1999 Volkswagen Golf TDI review from UK and Ireland

First few weeks we had it was fine. Really nice to sit in the quality feeling interior.

Trouble started when the passenger side floor filled with water due to a blocked air con drain. This soaked all the carpets which the dealer refused to replace saying that they would dry out. The always smelled mouldy afterwards and were eventually replaced after we wrote to the service manager.

Then one of the electric windows stopped working and stuck half way. The motor had burned out and blown the fuse. Another argument before it was replaced under warranty.

Front tyres wore unevenly on the insides after only 14000 miles and had to be replaced. We had the tracking done at the same time and found that it was almost 4mm out. This explained the heavy steering which suddenly got better. Dealer refused to accept any responsibility for tracking claiming it was OK when it left them, but 3000 miles later the tyres wore through.

The engine ran out of oil on the motorway and had used 3.5 litres of oil in 4000 miles. Yes, we should have checked it more often, but really it should not use this amount of oil!

At 20000 miles the engine started to smoke badly and was down on power. The turbo had blown completely and had to be replaced at a cost of £2000! Fortunately under warranty, but the dealer had the front to suggest that it was our fault for driving it too hard.

Tried another dealer further from home, but the service was just as bad. This time the ECU was faulty and had to be replaced. Fortunately just under warranty.

Then the air sensor went (out of warranty) and cost another £250 to replace, the brakes started juddering and discs and pads had to be replaced (£275). Another window motor packed in.

Almost forgot to mention the creaky seat mounts, dozens of blown bulbs, clonk from the suspension and the sticking door lock.

The only good thing is the economy which is about 55mpg, but the cost of service and repairs kills any saving.

Very disappointed all round after we had traded up from our cheap and nasty, but reliable old Mazda to a "quality" car.

The car was unreliable, dealers unhelpful to the point of arrogance and rudeness and the service was incredibly expensive compared to the Hyundai.

My wife's Toyota has 130,000 miles on the clock and has had only routine servicing done in 7 years.

If this is the best that Germany can do we will stay with Japanese cars.

We are going to sell this heap as soon as we have finished paying for it!