Faults:

I still remember the day I drove out of the dealer's parking lot and thought about the years to come before I would do the same again. Not so many!

At around 3,000 Km, the steering wheel did not feel as firm as the price tag. Noticeable play was now a major issue, back to the two hands grip position of my previous BMW 318ti that behaved as such at around 250,000Km. Shortly after, the front-right control arm was already sounding like that of a juiceless joint.

At almost 10,000Km, the transmission starting kicking on first gear, a jerk powerful enough to spill a half filled cup of coffee on the black cloth upholstery that is fading like that of a cheap shirt worn on a sunny afternoon.

Currently at 15,000, the interior is falling apart like autumn leaves; the rear cup holder remains open because it refused to be tucked back again, the gear shifter wobbles like an egg facing a storm, and the seat position handles are probably worse than those of an office chair.

General Comments:

The car is constructed in a very poor manner; loosely playing joints, weak components, and quickly deteriorating interior.

The 1.6 petrol versions are severely underpowered, and would require an extremely economy regulated driving style to reach the vicinity of 6L/100Km.

Faults:

Turbo sometimes refuses to start, car's top speed sometimes does not exceed 100 km/h. Lift the throttle, wait until the kompressor dies and it goes like the fireware.

General Comments:

This car is quite good, much better than the Golf IV. It feels sturdy, steering is a little heavy as is shifting gears.

Steering is pretty precise, you can pinpoint exactly where to go.

There is a slight turbo-lag where the turbo takes over from the compressor. Nothing serious but if the engine is cold you can feel it.

Seats are somewhat small in the shoulders.

Surprisingly much space in the backseats.

Faults:

No problems to date, excellent value for the money.

General Comments:

We have previously owned a 2000 Jetta TDI which we took to 240,000km and traded in on this car as the deisel was not yet available.

The Golf is comfortable for it's size (I wouldn't drive it to Florida with the kids) but it is roomy for two or four. Nice performance in the 2.0 litre, could maybe use a sixth gear in the manual trany at higher speeds to keep the rpm down. Third gear has lots of pep.

Gas mileage is good getting about 550-600km to the tank of 54 litres.