Faults:

Flat battery.

Power steer fluid leak.

General Comments:

I glanced upon this car one morning while in bed on FB Marketplace. With nothing to do for the day, I decided to go and have a look. A little negotiation later and it was mine and off I went.

Some of the interior fittings were broken or missing, but I have hunted out new replacements. I normally have Fiat group cars and can say the quality is mildly better, although clearly nothing lasts forever. I do like the leather Recaro seats, which were a key selling point. Heated too which is great as the heater demister itself is a no go.

My god it leaks though. For a very tidy example, I can't quite figure where the water gets in. A trip out in the winter months requires some forward thinking, and a towel is the best accessory to carry for one's safety.

I'm not sure how long I'll keep it, as it has been a cheap little flutter for me, but has being quite useful on trips away. For having 300000 km on the clock, it's quite rattle and thunk free so I can forgive some of the foibles I've listed.

Performance. Yeah it goes. Not the best road burner on the block, but I like the ease of driving and relaxed way it pulls through the gears being torquey, but not encouraging you to rev it to any screaming peak.

These are regarded as the disappointing GTI, but the handling is quite good and it's fun to hustle through the twisties.

Overall quite fun for the money and good on gas. I vowed I'd never own a VW group car after a very disappointing fling with a TT. Utter rubbish and like a gorgeous woman who is a bit mental. Maybe I will get a later model as I can sort of see what all the GTI furore is about.

Stepping into my Honda again after the Golf though, I am more at ease. 3.5 stars.

Faults:

ABS light is continually on. I've been told this is a common problem with this model and year.

The seats are pretty uncomfortable, even though they are Recaro. Feels like I am sitting on a cardboard box.

To get some real go from the car, your foot has to be pushing the accelerator almost into the floor.

My Silvia could blow it out the water for sure.

General Comments:

Shocking purchase; I'm glad I got to off load it onto some poor sucker, and now I'm off to buy me a real car.

Given, the car was bought second-hand; your best bet would be to buy a European car brand new!

Faults:

Airbag warning light at about 15,000 k's fixed under warranty. Same thing just after expiry of warranty cost A$400. Cup holder fell apart at about 30,000 km. Fixed it with a paper clip as replacement cost prohibitive. Exterior rear view mirror control snapped at 45,000 km. Replacement cost about A$150 for part. Put it in myself as dealer quoted a ridiculous price. Bottom of car scraped over normal height speed bumps when more than one person in car. Front air dam came off several time as too low for car park wheel bump barriers. Developed wheel wobble which dealer mechanic said was due to tyre fault. Replaced tyres, wobble still there. First major service cost A$1,800 as timing belt needed replacement.

General Comments:

On initial inspection, this car seemed a fantastic package. Solid, well built, lots of creature comforts and features. Add to that, great styling and the promise of German engineering. I thought that it was worth the extra few thousand $$$.

I was wrong.

Very high fuel consumption (premium unleaded) as auto box has only 4 speeds (revs at 3,500 at 100 kph). Sluggish performance and very expensive servicing costs. The paint marked very easily (seemed to have white undercoat). Luckily, sold it for good price.

Now happily drive 1983 Volvo 240 wagon.