[shunut]

My opinion is:

Like any car, VWs require maintenance. For the most part, if you treat your car right and maintain it like it is suppose to be maintained, you generally won't have problems. I'm not saying that VWs don't have their "quirks", but all cars do. When I first bought my GTI, I put a lot of money into maintenance type stuff. Changed the sparks plugs, oil, flushed the radiator, changed a couple heater hoses, vacuum hoses, timing belt, water pump, thermostat, probably couple other things, but since I completed all that, and have kept up on the general maintenance, I've had no problems.