How often are these things blowing up

[djthom]

I agree with you 100% but being that I am buying a car to mod it I would like to know whats going on first hand from drivers on forums because they are enthusiasts. I looked at all things equal the gtii fsi guys have there problems too thats why I'm getting a tsi, but all in all you don't here about failed motors and service people trying not to fix it as much as you do with the speed. The service dept is a major part of my buying decidion even more so than the car itself. When you tell me you will refuse to work on my car ie a simple oil change because I changed a muffler to make my car a bit louder than stock thats BS to me. I know I could take the car else where but why should I have to inconvienced just because I'm an enthusiest. The speed3 is a great car and I love it, but if it's going to be a hassle just to get work done I rather not own the car and be hassle free. So I will take the less powerful car mod it and be happy, and my VW dealer is the best hands down. Everyone there is an enthusiest from the sells people to the techs. I spoke with service about the matter and they said, hell chip it we work on chipped cars all the time, just don't do anything stupid and you will be o.k. Thats what closed the deal for me. Thanks again for answering I am still a mazda lover but mazda needs to step it up or at least the dealers who represent them needs to.

sounds like you are making the right decision for your situation!

 

[Russm]

If modding your car is important , buy a used car out of warranty and take the money you saved and use it to modify the car ! When you begin modding you might want to do what hot rodders have been doing for a long time and that is to start on the foundation of performance, harden your internals and drive train BEFORE you add power.
I have owned my MS3 for 16 months (49Kmiles) which is the same time I have been reading on this forum and I am constantly amazed how many people want to jump straight to HP gains without building a foundation under it.
I am also amazed how a number of adult car owners think that a dealership should embrace a customer who modifies their car expecting the dealership to keep it in repair regardless of mods. Take a Audi/Camaro/Porsche etc into the dealership with third party mods installed and the service manager will probably laugh you right of the shop.

I think as stated before that on these forums we see a lot of likeminded people who enjoy their car and run them pretty hard occasionally hence we probably only hear about a small percentage of MS3 owners, there are a lot of people out there that just bought the car and drive it normal (boring) and have few problems. The time bomb you talk about is just a small percentage of that smaller group.
I think you would find that if you mod your car to get 300HP, approx 14% increase, regardless of brand that you will see a higher percentage of those cars having problems as opposed to the cars left stock.

The funny thing is if you where to go to a national drag race/road race etc where people have spent a fortune to make their cars fast and last that they still regularly break.
The only sure way to avoid a time bomb is to walk or take a bus!

 

[TUNGSTENGREYWIDOW]

If modding your car is important , buy a used car out of warranty and take the money you saved and use it to modify the car ! When you begin modding you might want to do what hot rodders have been doing for a long time and that is to start on the foundation of performance, harden your internals and drive train BEFORE you add power.
I have owned my MS3 for 16 months (49Kmiles) which is the same time I have been reading on this forum and I am constantly amazed how many people want to jump straight to HP gains without building a foundation under it.
I am also amazed how a number of adult car owners think that a dealership should embrace a customer who modifies their car expecting the dealership to keep it in repair regardless of mods. Take a Audi/Camaro/Porsche etc into the dealership with third party mods installed and the service manager will probably laugh you right of the shop.

I think as stated before that on these forums we see a lot of likeminded people who enjoy their car and run them pretty hard occasionally hence we probably only hear about a small percentage of MS3 owners, there are a lot of people out there that just bought the car and drive it normal (boring) and have few problems. The time bomb you talk about is just a small percentage of that smaller group.
I think you would find that if you mod your car to get 300HP, approx 14% increase, regardless of brand that you will see a higher percentage of those cars having problems as opposed to the cars left stock.

The funny thing is if you where to go to a national drag race/road race etc where people have spent a fortune to make their cars fast and last that they still regularly break.
The only sure way to avoid a time bomb is to walk or take a bus!

Well said, I will take that into consideration being the process just got put on hold for a second. That's why I still love this forum lots of people with common sense.

 

[///M Compact]

It's great that you found such a good dealership; If the VW dealership in my area would have been that good I'd probably bought a GTI too. That said, I owned a VW before the Speed and had a problematic relationship with the car mostly because of the dealership, and my experience with the speed3 (and the local Mazda dealership) has been problem free so far.

I'd be driving a 2007 GTI today if the Louisville Ky VW dealers hadn't been so incompetent- on both the sales and service sides. That said, I still had to drive to Cincinnati to find a Mazda dealer with excellent sales and service practices(Kings Mazda).

 

[slowtege5]

It's a turbo car! There's always a chance, go n/a if you want to be safe.

 

[TUNGSTENGREYWIDOW]

My buddy today said I should just pay off my rabbit and mod the hell out of it.

 

[gonerogue]

My buddy today said I should just pay off my rabbit and mod the hell out of it.

Mod the hell out of a 5cyl Rabbit? Dunno if you should be listening to this buddy...if you're overly concerned with modding, pay off the Rabbit and save up for a project car. At least you'll have a dependable DD...while your VW is under warranty

 

[TUNGSTENGREYWIDOW]

Mod the hell out of a 5cyl Rabbit? Dunno if you should be listening to this buddy...if you're overly concerned with modding, pay off the Rabbit and save up for a project car. At least you'll have a dependable DD...while your VW is under warranty

The 2.5 5cyl has proved to be a good build for some. It produces good torque. I already have a project car going now. I just need a kickass daily driver that's all.

 

[dmclone]

I owned an 06 GTI w/dsg. I would say it is more reliable and the interior is better. With that being said, once I drove the MS3 I knew there was really no comparison. The MS3 is a beast that will put a smile on your face every time you drive it. The GTI is more like driving an Accord.