People love push the view of the 1980 AUDI and VW on todays cars. These people have no experience with the new Audi/VW. Sure they have a few minor issues with select cars as with any automotive line but no more then the rest. Im excited to see whats in store for Audi/VW now that they got Ducati and their cam patents.
Haha. I've had two VWs, one a 1991 Jetta, and a 2001 Jetta 1.8T (shared parts with VW GTI, Golf, Bettle, Passat, Audi A4, Seat, Audi TT amoung others)
Here's a short list of what happened to my 2001 Jetta.
1) 4 Coilpack failures - one left me stranded in SF (I live in LA) because the part was 3 months backordered. This got so bad, I ended up ordering a spare set. VW and Audi have a TSB on this
2) Premature rear brake pad wear - TSB on this one
3) Engine Coilant Temp Sensor reading incorrectly causing misfires and rough idle - TSB on this one
4) Mass Air Flow failure causing misfires and rough idle - TSB/recall on this one
5) O2 sensor reading incorrectly causing rough idle - TSB on this one
6) Bad transmission syncros making it impossible to shift 1st to 2nd - lead to a full transmission replacement under warranty
7) Brake light switch - didn't happen to me personally, but was recalled
8) Hazard light switch failure - leads to no hazard lights AND no turn signals!! TSB on that one
9) Driver/Passengar window regulator failure - wind drops off track and into the door. TSB on that one
10) Wiring harness to the coilpacks started to come apart exposing tons of bare wire!
11) A Coilant hose burst while I was giving a potential buyer a test drive!!
I had that car from ~120k miles and by the end, the CEL was illuminated more than it was off. I had a VAG tool and OBD-II computer so I could check them out and reset them.. but seriously it was getting badddd.
All the issues I had were relatively common. Check VWVortex.com and you'll see.