2000 Volkswagen Golf E 1.4 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Good basic design, spoiled by poor build quality

Faults:

Various rattles that the dealer has been unable to fix.

General Comments:

The Golf scores on interior design and comfort. I have found no other car at this price which comes close. The blue dials are a neat feature, and the seats are excellent.

The 1.4 is OK in town, but can get noisy at motorway speeds due to the low gearing. Fuel economy is pretty good though, at 40mpg.

The ride seems over firm in town, yet the handling is nowhere near as good as some cars I have driven (Ford Focus, Subary Impreza).

A strange feature is that the lights have a very short range - you have to guess where the next corner is at night, even with the lights set to maximum height.

The main flaw is the build quality. After only 8000 miles, the dashboard is an orchestra of rattles and the doors creak on corners. The gear change is very stiff and has a lot of play. I don't know how this car will fare long term. VW need to improve their manufacturing quality if they are to compete with Japanese alternatives.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 7th August, 2001

18th Sep 2002, 08:52

1At 18,000 miles / 2 years:

- Engine uses excessive oil, but according to the manual this is OK so long as consumption is less that 1l / 1000 miles. As my dealer put it it, "VW say this to cover themselves".

- Gear change is very awkward and the car sometimes refuses to go into 2nd. The dealer has greased/adjusted the linkage, but this does not help.

- Rear washer pipe burst causing boot lock to rust (repaired under warranty)

- Rear brake discs have rusted causing brake judder (not covered by warranty).

- Front brakes squeal when not breaking (dealer greased and cleaned breaks, but this makes no difference - and I had to pay for it).

From what I can make out, my VW dealer knows all these problems well. It's a pity they don't tell you this before you buy.

19th May 2003, 03:02

I have a Golf IV Tdi (South Africa). Initially I was very excited about the car, but after a very short time I became one of the many people on this site disillusioned by the VW 'quality'...man, can this car rattle and squeak. I thought Opels were bad. I won't buy a VW product in a hurry again and am thinking of trading the Golf in after only 6 months of ownership... what a loss!

2000 Volkswagen Golf GTi Turbo 1.8 turbo petrol from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Bitterly disappointing

Faults:

Paint defect on the rear hatch.

Loose/ill fitting front seats (Recarros).

Leaking rear windscreen.

Both doors creak under acceleration and heavy braking.

Various rattles in the dashboard which were dismissed by the dealer as nothing.

Passenger seat lifter broke.

Air bag faults. Originating from the driver's seat and caused I believe by poor workmanship when the dealer repaired the front seat problem listed above.

General Comments:

Build quality is less than average which I find disappointing, especially when VW seem to pride themselves upon this point.

Performance is poor when compared with my previous car (Megane Coupe 2.0l 16v 150BHP). Also the car is less economical.

3-door model owners watch out when opening doors in windy conditions. If the door is snatched from your grip and opened to its limit, it will become misaligned and will not shut properly!

The dealership after sales service is shocking. When the paint defect was rectified, the car came back covered in overspray. When valeted by the dealer (after respray of boot), the alloys were all scratched. Demanded and got new replacements.

Dealer attempted to fix my car with components from an ex demonstrator (1 year old). This happened when the seats were fixed and when the wheels were scratched. They also would not have told me they had done so if I hadn't asked.

This is by far the most disappointing car I have owned.

I intend to get rid of it after only 14 months of ownership.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 19th July, 2001

24th Jul 2001, 05:22

I've had a 3 door GTI 1.8 T for 15 months now & the only problem I had during the first year of ownership was the creaking doors, the dealer fixed these under warranty with no problems, even though the car was an import from Germany. Seems like yours was a bit of a Friday afternoon car, a lot of friends had problems like these with Mk3 GTI's 3-4 years back when VW quality was poor. We've got about 10-12 GTI's & 4-Motions at our company & people here love them.

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