1999 Volkswagen Golf review from Australia and New Zealand

Airbag warning light at about 15,000 k's fixed under warranty. Same thing just after expiry of warranty cost A$400. Cup holder fell apart at about 30,000 km. Fixed it with a paper clip as replacement cost prohibitive. Exterior rear view mirror control snapped at 45,000 km. Replacement cost about A$150 for part. Put it in myself as dealer quoted a ridiculous price. Bottom of car scraped over normal height speed bumps when more than one person in car. Front air dam came off several time as too low for car park wheel bump barriers. Developed wheel wobble which dealer mechanic said was due to tyre fault. Replaced tyres, wobble still there. First major service cost A$1,800 as timing belt needed replacement.

On initial inspection, this car seemed a fantastic package. Solid, well built, lots of creature comforts and features. Add to that, great styling and the promise of German engineering. I thought that it was worth the extra few thousand $$$.

I was wrong.

Very high fuel consumption (premium unleaded) as auto box has only 4 speeds (revs at 3,500 at 100 kph). Sluggish performance and very expensive servicing costs. The paint marked very easily (seemed to have white undercoat). Luckily, sold it for good price.

Now happily drive 1983 Volvo 240 wagon.