Faults:

After second service noticed that water temperature was running high. Returned to dealer and discovered that they had replaced coolant, but that there was an airlock in system and not enough coolant replaced. Topped up and no problem since.

No other fault since new.

General Comments:

My wife loves this car. She feels safe driving it and loves it's handling and performance. I admit that I enjoy a spin in it too and take it through the lanes of Kent in England too fast sometimes enjoying the boy racer performance coupled with pretty good comfort. This car has been very reliable and is easy to maintain.

Faults:

At about 50000 miles, had some transmission wire replaced as my automatic shifting wasn't so smooth... now at, 58000 miles, I may need the whole transmission replaced.

My tan top has also gotten stained and sticky! I was interested to find others have had that problem. VW dealer has no explanation.

General Comments:

Heated seats are great, will turn on a dime, and is super fun in the summer weather. It has however, been unreliable and the top has become ugly. I have heard it is possible to paint/stain a darker color to mask stains and looks great. Haven't tried it out yet though.

Faults:

Door moldings have fallen off many times.

Leather interior peeling away from door.

Replaced alternator at about 25,000 miles.

Replaced anti-lock brake sensor at about 30,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car has been a complete waste of money.

The door moldings have fallen off several times. Of course, with VWs ridiculous 2 year warranty, everything starts to go around then. So at a cost of about $100 for the piece and labor, I have had the molding replaced three times, about to be the fourth, in the four years I have owned the car. What is worse is that the part is not available anymore. I have seen plenty of VWs with this same problem so it's not just a Cabrio thing.

The worst defect I have had is that the leather on the interior of the doors is pulling away. It was simply tucked underneath the moulding instead of glued, stapled, etc. Obviously it was too short to stay put. This car now looks like crap because the interior panels are peeling away. I was told by the dealership that it would cost upwards of $1,000 to repair each side!!! When I complained to VW, I was sent a form letter addressed to the incorrect name telling me there is nothing that they can do for me even though I was only 1,000 miles over the 24,000 warranty. So, I assume this is a common problem with VW.

Mechanically, it hasn't been awful, but not great either. The alternator and anti-lock brake sensors have been replaced.

In my opinion, Volkswagen should be ashamed.

Faults:

So far, so good - no faults at all, although the previous owner had trouble with the automatic gearbox (fixed by the selling dealer).

No sign of any of the electrical gremlins mentioned by many other reviewers - particularly in the US: did their cars come from another factory?

General Comments:

As a practical, day-in day-out convertible, the Golf Cabriolet has no competition in its price range.

Performance from the 1.6 engine is nothing special, but the fun factor is there in full measure every time the roof comes down.

Handling is sound and secure, and the auto box makes city driving easy.

At four years old, the interior is still pretty-much unmarked, and everything works as it should do.