Faults:

New auto box replaced under part warranty, original one suffered notchiness but the new one is really sweet and loses nothing to the manual.

General Comments:

Best steering control I have ever owned, wish sometimes the ride was not so bumby on minor roads.

Motorway cruising just great, with air con fitted it makes for the ultimate cruiser, can even get up to 36 mpg @ usual motorway speeds.

Faults:

2 wheel bearings, drive shaft, door handle, heater stopped working. Engine seized - (85k), A VW engineer said it wasn't the first he'd seen. VW didn't want to know. £4500 for a new block!!

May they rot in hell.

General Comments:

A fabulous car to drive and look at.

Far more troublesome than I had hoped.

Expensive to fix as well.

Faults:

I bought the car 11 months ago and in that period have covered 10k. The car is coming up to its 60k mile service.

Nothing has actually gone wrong. One of the front fog lights has cracked, the dealers charge about £110 but I bought a genuine replacement from a discount shop for just £55.

Just recently, I have found it difficult at times to engage gear - I think/hope it may just need adjustment? Overall though, the gearchange is not particularly brilliant, certainly it isn't up to Japanese standards.

General Comments:

My car has been fitted with Koni/Eibach suspension, G-Force 2000 discs and an AMD re-chip. I'd like to test drive one with a larger throttle body and variable-valve timing. Although the power graphs show significant power gains following these modifications, many drivers report that the car does not feel 'much' quicker?

I'm a member of the Corrodo Club of GB, which holds regular meetings and has an excellent quarterly magazine. The website is particularly good too.

Faults:

December 1997: both wheel bearings needed replacing (due to pot holes?)

May 1998: radiator reservoir.

November 1998: radiator blew.

I had a Volkswagen Comprehensive Extended warranty, but this 'comprehensive policy' covers only catastrophic problems.

Have just found out that Volkswagen US have sent out a notice to owners regarding the cooling system, it seems that the cooling system is reaching too high a pressure and damaging hoses/radiators.

General Comments:

Although this is not a family car (cramped with four adults in), it was never advertised as such. This is a performance vehicle with 0-60mph time around 6.5 seconds and top speed near 150mph. I would recommend this vehicle to anyone who is looking at two-seater coupes, but could do with the extra room, or for a new family (i.e. 2 adults, 1-2 young children).

I have upgraded mine to include 17" BBS alloys, Schrick VSR High Torque Inlet Manifold, Schrick 268 cams, Schrick Big Head, 315mm twin-pot brakes, Eiback/Koni suspension kit and an AMD custom re-chip.

It now develops 250hp compared to the standard 190bhp and 0-60mph is 6 seconds.

Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

A future classic without a doubt. Performance is absolutely breathtaking. Handling and driver involvement is riveting. I find myself deliberately lengthening my journey to work.