Faults:

The car looks great and handles well, but the engine is very small and it gives you the feeling that the car is too heavy, and it needs to go on a diet.

Other problem; the acceleration is dead, the kickdown doesn't work most of the times; when you climb a hill, it just dies. Problem with the transmission; it always slides between 3 and 4 gears, which gives it an uncomfortable ride.

General Comments:

It looks great, it has a lot of accessories, but the engine is too slow, and the automatic gear box is bad, but no electric or engine problems.

Another problem is that it loves to drink a lot of fuel compared to other 1.6s. We have an Acura with a 2.4, and its more economic than the Golf, but girls like it.

It's well built; the materials inside are better than any car in this category.

It's good for a woman who needs to pick up her kids, but not for performance on the road.

Faults:

What didn't go wrong! The check engine light of doom was almost always on.

Lights - burned out regularly.

Replaced the following:

Water pump.

Radiator.

Main computer.

Glow plugs and harness.

Blower motor for heater fan.

Turbo (VERY EXPENSIVE fix) etc etc.

In the end I felt I'd totally rebuilt the car from the ground up.

General Comments:

Truth, you want the truth about this car. HAVE VERY DEEP POCKETS!!!

VW needs to improve their quality control and stop worrying about buying Porsche. These cars have a great ride, but they will break your heart and the bank. Sold it off and went back to Honda.

Good luck VW, but you better start listening to your customers.

The one tease was good mileage when it was working.

Faults:

Trip computer failed within 100 miles of purchase.

Rain water leaked into car from both front doors, dripping onto driver & passenger knees.

Alarm - multiple faults with sensors.

Water pump impeller fell off!

CD player failed - ate CDs.

Drivers window fell into door because a plastic clip broke - £160 for parts!

Knocking from front suspension because bolts not tightened up correctly.

Ate front brake pads and warped front discs (my fault according to dealer when I spend most of my time on motorways!)

Lambda sensor failure twice in 2 years @ £110 each plus labour (there is a recall in the USA but not UK for this part).

Rattles from under front dash and inside doors.

Thermostat failed and almost boiled engine.

Rubber trim deteriorated visibly.

Lots of minor electrical faults, blown bulbs every few weeks and fuses too. No fault ever found by dealer.

Dealers know about the many common problems with this car, but won't admit to them. In particular, water pumps, lambda sensors and window lifters fail regularly on Mk4 Golfs.

General Comments:

Grip and handling minimal especially in the wet. Front wheels slide easily and pulling out of side roads in wet weather often results in traction control light coming on (no, I'm not a boy racer).

The car is not very nice to drive. Very sluggish unless thrashed, mpg not very good even when driven gently on motorway. Predominant handling features are understeer and roll.

Suspension crashes into potholes and bumps in mid corner send the car skittering off line.

Seats gave me cramp after about an hour - cushions too hard.

Terrible build quality, lots of minor component failures.

Sky high parts & service prices.

Indifferent dealers (tried 3 and they were all the same).

I think I spent more time driving an old clunker of a Polo 1.2 courtesy car than I did driving my Golf; it was in the dealers that often. I also spent HOURS sitting in dealer waiting areas whilst another fault was diagnosed.

Dealers never have the parts in stock and will always try and fob you off without any courtesy car if they can.

VW customer service is the worst.