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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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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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Replying to: vdublover (Jan 12, 2008 8:31 am) |
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Yes, my friends, about 1 month ago, my rabbit just stopped in the intersection at the red light... embarrassing, isn't it? But all the bad things come with a good one... I had the Check engine alarm lighted so I visited my "concesionnaire".... He said it was a sensor or something that adjust the RPM to obtain a certain couple of power.... And it was that because , as damaged as it was, I was able to drive, but I had like 3000 RPM for about 80 Km/h instead or 1800 or something... Anyway, they've changed that sensor and, right now the consumption dropped dramatically, around 25%... Now I can say that I have the right mileage... something around 10-10.5 liters/100km combined town/highway and around 7l/100Km on the highway (before, it was around 13.5-14/100Km combined town / highway & 10 l/100 Km on the highway)... Pretty much difference, isn't it? So right now, as happy as I could be, I'm thinking about asking the dealer that told me a year ago that everything is just perfect to pay me the difference in gas.... Regards from Montreal
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