Faults:

Upon purchasing it needed:

- Front shock replacement.

- Windscreen.

- Clutch (beginning to slip, but not badly).

- A thorough service (crankcase breather pipe was full of gunk, as were the filler cap and air box).

General Comments:

I owned the car for two months before putting my pride and joy (1991 VW Jetta) back on the road. I straight-swapped my Fiat Punto for it knowing that it had its problems. But it did run well.

For a 1.4 engine it had quite high mileage and was in needed of a good service. It also wallowed a lot due to worn front shocks. The clutch had a horribly high bite point and was beginning to slip if pushed to the limit. I didn't sort any of these things however, as I knew it was only a temporary car. I had plans for it, but they never materialised in the end.

Despite being a large car with a small engine, I found the performance pretty acceptable on both the motorway and around town. It was very comfortable and easy to drive. And, although it had been lying up for a few months prior to my purchase of it, it didn't let me down once.

I do like the Vento in general and would consider another one in the future, though I would definitely be plumping for the 1.9 straight or turbo diesel. The only reason I actually chose to purchase the 1.4 was for cost (higher cc means higher tax in Ireland).

Faults:

New Exhaust at 80000 miles.

Timing belts and tensioners every 60000 miles.

3 sets of front pads.

Relay to fuel system (cost £13) at 180000 miles.

New door handle at 207000 miles after lock barrel came out completely.

General Comments:

Bought this car for heavy commuting. Has been totally reliable except for the 2 minor problems listed hard to live with 55mpg at 70 :-)

Cost £1500 less than the equivalent year Golf.

Who needs a hatchback when you have 20 cubic feet of boot before you fold the rear seats down.

Plan to put at least 300000 mile on it before I think of replacing it.

One of the second hand car bargains of all time.

Faults:

Nothing at all, unless changing one blown bulb at 50,000 miles counts...

Ultra-reliable so far.

General Comments:

The boot is very big.

The acceleration at higher speeds is very good (i.e. between 55mph and 70mph.)

The Vento hasn't needed anything doing apart from routine servicing each year.

Manual aircon works well and is fast.

Only complaint is that the road noise is noticeable - will get different tyres next change and see if this helps.

Radio-cassette volume push-buttons are fiddly compared to a turn control.

This was a very good buy - can't understand why the depreciation/resale value is so unfavourable given the high quality and reliability of this car.

Faults:

A few electrical problems radio, windows.

General Comments:

Only owned for a short time so points of interest to prospective buyers.

Poor acceleration even for an Auto!

Very smooth and quiet at Motorway speeds.

Poor handling especially when loaded.

Excellent brakes, bit thirsty!

Built like a tank feels a safe car.

Small rust spots appearing around glass.

Excellent boot-space, but legroom tight in rear.

Faults:

Auto gearbox can be slow switching from drive to reverse.

General Comments:

Typical VW - slightly 'dull', but fantastically reliable. Being basically the same as a Golf MkIII, it has more weight over the rear axle, which actually makes it handle better. But with a tiny engine, in a straight line it isn't very fast.