re: #337 electrotek

Second generation Tacoma?

In the past I was very wary of Mexican-built vehicles, but with good reason: they were prone to reliability issues. MK3 and MK4 VW Jettas and Golfs were notorious for horrible reliability issues stemming from their assembly in Mexico. Even the MK5/MK6 Jetta Sportwagens had issues that were not found in Wolfsburg-built MK6 Golf’s (my 2012 Golf TDI was pretty solid other than a crappy starter that went out at 30,000 miles which was covered under warranty).

I’ve been lucky. Three of my VWs were from Wolfsburg and I had incredible luck with them. One thing about VWs in the past. you could count on a part or two (like your alternator) going out early, but once you get those fixed up, they wear very well.

My one buddy has a Mexican GTi Mk4. It is nice, but it does have rattles and some interior wear issues my Mk4 GTi didn’t have. I think I had the first Mk4 GTi in Columbus back in ‘99…straight from Wolfsburg. Drove it to 186,000 miles. Very little maintenance issues. A couple parts, one brake job and a catalytic converter (split with VW as it was just past warranty, but early for a cat to go, so they gave me a break).

Now I have my Mk5 Wolfsburg Rabbit.