Overview & Reviews

Volkswagen's compact Rabbit receives a welcome infusion of power for 2008, celebrated with a modified moniker as it's now called the Rabbit S.

• Roomy and upscale cabin, comfortable ride, high crash test scores, impressive build quality.

• Well-equipped four-door has high base price, a bit too vanilla when compared to sleeker rivals.

User Reviews:

Showing 11 through 20 of 91.00

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  Lots of praise and no regrets - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By J Hall - December 19 - 7:43 am

  Originally I was looking for an upgrade to a small SUV but couldnt find anything with pep, decent MPG, and a sticker below $25000. So on to the hatches! $20-22k was more in the price range and the Rabbit perfectly fits the bill. This thing has so much ROOM for a hatch. Its amazing. The only roomy complaint I have is that the drivers knees are *slightly* cramped. There is plenty of length, but something feels a little too tight when it comes to the steering wheel and the knees. But thats it! Thats about the only complaint. The interior, exterior, ride, zip/power, handling, and features are way beyond the competition. 4door auto, ESP, sunroof, alloys, and 170HP for $20k. Nice.

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  Great little car - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By Mark - December 15 - 12:20 pm

  Searched for over 3 months to replace an aging Jeep. I wanted a hatchback for its space and size. We looked at the Fit, Versa, Mazda3, Mini, Caliber and numerous others. The finish and quality of the Rabbit was the best. The performance is outstanding, I love the turn radius and size. With my old cherokee, I had a little extra space in my garage. With the Rabbit, I have even more with the same responsiveness and HP as the old 4.0L inline 6 in the Jeep with significantly better gas mileage - it doubled. The dealership I purchased it encouraged naming it, so we now call it Rascal! (after Elmer Fudd wascally wabbit)

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  Good Rabbit - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By Steel66 - November 23 - 9:36 am

  This is a great car,with a powerful engine.I own the 6 speed tiptronic transmission which matches great with the engine, giving me the feeling that I am driving a more expensive car

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  Honda/Toyata guy converted to VW - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By VW convert - October 25 - 5:30 am

  I am 100% satisfied with my Rabbit. For me, the Rabbit was a perfect balance of economy and performance. I had considered a whole spectrum of vehicles- from a Toyota Yaris to a Mazda Mazda3 hatchback. The VW Rabbit sits somewhere in between those two models in terms of mpg and is competitive with the Mazda3s performance, though I might say the Mazda has better handling. One thing that the Rabbit, and German cars in general, have over any other car I was considering was its awesome build quality. My Rabbit is a small car and is by no means a tank, but it feels as strong and tough as one. Hondas and Toyotas feel like tin cans compared to VWs. The Rabbit is also very zippy and fun to drive.

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  2008 Black Rabbit - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By Brian - July 15 - 8:33 pm

  I bought this 08 Rabbit in June and now 8 months later have no performance or build quality complains. Broke it in easy for 1500 mi. My son is the primary driver who uses it to commute back and forth to college and to work. Weve taken it on 600+ miles trips to NJ and Pittsburgh and mpg has been excellent at 31 highway. The only recurring issue has been the crummy head unit for the stereo. Twice the cd player has failed. Dealer overnighted a replacement the first time, and I expect same replacement this time, but really why the cheapo stereo? Ive thrown Walmart stereo/cd players into vehicles that have lasted for years with no issue. No other problems with this West Virginia Bunny.

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  Really fun car. - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By billbolduc - June 21 - 3:06 pm

  I love my new Rabbit. The lease on my 2004 Passat was up, and I was tired of paying for premium gas, so I tried the Rabbit and loved the way it felt. Although it is in a different class (economy vs. midsize), I find it sportier and more agile than my 04 Passat, but it doesnt ride quite as well. The new boost in horsepower gives it plenty of power to get out of the way. It has enough interior room for most needs, although the family would probably be more comfortable in my wifes minivan. The build quality appears to be very good. Overall, another great product from Volkswagen.

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  VW Golf after eight years & 110K - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By Craig m - May 30 - 2:30 am

  This body style is now called the Golf, but a decade ago it was called a Rabbit. I liked the car, and it put up with a lot of careless use. I use my cars for short hops, pickup truck-like hauling, and 2000 mile cross-country trips. I do NOT baby them, and the Rabbit took it all like a champ. Buyers should be cautious to make sure they are happy with the fit of the drivers seat with respect to the controls, because I experienced a tendency to find myself feeling off-center on long trips. That is, I didnt feel I was sitting directly in line with the middle of the steering wheel. I think that was because of a combination of leg length and the rather tight console tunnel placement. This is designed as an inexpensive VW, so dont expect the best of anything - but I am sure that todays Golf offers some improvements over the rudimentary radio/CD player the Rabbit came with. The big attraction back then was the Electronic Stability package, which VW was the first to offer at this price point - and that worked great! If you are a believer in dealer servicing, be prepared for high routine maintenance costs, and be aware you cannot even change the air filter on this car yourself. My particular car had a few gremlins in it: the cruise control would sometimes not come on unless I re-booted the car...and I was never sure whether my interval wipers were stopping because the German engineers wanted them to, or because a gremlin wanted them to. (It didnt make much sense to me that I didnt need a clear windshield if I was stopped at a traffic light, but they quit working nonetheless.) I considered these all to be minor annoyances, though. The plastic frame that supports the radiators, headlights and sheet metal at the front end of the car can be broken in very minor collisions or road debris encounters. Thats an expensive fix, and constitutes a real design flaw. But I suppose other cars of this type have similar drawbacks. The hatchback would admit an insane amount of cargo, and the car handled great in deep snow as well as deep water and misty-slick pavement. No engine issues at all. Tranny required work after 105K of hard use.

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  Love my rabbit - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By DBLASVEGAS - May 13 - 2:03 pm

  The first thing you need to understand about this car is. Its not the most fuel efficient hatchback out there. However it is fun fun fun to drive. If youre like me and performance is important to you, for the price you cant beat it. Drove the Civic lx, ex and Nissan Sentra. Boring by comparison. Nice cars but no power. Suspension is a little soft for me (it rides well though) but what do you want for 16,800 dollars? I have alloy wheels and iPod adapter built in the armrest (with rear seat air vents) trip computer 10 speaker stereo. The 4 door jumps in price to around 20,000 dollars. The Honda dealership wanted around 20,000 out the door for an lx Civic coupe. Rabbit was 18.

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  08 Rabbit Habit - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By LuvVeeDub - January 20 - 10:40 pm

  had it only 2 weeks, but driving A LOT. my first experience in a rabbit made a terribly disconcerting metallic rubbing whine when i test drove one initially (with alloy wheels pkg.), but the one i bought had the steel wheels and no such noises. still have quite a bit of clutch pedal travel compared to my subaru outback and am still trying to get used to launching without excessive revving (maybe im just a retard) and while in 1st/2nd gears, torque dies around 3500 rpm. i expected more torque since due to 177 lb./ft. rating. shoulda bought the DSG auto trans in retrospect. wished leather seats were available. almost dislocated my left shoulder reaching back for the safety belt.

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  Amazing car even after 60K miles - 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit
  By Jiten - December 15 - 12:36 pm

  Today is the 2 year anniversary of my rabbit. I am in sales so Ive put a ton of miles on it already...try 60K. I still get excited getting into the car even 2 years later. This was my first german car after owning pontiacs, chevy (mini van), mercury (villager), honda (prelude and fit), Nissan Sentra, Geo Prizm, Daewoo Nubira and Mazda Protege. Honestly this little rabbit is a whole notch above any of my previous cars. It is so solid, buttoned down and feature rich that nothing else comes close for the price. I had considered the Mazda 3 and Scion Xb but the moment I test drove the Rabbit I was totally hooked. The Germans really know how to make fantastically engineered cars. BUY ONE!!