Class, quality, image, economy and performance. (VW Golf GTI Hatchback 1.9GT TDI 5-door 115bhp)

Member Name: commanderbond

Product:	VW Golf GTI Hatchback 1.9GT TDI 5-door 115bhp
Date:	23/07/08 (458 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great economy and performance, good image

Disadvantages: Some quality issues and faults, too soft ride

I bought one of these Golfs in 2004 to replace a petrol Honda Accord I had been running for 2 years. My main reason for purchase was improved diesel fuel economy, I was not dissapointed.
Even when driving fairly hard, you would manage to register an average fuel consumption of 50 Mpg, if you took it easy on the motorway, 70mph in 6th gear, on a warm day, you could see 65 Mpg on the trip computer, I know these aren't too accurate, but it must be fairly close.
The Golf was an ex fleet car, 4 years old with 80000 miles on the clock, it needed a bit of TLC to get it cosmetically up to scratch, but it had full VW service history.
What a hoot these are to drive, you can spin the front wheels in the first 3 gears, there is so much pulling power, so eager and responsive.
Good comfortable seats and a soft ride mean these Golfs eat motorway miles. However this soft ride means down the country lanes its no sports car, often wallowing around bends and occasionally the front undertray will scrape the road.
These Mk4 Golfs are very well made, lots of feel good touches. Small rubber mats in all the compartments, damped glovebox struts, damped grab handles, retractable parcel shelf ropes, spring loaded folding key/remote, all these little touches make it special.
Some of this quality is superficial though. I suffered from a stiff 2nd gear, the gearboxes can wear if gear changes are rushed, the gearbox had driveshaft oil leaks, the engine had a few small oil leaks also and of course budget for the 40000 mile cambelt changes at around 400 pounds. Also front suspension bushes needed changing to stop rattling sounds and the rear bushes also were not far away from needing that.
You also need to change the oil regularly and only use expensive VW approved fully synthethic oil to keep the turbo happy. There are also problems with door locks and subsequently alarms going off and electric windows have a habit of breaking their clips and dropping into doors, repair kits are available from VW. A common VW Group car fault is also that the rear wash wipe leaks into the hatchback causing electrical problems. A useful bonus is that cruise control can be retrofitted to most models fairly cheaply.

Overall the plus points far outweigh the negatives, get a well serviced example and you have the best of all worlds: class, quality, image, economy and performance.

Summary: Overall the plus points far outweigh the negatives.

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