It has been a fairly reliable car, I have had it for 2 and a half years and biggest issue for me was the pedal box going. Took it to a garage twice, the fixed it once and then it broke like a week later. It then broke a couple of months after that and my dad decided to do it himself, that's almost a year ago and touch wood no issues since.

It's very safe, for that reason it's a great car for first time dare devils like myself. I crashed it, badly and could have been in an awful lot of trouble had the car not been so well built. On that note it is very sturdy, and strong, just be care of the doors which have a habit of falling back in on you if you are not careful and they are very heavy, they could easily break a finger.

It's badly equipped, my model anyway, all I have is electric mirrors and that's it, woukd have love some electric windows and central locking, heck even a light in the boot would have been a nice touch. On the plus side the seats are really comfy and with the back seats down its like a small van, very handy when moving etc.

Tax is cheap, so is insurance but fuel economy isn't anything to brag about around 40-45mpg. It has been a good car to me and I am sure that it will keep going for another while but in all honesty all you are really paying for is the vw badge and you get a lot better for your money in this class.

Brought this second hand in 2007 with a genuine 14,000 miles on the clock.
Changed the cam belts and water pump every 30,000 miles.
It did 50,000 motorway miles.

Only problems I ever had with it:
- Brake switch
- Injector 4; duff injector in 2008
- Lambda Sensor
- Crank case heater
- Cam shaft sensor
- Passenger side front suspension bushing

From 2007-2010 it only ever stalled twice due to faults.
Otherwise it kept going. What a first car.

Would have appreciated dead locks and an alarm as it looks easy to break in to. Otherwise, kept in line with service intervals and I serviced it myself every time.

Took it through flood water to the bonnet; twice without creating a bow wave over the bonnet and still kept running. I had no idea how to drive through flood water at the time. Still ran!

Started burning oil on idle heavily after 40,000 but seemed to be cured by adding 1/4 oil before a long motorway journey.

Some valve lash noise at 45,000 miles but cured by using valve lifter treatment.

Loyal all rounder in my humble opinion.

Past 70,000 it was still running well despite my sometimes heavy right foot.