2006 Volkswagen Golf

cked up on a drivers door alignment issue on the second day of ownership. Around the top corner where it meets the front wing, it tapered out like someone had bent the body panel. Dealer attempted to 're-align' three times in order to cover up the problem, but on the fourth attempt they resprayed the door and wing in order to fix it. I 'REJECTED' this car as I had discussed that I didn't want any such remedial technique involving repainting... -Secondly, rattles from passenger door, scuffs/pulls in numerous places on the interior, vibrating clutch pedal - poor. I was glad to get rid and accept a replacement car! Thirdly, lovely car to drive, and excellent TDI engine giving barely believable economy, with good, useful performance. I drove both the 115 and 130PS versions and thought there was very little in it, although the 115 PS is not quite as refined under load. Unfortunately, despite its strengths, the ownership experience has been spoiled heavily by poor build quality, so-so reliability and unsympathetic dealers. I know all engines use oil for example, but find it hard to accept that the oil needs to be topped up at every refuel to avoid it dropping below the "MIN" mark on the dipstick. The dealer isn't interested and fobs me off.

-I'm on my second Golf now and the door alignment isn't perfect, but much better than previous. I've come to accept it as they all seem to be like this (on 3 door models especially). Again rattles from drivers door and seat belt latch. To top it all off while my car was in having some of the niggles sorted the dealer managed to put a nice dent in my rear wing!

If you do choose to test it out for top speed, you will find it v-maxing at 136 mph, at this maximum speed, the engine is turning over at 4200 rpm. I've driven a VW Golf with this 2.0 litre turbo diesel previously, as well as a Skoda Octavia with the same powertrain. Very torquey-and extremely frugal on fuel-averaging 46.4 mpg/6.1 litres per 100km, on a mixture of city and motorway driving, between 90-100mph generally, sometimes more. Comfort - the front sport seats are excellent. Supportive and grippy. Neither too firm or soft. Easy to get a good position and I've never got out after a long journey feeling crappy. The Golf is surprisingly roomy. If I have my driver's seat set up for me (I'm a shade under 6') I can easily sit behind myself without my knees rubbing up against the driver's seat. Standard equipment is good. The self dimming mirror is handy as is the auto sensing wipers (they occasionally get a bit confused, but far better than manual intermittent). It would have been nice to get stereo controls on the steering wheel as standard - like you do on many other cars of the same class. The option for this is a staggering £400!! The semi-automatic climate control is fine and I don't miss the fully automatic version I had previously on my Passat. Overall I love the car despite some of the faults. Dealers have been good and as it's a popular car there any many opinions and pieces of advice on t'internet. One useful website I found is www.ukmivs.net which has an excellent and helpful online community with lots of advice and examples of how to mod/fix your MkIV or MKv Golf.