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VW Golf E Hatchback 1.4E 5-door 75bhp
by Ellieczy
I love my VW golf, Its the best car we have had! It's about 10-11 years old now but still seems pretty modern with electric sunroof/windows, built in stero/cd player.
We've only had 3 main problems with it:
1) an oil leak, which could happen in any car
2) new clutch, again could happen
and 3) there seem to be a ... technical fault on the dashboard and a light is constantly on telling us that the emissions need looking at, we of coursed got it checked, the emissions were fine, and the garage managed to turn the light off, then 3 days later it came back on! its been on constantly for 3yrs now.
The size of the car is perfect for me, and theres enough room in the boot for at least 2 dogs (or plenty of shopping) the back seats fold down very easily, providing a much larger boot for when needed.
I think the leg room in the golf is brilliant, espeically when compared to other cars like the clio which is tiny! I can get a 6ft bloke sat in the back with ease! I'm just saving the money up to buy a newer version of the golf!
It has never broken down in the 4yrs we've owned it- which I think is pretty good!
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VW Sharan SE 2.0 6-speed 5dr
by JonathonCross
We bought our 2-year-old Volkswagen Sharan in 2004 and intended to keep it for a short while of up to 3 years. It is now 2011 and we still love this car! You see we are a family of 5 and desperately needed to change our ageing Renault Scenic (a nice car but cramped for 5 with 3 teenagers!) We then set our self a £13,000 budget and began ... looking at Ford Galaxy's. After finding the Ford to depreciate in value very quickly we looked at the Seat Ahlhambra- again like the Ford those cars were known not to hold there value that well- partially because of the badges and because people expect the cars to be in a worse shape because of the messy children they carry! It was then we looked at the Volkswagen Sharan. Obviously they don't hold there value as well as other Volkswagens (because of the family roots!) but because of the badge they hold there value better than both the Galaxy and the Seat!
Road Handling and Performance; For such a large car the Volkswagen Sharan holds the road well. Sure its no Porsche but it offers plenty of grip on the road. There is however too much body lean for a keen driver. This car is definitely more comfort orientated as it smooth's the road out with its soft suspension- which is complimented with its large soft seats! Performance sadly is not its best the 2.0L engine can really struggle with a top box combined with when all seats are occupied (7) The Automatic gearbox can help to make the most of the 115 Brake horsepower though as it has a sport mode when the shift times are halved. All you have to do its push up on the gearbox and it will change through its 6-speed sport gearbox very quickly meaning a 0-62MPH (100 KMH) time of around 12 seconds (rather than 15 seconds for the ordinary mode)
Comfort; I have already mentioned that the Volkswagen Sharan is a very comfortable car. I particularly appreciate the Volkswagen Sharan when I went in a brand new (2010) BMW 3 Series Efficient Dynamics. The BMW though extremely fast had a very hard- if sporty suspension set up- making it almost uncomfortable- not what you expect for a £28,000 car!!!!
Features; The car comes with the essentials but I would of liked Alloy Wheels and Parking Sensors to come as standard rather than an optional extra! You get quite allot of equipment for your money though. You get 6 airbags, Air Conditioning (Front and Rear), a de mister/icer for the mirrors, front and rear windshield, CD player, 7 seat belts (no Lap belts), front armrests , front and rear electric windows and rear air vents, partially electrically adjustable door mirrors, boot cover, remote control central looking, rear armrests and two front cup holders. You also get a computer telling you the outside air temperature, Your millage, service times, current MPG, average MPG and if the car has a fault. I particularly love the fact the this car makes it obvious that it's German for example rather than politely mentioning it needs a service it puts this on the dashboard... Service NOW! Definitely German! Our car also came with a few optional extras such as Rear parking sensors (£200) Automatic gearbox (£1050), Tinted windows, £200 and ESP (£500) (Alloys Wheels £500) Roof rails (£125) Top box (£600) not a bad list really!
Fuel consumption; Sadly this car drinks allot of fuel! We normally get around 15-19 MPG in town, 20-24 on rural roads and around 25 MPG on the motorway. This really is hocking. We fill this car up every week now and costs us more than £80 per week on fuel! We now have converted this car to LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), which has helped the cost of keeping the vehicle. Road Tax is also very expensive for an MPV (£265 per year) The insurance group for this car is group 25 (Insurance 1 - 50) You can now probably gather you need deep pockets to run this tank!!!!
Looks; Although nothing special I feel as far as large cars go the Volkswagen Sharan looks quite nice. Our car is in a Silver colour. The tinted windows also help the car to look good. Alloy wheels also help!!! The interior also looks good I like the red and blue interior dashboard lighting- making the car look modern.
Value for Money; You do get quite allot of equipment for your money but you will spend allot of money to keep it on the road remember! The car also as mentioned holds its value rather well and therefore is slightly more to buy than the Ford and Seat rival! Please also remember it is also expensive to run- which can be helped by a LPG conversion at a cost of £2500 for it to be fitted under the vehicle rather than the boot area (which is also large unless all seats are occupied!)
Reliability; We have kept up with all the servicing interviews and only have had a couple of stupid electrical faults such as the Rear electric windows needing replacement motors. The Air-conditioning to needs to be re-charged which will cost a mere £39.99 for an A/C recharge and around £300 for new electric window motors- Mechanically the Volkswagen Sharan has been very reliable (as you would expect from any Volkswagen!)
***Review also published on Ciao as jjcross!***
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