2006 Volkswagen Golf GT TDi 140 from UK and Ireland - Comments

-Firstly, I picked up on a drivers door alignment issue on the second day of ownership. Around the top corner where it meets the front wing, it tapered out like someone had bent the body panel. Dealer attempted to 're-align' three times in order to cover up the problem, but on the fourth attempt they resprayed the door and wing in order to fix it. I 'REJECTED' this car as I had discussed that I didn't want any such remedial technique involving repainting...

-Secondly, rattles from passenger door, scuffs/pulls in numerous places on the interior, vibrating clutch pedal - poor. I was glad to get rid and accept a replacement car!

-I'm on my second Golf now and the door alignment isn't perfect, but much better than previous. I've come to accept it as they all seem to be like this (on 3 door models especially).

Again rattles from drivers door and seat belt latch.

To top it all off while my car was in having some of the niggles sorted the dealer managed to put a nice dent in my rear wing!

-The car performance is impressive for a diesel.

-Very torquey engine.

-1st gear seems a bit dead, but once in 2nd it flies. This is my second now so I know this is the norm.

-Handling is very impressive. Sticks to twisties quite satisfying.

-Fuel economy is good - seeing 50mpg while running it in.

-It's very quiet on the motorway - a big mile muncher.

-Very comfortable, easy to control at slow speed. -Ideal in today's crawling traffic queues.

-Gearbox is nice and slick.

-Loads of gadgets.

-Nice shape.

-Niggles are annoying.

Well if you keep complaining about minor "niggles", maybe the dealer will give you a third and even a forth VW!

By then I imagine you'll have found all of the flaws inherent

in the make. Don't you think?

I owned a 2005 Polo TDI and got shot of it after 6 months. Constant niggling problems and the most unsympathetic and arrogant dealer network I've ever experienced (and I've owned Fords and Renaults)

VW are living off their reputation which in my experience is no longer deserved. There are better cars out there for less money. You're paying for a badge.

I agree that 1st gear is sluggish, but after that it really picks up. Impressive car with no problems so far. It does scuff a bit on the interior door panels. Otherwise, great.

1st gear on most diesels is pretty poor if you intend on trying to use the revs. But 1st gear is only really meant for getting the car rolling, as you don't need to be going fast to be in the torque band for 2nd gear.

I owned a 2003 Polo TDI Sport and it was absolute rubbish. It was forever in the garage been fixed, infact the Ford Fiesta hire car they gave me was much better than the Polo! Thankfully it is now sold and I have bought a much more reliable car - a Ford Focus, VW are building rubbish unreliable cars nowadays.

A friend has a 4 month old Golf GT TDI which has a rusting tailgate. VW aren't even prepared to replace the tailgate - they want to repair it.

Quality, my backside.

Thank god everything in life is not as unreliable as a Volkswagon.

I own a 2006 TDI 2.0 Sport and have covered about 28,000 miles in the last 18 months it not let me down once. I agree about the slow first gear take off, but after that it has amazing performance. When driven at moderate speeds 60+ mpg is easily achieve-able. My experience of both my local VW dealers is they provide absolutely outstanding customer service nothing is too much trouble for them. Overall a very well engineered car which like all cars may have occasional faults develop, but I feel confident that the mark V golf will be on the roads decades after others are scrapped.

I think those days are long gone, my friend. These cars won't outlast their rivals. There isn't a real world survey anywhere that backs up VW's reliability claims any more.

My 2006 MK5 Golf+ 2.0 TDI pd140 16v DSG Sport is very reliable! 110000km only one fault regarding the cruse control, fixed under warranty..

My previous car was a new Peugeot 206, but it wasn't reliable so I sold it after a year and 50000km...

I just love the dual clutch transmission, and wouldn't live without it. Before DSG I used to hate auto transmission.

The DSG has launch control so 0-60MPH is only 9.2 seconds. The pd140 engine output 152 HP with no mods!

The torque is impressive all the way from 1900-3500 RPM, and max @350nm.

But it's also a very comfy car with great handling and fuel economy.

The climate where I live make cars rust fast, and the MK5 Golf seems to handle this very well.

The inside of the car is genius with lots of storage room and other clever details that really makes living with this car a joy!

Overall I would say the price is high, but it's worth every $

Over-rated buckets on wheels. Boring and unreliable car living off of its reputation. All I can report is that they are extremely comfortable, which is handy when you're waiting at the roadside for the recovery truck.

Got a Ford Focus now, and my god, what a car. I'll never buy anything other than Ford. Stunning to drive and rock solid.

Think of it like this; when you sell the Golf it will still be worth twice as much as a Ford Focus, that's made of cheapo tin.

A Golf will do 100k plus on the same engine, and the Focus will be scrap before the engine does 100k.

New to this thread, but I have to say that comment about Fords being tin is daft. The Focus won most reliable used car many times over the VW and the new Focus models are very solid.

It just shows the blind brand snobbery about... The VW may hold value more than the Ford because of this, though-because VW is the default choice for the uninformed and uninterested in cars who buy on the strength of how much better VW were ten years or more ago.

In my experience, late VWs are a nightmare of under-engineering and stupid faults-faulty alarms, window guides, coil packs, ECUs etc, ad infinitum, so I now steer clear.

Bear in mind Ford is now far better quality and VW has lost its edge, Ford parts are cheaper, but their cars depreciate more.

Just rubbishing the opposition is mindless.