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Hatchbacks Volkswagen Rabbit New Rabbit Owners - give us your report!
208 messages, Last post on Apr 29, 2008 at 5:17 PM
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Hi everyone, Just to give you a 'global' perspective on the Rabbit: I have an European '04 Golf 2.0 TDI, orignially 140 bhp/ 240 lb. So far I have done 70 k km, abt 40 k miles, and the car is holding up pretty well. I haven't had any structural problems yet, although most of my driving is in the city. Structral rigidity is exactly the best virtue of the car, but it is a step up compared to the Golf 3 and 4. Abt a year ago, I decided to replace the motor management chip, with one by ABT. It raised the performance to around 180 bhp and 280 lb of torque, increasing consumption from 40 MPG to 36 MPG. That brings me to another point of the car, the brakes do seem to be rather inadequate for its performance levels. Braking at speeds of 70 mph, doesn't seem induce as much confidence as it should, let alone having to brake on the German autobahn at 125 mph or more. On the other hand stability at these speeds is not an issue at all. I topped the car at 225 km/h, abt 135 mph after the chip change. More inportantly though the in-gear acceleration is where the biggest gain can be found. I assure you, it's seriously fast! Downside is that all of this devours my tyres. I recently swapped the Bridgestone Turanzas for Michelin Primacy HPs. Quite an improvement I must say. Regarding the audio, I am very happy with the standard 6 speaker set. I replaced the after-market VDO Dayton Radio/ CD combo with a 1-DIN Becker Bluetooth/ Navigationsystem. Sound is so crisp and the bass is full. All in all,I am pretty satisfied with this car. You do get the feeling of driving a premium car, although prices here in Europe can be considered quite premium as well. Still, it cannot beat the feel of a RWD car. Especially with the heavy diesel engine under the bonnet, understeer is a given. Then again, we're not on a racetrack, are we? I am curious about US Rabbit TDI experiences. Anyone?
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Replying to: jan16 (Sep 08, 2007 5:44 pm) |
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I own a 2007 2dr VW Rabbit. I just completed a 1,600 mile vacation. Driving from Las Vegas, NV to Santa Rosa, California and then to Carson City, Nevada and back to Las Vegas, NV. I had tons of Power up mountains and on the freeways. Can not give you MPH as we stayed at 80 mph most of the way. I can say at 80 mph we did get 23 miles per Gal. Car handled like a dream. If we had traveled at 65 it would have been more. I give my car 5 Stars as it is one cool machine. Joe from Las Vegas
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Replying to: jnathan (Sep 22, 2007 6:47 pm) |
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In my mind and others that drove the car, we are happy and guess that's all that counts. |
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My Beamer had 53K on it and went out of warranty, and since I could no longer justify it since I couldn't claim it as a business expense anymore, I just wanted something small, safe, fun to drive, and unpretentious. Something that people on the freeway would actually let me change lanes in front of them in, because they wouldn't assume I was a jerk because of my car.  I really wanted a hatchback as I'm a single person in a one-car "family" and there were so many times I couldn't fit things in the small trunk opening of my BMW. This weekend I looked at the Fit (not really in the same class, I know), the Mazda3, and the Rabbit, and the Rabbit won me over hands down. The features for the price are amazing (like the heated seats, the lane-change flashers, etc.), the crash ratings were better than the Mazda, and the warranty is one year longer B-2-B and two years longer for the powertrain. I have plenty of friends with Jettas and Golfs and I don't hear much complaining from them about reliability. Plus, I may be the only person in history who has ever complained about the unreliability of a Honda - an '03 Accord that I traded after 13K miles because it had so many problems my conscience wouldn't have let me sell it privately. I've owned three Hondas and the only one that I thought was a really decent car was my 1980 Civic, which I bought new and drove into the ground. I had a '97 Passat and never had any trouble with it, so from my own experience, I honestly can't get on the Japanese reliability bandwagon. But I realize I'm probably in the minority here, and 4 cars aren't a suitable sample size. I love the auto trans. and the brakes on the Rabbit...I've never waxed poetic about brakes before, but these are so smooth, so sure, and don't grab at all. Acceleration is great, cornering (once I got used to the FWD) is, too, and the car just feels solid. At half the price of my BMW, it is WAY more than half the car. Now, if it doesn't give me too many problems, I will be one happy bunny owner. I'll report back in a few thou and let y'all know if I'm still a believer. 
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Well, it has been about 4 months (just did the first oil change  5K) with the new 2007 Rabbit, 2dr, auto, alloy, gray and I LOVE IT. I got great lease deal on it. It is my first VW, but I can compare with the BMW X3 my wife is driving. (well, if you can compare these rather different vehicles), but what I mean is you can feel the German quality. In fact the interior has a lot in common with the BMW. Amazingly, the interior dimensions are about the same. The controlls have a lot of similarities and the quality of the material is very good. It is just that the Rabbit does not have all the perks of the BMW (heated steering wheel, heated power seats with memory adjustment, rain sensors, etc....), The sound system is very nice. I really have no complaints so far. I wish the glove compartment is larger. We have three kids and they prefer to ride in the bunny instead of the BMW  ...and yes, all 5 of us can fit (with one car seat), and it is really fun.
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 I got my Rabbit in Nov, 07. However, sometime when I step on Gas... I hear a clutch, or beep sound coming from the rear. I bring it to the Sale Rep and show it to him. He hear it and said maybe something is loose..So I bring it to the service Department and ride with the service guy. Yet, during the ride I hear the sound, but the guy said he didn't hear anything..a and saying this is normal...Blah, blah blah.....and told me to go back and wait to see if this is still going to happen?? I want to know anyone hear a strange sound inside their car when you step on Gas.. help help thanks.!!
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Well, what can I say. I love this car. Now I have to say I did pay a little more than expected but then again it's a VW. Well worth every penny in my opinion! I used to own a 1996 GTI with no mods. After toying around with other manufacturer's Mazda, Jeep and Nissan, I simply wanted to be back in a VW. The ride is truly distinct. I purchased a 2008 Rabbit 2.5L 2 door with upgraded wheels. I had looked at the GTI but I just couldn't see a good enough reason to dish out more than 25,000 for it. Don't get me wrong, I love the bells and whistles on the new GTI but for what you get in the rabbit, I think it suited me just fine. To top it off, the rabbit is quick! I average about 340 miles per tank. Beats the pants off my old wrangler. Couple of things that I noticed that i didn't like. First, you can feel the harmonics of the engine through the clutch(slight vibration when depressing and pressing the clutch while driving). I haven't done a search on it but I did take it in to the dealer to look at it. They said it's the harmonics. Not sure if they were blowing smoke or not. It wasn't there when test driven. The clutch does function properly. Second, the vents are not spaced well in my opinion. When it's cold outside, it's hard for your hands to get warm for a considerable amount if time. Now these issues are purely personal preference in the design and I have for the most part gotten used to it.But I still love it. Definitely would recommend it. Also, I thought I was due for an oil change because I'm coming up on 3000 but after reading posts here, 5000 looks like where it should be. I will double check my owners manual anyway.
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Replying to: timeline000 (Dec 20, 2007 9:36 am) |
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