Volkswagen Golf Problems

The Golf Highline would be a good choice for your daughter.

There’s no need to do anything, VW is fixing your current concerns, and who know what might happen in the future. You could have further problems and you might have to pay for the repairs, but you might not have any and you wont have to fork out anything. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it, but if you are really worried, sell the car or trade it in.

 The GTi is a great car; the problem is the dual-clutch auto that has been a running sore for the company. I wouldn’t rule it out, but I would go for the latest model you can afford. If you aren’t sure go for the Hyundai.

You’re right to be wary of the Golf, but apart from the well publicised stories of trouble with the DSG gearbox a few years ago it has been in more recent times a sound vehicle. We get very few complaints from owners of these later cars, so I wouldn’t be concerned about buying one. The Cerato is also a fine car and would be a good choice. If I were forced to choose I would probably gamble on the Golf for its driving dynamics.

The Golf is a great driving car, but I couldn’t suggest you go for one, simply because of the well-known problems with the DSG auto gearbox and engine.

In order I would go for the i30, the Mazda 3, and the Golf, certainly if you value reliability highly, as you claim.

It’s gone into “limp-home” mode because it’s detected a problem, but before you do anything else you need to find what caused the problem. Once you’ve done that you could approach VW and ask them to repair it at their expense, or pay part of the cost to repair it. If they won’t and you want to take it further you could go to the ACCC.

If the problem is caused by the change in oil, as the VW technician is purported to have said, then there’s no much you can do about it. If you feel strongly enough about it, and feel you can’t live with it, talk to VW head office, or contact your state consumer affairs office for advice on how you might seek compensation from VW.

Your car is one of those troublesome ones that had problems with the DSG transmission, and I assume it has been checked before and had relevant the reworks. I would approach VW about replacing the transmission free of charge.

Sorry to hear about your problem, but thanks for telling us about it. Broken timing chains are a concern with VW engines, and it's hard to know if the changes highlighted in the dealer bulletin provided the answer.