Faults:

Message on the dash read "Low Oil Pressure" STOP!

Message on the dash now reads "Emissions Workshop" and the check engine light is on.

General Comments:

This car is comfortable and fun to drive, love the heated seats.

The cost of repairs is outrageous, I thought this car would last forever with little or no problems.

Faults:

ABS Control module at 63000 miles.

Front Seal and Camshaft seals at 61000 miles.

Front stabilizer arms constantly going.

Emissions Workshop! and Check Engine Light continuing.

Many electrical faults with lights and central locking.

General Comments:

Body rolls too much when going around corners - drives you crazy when driving it. Terrible design!

Very quick, but the transmission is jerky.

Central locking system locks and unlocks whenever it wants... including with you out of the car and the key sitting inside on the seat!

Faults:

Air bag fault in steering wheel at 70,000miles.

Flat spot in power at 3000rpm, form 50,000 miles on - can't find a fault.

General Comments:

Very comfortable well screwed together car.

Disappointed that flat spot in power band seems to be unfix-able by the garage.

Still a very economic car, 50 to 55mpg day in day out.

Big boot, but small opening. Difficult to get bulky items in and out despite there being plenty of room.

Tough paint work. 70,000 miles and very few stone chips on the front.

Faults:

When we first bought it we had to take it in for the vacuum hose recall... the check engine light wouldn't go off, that was at about 38,000 miles. At the same time, it needed a new right tie rod.

At about 50,000 we had to replace a gasket and cam seal to make it stop leaking oil. That was to the tune of about $800 dealership. We were also informed that the left tie-rod and both upper-control arms needed to be replaced. And to top it all off, our CV boots had completely disintegrated. Funny, we took it to the same dealer to get our oil changed for two years and though they noticed other small things, they never noticed the CV boots. Cost? $450.

We are currently dealing with a "mysterious" vibration which two mechanics have said was an axle problem. After 6 axles, we are about to go mad! So far the cost has been $200. As soon as the problem is fixed, we are going to sell it to get another Honda!

General Comments:

Love the control and the power and the tight cornering.

The bum-warmers are great.

I really don't care for cars that have low miles, but need a lot of maintenance. My last car was a Honda Civic and the thing ran for 250,000 miles with only minor, minor repairs.

I am so very disappointed in the car. I will never own another VW.

Faults:

Engine oil seal started leaking, repaired under the Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) warranty. Cost of repair would have been close to $1,000 if not for the warranty.

Both catalytic converters had to be replaced. These were replaced under the CPO warranty. Each catalytic converter costs $1,200. Add to this over 8 hours of labor and the total bill would have been $4,000.

The rear window washer fluid pump was bad and had to be replaced.

A nut fell off inside the rear door and rattled when you opened it. I had to pay for that repair. Turns out that in the US, the warranty for rattles is 12 months/1,200 miles so this was not covered.

General Comments:

The engine and transmission are both very very smooth.

Acceleration is quite acceptable.

Handling is typical VW excellent.

Ride noise is very low.

The rain-sensing wipers work amazingly well.

The stock sound system is quite good.

Where I live the speed limit is 70mph and most of the time everyone does closer to 80mph. At these speeds, the car gets just under 22mpg. In town, where the speed limit is 60mph (and you usually end up going close to 70mph), fuel economy jumps up to 26mpg. On a long trip (1,400 miles) with the car fully loaded and speeds averaged 70, the car got almost 27mpg.