Faults:

I've had to get the tires balanced (driver before me messed up the alignment). I have to change the heater hoses, and radiator hoses (again, driver before me let them go too long).

General Comments:

Compared to my Chevy S10, this thing is quick. I haven't attempted over 100mph, but it gets there easily. I just raced a 99 Tacoma, and 2004 Focus and beat them both. I have an intake and exhaust, but other than that it's stock.

I've only owned this car for a few weeks now, but so far I LOVE it. The seats are very comfortable, and with the knob, instead of a bar, to adjust the seats, you get the incline perfect for your own comfort.

I don't know when the shocks were replaced, or if they even have been, but the ride is amazing, I hardly feel any bumps at all.

The backseat is very roomy, and the trunk looks small, but can fit a lot. I had a whole trash can in the back LOL.

This car is very fun to drive and handles great. I am definitely going to keep this thing for a long time.

Faults:

Multiple electrical problems.

Reverse gear starting to fail - will require new transmission.

Wheel lock adapter was stripped.

Side trim falling off.

Front left wheel bearings have been replaced twice (2nd time by me).

Front struts need replacing.

Cup holder does not fit anything larger than a thimble.

Gearing is poorly thought out - 5th gear is at 3k rpm at 65 mph.

General Comments:

The reverse gear problem seems to be reported by quite a few owners. It is a bad tranny and a lot of them have this issue.

My reverse gear makes the sound you got when as a kid you'd clip playing cards to your bike forks so that the spokes spun by them and made a clicking sound. The guy at the garage told me the tranny was "on the way out" and to "baby the reverse gear" and I might get another year or two out of it.

Electrical is also a complete mess. Radio, alarm system, lights, you name it.

Just yesterday I drove through a puddle that was NOT terribly deep - probably 6 - 8", and probably splashed up onto the engine block a bit. I got through it OK, and then the car sputtered and died. When I finally got it started after an hour of cranking, my running lights were out, and one of my head beams was out.

I think these are lovely looking cars, and they drive nice and tight, but they would seem to be very poorly put together. It's a shame. If you MUST buy one, you'd be wise to live in a dry, moderate climate. You'd think the prevalence of the reverse gear problem ALONE would warranty a recall.

Faults:

Trunk lock mechanism has never worked.

Cam head (?) replaced at 20,000.

Interior cloth on shifter and emergency break quickly deteriorated.

All side panels have fallen off.

Locks on all doors have broken off.

Back plastic panel holding up license plate has fallen off.

Plastic parts on the radio broke off while trying to fish out a tape that got stuck.

New clutch at 80,000 miles Dealer quoted $1000, fixed at $350 elsewhere.

Transmission cracked about a week after purchase.

Reverse has ALWAYS made a bad noise.

Locking mechanism sometimes locks on its own.

Sometimes locking mechanism fails- won't lock or unlock.

Air conditioning broke (some kind of pump?) at 80,000, dealer quoted me at $1700. Probably not the value of the car.

I always keep my back seats down for large loads, and the black fabric protecting the back of the seats has come off and is now exposing the yellow foam underneath.

The dials on the radio rarely work- if you try to turn the volume down, it goes up, and vice versa.

I am extremely embarrassed to have anyone in my car because of all of the aforementioned problems.

General Comments:

While the golf handles well and gets great mileage, I would absolutely NEVER purchase another VW.

Everything has been glued to the car, and is now falling off.

These cars are not put together well.

I have had problems with this car since the day I bought it, and dealerships have not been helpful.

The dealerships always use scare tactics to try to get me to get things fixed that don't need it, they don't fix the things they say they have (and have charged me an arm and a leg for.