Faults:

Upon purchasing it needed:

- Front shock replacement.

- Windscreen.

- Clutch (beginning to slip, but not badly).

- A thorough service (crankcase breather pipe was full of gunk, as were the filler cap and air box).

General Comments:

I owned the car for two months before putting my pride and joy (1991 VW Jetta) back on the road. I straight-swapped my Fiat Punto for it knowing that it had its problems. But it did run well.

For a 1.4 engine it had quite high mileage and was in needed of a good service. It also wallowed a lot due to worn front shocks. The clutch had a horribly high bite point and was beginning to slip if pushed to the limit. I didn't sort any of these things however, as I knew it was only a temporary car. I had plans for it, but they never materialised in the end.

Despite being a large car with a small engine, I found the performance pretty acceptable on both the motorway and around town. It was very comfortable and easy to drive. And, although it had been lying up for a few months prior to my purchase of it, it didn't let me down once.

I do like the Vento in general and would consider another one in the future, though I would definitely be plumping for the 1.9 straight or turbo diesel. The only reason I actually chose to purchase the 1.4 was for cost (higher cc means higher tax in Ireland).

Faults:

New Exhaust at 80000 miles.

Timing belts and tensioners every 60000 miles.

3 sets of front pads.

Relay to fuel system (cost £13) at 180000 miles.

New door handle at 207000 miles after lock barrel came out completely.

General Comments:

Bought this car for heavy commuting. Has been totally reliable except for the 2 minor problems listed hard to live with 55mpg at 70 :-)

Cost £1500 less than the equivalent year Golf.

Who needs a hatchback when you have 20 cubic feet of boot before you fold the rear seats down.

Plan to put at least 300000 mile on it before I think of replacing it.

One of the second hand car bargains of all time.

Faults:

Rear shocks lost all the oil.

Gel filled engine mounts collapsed.

Front strut mounts failed.

Front suspension bushes torn to bits.

Bad transmission oil leak x 2

Front electric window failed.

Heater system would deposit all the engine cooling water on the floor on the passengers side.

ABS light fault.

General Comments:

Excellent performance and driving characteristics, usual large boot. Smart looking vehicle and attractive trim. However heavy on fuel use and let down by the constant significant problems that were expensive to fix. The cooling system one was fixed by no longer having a heater. Bad idea not to have a transmission dipstick if your transmission leaks! Wished I never decided to change from the Mk2 Jetta to the Vento.