Not really starting another fight there - the US-market VAG engines are different than the ones they use elsewhere; the ones we get are crap and not nearly so well engineered as the ones they ship in Europe.
sorry, should have explained myself better-wasn’t referring so much to you, I meant other VeeDub owners that haven’t yet had the oh-so-typical problems.
In addition to the Opel I’ve owned a couple of VW Quantum(Passat) Syncro wagons. Best winter car made! Well, until you need parts. So much is now NLA, and those that are still available can sometimes have very questionable QC. Essentially an Audi drivetrain with VW switchgear. Practially unstoppable in snow. It’s no wonder the Audi was weight-penalized and then banned from so many racing orgs. All-wheel-drive has too much of an advantage. Where it’s still allowed-like WSC(?) they’ve dominated everything else-all while using diesel power-for the last several years. Nothing else comes close.
But would I buy a new one now-even IF I could afford one? Not on your life.