Faults:

Nothing overwhelmingly serious. I got it used, and the sunroof motor didn't work; it was replaced under warranty. The rain sensor for the windshield wipers was dead too, and that was also replaced under the VW Certified warranty.

The battery went dead once and after that, the windows were I guess you could say "jittery" when you went to open them (they would go down, stop, go down, stop very quickly) and the passenger's side mirror, which angles down when you put it into reverse, would move around in circles instead of going down; I took it to the dealer and they did something to the ECU that fixed it in about five minutes, free of charge; no more issues from that.

Also had a little problem with the soft, rubberized stuff they put on the door handles rubbing off on the passenger side, but no big deal.

General Comments:

I absolutely love this car. I waited about six months to trade in my 2000 2.0 Jetta and picked this one as a lease return. It's one of the few GLX's with a manual transmission and the sport suspension by Eibach from the factory: it handles like an absolute dream! Seriously, you can take corners in this that would send other cars off the road. The sport suspension is still nice for cruising, but the regular GLX suspension is softer.

The interior is well laid out and the power seats are quite comfortable though they don't go as low as they did in my 2.0 (I'm a pretty tall guy). Everyone who rides in it remarks that it's really comfortable and girls tend to really like the "pretty" blue and red layout.

The 2.8l VR6 engine is REALLY gutsy; with the manual transmission you can take off REALLY quick and freak out BMW owners (it's quicker on takeoff than my friend's BMW 328i). It'll pull hard at any speed; if you're cruising at 75 on the freeway and give it a little bit of gas, it'll pull right ahead. Lots of torque for mountains and hills, and it gets GREAT highwy mileage because you can just drop it into 5th and cruise. I've driven the newer VR6's with the 24 valve heads and the 12 valve feels like it has more torque.

Faults:

Window regulator broke (driver side) while it was raining (the dealer had the balls to ask me to pay for this... I said no and he replaced both sides for free. There is no recall in Canada for the window regulator!)

Coil pack went twice in 1.5 years (every 25 000-30 000km and cost 700$ each time). Happen when it rains because of a cracked coil...

Paint on inside door handles pealing off.

Spark plugs... OK, this is normal, but they are really expensive (+25$/ea x 6cyl= 150$ for the Bosh).

Catalytic Converter (car had only 4 years = 2000$).

Mass air flow sensor (MAF on VR6 cost 250$ to 350$ a lot more than on the 4 cyl. 2.0 at 75$. Even if the part number on the sensor (You have to remove the MAF from the housing... They have the same number; Bosch #: 00C 2G2 032) is the same as the reg 4 cyl. I tried it and it worked well... Google it...). It seems that some dealers ask you to provide a valid VIN number to sell you the MAF 4 cyl!!!

Temperature Sensor ($$$).

Wires of driver side air bag (the one located in the driving wheel). Wires were cut...

Tan interior really nice, but hard to keep clean.

Starter makes funny noise (solenoid stay on for a second after the car has started. Asked the dealer and they said everything is OK???).

Shifter knob decorative metal ring coming off and very sharp (can cut you!).

O2 sensor.

Passenger sun visor mirror switch. Had to change the whole sun visor (140$)...

Driver side sun visor door hinges. Had to change the whole sun visor (135$)...

Driver side heated seat (+400$ installed by me).

Rear cup holders and cigarette holder are broken.

Battery gone at 85 000km.

Power steering hose (the one at the bottom of the engine).

Windshield wiper linkage (wipers would stop suddenly).

CD changer in trunk had to be changed.

Clutch started to make a funny noise when released (Probably clutch bearing, but I am afraid to ask the dealer now $$$).

Head light intensity lowers when idle (related to the alternator???)

General Comments:

This car handles very well. I really love the look of the car (feels rich)!

Unfortunately, because the car is so unreliable I spend my time going to the dealer. And it is so expensive to repair... Now, I am afraid to take the car so something else will break. Even, when I have to go somewhere with somebody else, I try do use his/her car and then split the gas with the driver.

That car cost me at least 6000$ in the past 2 years in repairs (it is 250$ per month)! And I can't afford to continue with this car... So I am selling it right now...

I know what you think, this car is fast and looks good. It's not gonna happen to me... Well, I said myself the same thing and I kept up the "one more repair and it's gonna be fixed" until now...

This car is prone to electrical and mechanical failures. I am really sad VW don't want to fix this car!

Dealer:

So far, I went to two different dealers and I'm not satisfied at all. For example; when the coil pack failed for the second time the dealer said:"It is very rare... Normally, they last longer than that..." Weird? After 10 sec. googling my problem I could find that a lot of people had the same coil problems... All the problems are very commons and they will probably fail multiple times during the time you own the car. Also, don't feel embarrassed if they make you feel like you are alone... You are not!!!

Knowledge is power!!!