Faults:

Before I came to own the car, the following work had been carried out:

At 18511 miles the airbag slipring had to be replaced.

At 26532 miles the cylinder head and head gasket had to be replaced, along with the manifold gasket.

At 34038 miles it was noted that there was noise from the catalytic converter, but nothing was done. There was also a note about oil consumption.

Since I have owned the car:

Stiff gear selector, especially going into 1st gear.

At 46000 miles, the EGR valve was replaced.

At 51194 miles, the offside front shock absorber had to be replaced.

At 53344 miles, the catalytic converter was replaced.

At 56828 miles, the EGR valve had to be replaced again - not even a year and a half since the first time.

Now at 68000 miles, the EGR valve needs to be replaced again, and they have decided that they need to do the head gasket AGAIN! The suspension is also in need of repair, and I can feel every little bump in the road.

I also have an intermittent leak in the drivers side foot well. We have come to the conclusion that it is something to do with the door seal.

General Comments:

In general I love the car, but it has far too many faults, so I am beginning to think that there was a manufacturing fault, especially since the head gasket had to be replaced when the car had only done 26532 miles.

It's quick and handles well, but when you are paying over £60 for a tank of petrol and using 1 litre of oil to every 250 miles, it becomes expensive, especially on top of the huge garage bills when things like the EGR valve have to be replaced.

The interior is nice and seats comfortable. It also helps that it has aircon.

Faults:

Not much has gone wrong. The issue was the previous owner was not doing regular maintenance. So after purchasing it I did the following:

- Replaced the glove box door and it has a broken hinge already after 3 months.

- Replaced front and rear struts and strut mounts

- Replaced rear springs

- Replaced tires

- Wheel Alignment

- Replaced lower engine

- Installed an AMSOIL EaBP by-pass Filter kit

- Installed a Evolution Atlas Skid Plate to replace the piece of crap VW has form factory.

- Replaced the power window switch (broken)

So I have done a lot of upgrading...

General Comments:

Great handling car.

Fun to drive.

Great economy.

The parts manager at a VW dealer gave me this tip:

To prevent carbon build-up during normal driving, add a diesel additive with every fill. You can get it at VW or Wal-mart, etc.

I find that the quality of the interior materials is cheap - my glove box door hinge was broken when I bought it and I replaced it. Three months go by and it broke again. Cheap plastic.

Faults:

Power window mechanism went out at 3k miles (warranty)

MAF sensor replaced at 70k miles (warranty)

Coolant sensor replaced at 85k miles (did the work myself, 5 min, $21 for the part)

This car is very durable. It still has original brake pads, battery (!) and belts.

General Comments:

Very comfortable car, high quality interior, reliable and fun to drive, but it does feel heavy. Could benefit from stiffer suspension and a 6 spd transmission.

Faults:

Block heater blew after 2 weeks, immobilizer went all screwy and wouldn't let me start my own Car! - took 4 visits and absurd amount of money to fix, catalytic converter went, passenger window broke.

General Comments:

This car drives and handles beautifully. Unfortunately it has serious electric problems which are extremely expensive to fix. Infact all repairs are way too complicated and pricey. This car is NOT WORTH IT!