Originally posted by PonyOne

Autosport.

The main gripe I have with the 2.0's overall design is that to get to the plugs you have to take off the manifold, it's not a big deal to me, since I can just go ahead and pop it off (I know my way around an engine), but to anyone else, it'll cost a few times more than a regular plug change. One of my friends is a master VW mechanic, and I think he put it best when he said that they're great engines, and they'll run excellent if you take proper care of them, which isn't hard... but again look how many Jettas and Beetles end up in the hands of 17 year old girls as their first cars... one time a girl brought back a brand-new, 3-month old Jetta 1.8T, and she couldn't figure out why the thing wouldn't start. When my friend was talking to in the bay, just after they'd towed the car in, he goes, "how many miles does the car have?" "like 10,000." "okay, when was the last time you changed the oil?" "huh? what do you mean?"

That's an extreme example, but he gets this sort of crap daily. Fortunately there are so many of them out there, and much of the engine components nowadays are made in Brazil or Mexico as well as Germany, so you can get em really cheap. There are some places here in LA that actually buy the parts from VW Mexico, and then ship them here, so they cost waaaaaay less than they would otherwise.
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Yeah, that's in CA. I'm from the midwest and Volkswagen parts are sometimes hard to come by, and are just about 2 or 3 times more than regular parts. Guy came into the shop the other day with a 99 Jetta and wanted us to press in his wheel bearing he bought for $90. $90!!! That's outrageous for the bearing itself. You can get a Chevy car wheel bearing AND hub for around $60.

Regarding the oil change thing, Volkswagen actually recommends changing the oil every 7,500 miles. If you read most owner's manuals, they will say change your oil between 3,000 and 7,500 miles. Due to the viscosity of most oils, no matter what brand by the way, they usually begin breaking down around the 7,500 plateau. Going over 3,000 miles is not a worry, it's just a safe guideline. A buddy of mine works in a dealership and a guy brought in a Ford Tempo saying the motor blew after 36,000 miles. Well, he never changed the oil in the car, and after 36,000 it failed. So 10,000 miles and no oil change isn't that bad (it's bad, but not that bad) and I would highly doubt it would cause the car to not run.

Any motor/car will be great if you take care of them. Simple fact. How many people actually do that? Not very many. Most people only think about oil when it comes to changing fluids. Brake fluid is supposed to be changed every year or so due to the fact that it absorbs moisture through the air. A bottle of brake fluid (plastic, tin) will turn into about 40% water after a year. What this does is actually lowers the boiling point of the fluid which will result in failure of the brakes, due to the fluid foaming. Transmissions should be flushed around 36,000 miles or so, along with most radiators. Although GM has switched to the Dexcool antifreeze which doesn't need service for 100,000 miles or 5 years. If you tried to keep up with this maintenence, you would be paying large amounts of money all the time on your car. But it would ensure your motor to run properly and effectively.