Faults:

Driver's door did not seal tight on delivery. Had to be adjusted by a panel beater.

General Comments:

I bought my South African built Golf 1.6 A4 Standard new in May 1999, and drove it for two and a half years before selling it with about 42500 km on the clock.

In that time the car never let me down, and nothing whatsoever went wrong.

The only thing wrong with it when I took delivery, was that the driver's door didn't seal properly, and had to be adjusted by a panel beater. Except for that, the fit and finish were excellent, and remained that way until I sold the car.

Sometimes there was a faint rattle in some of the doors, but it went away of its own accord.

Road-holding and acceleration wasn't best in its class, but was quite adequate for everyday use. The ride was very comfortable. For general use it was a lovely car, especially on long highway journeys.

I also liked touches like a foot rest for both the driver's feet and the small sun-blind behind the rear-view mirror, which showed that a lot of thought went into the design.

It also took dirt roads in its stride, except for rocky parts, where the relatively low ground clearance put parts like the oil sump in danger.

I was really sorry to see the car go when I had to sell it.

Faults:

The cruise control failed because of a broken wire at 25000 km, this was repaired under warranty.

The driver's seat showed some wear fairly early at 25000 km, however, in the 100000 km since it has not become worse.

Occasionally shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear is hard. The dealer has not been able to reproduce and fix it.

General Comments:

The handling is very predictable, even at high speed while cornering.

The car listens well to its steering wheel input, and gives plenty of feedback. Steering could still be a bit sharper, though.

The interior is very well build. Even after 125000 km, it's still free of rattles and the like.

The dash materials have a quality look and feel, it makes many other dashes look cheap.

Faults:

Rattling on the center console.

Turbo belt was faulty and had to be corrected because it caused the car to jump and shoot forward.

Paint work is very disappointing for such a new car.

General Comments:

The car is quick but very thirsty.

Faults:

You name it:

Coolant leak.

Doors constantly rattle even though they've been supposedly fixed 5 times.

Nearside window fell out.

Seat frame needed replacing when new, seat frame now creaks.

Handle fell off the rear seat, stitching came away from the rear seat, oh and it also pulls to the left!!!

General Comments:

If it wasn't for all the faults, this would have been a fantastic car, performance wise it is out of this world, especially mid-range. Good MPG as well, if you take your time. However with this kind of performance, it's hard, very hard!!

Faults:

A creak from the drivers door, which my dealer has improved but not cured.

Also a large chip on the windscreen caused by a stone and obviously not the cars fault.

General Comments:

Excellent car, GTI performance and averages 50+ mpg. Front suspension could be a little stiffer which would make handling even better.

Faults:

Absolutely nothing, except a puncture but that wasn't the cars fault.

General Comments:

Excellent car. Performance and economy. I do about 70 miles a day commuting to work and the car averages over 60mpg. It is also solid, well-built and comfortable.

Handling and roadholding as also good and the ride is very good if a little on the firm side. I do about 18,000 miles a year and I need a solid, reliable and economical car and this VW is the car for the job.