Stay away from the automatic gearbox
Automatic gear box.
VERY comfortable ride on long distances.
Known issue; automatic gear box problem (also on Golfs of that period) and very expensive to repair!
Stay away from that gearbox.
Fuel: 15 liters LPG per 100km.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 24th January, 2018
Nothing more than a seriously dull vehicle for carrying things in
The weak suspension can't take British roads, so required lots of replacement parts.
Clutch wore out, but that is to be expected.
Tailgate handle needed taking apart and cleaning to work again.
Used a lot of engine oil; apparently normal.
A/C needed gassing.
Like most VWs, overrated. Build quality actually not all that, and not as rattle free as the previous car, a 3 year older and 30k more miles Vectra!
The handling is poor, very soft, and the ESP cuts in way way too soon. Despite that, the ride wasn't brilliant either; unladen it was thumpy and rough, and fully loaded it was spongy and wallowy. Maybe new shocks would have fixed this, but hey.
The engine consumed oil as if it was being burnt, but apparently that's normal for the 20v engine. For a modern 5v engine design, power and economy was down on rival models. Really suffered fully loaded and MPG was poor generally.
It was huge in the boot though, and we did load it fully once and it was incredible what we packed in, but the rest of the time the car was so tedious as to be invisible!
The blue dash lights look good, but gave me sore eyes after a few hours of night driving.
Surprisingly good stereo, really impressive for standard kit.
The very complex front suspension is quite weak and expensive to fix correctly. Also all engines are belt driven and all models have dual mass flywheels, so can be pricey to keep going if you need to go to a garage.
The only advantage it has is the badge on the nose; other cars are far better to drive and own.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 12th September, 2014
Be patient
The check engine light went on right after I signed for the car.
The air pump had water in it (a lot of water).
CV boot had several holes and tears.
Front axles almost broke apart.
Brakes have funny noises.
Rear door doesn't close properly (driving on the freeway, you can feel the wind blowing into the car).
Driver side chair doesn't rise.
The skid plate won't stay in place.
Oil pan is fragile.
Dealer just won't do a good job.
First, the car runs well.
The ride is amazingly comfort, and the seats will hug you.
The 1.8 turbo is a very good engine.
I like the way it slowly rises at around 1-2K rpm, then rushes forward at around 3-4k rpm, sometimes it gets annoying.
Bad:
The cornering of this car isn't good enough for me. You will get a feeling that you will hit something while you are turning, but I guess that's because this is not a small car.
The prices are expensive to maintain (1200 timing belt + water pump from the dealer), and the reliability of a Volkswagen is unexpectedly very poor, or maybe just this car.
For example, the skid plate ($2xx for the plastic OEM one) decided to fall off and went for a better life when I was on the freeway doing around 60-70. It was quite some fun.
And recently I discovered that my back door doesn't close properly. It will leave a small crack that allows the fresh air to blow in.
The check engine light is more like an in-dash dashboard light. It shines the dashboard with its special yellow.
Oh, and the dealer is horrible. I went there for a replacement of the oil pan (a friend of mine crashed my car into a parking lot block); then after I got my car back, there were several screws untied.
Anyway, this is a good little car if you have the patience and the money to pay for it. But when you are able to afford the Passat, you are sort of rich, then why would you want a Passat anyway...
Second hand car, which a good deal for the young kid in a rich family...
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 10th February, 2011