General Comments:

Very refined all rounder. Performance is very good. Handles and rides very well, feels solid on the road, ride comfort is excellent and corners nicely, excellent on rough NZ roads, smooths out imperfections that would have my Honda bucking and wallowing about in protest.

Brakes can be grabby at low speeds. DSG gearbox has some quirks, but is generally excellent, slick shifting, and a whole lot less scary than the horror stories I've heard about. It can be caught asleep after coasting though, and clonks into gear upon reacquaintance with the throttle. First gear is a bit short and the traction control lazy, which equals unexpected wheel scrabble and chirping tyres if driven briskly round town.

Interior is really well designed with some nice materials, but not all. Suffers from the typical European problem of scruffy door trims peeling away. Lots of thoughtful features like dipping passengers mirror when engaging reverse, air conditioned glove box, and huge door bins that accept a 1.5l water bottle.

Seats are comfortable, but it's a bizarre car to get in and out of as the seats are located well inboard towards the centre of the car, presumably to aid safety. This means to get in you sort of have to straddle the door sill, get half-way in onto the seat, then shift sideways again into the car. It also means the pedals are offset, which you get used to.

Prepare to get wet getting in and out in the rain! Open the doors or the boot, and the water rolls straight off the tapered roofline and onto you and the interior of the car as you get in or out.

Safety was one of the top reasons we chose this car. The body structure feels very strong and has 12 airbags.

We purchased a 3 year mechanical warranty with the car, and although nothing has gone wrong, it very much feels a question of "when" not "if" as is the case with most European cars we have owned as opposed to the Japanese ones. Fingers crossed though, because it's an excellent and classy all rounder.

Faults:

Compulsory ECU recall. The car was running fine prior to this, and there has been no noticeable difference since the recall.

General Comments:

The Mk5 GTI is the perfect response to the previous Mk4 model. Every negative aspect of my old Mk4 GTI has been addressed with the new model.

The performance of the 2.0 TFSI is very strong, could always do with more power though. Having said that, the front wheels may struggle getting the power down, so, from factory it is about right.

Economy is very good also. Around town we're getting 9l/100kms, and on the highway we can get into high 6s-low 7s.

The handling is very safe and secure, but also very rewarding. At the absolute limit it is not as sharp as it might be, but at about 8-9/10ths the car is virtually faultless.

The looks of the car, inside and outside, are just right. A great blend of aggression and purpose, without being too boy racer. The styling is a massive improvement over the the Mk4.

Faults:

A plethora of squeaks and rattles from new, including a high pitch squeak coming from the right-hand side rear door that could not be rectified by the dealer. Suggested we turn up the music volume when driving.

Heated mirror behaviour could not be explained by the dealer - driver's side mirror gets ever-so-slightly warm when heating is switched on, however passenger side gets too hot to touch. Dealer attempted to fix several times with no success, scratching the mirror in the process, which later had to be resprayed (under warranty). Problem still unresolved.

General Comments:

The Golf is still considered a very well built car, and it does not disappoint. The current car was made is South Africa and does suffer from a few problems as listed above, however these problems are generally outweighed by the brilliant engineering that went into the design of the Golf.

Everything about the car met and exceeded the expectations - the ride, which is firm yet not uncomfortable, the handling, which is facilitated by an electric power steering that adjusts the force on the steering wheel depending on the speed of the car, and a large number of little pleasant gadgets such as rain sensors, automatic head-lights, all four auto-function electric windows, semi-automatic air-conditioning, etc.

The cabin is much roomier than one would anticipate and can comfortably accommodate 4 adults and a child.

The high safety rating proves this car to be a great alternative to standard heavy Australian family sedans with unnecessarily large engines and lack of refinement.

Faults:

Rear reversing light failed after 5000kms

Handbrake release button rattles furiously.

General Comments:

Great car. Really economical, handles well, well constructed and designed.

I have the standard suspension which is very firm. I can understand comments that the sport suspension is too firm.

What I don't get is the comments on build quality. So far it has been virtually faultless and made from quality materials. Those complaining need to try a Japanese car or a Mercedes even.

Performance is OK - it won't thrill, but is decent for such a small engine. Only engine flaw is the turbo lag. It takes some getting used to and is slightly annoying.

The 6 speed DSG transmission is the best of this type of have tried. Being a 6 speed and a diesel with a narrow power band it requires very rapid changes, which limit the appeal of manual gear changes.

Faults:

Nothing wrong! It is pretty new though...

General Comments:

Very happy with performance of diesel DSG engine, it pulls amazingly in all gears.

Can't believe the space inside, compared to my Outback there is not a lot of difference in the cabin.

Tyres screech (which can be fun) never happened in my last 5 subarus...

I read one reviewer complained of a bumpy ride, Its certainly not as smooth as my Suby on country roads, but around town the drive is great.