1995 Volkswagen Golf CL review from North America

Brake drum blew while I was bringing it home for the first time 114,000km.

Moldings on driver side fell off 117,000km.

Antenna on top of car fell off 118,000km.

Dash lights were not working when I bought the car.

Glove box broke (no abuse) 118,000km.

Button to pop rear hatch snapped 117,000km.

Engine seal blew at 125,000km, the resulting oil contamination meant the timing belt needed replacing. (timing belt was replaced just before purchase at 112,000km)

Power sun roof stopped working 120,000km.

Interior moldings fell off frequently the whole time I owned the car.

Rear wiper switch was not working properly when I purchased the car at 114,000. Wiper would turn on, but took lots of fiddling to turn off.

Exhaust started to leak 130,000km.

This car always started. That is the only good thing I can say about it. I purchased it for $6000 and put over $2000 into it before I sold it.

For a car with only 114000km's on it at purchase, I was significantly disappointed at how easily moldings and other plastic pieces of the car would just break off.

Also, although you can expect to start replacing mechanical parts of a car of its age, the cost of parts in some cases was double that of my Honda. I put the money into it to get it to nearly 100% and sold it. I sincerely hope it treats its new owner better, but for me it was enough to turn me off Volkswagen's forever.