Faults:

Instrument cluster and distributor went out same day at 65,000 miles. Convertible top now leaks. Car has consistently required lots of trips to mechanics even with low miles, regular maintenance, and "easy" driving. Disappointment that despite good care and maintenance car is falling apart after 5 years and 65,000 miles. I thought VW ran 300,000 miles! Not this one.

Faults:

The "check engine" indicator light keeps illuminating even though the garage has checked all systems and can find nothing wrong after replacing the O2 sensor. Have taken it to the garage four times in last month.

Inside door handles are peeling. Vinyl cowling around gearshift has worn badly.

Interior lights don't work when doors are opened.

Driver's window is balky -- won't open on first touch of control.

Faults:

The car leaks even in a light rain, and floods in a heavy rain.

We've had to replace 4 parts within the first 2 months.

General Comments:

We bought the car used from Volkswagen and we've had many bad experiences with the service.

We were told after we began having problems with it leaking that there is nothing the service department could do to fix it and that is why they stopped making Cabrio's.

Faults:

Drivers window would not always stay up, would just put itself down. That lasted a week and then fixed itself.

General Comments:

Comfortable seats.

Great air conditioning and heat.

Love the dash, easy to read.

Suspension could be better.

Faults:

Too many things go wrong!

This car is a hunk of junk! I have owned it 4 years and within the first year it spent time at the dealer. Currently the driver side window is down and won't go up, all of the ac/heater vents have broke off, the door handles have peeled (replaced twice, still peel), the center console has popped up and the drink holder cover in the back seat has fallen off. The little plastic piece next to the radio fell off so many times I've now lost it.

General Comments:

Very comfortable, but not well built.

I will NEVER buy another Volkswagen. I am so disappointed in this car.

Faults:

Replaced breaks at 30,000. (And no, I don't ride them. I replaced the brakes in my prior car twice in 12 years.)

Check engine, airbag and ABS lights come on randomly.

The door handles have been replaced 3 times due to peeling.

Driver's side tie-rod broke at approx 40,000 miles.

Windows go up and down randomly.

Light bulbs - for breaks, etc. in front and back - seem to burn out every 12-18 months.

Air conditioning, glove compartment and other knobs have broken off.

Beige cloth interior covered with water stains from leaks - looks terrible! If you attempt to clean stains of any kind, the cleaning creates a ring-shaped water stain that can only be removed by evenly wetting the entire seat. All this despite the fact that the car was treated with a special stain protector when I bought it.

Roof leaked into the driver's side seat belt well. No way to empty it, so seat belt molded and smelt terrible. Had to wait until summer for it to clear up.

Most serious problems began after 3-year warranty ran out. Dealer completely unresponsive.

General Comments:

When I first got this car, I loved it. It was fun to drive, had great pick-up, handled well, and was very easy to park.

Five years later, I can't wait to get rid of the thing. The problems began 2 years in, and since then I've spent an average of $1,000 per year in repair costs. The maintenance on this extremely poorly made car is nearly constant. There's always something broken that needs fixing.

I expected much better quality for the money.

Perhaps I am just spoiled though. My last car was a Toyota Corolla. At 12 years old and nearly 300,000 miles, my annual repair costs were in the $0-500 range and the interior was in fantastic condition. What was better, I never worried that something would unexpectedly go wrong the way I do with the Cabrio.

I've had several friends with Volkswagens and they've all complained of the same problems.