Faults:

This is certainly the best car I have bought. So reliable, comfortable, & the performance is absolutely amazing!

I do however at the moment have the engine management light on and a fault code bearing P2016, which is the intake manifold runner position sensor/switch circuit.

I am have also had a Turbo Under-boost code come up once, however I have not seen this one since.

General Comments:

This is certainly the best car I have bought. So reliable, comfortable & the performance is absolutely amazing!

Fantastic car all in all!

General Comments:

Very refined all rounder. Performance is very good. Handles and rides very well, feels solid on the road, ride comfort is excellent and corners nicely, excellent on rough NZ roads, smooths out imperfections that would have my Honda bucking and wallowing about in protest.

Brakes can be grabby at low speeds. DSG gearbox has some quirks, but is generally excellent, slick shifting, and a whole lot less scary than the horror stories I've heard about. It can be caught asleep after coasting though, and clonks into gear upon reacquaintance with the throttle. First gear is a bit short and the traction control lazy, which equals unexpected wheel scrabble and chirping tyres if driven briskly round town.

Interior is really well designed with some nice materials, but not all. Suffers from the typical European problem of scruffy door trims peeling away. Lots of thoughtful features like dipping passengers mirror when engaging reverse, air conditioned glove box, and huge door bins that accept a 1.5l water bottle.

Seats are comfortable, but it's a bizarre car to get in and out of as the seats are located well inboard towards the centre of the car, presumably to aid safety. This means to get in you sort of have to straddle the door sill, get half-way in onto the seat, then shift sideways again into the car. It also means the pedals are offset, which you get used to.

Prepare to get wet getting in and out in the rain! Open the doors or the boot, and the water rolls straight off the tapered roofline and onto you and the interior of the car as you get in or out.

Safety was one of the top reasons we chose this car. The body structure feels very strong and has 12 airbags.

We purchased a 3 year mechanical warranty with the car, and although nothing has gone wrong, it very much feels a question of "when" not "if" as is the case with most European cars we have owned as opposed to the Japanese ones. Fingers crossed though, because it's an excellent and classy all rounder.

Faults:

Compulsory ECU recall. The car was running fine prior to this, and there has been no noticeable difference since the recall.

General Comments:

The Mk5 GTI is the perfect response to the previous Mk4 model. Every negative aspect of my old Mk4 GTI has been addressed with the new model.

The performance of the 2.0 TFSI is very strong, could always do with more power though. Having said that, the front wheels may struggle getting the power down, so, from factory it is about right.

Economy is very good also. Around town we're getting 9l/100kms, and on the highway we can get into high 6s-low 7s.

The handling is very safe and secure, but also very rewarding. At the absolute limit it is not as sharp as it might be, but at about 8-9/10ths the car is virtually faultless.

The looks of the car, inside and outside, are just right. A great blend of aggression and purpose, without being too boy racer. The styling is a massive improvement over the the Mk4.