Faults:

We live in Seattle and went to Berkeley, CA to purchase the car used (however, it was certified) and the car broke down about 1/2 way home, in Oregon. Volkswagen's roadside service towed it to a dealership nearby that said the car should never have been certified and it had "sludge" on the bottom of the oil pan and the motor was bad. The car was towed back to Berkeley at VW's expense where the dealership told us not to worry it would be taken care of. Needless to say VW would not cover the blown engine and told us we must have done it (we only had the car a few hours and didn't drive crazy or do anything stupid), we said what about the "sludge" and they didn't care. The engine rebuild cost us over $10,000 plus another trip and time off work to get the car in California.

Shortly after getting the car home to rainy Seattle I discovered that the sunroof drains were clogged and leaking water in the car, had to have the dealer flush them, at my expense.

At about 50,000 miles an air line failed and caused the car to barely go, had to have it fixed at the dealer, warranty covered that-finally.

The display in the dash that states the temperature, gear engaged, etc. works intermittently.

Rubber/Plastic trim on door handles and around "cubby" under stereo has been and is peeling off.

Within the past few hundred miles have noticed the coolant it leaking, excessively. It looks as if it's coming from the front passenger side, but who knows. Every four days or so I must add coolant, the car flashes "stop" and lets me know the coolant is low.

General Comments:

My husband had a 94 Jetta when we were in school and it was great, but this has left such a bad taste in my mouth I wouldn't even consider purchasing a VW again.

I'm seriously thinking of trading my car in for another just because I'm scared of more problems to come.

Faults:

Only had the car a month and the coolant hose had a hole in it. I lost all of my coolant three times. Once while on vacation! It took three visits to two different Volkswagen dealerships until it was finally corrected.

Only had the car a month and there was a problem with the axial. The car was at the Volkswagen dealership for two weeks getting repaired.

Numerous problems with the ignition coils. A recall repair finally corrected it, but I took it into the Volkswagen dealership several times prior and they could never get it corrected.

Only had the car a month and no air (heat nor A/C) would come out of the vents. Made another trip to the dealership to get corrected.

The rubber on the interior has been peeling off around the door handles, etc. ever since I've had the car.

The truck would not latch. Had to take it into the dealership to have repaired.

The back passenger door would not close all the way. Had to take it into the dealership to have repaired.

The driver sun visor light stopped working. The dealership wants to charge me $600 to install a new sun visor. I said forget it!

Several hoses have gone bad and causesd my check engine light to come on. Each time I have one repaired it costs me no less than $500.

Many other small issues that keep me running into the dealership.

General Comments:

Although I like driving the car - it handles smoothly and tight - there has been one problem right after another that started the first week I had the car.

The constant trips to the Volkswagen dealerships (I say dealerships because I've dealt with three in five years) have turned my stomach against Volkswagens. I will never purchase another Volkswagen. They produce a nice concept, but the reliability is not there. I've been afraid from day one to take the car out of the city for fear it will break down on me.

It is a pain and an embarrassment to have to go to your boss each month and tell him you have to get off work to haul your car 20 miles away to the dealership, because once again your car is having unnecessary problems. The benefit of having a Volkswagen does not out weigh the cost.