Faults:

Head Gasket just blew at about 145000K, Was caused due to a failure with the cooling system. Frost plug leaking very rapidly. Thermostat also blew because of this.Very expensive to fix.

Trunk Started to leak through the rear right rubber gasket surrounding the tail light enclosure. Burn out the pump for the rear windshield washer. Rusted spare tire. This happened before I purchased the vehicle, repaired for relatively cheap.

Had many oil leaks when purchased, Valve cover gasket, rear main seal (minor).

Timing belt was replaced at 150000K, all seals needed to be replaced as well.

General Comments:

This car is definatly one of the nicest I have ever owned. Costly for repairs, but worth it. The 1.8L Manuel has ample power and is very fuel efficient, over 600 Highway Kilometers to a tank.

Faults:

A year to the day after I purchased the car, it didn't start. The pre-owned VW warranty paid for a trip on a flat bed truck to the dealership where they inspected the vehichle and found that the ignition coil was defective. This was replaced free of charge as it had been a VW recall.

Other issues include an annoying ticking which was solved by fixing a defective crankshaft oil seal. At the same time they (VW) replaced the timing belt for me. I was concerned about the age of it and they charged me for the part ONLY!

I've had a knock sensor replaced (150100 km), front brakes (158342 km), and the exhaust had to be replaced at 186000 km. A previous owner had already replaced the exhast system once, but did a very poor job of it, thus I had to do it again.

The annoying things are not fun, but come with living in Canada- rust, frozen locks, and disappearing molding. Otherwise it is a great car for winter. It heats up really quickly and plows through the snow with ease.

I'm currently dealing with some strange transmission issues with no solution in sight. The car seems to stick in second gear. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

General Comments:

Overall I've been happy with the car. A private mechanic is the way to go, but I have had some good luck with dealers.

Faults:

I recently bought Golf GL 2.0 but I am not sure whether it is performing the way it's suppose to be. I feel like I am pushing it, but it is not responding me. Before buying this car I drove 1994 manual and I fall in love with the drive of the car, but I didn't get the same feeling with automatic transmission. Is some thing wrong with the car. Do I have to change fuel injector or it's suppose to drive like this. This is my first experience with Golf. Any comments will be appreciated.

Faults:

Problems starting car.

Engine and air bag lights would go on and off.

Replaced starter motor.

Replaced distributor and reset timer.

Coolant needed replenishing more frequently.

Removed and replaced radiator assembly and coolant.

Replaced battery.

Replaced front upper strut mounts and bearings.

Replaced lower ball-joints.

Replaced exhaust from catalytic converter back.

Replaced catalytic converter two years prior.

Replaced spark plugs.

Ignition wire set.

General Comments:

Until recently, car was reliable and required few repairs other than regular maintenance.

However, in the last two months I have had to be towed a couple of times to service car and have many parts removed and replaced. This cost a little over $3,000 Canadian.

Parts are expensive.