From: rjs20380@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (The Ghost of Elvis )
Newsgroups: rec.autos
Subject: Re: Mexican build quality (was: Experience purchasing 1992 VW GTI 16v)
Date: 14 Apr 92 03:29:59 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

keys@csrc.ncsl.nist.gov (Larry Keys) writes:

>In article <1992Apr08.161337.7739@wes.on.ca> tomh@wes.on.ca (Tom Haapanen) writes:
>>twong@civil.ubc.ca (Thomas Wong) writes:
>>> When I was looking for a new car and I posted my questions about VW
>>> here in rec.autos and rec.autos.vw, I was told that the quality of VW
>>> went down the tubes ever since North American VWs are assembled in

>>All right, could we get some personal experiences from people who have
>>owned both Mexican and US and/or German-built VWs?  Preferably the current
>>A2 series instead of oooold Rabbits which are less comparable, but...
>>
>>Personally, I haven't found the build quality of my '90 GTI 16V (Mexico)
>>to be significantly different from my wife's '86 GTI (US), or from my ex
>>89 Jetta (Germany).  All have had at least some squeaks or rattles in the
>>dash, and all have had a few missing details.  None were terribly unrelia-
>>ble -- or completely perfect.  
>>
>>The least reliable thing about my Mexican 16V was the delivery date!  I 
>>ordered it January 2nd, 1990, and was supposed to get it late March.  But
>>the first 16Vs didn't arrive until late May, and I finally got mine on
>>June 2nd.  Oh, and amazingly enough, two of the three keys were for some
>>other car, not mine!
>>
>>[ \tom haapanen    "i don't even know what street canada is on" -- al capone]


>I have had a few minor problems with my 1990 (Mexican Built) Jetta GLI.  The
>problems have all been related to specific parts, and not how tight some bolts
>were compared to others.  I have not experienced any parts falling off, 
>although from time-to-time the dash has squeaks and rattles, but mostly during
>the winter.  We also have a 1990 Fox, and we used to have an 87 Jetta GLI. In
>both cases our experiences have been the same.  Our VW's have never left us
>on the side of the road, and for the most part require only routine 
>maintenance.  We have owned German, Mexican, and Brazilian and in our
>experience they have been about the same: GREAT CARS THAT LOVE TO RUN,
>VERY RELIABLE, FUN TO DRIVE, AND VERY REASONABLY PRICED!   


>Just my 2.ooh sense worth,
>                                                   .              
>                                                 /                
>Larry                            __/    ______ /                  
>keys@csmes.ncsl.nist.gov       /                \                 
>                         _ _ _      __      _____  \------- ===   
>            ---------- /  __ /    /  /    /__  __/            \   
>         /            /  / ____  /  /       / /                |  
>        |            / /___/  / /  /__   __/ /__              /   
>        /_____       \______/  /_____ / /______/        --- ////   
>             \_____           2 liter 16v       \_______/         
>                                                                              
>        Fahrvergnugen forever!

I don't know about other people's experience, but I have had soooo many problemswith my 89 GTI 16V, that I wish I had never bought the thing!! FIrst lets start
with the major problem that I had.  During the summer my car would on occasion
lag or loose large amounts of power. (No airconditioning was on) I went to an
authorized VW dealer 7 times.  They could not fix it. Yes, this was made in 
Mexico.  After numerous calls to the Michigan VW office (corporate) I had a guy
from the factory come in and look at it.  I turns out that by luck when they 
replaced a knock sensor it was fixed.  Now the other problems are 4 new struts
, mind you that this car has only 30,000 miles.  Also I needed new spark plug
wires ($200) and I needed new tires after the first 7,000 miles. Fortunatley 
they were still covered by the tire warranty.  And speaking of the tires they   are a unique size for the 89 GTI.  They are only made by Pirrelli. No one else
makes this size, trust me I looked!!  Now I am facing a problem with the car 
seats.  Apparently the drivers side seat broke.  The frame of the back of the 
chair sheared itself   There are some plastic bushings in the tracks for the 
seats, which have also busted.  (Causing the chair to wiggle side to side.) 
Nevertheless, I am looking forward to getting rid of this piece of junk!  On 
the other hand, my father owns a Jetta GLI, made in Germany, and we have had 
no problems whatsoever.  Both cars have been kept strictly to their maitenance 
schedules and I can definitely see a difference!!  If anyone knows where 
I can complain about this car, so that I can make an impression on someone in 
the upper levels of VW, please let me know.  


		Robert Schmitt  rjs20380@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu