2002 Volkswagen Golf GT TDi 130 review from UK and Ireland

Intermittent fault with central locking not opening the drivers door.

Several dash warning lights started glowing dimly at night when reverse gear was engaged.

Air leak from turbo pipework caused dire performance for a short while.

Bought this car to replace my 6 year old, 130,000 mile 306 D-Turbo which I'd owned from new and enjoyed right to the end.

Performance superb, although doesn't feel 40 bhp up on the Peugeot. Maybe because the Golf is such a heavy car. Economy is slightly worse than the 306 -averages 44 mpg which although way ahead of a petrol car with similar performance, is down on the Pug's 48 mpg average. But it is a quicker car. That said, the six speed 'box is a gimmick and unnecessary on an engine with this much torque at such low revs.

Interior gorgeous - Recaros, blue dials, quality plastics. The best bit of the car. It's soothing and feels classier than any of its rivals.

Handles tidily although the 306 was a lot more fun. The sports suspension on the GT model does make it a lot better than an ordinary Golf, but it's average at best. Steering is awful - the worst bit of the car.

Reliability is OK, but I expected better from a car of this price, mileage and apparent quality. The 306's first "non service" problem was glowplug failure at 74,000 miles. The Golf's first was an electrical fault in the central locking at 31,000. A bit of a disappointment to be honest with you.

Dealers are pretty dire. Tried three now and all seem to struggle to diagnose problems, and become very offhand if you dare to question their decision to release a car back to you with the fault still present, or even worse, ask for a courtesy car.

A beautiful car to drive, but I am questioning the wisdom of choosing the car when I think of the problems/poor dealers combined with the fact that all its rivals can be had for thousands less.

I'm giving it another six months.