2005 Volkswagen Golf S 5dr review from UK and Ireland

The rear windscreen washer and nearside front windscreen washer stopped working.

Metallic rattle from engine at low speeds.

I bought the car from a main dealer in Glasgow, it was in the VW approved used scheme however had previously been an Enterprise hire car.

Came with 6200 miles on the clock for £10300 which was a fair price I felt. Sadly the salesman failed to mention the car had two previous owners, Enterprise followed by VW UK who bought the cars back to sell on through the approved used scheme.

Also the service book went missing and the main dealer tried to hide this by putting in the service book from a 2003 Golf. Apparently this is common on these ex Enterprise cars. They are easy to spot as the registrations start AJ or AK.

Good equipment levels with aircon, remote central locking, electric front windows, CD player, ESP and ABS all as standard.

A pleasant enough car to drive, brakes and steering are quite acceptable. What is not acceptable is the complete lack of power on A roads and motorways from the 1400cc engine. I have driven a 1.6FSI Golf on an 05 plate and it's a million times better.

I am also a touch disappointed with the build quality of the car which was nowhere near as good as expected (trim was loose on ceiling of car near courtesy light controls)

I found the floor mounted accelerator pedal to be a nuisance, as it limits floor space and is difficult to smoothly control.

Fuel economy was fair for the size of car, averaging 40mpg mixed, 32 in town, 46 on long trips.

I would agree with comments elsewhere that this car is soul-less. It is, in my opinion, utterly devoid of character in any way, shape or form.