9th Sep 2005, 11:46

The public perception of a brand is something that takes at least 20 yrs to develop (and billions of $$ as Toyota found out with its Lexus brand). Just browse this site for Golf IV/Jetta (Bora for us Europeans) owner comments: Quite a lot of them relate the VW image-of-quality to the... beetle days. That's why VW is getting away with it for the moment. But they are clearly living on borrowed time (from the Golf I/II era...) so they have to be quick and adapt the quality of their products to their brand image levels. Fortunately, it seems that the Golf V is a leap forward on engineering terms if not on the quality of the interior plastics. But, it remains to be seen how it passes the test of time

26th Sep 2005, 05:49

This is badly broken. A healthy PD engine uses no oil whatsoever. I never have to even top mine up, and not does any of the other people I know with this engine.

21st Nov 2005, 10:29

Thanks for the comments all.

Sick of being fobbed off by VW dealers and disillusioned with ongoing problems caused by appalling workmanship standards, I part-exchanged the Golf for a new shape Honda Accord 2.2 i-CDTi Sport.

I'm sorry to say this, but in terms of build quality, the Accord makes the Golf look like it was knocked together by a bunch of amateurs on Scrapheap Challenge. Tiny, perfectly even panel gaps, a slick well oiled feel to the controls and the car just oozes engineering excellence. The dealers are also helpful, and the i-CDTi engine makes the Golf's clattery old TDI PD engine sound and feel like something out of the ark.

I won't be back to VW! There are so many better cars out there!

12th Nov 2007, 05:15

Lol - forgot all about this site and the review I wrote above. The Golf is a long forgotten and rarely missed memory these days, although looking back on the review, I am reminded what an awful car the Golf was to own.

I still have the Honda. Now on 39,000 miles during which time it has needed two sets of front tyres, three services and a headlight bulb. The VW PD engine is definitely more frugal than the Honda's common rail, but can't hold a candle to its refinement, power or sheer "petrolness".

I now understand why the Japanese car industry walks the customer satisfaction surveys year on year, and I will not be returning to VW or any other European make for that matter any time soon. Utter reliability and quality that extends beyond blue lighting and expensive looking trim into the whole design of the car.

15th May 2009, 10:29

I agree totally with all the above. I love the look of my mk4 GT TDI Golf, but it's been no end of trouble with power loss issues (very very common with the 1.9 TDI) and fuel injection and turbo problems. It's like dating a model I guess; looks great, but it's a fake with massive issues. I'm gutted as it looks great, but guess I'm gonna fix it up and part ex for something half decent instead of just good looking. I bought a vw because I expected reliability and even more so from a diesel. Total let down in that area.