Faults:

Most serious problem was the car would frequently not accelerate; after I brought it to the dealer 3 times, was told by the Service Manager that it was because the weather was hot--his Passat does the same thing. I live in Phoenix, and this explanation was not the right answer. After I was almost killed on the freeway because of this problem and the service rep. at dealership was completely unresponsive, I sold the car.

Rear brakes went bad at 25,000 miles (just after warranty expired, of course) --apparently a common problem, although service rep. acted as if this was first time they had ever heard of this happening!

Fuel coil failure; had replaced under recall.

Accelerator stuck on car on occasion. This was not as frequent as the acceleration problem. I understand this is not an uncommon problem.

Yellow viscous fluid leaking out of all doors.

Paint defective.

Air conditioner totally inadequate; noticed the problem immediately, even though purchased car in November during very cold weather--reported problem to dealer, who blew me off. When I traded the car in, was told the air conditioning was REALLY bad. If they could tell, why couldn't the service dept. where I purchased the car tell?

Window fell into door; dealer actually was very responsive for this problem.

General Comments:

Owning this car was a huge disappointment. Not only did I have way too many problems with it, but the dealership service departments were horrible to work with, and when I contacted VW in America to get some help, they were also terrible to deal with. They said they would call me back the next day. About two months later, I got a call from them. Of course, by this time I had unloaded the piece of #%@!.

I still continue to get mail about recalls--the most recent one is the exhaust system.

Faults:

Door handles are flaking off; one was already replaced.

Light behind climate control knobs went out at about 25,000 miles.

Cloth interior attracts lint and hair and is difficult to clean.

Driver's side window collapsed at 35,000 miles. VW repaired for free.

Air conditioning system has an odd smell.

Turbo just blew out at 37,000 miles due to faulty waste gate. VW said they would cover.

General Comments:

I was initially attracted to this car because of the fuel mileage; that has not let me down. I get 40-50 mpg usually.

My TDI is a lot of fun to drive when it's running properly.

However, I am seriously disappointed in my purchase due to its many flaws. I will be selling after my turbo is replaced, as I have a feeling the problems will only get bigger and more expensive from here.

Faults:

My clutch completely went at 53,888 miles.

General Comments:

This is a great car, and until the clutch dying, I had no problems with it. I originally took the car into the dealership because the "MIL" light came on. They ran a diagnostic on the car, but found nothing. They blamed the light coming on due to the gas cap not being closed all the way as is the case now with the "closed" system for the emissions. On the drive home from the dealership, my car suddenly would just "rev" but would not accelerate. I had the car towed back to the dealership and was told that the clutch went out. This was a certified pre-owned car, but of course with my luck, the clutch is considered a "wear part" and was not covered. My car supposedly was put over a "128 point inspection". So how did they miss the bad clutch?