Faults:

Antenna rubber cracking.

Vinyl on door armrest coming unglued.

Headliner coming unglued.

Clear coating on Volkswagen emblem flaking off.

General Comments:

Very reliable car. Great gas mileage. Terrific pickup!

Comfortable to drive. Handles great! Sun visors need to be bigger!

Faults:

I bought the car back when I worked for a car dealership. My 1978 Dodge Power Wagon was showing its age, so I talked my mother into helping me buy the only car on the lot I could afford to make the payment on.

Since then I have had to replace all sorts of things; the door speakers burned out, $117.00 a piece, the power box on top of the battery shorted out and burned up, that was $160.00, numerous engine problems that cost even more.

Every time I turn around something small breaks and costs over $100.00 to replace, not including labor. I work as a security guard now and I don't make much money; I can't afford to keep fixing this car and I can't afford to buy a new one.

General Comments:

Cars like this one should not be so fragile. I know the most profitable part of a car lot is the service department, but when aftermarket parts are cheaper and more reliable than the manufacturers parts, then there is a problem.

Faults:

Nothing!

General Comments:

I found myself on carsurvey.org every day while trying to make the decision to buy this car for my girlfriend for not for about 6 months. I repeatedly discouraged myself because of the negative comments that I have seen about these cars on here. To tell the truth, the type of deal that I got on this car made absolutely sense to buy it. You can get an awesome deal on a used one that will end up at the same price you would pay for a newer Ford Taurus, Escort or an ugly used Honda Civic (01-05). Frankly, the dealer told me if I asked a penny lower than the price we agreed upon, the whole deal would be cancelled. I bought it for about $3500 lower than they were asking for it, which was great.

This car is absolutely gorgeous. It is an all around "chick car" that maintains its sleek look and design unlike any other car. I can understand that the car will probably need fixing every now and then, but the love my girlfriend and I have for this car is absolutely worth it. If you get a good deal on one, do not miss this chance to own a wonderful car. The look of it is almost identical to the newer models, which I really appreciate. It is low like a sports car and catches peoples attention everywhere you go. Even though I am a guy, I really enjoy taking it out sometimes.

Faults:

The armrest completely fell apart.

The lock button for the driver door has popped out, and the foot rest on the driver's side just fell off.

General Comments:

I think that VW service department will just about accuse you of anything, so that they don't have to take responsibility. It's awful; I hate going there, and heaven forbid that I would fix all the cosmetic problems; they want 500 and up for the smallest of things!

Faults:

High pitching noise when the engine started. summer weather in California, so it's not cold. The noise sounds like bad belt, and it last for 40-90 seconds.

I checked the belt, it's not a loose belt.

I am not familiar with VW's Turbo, could it be a normal turbo's high rev?

General Comments:

Car also have a strong crayon smell. One of the owner said there are insulation material made with wax-like.

Right underneath of the firewall. Don't know what it look like yet, but I wil check it out this weekend.

Other than that, it's a nice car -- I bought it for my daughter, and she love it.