate gt tdi 140

can i get them switched to an intermittent system??

Answers
1)   The problem is the wipers are on a VW - Bear

2)   That is how they work. Mine on my MG work brilliantly and have a sensitivity adjustment to fine tune it just right - Timbo is here

3)   Has it had a new screen fitted recently, they may need re-calibrating. May be worth getting them done if the screen isn't new. - who_is_jack_shit

4)   Yes, if you'd prefer that. Someone needs to recode the CCM with Ross-Tech's VCDS to disable the rain sensor - this will then revert the system back to normal intermittent operation.

Check your windscreen for cracks and blemishes in the sensor area (top middle, about the size of an A6 page). It might also be a good idea to have someone scan the car for errors. Could be something small that's causing the problem. - Chris

5)   Are your wiper blades in good condition? If they are leaving smears across the sensor then the auto will behave very erratically.

That said, I have driven lots of cars with auto wipers and those on VAG cars are the worst. - BriaR


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Question 4
How can i make a copy of my VW passat Key?...  i lost my original VW key. i have a spare but if i loose it i wont have a key at all. how can i make a copy without having to pay a dealerships ridiculous prices?

Answers
1)   You usually have to go to the dealership if it has a chip in it (immobilizer) - Eduardo S

2)   $200 at the stealers. - doane_nut

3)   Some locksmiths carry the transponder keys in stock, you'll have to call around to see which ones carry the key for you vehicle (I assume from the description it must be a transponder key that we are refering to). A few of the locksmiths also can programme the key to the vehicle; I usually recommend that you have at least three keys to the vehicle; 1) valet key, this will allow the door to open and start the car but won't unlock the glove box or the trunk or access to the gas release door button (Some models).. this is the perfect key to give the parking valet; 2) the normal keyless entry type key; opens the doors, trunk, glove box and can remotely open and close the doors/trunk (boot) by touching a button on the key; 3) the so called "sub master" key, which can open all the doors/trunk, glove box, etc. but does not have the keyless entry remote attached to it. Locksmiths in my area charge about $40 USD for a transponder key + programming charges.

Normally, I advise against purchasing the blank keys on the internet, most locksmiths (at least in my area of California) won't cut a key that they didn't sell you; even if you are able to find a locksmith who will cut your blank, most likely they will not warrant the key and or cut, so if it doesn't fit or cannot programme to the car, you're out of luck and out of money.

Some independent (NON VW dealerships) can programme keys to your vehicle via a VAG Com or similiar type tool. Call around seeing a shop that specializes in VW-Audi or German imports. The cost normally runs about 1.0 hours of labour on average x the posted hourly rate. In my area that runs from 95 USD to 135 USD at independent shops (NON VW dealership) to 115 to 165 USD per hour at a dealership.

Be sure to call around and set an appointment with whatever shop you choose to do the job; you'll save time and money this way. The shop will need to have your working key and whatever other keys you have in order to programme the keys to the vehicle properly. Cut however many keys you need in advance and bring them all to the shop with the car, keeping in mind that whatever keys you don't bring won't be programmed to the vehicle, so they won't be able to start the car (though they can open doors etc.). Every shop that I know charges a fixed rate to programme keys, usual that charge is one hour of labour and most VW's can have up to six keys programmed to start the car.

The dealership maybe more expenisve, but in most cases you'll save time. The keys (valet and sub master) aren't that much more expensive than the locksmiths and you can have the keys cut and programmed in one place, so you'll save a lot of time that would be wasted running around finding a locksmith, then a shop that could programme the keys to the vehicle.

Hope this helps, a car nut. - a car nut

4)   You can buy the key cheap online. But that is where the "cheap' part of this equation stops.

The key is laser cut and cannot be done at just any old locksmith.

In addition, the transponder keys must be programmed to you vehicles anti theft system. Some of those cheap keys do not have the resistor that the ignition ring looks for to allow the car to start. You might have to purchase this as well from the dealer.

Then the key must be programmed to the car using a VW scan tool and software. This must be done at the dealer or specialized indy shop.

You can program the remote by yourself if you have another good working key. - nywholesale

5)   only the dealer can make a copy. - Roman


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Question 5
can you put a v8 engine in a new beetle ?...  

Answers
1)   if you have enough money sure. - MCXD

2)   "Yes", you can install any engine in it, if you have the tools,time,imagination,and money. - Hoadly

3)   Yes you can, the beetle is very versatile. - Me

4)   Why would you do this? I personally think it's a waste of time fixing up a beetle. - DMI

5)   Yep sure can, I am and it has been done a lone.

Check out my website: www.v8beetleresource.com - zbhover


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