1996 Volkswagen Vento GL CLASSIC 2.0 from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

An excellent buy, cheaper than an equivalent Golf, but with more equipment and more room

Faults:

The rear passenger's side electric window regulator had to be replaced; at a cost of over A$300. Not cheap if all four windows fail.

General Comments:

Excellent dynamics, feels solid to drive, plenty of power, gearbox not the smoothest, especially in 1st gear.

However a pleasure to drive and will definately consider a new Bora in 1-2 years' time.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 4th July, 2002

22nd Mar 2003, 15:30

I think electric windows are a VW weak spot.

Have owned a Golf TDI, Jetta CLi and a Passatt GT. All have had all their electric windows fail one at a time from one cause or another.

7th May 2003, 19:54

I have just bought a second hand VW Vento. Yes, you guessed it. The rear passenger side electric window does not work. Neither does the air conditioning. The airbag warning light is on, obviously something wrong there. I have also discovered that I have to use premium petrol to get the engine to run smoothly, Despite all this, I love the quality of the car and the roominess, especially in the boot. When I get the faults fixed, I will be very happy with the car.

14th Feb 2004, 03:26

Having compiled the original review above, my Vento has just completed 130,000kms and I have only had 1 service in that time- to replace oil and the timing belt. Unfortunately it was also involved in a serious collision where another car T-boned the car at 60km/h- not nice!

The other car struck the left hand passenger wheel at 90 degrees- surprisingly the car was not a write off and I had all the suspension components replaced (by insurance cover). Now it handles even better than before!

The other car was a brand new Daewoo Kalos- it was written off and a total wreck.

No one was injured in my car, and it was back on the road in 5 weeks. Parts expensive I think.