Given the engines lack of maintenance, the bones look to have fared well. The only thing you didn't change were the injectors, but I'm sure that won't bite you in the butt later.
This is like watching a prequel to a horror movie. We in the audience know this is just setting up more horrors to follow at the end. Unbeknown to characters in the story.
Growing up with my dad being a mechanic on German cars as a kid, this engine sound still today is one of my favorites. I regret not buying a R32 Golf 10 years ago when I should have. Now they are crazy expensive for one in good shape. Thanks for the making this series, I missed it somehow and got removed from TH-cam notifications. I follow both of your channels. You guys are awesome!
I've got a 3.2L VR6 Audi A3 (AWD of course). Needed timing chains, coilpacks, radiator fan, Alternator, Battery, tires, DSG fluid + filter change and now shes back on the road. It's for sale if you're looking
I was a mechanic at Toyota and yes I have used cardbord for all sorts of bolts and bearing shells, all sorts of stuff. So yes a real mechanic will definitely use cardbord for organizing.
Great comment Chris! I know this is a random question but I’m looking forward to applying at Toyota, Did you guys hire felons by chance? It’s been 5 years
My cousin and I are about to do chains on my 03 GLI (he's the VW tech) with 130k miles. Love the insight this gives me into the inner workings of this engine. You two are a fantastic duo, for sure do more videos together. Take care man
Now I have a renewed respect for “I do cars” with how easily and efficiently he tears engines down. $500 for that engine? Your “friend” was laughing all the way to the bank.
Good timing! Today I received the correct coolant for my Mk7 from you guys. I have heard that using the wrong stuff was bad. Seeing an example of why it's bad is pretty awesome...and a little scary!
I had a 2001 Jetta glx with that vr6 2.8. It had I think 175hp. It was okay I thought. Ignition went bad at 80k miles. The cooling system was garbage. The radiator cracked all connectors and hoses suck, the disintegrated and got brittle. Worst of all the transmission was way under built and failed at I think 90k miles. Cosmetics of the car stayed really nice all of its life though. The leather interior lasted and was like brand new from the day I bought it brand new till the day I sold it 14 years later. Good luck with your motor! Cool project!
That head bolt part was so satisfying for some reason. You guys are great together. Both of your channels are my favorite youtube channels to watch hands down. Thank you guys for making such awesome content
As soon as he mentioned "as long as you don't punch a hole in the block" I was hoping they would have cut to some random block with a hole in it trying to play it off🤣🤣
Berryman's Chem Dip works great for soaking parts that are caked in carbon. If you have time to let them sit in it, it works great. Get a couple of gallons or so of it and dump it all into a large sturdy container that is chemical resistant and then just put your parts in and let them soak for a day or so. Lots less hard work to get your pistons and whatnot cleaned up good.
Oil pan threads get destroyed because the oil plug, on metric cars, is a straight machine thread unlike the older non-metric cars it's a taper thread which is more forgiving when installing the plug.
When I did the head gasket on my VR6, went to put the cylinder head bolts back in. Did the conversion from Nm to FtLb backwards, and ended up with a ft lb value HIGHER than the spec Nm. So I got to the 90s and was like "this feels too much, but the book is the book." Snapped a bolt, THEN went to double check. So yeah I needed a second set of bolts.
Watching this video while sitting on my vr6 mk4 makes me feel so self-councious :(. bought it from a friend who had it collecting dust snow and salt, with a hole in the bell housing(@tranny) and half-assed jbwled patched. as a first timer VW owner, and not very skilled other than basics, this scares me so much. But hey! gotta love that angelical vr6 noise
Bought from a cowboy, engine left outside in the weather for like months. Love the crunchy bubble wrap sound deuche connectors 🤣 need more vids of the two of ye.
I’ve been restoring a 2001 vr6 Jetta with the 5 speed manual trans on my TH-cam. I just finished editing my video on the shifter bushings and it’ll be up tomorrow!
Sure hope the pistons top ring lands weren't too hammered after 200k. I reringed one at 120k and the old top rings felt really loose in their groove, the lands had a visible lip from mixture firing hammer. Ended up taking 0.3mm off the ring lands and fitting fatter old stock rings. Great vids lads.
Love both of you!!!Of all the mk4 vids I've needed to watch, this one has the absolute largest variety of information in a small amount of time considering. Love seeing a 24v receive such love from the most capable of hands!👍👍!YOU GUYS ARE MY FXXXXXG HEROES!!!!!
This was a great video. I had a great time watching this. Wish I could be part of one of these adventures. Reminds me of back in the day…. Makes me nostalgic, and want to take a trip to NC
I got 316,000 fun reliable miles on my 98' on my Jetta VR6 years ago...never replaced anything, but the 1 big coil pack, arced when really wet out...never changed chain, or guides, nutin...never stuck, manual trans, never touched, dealer always said leave it alone....fantastic car it was, fun Jetta GLX..current golf r is much much much better though. oil changed every 7500 miles, never failed, until power steering pump bearing went....I wanted to go to 500,000 didn't make it
Well at least the hardest part of the build is over. It should be smooth sailing after this. Smooth sailing as taking a wooden sailing ship through the Strait of Magellan.
I have an Q7 2009 with this 3.6 L engine and replaced the valve cover gasket and Valve cover because there was a leak of vacuum on the rear part and once the new Aluminum cover with gasket was installed the engine was turned on but lot of whit smoke comes out of the muffler. Job was perfomed by a VW mechanic but looks like the engine is done. Took the car in since the brake was too hard now the Audi Q7 is useless.
Hi Paul, I enjoyed this video so much, I was laughing every minute of it. haha. I have my VW Jetta GLI MK4 2.8L 24v (BDF) in your shop this week (for something else). I bet my engine needs this love and care as well. Jeez, cannot believe how dirty this engine was. I bet mine is as bad as well. Any engine beyond 200K needs all this maintenance and super clean up for sure. You might need to invite Charles again to do mine!
Thx for the detailed guide... but if a guy with a crusty VR6 was to take it to the shop for a reco... this would cost ballpark $20k parts and labour. yes?
"Horse power" started as a marketing term to describe how many horses an engine would replace. Like if you have a stable of 5 horses that take turns doing a specific job, like running a hoist at a mine. If you get an engine that runs the hoist, you can get rid of 5 horses. Therefore it's 5 hp!
Just a word of warning if your in Europe or more exactly in the uk. You can’t get spares for this engine. I have a golf 4 motion 2002. Can’t get a thermostat housing or even the correct thermostat. BMW 525 fits. Nightmare. Next issue scraps the engine and It’s only done 95k.
@7:48 I do not understand it with timing chains. If they are only good for 100-120k miles, then may as well have a Toyota timing belt (80k) which will not send shrapnel into the engine after 145k of use. (I know because I bought my 1999 Solara 3.0 V6 1MZ-FE @145k. I asked the seller when the timing chain was last changes. He replied: " "What's that . ??"
it could be me but the tooths on the intermediate shaft looked pretty worn down sloping to the left. if i was spending this kind of money i would have swapped them. But nice job!
Thanks for sharing, you guys are cool! "Do what takes to get the job done" $500 + more isn't bad. I'm with you you all the way! That's a good engine. Have fun!
And you're not putting enough oil on those Rings either you just win the Pistons at the lowest spot you fill the whole cylinder up with the pressure push it in there and then slowly turn it and I don't even know if you guys hone those cylinders I didn't see any hone marks on it
I know I'm late to the party here, but when you have old gunked up, especially carbon-like, deposits on an engine, I find the easiest "chemical" to clean with is WD40, not brake cleaner. Maybe give it a shot sometime 👍
Imagine getting this engine and being only a semi good engine-guy... Most would be F'ed - but that just makes this soooo much cooler to see :) Thx guys
Deutsche Auto Parts, you need an ultrasonic cleaner. It would have paid for itself in saved time and frustration on this one job alone, and it would have done a better job. Don't get me wrong, Paul did a great job cleaning parts, he just put a lot more effort into it than necessary.
@@Deutscheautoparts You and Charles did a great job. I look forward to seeing follow up videos focused on the engine installation & first start-up; any fine tuning that might be necessary; your perspective on the engine/transmission combination; and hopefully a video discussing the engine's performance/reliability after the first oil change. I have the same 2.8L BDF VR6 engine in my 2004 VW GTI. A great running engine but it is getting older and will need a new timing chain soon. I'm a little worried about performing the work since I've never replaced a timing chain before. I'd like to keep the car for a full 300K miles (right now it has 143K), so getting the chains done around 150K is my objective. I realize this might be pushing it based on recommendations I've heard to do the work earlier, but my car has not been driven in a spirited way except on very rare occasions, so I believe it should be good for a while longer. I'm slowly gathering parts for the timing chain work and will want to consult with you on a few things.
I love VAG vehicles (Audis in particular) but it's sad on a "quality" car they have to use such crummy plastic for the connectors. I bought a 1997 Saab 9000 in 2002 and when I finally got rid of it in 2017 (at 20 years of age!) it had zero cracked connectors. In contrast, my '12 A4 has a ton of them.
99% of us would not have two experienced VW mechanics rebuilding our crusty VR6. We would have an old Sirocco in the driveway and a half disassembled VR6 in the garage with the obligatory coffee tin full of greasy bolts and nuts
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 88 | คู่เอก "ป้อมเพชร vs อัสลามจอน"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1ZqTVVbMgbo/mqdefault.jpg)
Check out the Scirocco Series HERE - th-cam.com/play/PLtqrNCuhkOk6CQ8V0E0dbi-tHGjRtYcDw.html
You two really should collaborate more often, the two of you are a golden presenter duo!
Just wait until you discover Cars and Cocktails!
@@MrNeelmatt I just read your comment and then immediately subscribed to that channel - thanks for the recommendation!
Yep! Really enjoyable to watch them banter and work on this. :)
@@devttyUSB0 "I clicked for the VR6, and stayed for the banter!" 😂
I’m new too this channel I thought this was normal
So young, not prepared for what is to come. DONT DO IT PAUL AND CHARLES!
Hi
Nothing could ever prepare a trained technician to be holed up on a shop floor for five days with Paul.
I feel like Paul is predicting the future talking about injector seals.
@@RedondoBeach2 IIRC they said in original series that budget video is coming.
but, did it ruin your wookie day?oh,my chihuahua profile doesn't show when posting on my pc Charles.
Given the engines lack of maintenance, the bones look to have fared well. The only thing you didn't change were the injectors, but I'm sure that won't bite you in the butt later.
It's almost like you can see into the future ;)
@@Ramboy2007 but new starters almost never fail... some guy named Paul told me that.
Then the injectors did bite lol
Thats what we call forshadowing.
The cardboard trick for keeping track of trans bolts is the easiest and most cost effective thing you can do. Its free and it works!
Old school leave the flywheel on. Stand the motor on end . Flywheel stays while you turn the block. It's that easy guys. 😮
Did you notice all of the timing for this engine is on the flywheel side?
This is like watching a prequel to a horror movie. We in the audience know this is just setting up more horrors to follow at the end. Unbeknown to characters in the story.
Prefect response!
There's even the obligatory, "this should go smoothly..." (it never goes smoothly) 🤣😎😉
That overlooked detail that optimism leads to be being ignored @34:50 that nearly kills everyone aboard the ship if this was a sci-fi horror.
Growing up with my dad being a mechanic on German cars as a kid, this engine sound still today is one of my favorites. I regret not buying a R32 Golf 10 years ago when I should have. Now they are crazy expensive for one in good shape.
Thanks for the making this series, I missed it somehow and got removed from TH-cam notifications. I follow both of your channels. You guys are awesome!
I've got a 3.2L VR6 Audi A3 (AWD of course). Needed timing chains, coilpacks, radiator fan, Alternator, Battery, tires, DSG fluid + filter change and now shes back on the road.
It's for sale if you're looking
I make terrible life choices too!! Except clicking on these, informative, fun, VW, go guys go! Thank you 😊🇮🇪
Thanks for watching!
Guys this was super hilarious, please do more of these
I agree
Yes!
Hard yes! Love seeing these adventures
I was a mechanic at Toyota and yes I have used cardbord for all sorts of bolts and bearing shells, all sorts of stuff. So yes a real mechanic will definitely use cardbord for organizing.
best thing i've heard was someone ripping Fabrats or Matt's Off Road Recovery. said somethin like [impressive use of CAD. Cardboard aided design] x)
Great comment Chris! I know this is a random question but I’m looking forward to applying at Toyota, Did you guys hire felons by chance? It’s been 5 years
These guys together are meant to be friends and buddy’s, this is the good universe for them,
"I make terrible life choices so here we are."
Man you could be me. Or any of us.
You guys really had a hard time from start to finish with this build, nice work and props for not giving up!
My cousin and I are about to do chains on my 03 GLI (he's the VW tech) with 130k miles. Love the insight this gives me into the inner workings of this engine. You two are a fantastic duo, for sure do more videos together. Take care man
Now I have a renewed respect for “I do cars” with how easily and efficiently he tears engines down.
$500 for that engine? Your “friend” was laughing all the way to the bank.
I would like to buy one also if he has another!
$500 is about right for an engine in that condition.
Been down to the cams and the timing chains, but never had the pistons and rods out of my old VR. Much props for all of this effort!
Amazing video! Whenever I think of attempting something like this. I’ll just watch this again and save myself a lot of pain and sadness.
What a great opportunity for some fresh injectors. :)
Good timing! Today I received the correct coolant for my Mk7 from you guys. I have heard that using the wrong stuff was bad. Seeing an example of why it's bad is pretty awesome...and a little scary!
I had a 2001 Jetta glx with that vr6 2.8. It had I think 175hp. It was okay I thought. Ignition went bad at 80k miles. The cooling system was garbage. The radiator cracked all connectors and hoses suck, the disintegrated and got brittle. Worst of all the transmission was way under built and failed at I think 90k miles. Cosmetics of the car stayed really nice all of its life though. The leather interior lasted and was like brand new from the day I bought it brand new till the day I sold it 14 years later. Good luck with your motor! Cool project!
you guys really present well together! Very watchable, thumbs up!
Your videos are the greatest format and the most logical layout. The commentary after helps a lot too
Reminds me of a recent video Charles did called "While I'm in there..." otherwise known as the mechanical version of if you give a moose a muffin.
That head bolt part was so satisfying for some reason. You guys are great together. Both of your channels are my favorite youtube channels to watch hands down. Thank you guys for making such awesome content
Watched every minute of this series. Thanks guys for the awesome content!
Awesome journey . 👏 the funny part is watching the energy drain away 🤣 as you both struggle to get the build finished.. You Guys TOTALLY ROCK ..❤
My dad has 2013 Volkswagen CC 3.6 which has 367k kilometres on it and it still runs great and performs great I think it's immortal engine
You guys should put a turbo on it, imagine: vr6 DOHC (24 valves) with a turbo🤩🤩
i have bought and boosted many high mileage vr6s with out issue..love these things....have a aaa 2,8 with a m90 eaton blower in my 83 gti now.
As soon as he mentioned "as long as you don't punch a hole in the block" I was hoping they would have cut to some random block with a hole in it trying to play it off🤣🤣
Missed opportunity
Berryman's Chem Dip works great for soaking parts that are caked in carbon. If you have time to let them sit in it, it works great. Get a couple of gallons or so of it and dump it all into a large sturdy container that is chemical resistant and then just put your parts in and let them soak for a day or so. Lots less hard work to get your pistons and whatnot cleaned up good.
"Oh I'm pretty strong"....."oh I went to the gym once" frickin hilarious haha👍😎
I really enjoyed this project - it's very encouraging to those who want to add some additional suffering into their automotive lives! 😎
These colabs are so hilarius, love them!
Oil pan threads get destroyed because the oil plug, on metric cars, is a straight machine thread unlike the older non-metric cars it's a taper thread which is more forgiving when installing the plug.
When I did the head gasket on my VR6, went to put the cylinder head bolts back in. Did the conversion from Nm to FtLb backwards, and ended up with a ft lb value HIGHER than the spec Nm. So I got to the 90s and was like "this feels too much, but the book is the book." Snapped a bolt, THEN went to double check.
So yeah I needed a second set of bolts.
Watching this video while sitting on my vr6 mk4 makes me feel so self-councious :(. bought it from a friend who had it collecting dust snow and salt, with a hole in the bell housing(@tranny) and half-assed jbwled patched. as a first timer VW owner, and not very skilled other than basics, this scares me so much. But hey! gotta love that angelical vr6 noise
Love the vr6 and the vr5 engine.
The sound from thos cars are great .
Working for vw for 20years
Bought from a cowboy, engine left outside in the weather for like months. Love the crunchy bubble wrap sound deuche connectors 🤣 need more vids of the two of ye.
The asmr of those injector connectors was beautiful!
Charles: .... (install them correctly)... they don't leak! ... until they do!
:P
These types of videos never get old, hope you do more!
I’ve been restoring a 2001 vr6 Jetta with the 5 speed manual trans on my TH-cam. I just finished editing my video on the shifter bushings and it’ll be up tomorrow!
No that aint from mixing antifreeze. That is "head gasket sealer" ... it has fiber in it to plug holes and it does that :)
Just got an mk5 rabbit. Felt horrible when I took the cover off and seen 2 broken tabs on my injectors. Now, I don’t feel so bad! Thanks DAP, lol.
I also immediately flushed and changed coolant after seeing this.
old electrical connectors - one way to preserve the plastic quick release - wd 40 spray and a heat gun.
u 2 are great together! very entertaining and informative!!
@45:00 So that our trans doesn't have a gaping hole, Paul really cracks me up 😂
Sure hope the pistons top ring lands weren't too hammered after 200k. I reringed one at 120k and the old top rings felt really loose in their groove, the lands had a visible lip from mixture firing hammer. Ended up taking 0.3mm off the ring lands and fitting fatter old stock rings. Great vids lads.
I sure hope this video made the pain of making this decision less onerous. A little anyway. I honestly loved seeing a full tear-down and rebuild.
I love your guys' videos together. Amazing suffering. What a great engine when it runs right though, and the car looks so cool.
Love both of you!!!Of all the mk4 vids I've needed to watch, this one has the absolute largest variety of information in a small amount of time considering. Love seeing a 24v receive such love from the most capable of hands!👍👍!YOU GUYS ARE MY FXXXXXG HEROES!!!!!
Keep them coming ..Halarious guys
26:00 was awesome 👏
That is the *new way*
21:47 Nice finger work, Charles. Got me sweatin’ over here.
This was a great video. I had a great time watching this. Wish I could be part of one of these adventures. Reminds me of back in the day…. Makes me nostalgic, and want to take a trip to NC
The paper looking rtv ish stuff is probably a fiber filled head gasket repair chemical. A lot of them have glass particles that look like that.
It’s funny see this and knowing what was to come and you guys look so excited lol
Perfect work. I love old school cars and engines.Super
Have the exact same engine when I went to replace the thermostat housing and its innards I found the previous owner used window caulking to “seal” it…
Just playing with you guys but you got to remember Loctite and you got to be very careful scraping the head surface
You should check the strater :P
I love a neutron meter - especially 30 of them + 180 freedom units x Celsius
I got 316,000 fun reliable miles on my 98' on my Jetta VR6 years ago...never replaced anything, but the 1 big coil pack, arced when really wet out...never changed chain, or guides, nutin...never stuck, manual trans, never touched, dealer always said leave it alone....fantastic car it was, fun Jetta GLX..current golf r is much much much better though. oil changed every 7500 miles, never failed, until power steering pump bearing went....I wanted to go to 500,000 didn't make it
And that was pre syn oil....never had any issues...always got me where i needed to be, never stranded, RELIABLE
Well at least the hardest part of the build is over. It should be smooth sailing after this. Smooth sailing as taking a wooden sailing ship through the Strait of Magellan.
I have an Q7 2009 with this 3.6 L engine and replaced the valve cover gasket and Valve cover because there was a leak of vacuum on the rear part and once the new Aluminum cover with gasket was installed the engine was turned on but lot of whit smoke comes out of the muffler. Job was perfomed by a VW mechanic but looks like the engine is done. Took the car in since the brake was too hard now the Audi Q7 is useless.
Hi Paul, I enjoyed this video so much, I was laughing every minute of it. haha. I have my VW Jetta GLI MK4 2.8L 24v (BDF) in your shop this week (for something else). I bet my engine needs this love and care as well. Jeez, cannot believe how dirty this engine was. I bet mine is as bad as well. Any engine beyond 200K needs all this maintenance and super clean up for sure. You might need to invite Charles again to do mine!
Thx for the detailed guide... but if a guy with a crusty VR6 was to take it to the shop for a reco... this would cost ballpark $20k parts and labour. yes?
"Horse power" started as a marketing term to describe how many horses an engine would replace. Like if you have a stable of 5 horses that take turns doing a specific job, like running a hoist at a mine. If you get an engine that runs the hoist, you can get rid of 5 horses. Therefore it's 5 hp!
Just a word of warning if your in Europe or more exactly in the uk. You can’t get spares for this engine. I have a golf 4 motion 2002. Can’t get a thermostat housing or even the correct thermostat. BMW 525 fits. Nightmare. Next issue scraps the engine and It’s only done 95k.
I'm starting here but I'll watch the whole series if only because I love the VR6 more than is reasonable.
@7:48
I do not understand it with timing chains. If they are only good for 100-120k miles, then may as well have a Toyota timing belt (80k) which will not send shrapnel into the engine after 145k of use.
(I know because I bought my 1999 Solara 3.0 V6 1MZ-FE @145k. I asked the seller when the timing chain was last changes. He replied: " "What's that . ??"
Amazing video! Great work guys! :D
We want MOAR!
Even though it ended up being $1500 ish, that's not bad for a refreshed motor.
Great content thanks for the info guys
A few minutes to balance the rods cuz they're probably really close but it will give you a good thousand RPM more
it could be me but the tooths on the intermediate shaft looked pretty worn down sloping to the left. if i was spending this kind of money i would have swapped them. But nice job!
Thanks for sharing, you guys are cool! "Do what takes to get the job done" $500 + more isn't bad. I'm with you you all the way! That's a good engine. Have fun!
I really enjoy when you guys work together. At least what you present to the public, it appears you guys are really having a good time.
We’re usually having a good time, until we aren’t ; )
That poor engine was tortured! I’d just go with a crate motor at this point. Unless this is a real unicorn of an engine!?
Another fantastic video guys! Please keep them coming!!! ❤️
7:42 my w8 chain tensioner bouncing around while redline in the snow doing donuts xD
Not enough coolant flowing explains the burnt on oil everywhere. I’m guessing everything was running hot for quite a while.
I'VE seen it before were that fiber crap in the coolant ports is from head gasket repair in a can.
the "shockingly, they don't leak, until they do.." just killed me 😂😂😂
And you're not putting enough oil on those Rings either you just win the Pistons at the lowest spot you fill the whole cylinder up with the pressure push it in there and then slowly turn it and I don't even know if you guys hone those cylinders I didn't see any hone marks on it
I know I'm late to the party here, but when you have old gunked up, especially carbon-like, deposits on an engine, I find the easiest "chemical" to clean with is WD40, not brake cleaner. Maybe give it a shot sometime 👍
Why didn’t you stake the bolt you used to close the reverse switch? That would be be the correct locking solution for that situation.
seen ya broke the dipstick. Always remove the dipstick when doing swaps.
Imagine getting this engine and being only a semi good engine-guy... Most would be F'ed - but that just makes this soooo much cooler to see :) Thx guys
I loved the head bolt challenge!
The only 2 people I trust on the whole wide web on VW's
That nasty crap in the intake probably a lot to do with the lack of ring seal and blow by all coming back up through pcv.
Another great video! So much extra work.
Deutsche Auto Parts, you need an ultrasonic cleaner. It would have paid for itself in saved time and frustration on this one job alone, and it would have done a better job. Don't get me wrong, Paul did a great job cleaning parts, he just put a lot more effort into it than necessary.
I think you missed the part where I said I make terrible life choices ; )
@@Deutscheautoparts You and Charles did a great job. I look forward to seeing follow up videos focused on the engine installation & first start-up; any fine tuning that might be necessary; your perspective on the engine/transmission combination; and hopefully a video discussing the engine's performance/reliability after the first oil change. I have the same 2.8L BDF VR6 engine in my 2004 VW GTI. A great running engine but it is getting older and will need a new timing chain soon. I'm a little worried about performing the work since I've never replaced a timing chain before. I'd like to keep the car for a full 300K miles (right now it has 143K), so getting the chains done around 150K is my objective. I realize this might be pushing it based on recommendations I've heard to do the work earlier, but my car has not been driven in a spirited way except on very rare occasions, so I believe it should be good for a while longer. I'm slowly gathering parts for the timing chain work and will want to consult with you on a few things.
Both of you are funny to watch. For a second I thought you took stuff off the big shelf and then put it all back on to screw with us viewers.
I love VAG vehicles (Audis in particular) but it's sad on a "quality" car they have to use such crummy plastic for the connectors. I bought a 1997 Saab 9000 in 2002 and when I finally got rid of it in 2017 (at 20 years of age!) it had zero cracked connectors. In contrast, my '12 A4 has a ton of them.
99% of us would not have two experienced VW mechanics rebuilding our crusty VR6. We would have an old Sirocco in the driveway and a half disassembled VR6 in the garage with the obligatory coffee tin full of greasy bolts and nuts
Unfortunately for a lot of people you are 100% correct