tim-spam

I use German, Swedish and French (gsfcarparts.com) and Euro Car Parts (eurocarparts.co.uk) - both offer excellent service with a choice of online or telephone ordering. Euro Car Parts also supply a considerable number of genuine VW parts.

Continentals - traction much better too.

Who do you think pays J D Power to do their surveys? In many cases, it is the manufacturers - I would be amazed if Ford were not paying J D Power for the detailed analysis behind the publicised summary results. One interesting thing concerning quality is the different approach taken by European and Japanese manufacturers. Some of my work colleagues have worked for both Ford and Toyota, and can confirm that the quality systems in place at Ford (which are highly influenced by German manufacturing standards) are world class, and every bit as good as Toyota. However, there is a basic difference in approach to cost / quality, in that Ford engineers are judged more on basic material cost, whereas Toyota engineers are judged more on overall cost - this is probably all tied up with internal company politics. An example of this is in the use of fasteners. At Ford, if an M6 fastener securing a bracket is calculated as adequate for the job, torque control will be put in place, followed by sample measurement, monitoring in the field, results fed back and any corrective actions necessary implemented, thus closing the loop and ensuring a quality result. Surprisingly, the attitude at Toyota is that where an M6 fastener may be just adequate, they tend to use an M8 instead and dispense with some of the control measures in place at Ford. An advantage with the Toyota approach is that it is more 'spanner monkey' proof than the Ford approach.

Apart from items like tyres, brake pads etc, in theory absolutely nothing should go wrong with any car, and even my fantastically reliable and durable 1990 Mercedes 190D with 300,000+ miles on the clock would fail the test (as, Isuspect would almost any car, even Japanese). After all, the rear brake discs only last around 50,000 miles (the fronts last 150,000 miles), the auxiliary drive belt tensioner damper gets very noisy at idle and needs replacing every 18 months to 3 years. The fact is that no car model is 100% reliable all of the time, although in theory it should be - it's just a fact of life. The main problems are not the cars themselves, but the service they receive - if dealers were all good, the faults experienced with cars would be no more than minor irritations if that.

Any car can suffer faults, and in theory no faults are acceptable, but the problems really only get bad when incompetent dealers fail to fix them, or create other problems that weren't there to start with. This thread sounds a bit like one cheesed off customer trying to persuade everyone that all Galaxies are as bad as his and that we all ought to do what he's doing. If you look at the other reliability poll going on at the moment, these cars seem to come out of it pretty well so far, with the vast majority satisfied. If you also consider that people who take part in this type of forum are more picky than most, I would say that the results are good.

I agree totally, but the fact remains that a smaple of one does not prove a great deal. You could buy a Citroen Xantia and have no problems, or a Toyota and have nothing but trouble - this is quite possible, but the probability based upon a large sample is that your chances would be infinitely better with the Toyota. I would repeat that Sharan, Galaxy and Alhambra reliability is probably around average, but the life expectancy of these vehicles is probably considerably above average. Another factor is possibly that MPV's are generally less well developed than higher volume mainstream cars due to their lower volumes. My experiences with older VW's has been excellent, and I hope the Alhambra is as good as the Beetles, Polos, Golfs, Jettas and Passats we've had.

We use JD Power where I work, and it is absolutely true that the results are at least as much about customer expectation as they are about the product - this, by the way, does not make it any less useful for us manufactures. The proof of this is the results for MPV's: Seat Alhambra comes out well in many surveys, followed some way down the list by the Galaxy, followed some way down again by the Sharan. One survey (not JD Power) even criticised Sharan reliability, and advised the punters to buy the Alhambra instead, citing good reliability as the reason!

Xantias...... a company I used to work for used to run a 'fleet' of 8 Xantias....never again! 6 out of the 8 were dreadful. They now have Passat TDI's, and one has been bad, and another had a bad start. The other 6 have been perfect. The point is that one example does not prove a great deal. From what I have gathered, the Galaxy, Sharan, Alhambra are certainly not the most reliable cars on the market, but they are very far from the worst, and like most VW's, the older they get, the better they will compare with other makes. In other words, for those who prefer to keep their cars for a long time, VW's make a lot of sense. On the other hand, for those who buy new or newish, and sell after 2 or 3 years, and want the best reliability, Japanese is the way to go.

Actually, it turns up the volume in relation to the vehicle speed (that's what it says in my manual, anyway).

Mmmmmmm......saying things like that can be very risky... After all, you may have had problems with your Gal, but most don't - one of my friends even had problems with his Previa (and the Previa makes our cars seem cheap to repair), but that is rare indeed. However, if your new Merc proves as dependable as our old 190D, you'll be smiling.

Are you the one buying a Chrysler Voyager? One of my friends has one, and has so far tried 4 dealers - the only thing they have managed to do so far is make Ford dealers look good..... However, when it's not in the garage, it seems quite nice.

So long as the fan and fuel pump are working, heater failure is almost always glow plug related. If the car is a few years old, the glow plug is probably past its best, so replacement would be no bad thing. As for using VAGCOM to fire the heater up, I don't think this is possible - shorting out the air temperature sensor will be the best way.

But, if you hadn't have queried it, they would have charged

The French think PS stands for 'puisance specifique'.

The reason why there are more apparent problems with diesels is probably that there are a lot more diesels. As for auto boxes......

Normally, engine braking is less in a diesel for the reason given by Marcusheawood. The lack of any throttle on the inlet is one of the reasons that a diesel engine is more efficient than a petrol engine - lower pumping losses and a very high air to fuel ratio at part throttle. There is however a butterfly in the inlet tract of the TDI engines, which shuts for around 3 seconds when the engine is switched off - this is to give a smoother shut-down.

Again, I think the ticking is normal, although I think some modifications have been made to later cars to reduce or eliminate this. I just view the ticking as another sign that the thing's working OK.

Jet engine noise means it's working. Smell is probably normal as the heater works with only a small excess of air to fuel. By the way, Eberspacher heaters are used on all sorts of commercial vehicles, and are well proven and nothing new. VW even used to use them in the '60s and '70s on some of their air-cooled cars - I think the dealers were pretty useless then as well. Ultra-low sulphur diesel??? I think that's just another example of a dealer talking nonsense!

Your Audi probably has a glow plug system in the cooling system to warm the engine up in cold weather - our cars require the booster heater due to the bigger cabin space and larger heater matrices.

Castrol has just 'launched' a range of synthetic engine oils known as 'Castrol Edge'. The 5W40 diesel oil is approved to VW 505.01 - I guess this is just their 505.01 oil re-branded, but it may now be more widely available, and perhaps a little cheaper. On second thoughts, now that the marketing men have re-branded it with a trendy sounding name, it'll probably cost more.......

I bought an ex-dealer stock carpet mat set from ebay for just over

Bless you.

Well, at least you acknowledge that there is a difference - yes, I'm sure there are many non-synthetic synthetics, which is why I used Mobile 1, and now use Castrol TXT 505.01 in my diesel - this is not a PAO oil, but is a synthetic ester type (these are generally superior, and a little dearer, than PAO's). My chosen career allows me a certain amount of inside information, so I do not have to rely on being a 'trusting soul' - I check the facts before spending my money. I believe that all of your other 'points' have been well addressed by myself and others, but for good measure here's one more. If I changed my car's oil every 2500 miles, I would have changed the oil 7 times in the last year - using a good quality oil and changing it every 10000 miles not only gives better protection and saves me money, it reduces the amount of earache from SWMBO.

Once and for all, synthetic oils and mineral oils are NOT the same. Mineral oil is refined form crude oil, and relies upon additives to give multigrade properties - these additives (known as viscosity improvers) tend to detract from the lubricating properties of the base oil and break down comparitively quickly, as do the detergent additives. A 15W50 is a 15 weight oil with viscosity improvers to make it like a 50 weight oil at 110 degC. A synthetic oil is an oil manufactured for enhanced lubrication performance using the Fischer-Tropsch process which converts carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane into liquid hydrocarbons of various forms - in other words, it is synthesised. The multigrade and detergent characteristics are inherent in the base product, and do not depend upon non-lubricating viscosity improvers. This is fact. My attitude towards the use of good quality oils has been influenced due to my profession and past experience. During the '80's, I ran a 1050cc VW Polo (40bhp) (bought at 4 years old and 50,000 miles). I used Castrol GTX 15W50 oil in this car, but at around 60,000 miles, the engine suffered oil starvation and siezure, requiring a reground crank, new bearings and new oil pump and suction strainer. The cause was a partially blocked suction strainer. As I was working as an Automotive Design Engineer at the time, I had the sludge analysed to find the cause. There were ash deposits caused by poor stability of the base oil, and the trace analysis indicated that various types of mineral oil had been used in the engine. The analyst recommended synthetic oil to avoid any future problems. He said that modern engines (yes, it was a modern engine at the time!) ran much higher combustion temperatures due to emissions regulations (regardless of the specific bhp), and that closed CCV systems and forthcoming EGR systems put further demands on oils, leading to the problems I had experienced. This car ran to 150,000 miles with no further problems before I sold it, and I know it ran well for several years after that. I know from Test and Development experience that synthetic lubricants are superior to mineral oils - this is fact. The ONLY disadvantage of synthetics is price, and that is largely offset by longer life, reduced wear and reduce fuel consumption. One more thing: it is vital to use an oil approved by the manufacturer (be it mineral or synthetic), as all engines use oil (typically at the rate of 0.1% to 0.2% of fuel consumed), and this passes through the exhaust system and must therefore be compatible with the catalyst. For those of us who have cars where the oil level never falls (like my wife's Merc), this is because the rate of oil consumption is roughly matched by the rate of contamination. So, there is no shortage of choice, and it is always better to base choice on facts. But, whatever choice you make, it is vital to follow the manufacturer's recommendations - after all, they're the ones who have done all of the test and development work on their engines. But, after all is said and done, "Belief often stands as an obstacle to reason.".

The PD engine has unit pump injectors, which are actuated by 4 extra lobes on the camshaft (it has 3 lobes per cylinder). It is due to the high pressure between these lobes and the injector actuator that the PD engine requires an oil to VW 505.01. These oils are made by Castrol, Millers, Q8, BP, Shell, Texaco, Morris's, etc., etc. Some are semi-synthetic (eg: Millers) and others are fully synthetic (eg: Castrol). The cheapest I've seen is