CD Article: 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit 2.5 four-door, five-speed manual

[Mitlov]

Will it run on regular though? If yes I think they can get away with it and people will just put up with $100 oil changes and longer intervals.
 
And what happened to the Metro?

If the demise of the Metro should be blamed on the presence of a turbocharger, I'm Kim Jong Il's red-headed stepchild.

[mmret]

Will it run on regular though? If yes I think they can get away with it and people will just put up with $100 oil changes and longer intervals.
 
And what happened to the Metro?

If the demise of the Metro should be blamed on the presence of a turbocharger, I'm Kim Jong Il's red-headed stepchild.

Fair enough, but AFAIK the turbo was not the base model. Think of it as a somewhat crappier Cobalt SS to the vanilla Cobalt.

[Benhaze]

Sure, it's not the most fuel efficient option.  But it's the most powerful, so a consumer has to decide whats more important to them. 

Still, the reported fuel economy is similar to my 1600kg vehicle that incidentally has 100HP and 100 ft-lb more than the Rabbit? And as you mentioned, the 2.3L Mazda engine isn't recognized for its fuel economy.

I hope the author miscalculated the FE.

Otherwise, great vehicle. I love the instrument cluster. Very clean gauges easy to read. And VW must be praised for the level of engineering they put in their car.

[Spheric]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

[tpl]

Maybe the engineers of the Mk V golf in Germany expect the owners to drive to work at 100 mph on the Autobahn every morning and no-one ever thought about the fact that in some respects, NA driving conditions are far gentler.   Well its a theory anyway.

Another theory.  EU cars in general are moving towards very long oil change intervals and using Synthetic oil is a help if the interval is 25000 kms or thereabouts.  Again... they forgot to chnage all this for NA.

[articsteve]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

NO TIMING BELT IN RABBITS.

Oil change on Rabbit is 8K, 16K and then every 16K after that with 12 months being the longest interval.  I think every 8K or 6 months with regular oil is more suitable.

[The Mighty Duck]

I tried to look up the maintenance schedule, but I couldn't find anything.  But synthetic usually lasts much longer than regular oil, and going by Steve's schedule there, you're looking at one oil change every 10-12 months or so.  A regular oil change is $30-40, every three months/5000km, so in the same span of time you can spend $90-$120 and take your car in three-four times (which can be a PITA), or you can take it in once for the same price.

People who complain about the cost of synthetic often forget that the change intervals are much longer than with conventional oil...  the cost does even out.

[airbalancer]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

My son got his oil change at a dealer in for a TDI. It was less then $80 so where do you get these $110 price

[BlackS40]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

My son got his oil change at a dealer in for a TDI. It was less then $80 so where do you get these $110 price

My first oil change at 8k was $108.00 with taxes at the dealer.  The same at 16k, plus a bit extra for tire rotation.  Bill came out to $130.00.  My next service is now not due until 32k.

[airbalancer]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

My son got his oil change at a dealer in for a TDI. It was less then $80 so where do you get these $110 price

My first oil change at 8k was $108.00 with taxes at the dealer.  The same at 16k, plus a bit extra for tire rotation.  Bill came out to $130.00.  My next service is now not due until 32k.

It was also his first change, was it cheaper because he when to a small country dealer

[BlackS40]

I think they use a different oil in the TDI, compared to the 2.5.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Can someone explain why VW insists on syntec oil changes for NON-turbo base products ? At 110+ dollars per oil change (plus the expensive Cambelt change around 80k mark), I can see why people might be put off buying Rabbits in favour of Mazda 3s, Matrix etc.

My son got his oil change at a dealer in for a TDI. It was less then $80 so where do you get these $110 price

My first oil change at 8k was $108.00 with taxes at the dealer.  The same at 16k, plus a bit extra for tire rotation.  Bill came out to $130.00.  My next service is now not due until 32k.

It was also his first change, was it cheaper because he when to a small country dealer

I would say yes.

Belleville's hourly rate when I took my cars there was $64/hr. If you go to an urban store you're often at $90 to $120/hr. My oil changes and tire rotation (routine service schedule per the owner's manual) ranged from $92 to $102, but where the hourly rate really makes a difference is with timing belt changes and other major servicings (<--that a word Brigitte?) like brakes.

As far as I know, the I5 is criticized for large oil capacity (I don't know what normal engines require). Therefore you need to change more oil driving the cost up. But at least the I5 has a timing chain.

[BlackS40]

Ahhhh yes....Hamilton Volkswagen/Audi charges $95.00/hr for Volkswagens and $105.00/hr for Audis.

[The Mighty Duck]

Better learn to change your own oil.  I've heard hearsay that the door rate for a shop will be $200/hr in the future.  Not enough people want to be mechanics...  and cars lasting longer probably doesn't help, either.

[jww]

Just talking with a friend about her Rabbit, she loves it, showing off her 'switchblade' key. ....

Your friend oughtta go to Europe or the UK where many cars have sported such keys for some time.

PDI cost is unreasonable. Why can't manufacturers simply have a FOB destination price to regions? They are making plenty of $$ per vehicle. And to think I pay someone to clean my brand new car - it's like saying I need to pay a tip to the person at the sewing machine who put together my last pair of levis.

[tpl]

Just talking with a friend about her Rabbit, she loves it, showing off her 'switchblade' key. ....

Your friend oughtta go to Europe or the UK where many cars have sported such keys for some time.

PDI cost is unreasonable. Why can't manufacturers simply have a FOB destination price to regions? They are making plenty of $$ per vehicle. And to think I pay someone to clean my brand new car - it's like saying I need to pay a tip to the person at the sewing machine who put together my last pair of levis.

The delivery part of PDI is just some extra profit.   If they did charge FOB Halifax or Vancouver ( for example for a German car) then all kinds of people in the Prairies would be whining and snivelling about the cost.  If they charged FOB Detroit for Chevies then all the people on the edges would be complaining.

So they equalize it and we ALL complain.   The worst of course is delivery in the COU for cars built in Oshawa.

[Robert]

any concerns about the 5-speed standard vs the 6-speed auto?