Faults:

Exhaust was on its last legs when the car was bought - replaced for 450 euros (including cheapo new parts).

Replaced both back wheel bearings within a year of purchase (35 euros each time including cheapo parts).

Rust in the corners of all doors. Back door (5th) rusted especially badly - apparently a common problem with this model.

General Comments:

I purchased this car for 300 euros shortly after moving to Germany with a purpose of getting used to driving on the right-hand side of the road (lived in Australia before) and getting rid of what's left of the car a few months down the track.

Now 3 years later I am preparing for the fact that I will have to part with it shortly - there is too much rust and the mechanics "promised" me I will not pass the next TÜV/MOT/Rego/Technical in November.

Using 8-9 litres of petrol /100 kms, this car took me all over Western and Eastern Europe. I have driven it at the speeds of 175 kms/hour for over 2 hours at a time and never had any problems. Last long trip was to Slovakia - over 500 kms each way in comfort.

Huge inside, comfortable, a little bit on the ugly side, but nevertheless your best mate in any weather.

Changed oil and filters once, added oil once.

Would have driven this car for the next 5 years (despite the funny looks of many German "perfectionists") if not for the technical examination, which the car has no chance of passing.

Very popular in poorer European countries for its durability and low cost of breakage.

Faults:

Air Conditioner- 180000.

Motor mounts-182000.

Head cracked at 276000.

Many other minor repairs that I can't recall.

General Comments:

This was a great car! It handled very well with its German engineered steering. It could corner any curve. It also was very fast with great Acceleration. When I worked this car took a beating because I drove it all the time. The seating is overall comfortable, but the seats are kind of firm. It started to go downhill once it hit around 200000 miles. Around 272000 it started trying to overheat all the time. By 27600, it finally just quit with what I think was a cracked head.

Faults:

Engine: the only thing I had to replace was pistons' rubber bands (which cost $10, and $30 to replace) (in VW service it would cost $120 rubber bands, and $100 to replace). So VW dealers are poor at their service.

Some minor suspension tweaks, and maintenance. General to all cars over 10 years.

Clutch fluid cylinder broke. The one above the transmission box. (at 194k km).

Finally fluids from the steering system started to leak, due to some wear outs of the whole system.

General Comments:

Extremely capacitive family car. But it was not for me, a 20 years old guy, with one girlfriend.

Good on road and off road.

Suspension is wacky, good at huge bumps, but very poor at small road changes, and small bumps. Very poor handling at sporty driving (have in mind it GT variant).

Impressive torque (1st and 2nd gear), with average fuel consumption.

The interior would rattle all the time, so it is really not stereo friendly. Also noise level are high, both from road and the engine.

The car had very comfortable seating, load of room for all passengers. Also huge trunk. However for long distances it is noisy and has poor suspension (but this might be my car specific, even though shock absorbers worked well).

And the car is extremely cheap to maintain. Parts are cheaper than cheap, plus you can find them everywhere.

Another thing, if you know how to maintain and repair your bike, you can do it with this car. It is so simple, and easy, you can do the maintenance, and parts replacement on your own.