Faults:

I loved this car until it hit about 100K.

The engine light comes on at least once a month (generally costing about 2-500 a pop). This time around it came on twice within one week. With different issues. It would cost us $1000 to fix it all. Can't even enumerate all the issues here. NOT WORTH IT. We are regulars at the mechanics - they have a running joke about how terrible this car is, and say they have us on speed dial. No kidding. It's that bad.

The glove box on the Golf broke within 2 years (won't close), and we were told it would cost over $400 to fix it. $4 bungee cord works pretty well...

I have a 1994 Saturn that has run way way way better than this car. It cost me approximately 20K less to purchase, and has cost significantly less to keep and maintain.

General Comments:

I wish someone had warned me about these cars before I bought mine, or I'd read reviews like these.

Dealer said GTI models don't have all these issues. Golf parts for this year were outsourced; now they aren't and they are built differently, so they don't have the same problems.

Faults:

A short time after buying this car (about 51,000 miles), the transmission began shifting very hard into third gear. It was soon found that the transmission was shot and needed to be rebuilt. Needless to say this was an extremely expensive repair.

The car was out of the shop for around five months when the now well known electrical problems surfaced. Every light on my dashboard would flash on and off. This led finally, to the car breaking down while driving to the shop. My golf was in and out of the dealership for about a month until the problem was solved. Most of the engines sensors were replaced and a new larger alternator put in. They claimed it was all due too bad grounding in the electrical system.

My car is now at roughly 67,000 miles and the transmission is completely dead. Not a cheap repair!!!

General Comments:

When the car was working, it was pleasant to drive, but that fact is totally overshadowed by the cars wild unreliability. The car handles well when it is actually working.

The interior on them feels very cheap. The fabric on the inside comes away from the doors easily, and the overall quality of everything else is not good.

I am extremely disappointed with the quality of this car. Despite many good reviews, it seems more and more owners are running into the same problems. In my opinion their service department is well below par, and reliability is a joke. Stay away from VW.

Faults:

To date I have had to replace the tie rod ends, O2 sensor, struts, control arms, the rack and pinion assembly, belts, rotors and brakes a few times.

It uses oil, wheel bearing on front left, head lights go out on a regular basis, and other minor problems.

In the past couple of months it has cost over 3K to keep on the road. Terrible for a car with only 114000K on it.

General Comments:

The car was fun to drive in the first few years, but now it just costs too much maintain.

Faults:

O2 sensor.

Engine temperature gauge.

Faulty fuel pump.

Mass air flow sensor.

Leaky vacuum hoses.

Air conditioner quit working.

Outer tie rod almost broke (but I got it fixed just in time).

All of this happened between 48 and 53,000 miles. Like many other people have said, the check engine light came on repeatedly and I kept going back to the VW dealership to get things fixed (all of which I've mentioned).

General Comments:

All in all, I dumped about two grand into fixing this thing up since I got it. Too much for just over a year of having it and such low mileage. Problem after problem has occurred and each repair has cost me over $200, and that's on the cheap end. Most of the repairs have been 3, 4, 5 or even 6 hundred.

I love my car's styling and feel, but I just can't handle the costly maintenance required to keep it running smoothly.

My recommendation to future VW buyers, buy a brand new one or not at all, and get rid of it before the warranty expires.