1999 Volkswagen Polo review from Australia and New Zealand

Electric windows have broken twice. $280 x 2.

Air con broke $1000 repair.

Gearbox broke and clutch broke. $1500 repair.

Problem with fuel tank - car wouldn't start $1350 repair.

Transmission gone, needs total replacement. $thousands.

Not to mention the ridiculous service costs.

Attention everyone even thinking about buying a VW - they are lemons!! Had nothing but trouble since buying this in October 1999. Thought VW's were meant to be robust and reliable - was so wrong...

We have spent so much money on fixing this car. The latest problem, the transmission will apparently set us back thousands of $$, nearly as much as the car is worth.

As usual, I complained to my dealer. Same story - we cannot afford to keep forking out money (we have a toddler and a baby on one income), blah blah. I asked him should I expect to keep getting problems? Could they stand behind the quality of their product? I told him I had a japanese car, which was always reliable - weren't german cars meant to be even better? His reply - "No. VW's aren't meant to last. They are built for easy driving and luxury - the japanese car's parts are more bulky, less delicate and can withstand more wear and tear"!! So he was actually ADMITTING VW's are useless.

We had it advertised before the recent problem for $7500 (dealers are selling for around $9900). But now cannot sell and wouldn't want to sell it, I would feel dishonest. As I am an artist, I'm thinking about doing something creative with it (an installation) and hopefully pushing the message out there in the media that this brand of car is a lemon!!!