2000 Volkswagen Golf from Trinidad and Tobago - Comments

I have been driving the 2000 Volkswagen Golf 1.6 for about 10 months (after driving a 10 year old Nissan Sentra for 3 years) and I think that this has been the worst 10 months of my life.

Within the first month of buying the car (brand new), I had VERY STRANGE problems with the transmission, and I got stuck on the highway quite a few times with the car refusing to budge, even when I go all the way down on the gas pedal. I have never ever seen such strange behaviour coming from a car. This happened no less than 4 times, and my life was in danger each time. I described my problems to Volkswagen, Germany, but they couldn't care less.

Additionally, the car has shut off on me no less than 5 times. This happens when I slow down (at an intersection, say), without coming to a complete stop, and then try to go again. The car either shuts off, or responds very slowly. This is extremely dangerous, as many times I shut off in the middle of the road and nearly got killed. And even when it does not shut off, the response is so slow that my life is in danger from oncoming vehicles. I have driven many different cars before, and this has never happened.

There are many other nagging problems, but the two above are the most dangerous and I would definitely NOT advise anyone to buy a Golf. The problems may not affect all Golfs, but you may be unlucky like me to get the lemon. It is unfortunate in this age of advancing technology that Volkswagen seem to be going backwards! I would advise potential buyers to buy a Honda Civic instead.

The car has a good sound system though.

And a very nice interior.

I had plans of buying a Golf, but after reading this complaint, I would definitely not be getting one again. I am now considering the Ford Focus, Peugeot 306 and Honda Civic.

When I test drove the Golf, I did find that the response, after slowing down, was poor, but I thought that this was temporary, because I could not believe that Volkswagen would build a car that is potentially fatal!!!

Thanks for your warning.

I would also like to warn people who plan on buying a Golf that I bought my Golf in 1999, almost brand new, with 250Kms on it. I owned it for 2.5 years and put 76,000Kms on the meter. Recently I had to go into the dealer to find out that they would have to change the two front-wheel bearings. The right front-wheel was threatening to fall off. Beware have this verified while the car is still under warranty. It is a fairly expensive fix, about $800.00Cdn and could cost you your life. Beware that one of the symptom was that the vehicle was consuming a lot more fuel than usual.

Well guest what? It's only 2 months and 5000kms after I had to fix my 1999 VW Golf with two front wheel bearings, and Oh joy! I just had to replace the 4 rear brake pads and have the disks machined yesterday. It was on Friday, July 19th when I started to hear really strange noises coming from under the car when I applied the brakes, the noise became louder by the minute. I finally decided to take it easy on the brakes and use compression to slow down, even more than I do usually. I took the car to a local repair shop on Wednesday, July 24th and had them look at it. Well after a $180Cdn thank God, because the dealer downtown wanted to charge me $402.35Cdn for the same job, they got it fixed for me. Unusual fact though 3 of the 4 brake pads were worn at about 50% of their capacity while the 4th one was on metal, interesting fact the front brakes still look brand new. The repairman told me to monitor the situation because he suspects I might have to change the caliper on one side. Some advise, keep an eye on the car and on the dealer!

A bit of advice to the writer of the original message.

I had the same problem with both my old VW polo fox and VW Golf 1.6 MK3 - car slowing down at junctions etc...

The main dealer kept the polo in for several days and temporarily fixed it at great cost, only for the problem to recur a few miles later. I managed to solve the problem on the Golf by taking off the air induction hose and cleaning the gunk out with a special spray that had collected around the rim... problem solved! Runs fine now, but am trading it in for a MK 4 VW GT TDi tomorrow. I just hope that the majority of people commenting upon all the Golfs on this site are in the wrong and I get a decent motor?!! I wholeheartedly agree with the comments on rattling and general poor build quality... time will tell??

I have never driven a VW GOLF, but I have driven a VW PASSAT and the VW JETTA, which were both great, These cars in Trinidad presents two problems however, the quality standards are different to that of other countries and German cars BMW included have issues, you can't even get the door of a BMW or a VW open if the batteries go dead, and you have key-less entry this is supposed to be an anti theft feature, but it's not that great when you get locked out and the only person getting in is a technician.

I have no idea how you drive your Golf, but I have had mine for about a month now and it runs just fine. I have yet to have a problem with it. I bought it used, a 2000 GLS 5-speed manual with 112,000 miles on it. So whatever happened with your cars is just crappy, or maybe I just got real lucky...

Where can I get VW golf to buy in Trinidad?

I have Golf IV model 2001. This is a beautiful car, and the stability of it is very good, and I love the engine of this car, and I don't agree with the people that say the the Golf IV is not a beautiful car.

Thx.