The Most Reliable Engines Ever Built By Volkswagen, Ranked – SlashGear

In the ’90s, VW came out with a novel approach to engineering — a V6 engine with the cylinders packed so tightly together, they shared a single cylinder head. It was called a VR6. The concept spawned much larger engines, resulting in the W8, W12, and even W16 engines. This means the cylinders are staggered apart to make the block extremely short, merging two V-pattern engines to form a larger W-pattern. VW produced an ultra-luxury model featuring the W12 called Phaeton, and it was a truly fantastic car.

The Phaeton was an ambitious project for VW as it was slated to compete with the likes of BMW and Mercedes. It ultimately proved to be a bit too ambitious as VW had trouble selling a luxury model while retaining the Volkswagen name, which is German for people’s car, for upwards of $100,000. The cars have also proven to be expensive to fix in the used market and can be costly to own. However, in reports of nightmarish stories of constant high-price repairs of Phaetons, the engines rarely need anything.

The long and short of the Phaeton is that buying one is a terrible financial decision for anyone but at least it will start and run almost flawlessly. In a cursory search of reviews online, you will find many happy owners — along with many warnings about service costs — but practically zero complaints about the engine, proving the VW W12 is one of the better-built VW engines.