Faults:

Cracked windscreen 2 days after taking delivery.

Suspension knocking and needed complete front replacement 1 week after taking delivery.

ESP system faulty 1 week after taking delivery.

Air conditioning pump stopped working 1 month after taking delivery. Part had to be specially manufactured - took 3 weeks in the dealership garage to repair.

General Comments:

For all the faults that this particular car has had over the short 2 month period I have owned it, I love it still.

Subtle looks and understated coolness is what drew me to this model in the first place.

It's fast and the 4 wheel drive has saved me on a couple of occasions.

It's expensive on fuel, but you don't buy a 2.8 V6 for the fuel economy - do you?

Seats are supportive, dash layout flush, classy and practical. Blue lighting is great on dark nights!

Only downsides I've found so far with this car are that 1st gear is too short and the handling doesn't feel quite as sharp as my dad's Focus 1.8.

Other than that, it feels like a Porsche-beater - even though in reality it probably isn't. I'd take one on a Boxster any day!

Faults:

Easier to list what has not gone wrong, but the list is:

Trip computer reset itself

Water pump

Electric windows

Ignition system (five times)

Steering pulling to one side (all the time)

Poor idling

Cold start sensor

Thermostat

Suspension rattles

Interior trim falling off

Water leaks into footwells

Paint chipping

Rear dampers.

General Comments:

Bought from car supermarket 6 months old.

Handles like a greased pig on ice. Rolls round corners and thumps and bangs over potholes. Understeer all the time, but especially in the wet.

Dodgy electrics. Dealers can't fix some of the known faults.

Ignition system fails every 6 months

Build quality is poor. Looks great, but flatters to deceive

Unhelpful dealers can't fix anything first time and sky high prices

Selling it as soon as I have finished paying for it.

Faults:

Within the first year of owning the car it kept stalling every time the engine was idle.

Boot struts rusted at the base.

Crunching noise from the engine, which required most of a new engine.

Starter Motor replaced due to a fault.

Drive shaft nut snapped, I am not a mechanic, but this is what I was told was the problem.

General Comments:

The car is comfortable to sit in.

Cornering can be scary, due to body roll.

Changing rear bulbs is next to impossible, without removing the outer light 'cluster'.

Faults:

-Car Bought from VW dealer-

The car supposedily had a VW 200 somthing point check before being given to me.

In the first week the following happened.

Temp sensor packed up, going from 0-max every few seconds.

Car pulled hard to the left.

Rattle from the engine getting worse as each day went on.

Took it to the dealer asap (2nd week) and it was in for work for 1 1/2 days. came back with only the temp gauge fixed. Said about the others and service wanted to charge me £58 and hour to work out what was wrong. Explained that I had only had the car a week and I had a 12 month warranty. After 20 minutes of stressfull arguing they agreed to book it in the following week.

That is the last I've seen of it, now been two weeks with out it. The rattle in the engine has require a full strip down, last I heard the head was off and the cams where out. Parts are being ordered in from Germany, so that is more delay.

General Comments:

This car looks the part, sounds the part and even goes to match its looks.

But so far I'm am not happy with the reliablity of it and the total lack of caring from the dealer. The sales bloke who sold me the car has said I'm not to phone him any more and only deal with the managers. Nice, after one week of ownership.

To make matters worse I asked for a loan car, this was agreed. On "dumping" my car with them this offer was retracted. only to be reoffered once I had a fit and asked for my money back.

It really gets to me, the fact you have to threaten them with so much just to get the thing fixed.

I will not be buying a VW again, and to be honest I'm in two minds about keeping this one if I ever see it again.

Should've bought a Type-R.