Faults:

Break light switch under break pedal failed, after about 10,000 miles.

General Comments:

Does everything.

Practical. Rear seats fold flat providing huge space, we've even got a dining table in there.

Quick, nice performance, improving with age.

Well Built. Almost every noise I hear ends up being caused by some object in the glove box or boot, not by any loose car trim.

Comfortable. Spent 12 hours driving back from Cornwall once and felt like I'd been in the car for 20 minutes when I got out the other end.

Economical. For a performance car, I can easily get 40 mpg on a long run, 30+ around town. I'd say I average 32 -33mpg.

Faults:

Lifting mechanism on both driver and passenger electric windows have broken within 4 months of each other, at which time window just drops into the door cavity.

No other real problems with the car, but extremely poor service from VW dealer. unhelpful and only interested in generating more work at additional cost.

General Comments:

Excellent performance at all times. I commute over 100 miles per day, mainly motorway driving with fuel economy of 50-60 miles per gallon at speeds of 75-85 mph. I have driven several diesel cars all of which feel like a diesel, but the golf feels like a petrol.

Inside the car very comfortable, and excellent accessories.

Would buy another diesel golf based on the car itself, however high servicing cost combined with awful service does concern me a little.

Faults:

Ran out of oil about 6 weeks after I got it. Still uses a lot of oil. My husband tops it up every couple of weeks :-). dealer says it is normal.

Used a lot of fuel (about 20 mpg). Dealer has replaced a probe twice. It is OK now.

A piece of trim fell of the inside and it rattles a lot.

Carpets got soaked in passenger side. Dealer replaced the door seal.

Had a new alternator and water pump.

Some other things that I can't remember meant it had to go in the dealers.

All under warranty.

General Comments:

We like the car a lot, but it has not been as reliable as I thought it would be. Our Vectra was better.

Love the blue dials at night.

Dealers very good and have got the car back on the road quickly, but the routine services are very expensive.

The petrol consumption is OK except when the probe in the engine breaks. Then it is terrible.

It is nicer than our Vectra, but has broken down more and is more expensive.

My husband doesn't think it is as good as his Mazda 323.

Faults:

Service indicator wrongly set to 2,000 miles instead of 10,000.

Heater control would not give full heat (wrongly adjusted when new)

Sticking ignition lock.

Squeaking door hinges.

Loose bolt on front anti-roll bar.

Horn failed (twice)

Rain water leak from drivers' door.

Split in drivers seat seam (stitching loose)

Temperature sensor failure in engine management system.

Lambda sensor failure.

Thermostat & water pump failed.

Rattle from centre console.

Noisy windscreen wiper mechanism.

General Comments:

Awful reliability. Eight visits to dealer in 18 months (other than routine servicing).

Routine service costs astronomical, mostly labour, but parts are also a rip-off e.g. oil at £30 for 5 litres.

Dealer attitude can best be described as "polite indifference".

Had a long session on the phone with VW UK to attempt to resolve problems, but they were not at all helpful, difficult to get a straight answer and on occasion almost downright rude.

The attitude seems to be that if the car is unreliable then it is between you and the dealer and it's all under warranty for 3 years so what's the problem? I use the car for business so time off the road is lost money for me and the dealers can never provide a courtesy car when required. Read the JD Power Survey for dealer service!

VW do not value customer loyalty, this is my third (and last) Golf and my wife has had no fewer than five VWs previously. Her new car next year will be a Honda Civic to replace a Polo and mine will be a Mazda 6 to replace the Golf.

On the plus side the estate is very useful and practical - it's just a shame it's so badly built!