2025 Volkswagen Reliability: Rankings, Repair Costs & Best Models

Short answer: sometimes yes, sometimes absolutely not. And that’s kind of the whole story.

Volkswagen has been around forever. Everyone’s had one, wanted one, or knows someone who swore they’d never buy another one. That alone should tell you something. VW builds cars people love to drive—but reliability has never been their strongest flex.

If you look at the data from Consumer Reports, VW lands squarely in the middle. Not a disaster. Not impressive. Just… fine. Some models are solid. Others are the reason VW forums exist.

Cars like the Jetta and Golf usually behave themselves. They’re simple, well-known, and generally don’t do anything weird. The Golf GTI is surprisingly decent too, especially considering how hard people drive them. On the flip side, newer models like the Taos have been more hit-or-miss, which drags VW’s overall reputation down.

Ownership costs are where VW earns some forgiveness. Repairs aren’t cheap-cheap, but they’re nowhere near luxury-brand painful. You’re not paying BMW money every time something goes wrong, which is why a lot of people stick with Volkswagen even after a few annoyances.

And despite all the jokes, people keep buying them. VW sells hundreds of thousands of cars in the U.S. every year, scandals and all. That doesn’t happen if the cars are completely unreliable. It happens because they’re enjoyable, practical, and usually fine if you pick the right one.

Bottom line? Volkswagens aren’t “buy it and forget it” cars. They’re also not ticking time bombs. Choose carefully, maintain them properly, and they’ll treat you well enough. Ignore the model history and skip maintenance, and you’ll quickly understand why VW reliability is such a hot topic online.