Faults:

A small hole has worn in the rear seat below the headrest where it rubs against the seat frame when you fold it down flat. The dealer won't do anything about this under warranty, just told me to pay for a new seat. I'm not happy about this, but it was probably my fault for not being diligent about moving the passenger seat far enough forward every time I fold the back seat.

Car gets creaky and rattles in very cold weather (-10 to -30C).

Door seals get creaky as well, but as long as you clean and lube them a couple times a year, this is not a problem.

Interior cabin blower fan gets a buzzy bearing noise in cold weather.

General Comments:

After 2 year of owning my Golf, I have to say I still really like this car a lot. The only thing I have had to replace on this car since new is one rear light bulb. Fuel mileage is fantastic (I usually get 1000 to 1200 km on a 55 L tank, about 50/50 hwy/city driving), it handles and performs well, and I have had no real problems with it at all. I don't baby this car, and take it on frequent long road trips and into Northern Ontario, plus Ottawa winters give it a pretty good beating. I would recommend it to anyone.

While it doesn't have a block heater, it still starts right away in the winter, even when it gets below -30C. My previous vehicle was a 1982 Mercedes 300D, so this is a nice change from old-school diesels. Yeah, it's no sports car, buy the GTI if you are looking for that, but it has a lot of zip and is fun to drive.

The car looks nice, the seats are comfortable and roomy (no aches on week-long road trips), lots of room in the front (I don't know or care about the back seat -- I'm not sitting there!), my only ergonomic complaint is that the cup-holders are awkwardly placed.

Winter handling on ice and snow in this car is fantastic, especially after getting a set of Pirelli winter tires from the dealer.

Oil changes are crazy-expensive because of the 100% synthetic oil ($80), but worth it for the winter-starting and longer wear of the oil.

Faults:

I found some quirkiness with fuses. I blew the heater fan fuse twice in one day. Sometimes the window would roll down "hard". The wife said it failed to start after she dumped the clutch. It wouldn't start until she turned off the A/C, the radio and removed the key. I wasn't there, and it never happened to me.

General Comments:

Great handling and durability. I drove this car on the Autobahn at 90mph for 16000 miles. Great power. Have to turn the key for about 5 seconds in hot weather before it starts.

Faults:

The automatic gear when changing from 2nd to 3rd gear sometimes has friction especially when I first start driving the car in the morning.

Wheels have not been aligned properly since the day I bought the car.

Some clicking noise comes from some of the speakers, the dealer couldn't resolve the issue.

General Comments:

2.0 engine is not the best for power freaks out there. But it's decent amount of power. I personally don't like cars that make you get a ticket every other mile, so I'm OK with it. But go for GTI if you want to feel some horsepower.

I wish the seats were a bit more comfortable. I know 2003 and the previous models have more comfortable seats, but for some reason they changed it in 2004.

The accessories are pretty decent. Cruise, power doors, windows, sunroof, 6-speaker stereo with CD player and cassette player (which I enjoy because I still like listening to my old cassettes in my car) I wish it had volume controls on the steering wheel, but that I can live without.

24-28 mpg is the fuel consumption. Don't expect more. Because it really isn't as fuel efficient as I thought it would be.