2002 Volkswagen Golf GT TDi 130 from UK and Ireland - Comments

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.

Update on review (Jun 2005).

The car was part exchanged six weeks ago for a new Focus Zetec 2.0 TDCi 136.

The Golf's reliability niggles continued right up until it went. In addition to the faults listed above, the following went wrong during 2004 and early 2005:

Water leak in base of windscreen (this was a "dash out" job to fix which then caused several new rattles).

Heater matrix developed a weep causing a "curry" smell inside the car. The dealer fixed the problem first time, but by then the hot coolant had soaked into the carpet and the smell never really went away afterwards.

The (expensive optional) electric sunroof stuck in the open position and required dealer attention.

Two glowplugs died during the snowy weather in February this year, and the car became a pig to start.

Rear washer hose leaked into the headlining and marked it.

Despite quality that can only be described as a joke, the car still held an excellent trade in value, even with 92,000 miles on the clock. However the new Focus is a far superior product in every way as you would expect from a much newer car. Better finished, quicker, nicer inside, much more fun to drive, and much more refined. The only area the Golf matches it is in economy (beats it slightly in fact).

All things considered, I doubt I would seriously contemplate owning a VW product again. The residual values are great, but the initial investment is just way over the top for such an average product. Service and parts costs are little short of criminal too. The major cambelt service cost £535 (the same service on a friend's Lotus Elise at a main agent was nearly £100 less!) and when a stone clumped the headlamp and broke it, I was robbed to the tune of £130 for a replacement. Looking through some sample parts and service prices for the Focus, the saving is between 15% and 40%!

Maybe VW's were the epitome of quality and reliability at one point, but on the evidence of this 2002 VW Golf TDI 130, those days are long gone. However the premium purchase and running costs remain which surely constitutes a seriously poor deal. Unless my experience was thoroughly untypical (other reviews on here suggest not), I can only recommend these cars are best avoided.

19.12.2005.

I have owned a VW golf gt TDI 130 and 150bhp for over a year, may I just point out that these are the two best average priced cars, you couldn't ask for anything more performance wise, looks and drive-ability and surely cannot be compared to a 6yr old Peugeot 306 d turbo.

My comments on the 306 comparison stand. The Pug has a far more entertaining chassis, and although it can't match the Golf's "pull from idle" punch, the gap in outright go isn't as big as the 40 bhp discrepancy would suggest. In terms of factory 0-60 times, there is about a second separating the two cars.

I'm not suggesting the Golf isn't a better all round car - of course it is. However, I could never get over the fact that the poor reliability when factored against the purchase cost left me feeling ripped off. That's never a good situation to be in when you own a car.

I won't make the same mistake twice.

Ha Ha, one second difference between the 306 and the Golf. I believe in the books the 306 is 13.3 seconds 0-60 and the Golf is 9.3 0-60. Correct me if I am wrong, but the Golf wins hands down.

The figures I read (can't remember where) were 11.1 for the Peugeot and 9.8 for the Golf. 1.3 seconds then. Not much for a decade's "progress" and another 40 bhp.

The Peugeot is way quicker than 13.1 - believe me.

I never argued anyway that the Golf wasn't the faster car. My gripes were more around quality and reliability, plus the SMALL increase in performance for all the extra BHP.

Anyway, the Focus is better than both of them. Haven't looked back.

At least rely on published figures rather than hearsay:

Golf GT TDI PD 130 0-60: 9.3

Peugeot 306 D Turbo 0-60: 13.3

Peugeot 306 D Turbo (Later HDI engine) 0-60: 12.4.

These are all published by Parkers and verified by What Car.

Up to you how they are interpreted. I agree the feel of the car is far better in the Pug as I had a D Turbo and now have a GT TDI, but the Golf is faster if you can keep it on the road.

I drive a 1.4 gs corolla 2000. I have done 24,000 mile last year! I want to get away from the petrol cars. what is the general thought on the golf GT TDI or just the TDI.

Hi my 130 TDI golf has covered 215000 miles now and has only ever had routine servicing. So the reliability is pretty good and I would recommend to anyone. I wouldn't go near a peugeot and the ford tdi is supposed to have quite a few reliability issues.

215,000 miles on routine servicing only? You want to get that in the Guinness Book of Records.

I have an 02 GT 130 TDi. The best mpg I had was following a works van along A roads to cCrdiff, the journey was exactly 60 miles.. The computer gave me an average MPG as 60 for that trip..

I have also had an awesome top speed of over 140 MPH.

It has so far clocked 118,000 miles and has had absolutely no problems what-so-ever in the car's history.

The 6th gear is great for slow moving traffic, as the 6th gear will give you a great 29-33 mph on tickover, against the 25-27 mph in 5th gear, and it also allows the engine to rev slower at high speeds.. as the 6th gear is still faster than 5th.

The only problem I see in it is the fact that on motorways, you get a better MPG at 85 mph than you do at 70.