My personal car reviews: VW Golf IV 1.6 (my own car)

MacGuffin

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Mar 29, 2008
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Location
Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Car(s)
'17 Ford Mustang GT Fastback
I realized that I reviewed all those fancy SUV's and luxury cars in the past, so people might think I'm not used to driving simple, down-to-earth vehicles anymore.

Wrong. I own one :)

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I suppose the VW Golf IV is so common, that nobody ever bothered with writing a review here in the forum. But it has a reason, why it was/is so common: It's a really good car.

Set your internal clock back to 1998. The Golf IV was introduced, the first Golf developed under the supervision of CEO and later chosen "car manager of the century" Ferdinand Piech.

And all the motoring journalists stood with open jaws because of the attention to detail the 4th generation Golf was given:

- VW had developed blue LED lighting for the instruments and dashboard, which was very expensive back in those days. They introuced it in the Passat and then also put it into the Golf IV. The blue and red lighting design is still nice to watch at night, even today.

- The handles above the doors didn't just snap back by a spring, when you let them go, no... they slowly glided back due to some dampening fluid. Also a very expensive development but Ferdinand Piech has always been all about details.

- The dashboard went from boxy hard plastic in the Golf III to softly curved foamed rubber in the Golf IV, which was also a first at the time. The way the Golf IV looked and felt to the touch, was a revelation in those days. It was the first hatchback with a premium aura.

- The doors shut with a satisfying "plop" instead of a metallic "clang", the overall noise was silenced down, most dramatically the engine noises. There were no vibrations anymore from the diesel engines (the Golf III diesels rattled like a tractor) and the petrol engines were hardly noticable anymore in idle and at low revs. For the first time in a hatchback the loudest noise was the tires.

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Perhaps the biggest flaw of the car is the crappy rear visibility to the right rear end of the car. You have to use the side mirror for help when parralel parking, because there is no sense of how close you are to an obstacle.

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The progress on quality feeling and interior design was so dramatic back then, that it took main competitor Opel six years to come up with something similar and in my opinion the 2004 (and still current) Astra is still not on the same level with the Golf IV. As a matter of fact, many hatchbacks of today still haven't cought up with the Golf IV qualitywise.

My own Golf IV has the 1.6 liter petrol engine with 101 HP. I had the 90 HP TDI version before that, too (I sold it for 5000 Euros with 198.000 km on the odometer!).

This current one is now 10 years old and has mostly been moved in and around town, with hardly ever covering a distance of more than 60 km in one piece. That's why it only has about 66.000 km on the odometer.

As you can see from the pictures, there are signs of use but the overall quality impression hasn't suffered a bit. Even the light grey seats and carpet pieces still look good. It is still a presentable car.

And no, I didn't treat it particularly well. It sees a car wash every half year or so and it just had a major cleanup on the inside the first time in about 3 years.

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The 1.6 liter engine needs to be reved in order to move the car fast -- which it actually does without being tenacious -- and it even has some torque. It is no problem to cruise in 5th gear at 50 km/h in town and still accelerate without having to shift down each time.
The top speed according to the speedometer is close to 200 km/h but the needle of the rev counter is shortly before the red then and the engine gets very loud at around 160 km/h. Acceleration is okay in third gear from about 60 km/h to 120 km/h, which is essential for overtaking a truck on a country road.

Handling is fine, too, the car reacts very nimble and behaves uncritical. It doesn't have a very sporty setup, though, and the Firestone tires I currently have monted, produce a screeching noise rather early in corners. I think I will go to Continentals next time.
At higher speeds on the Autobahn there is also some sensitivity towards crosswinds.

Ride comfort is good but the back wheels have a tendency to trample on rough surfaces and unalligned joints in the road, if you cross them with both wheels at the same moment. If it's a particularly nasty bump, there even is a hard blow coming from there then.

There is lots of space in the front (not so much in the back with me in the front), the sitting area of the seats is a bit short for my long thighs, though. The headrest also barely reaches above my ears.

It's a very practical car (I already had several trips to IKEA without a problem) and suitable for shopping trips and even some long distance travel. The seats are good enough, that you won't end up whacked even after a 600 km trip.

Now about the equipment and let me tell you that everything without any exception still works fine and there is not a single problem in sight. The optional extras this car has, are:

- Heated front seats
- Rain sensor
- Heated side mirrors
- Power windows on all 4 doors
- Electrical glass sunroof

What it lacks compared to newer Golf IV's, is air condition, a remote key access and ESP. Those became standard in later years in the Golf IV but I can live without these things, especially since the blower in the dashboard can produce a mild hurricane and the sunroof does a fine job with circulating air as well. It's not getting nearly hot enough here anyway to really make use of an air condition, especially since my trip to work only takes 10 minutes anyway.

The standard VW speakers sound quite well with the JVC radio/CD-player I put in. Could use a bit more bass, though.

Over the years there have been some repairs:

- Rev control in idle had to be adjusted a couple of times
- The frontlights washers have a leak. I simply disconnected them, because fixing is too expensive and the only real noticable effect they ever had, is emptying the water tank rather quickly. The good thing is: With those frontlight washers installed, the water tank, which is also used for the window washers, takes 7.5 liters of water.
- The plastic tube that leads to the rear window washer, snapped off and had to be fixed with glue, a well-known problem with Golf IV's
- The passenger door power window motor had to be replaced (also a well-known problem with early Golf IV's)
- Lights around the ventilation switches in the center console had to be fixed (probably a slack joint)
- One of the clips that hold the exhaust in place, fell off and the exhaust pipe kept banging on the floor of the car
- Window wiper engine had to be replaced
- Battery failed

That's it. No rust, no other signs of mechanical wearout -- but then again the car has only run 66.000 km yet.

That's all for now. Maybe I will make some vids later.
 
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Exactly the same car as the one my mom drives, except hers is an automatic and doesn't have a sunroof. Odo reading ~85 000 km.
 
And not a text label in sight! Excellent!
I have a slight niggle with aftermarket stereos. But back then it perhaps came without a stereo at all?
I do like the black thing on your rear door sill. What does it do?

Also, one of your neighbours has a Matiz :lol:
 
The Golf 4 is a nice car when you actually get one that works.
One of my mates had one with the 1.6 that ran flawlessly for over 200.000km with only normal stuff like suspension and exhaust gone, some other mate had one (with the 1.6 too) that had every single possible error, especially ECU annoyance or randomly going down windows etc......and klankymen has sth to say to that matter too :D
 
And not a text label in sight! Excellent!
I have a slight niggle with aftermarket stereos. But back then it perhaps came without a stereo at all?
I do like the black thing on your rear door sill. What does it do?

Also, one of your neighbours has a Matiz :lol:

Well, it came with one of the VW standard radios with a cassette player! (remember it was 1998, when the car was new), so I threw that out, when I got the car secondhand, and put a decent CD-radio with MP3 capability in. Believe it or not but I chose the JVC because it was the only one with a real knob for the volume. I hate it when audio stuff doesn't have a volume knob anymore.

And what black thing at my rear door do you mean??? :blink:

... or randomly going down windows etc......

There is a function: When you turn the key without opening the door but hold it for a couple of seconds instead, all 4 windows go down :)

But I guess that is not what you meant :)

You bush-hugger, you!

:p

Hehe, I guess I am :)
 
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That's just a piece of rubber, so people don't scratch the metal with their shoes.
 
Nah, he was doing 150 on the Autobahn when suddenly 3 windows went down, 2 went up again 10 seconds later :D
 
That's just a piece of rubber, so people don't scratch the metal with their shoes.

Looks like it has a drain which I find to be cool. Attention to detail as you put it :)
 
so whats the purpose of that function?
 
There is a function: When you turn the key without opening the door but hold it for a couple of seconds instead, all 4 windows go down :)

The XJ40 called. It wants its window management system back. :D
 
There is a function: When you turn the key without opening the door but hold it for a couple of seconds instead, all 4 windows go down :)
If you have remote lock control, it also works with holding the lock/unlock key while walking away from/up to the car. I think all VW group vehicles have that since the end of 90's (my Audi does anyway), quite useful once you get used to having it.
 
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm_VfU3K5UU[/YOUTUBE]

The XJ40 called. It wants its window management system back. :D

Maybe you can tell what it's good for then - unless it is a test if the system works in an accident or something like that.
 
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Maybe you can tell what it's good for then - unless it is a test if the system works in an accident or something like that.

If you've parked your car in the summer sun and would like it to cool off before you get in and start it, you can use this function to let all the hot air out and let it cool off without having to get in the car.

The inverse function, which rolls up all the windows and closes the sunroof, is useful if you parked the car after a nice spring or fall drive and forgot to close the windows/roof afterwards. Instead of having to get back in the car, turn the ignition on, and hit switches, it's just a simple key twist.

The X100 convertibles go one step further - they can raise or lower the convertible top from outside the car with the key, IIRC.
 
I suppose it simply doesn't get hot enough for using that here. So most people will probably not even know about that function.



Here's another vid I took on our coublestone road. The roll of the tires produces a lot of deep frequencies, thus some distortions in the sound. There also are some rattling noises at the end of the road, when the surface gets particularly rough and nasty.

Usually almost all new cars are more quiet here but it's just a matter of time until any car will make unwanted noises here. It's a good test and the road is particularly nasty, if you move between 30 and 40 km/h.

The most solid impression on this road made a BMW 5-Series, the Mercedes ML-Class and the new VW Scirocco. All others (even the S-Class, though being the most quiet one) had at least some minor crackling somewhere.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB6Nk_-QfF0[/YOUTUBE]
 
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......and klankymen has sth to say to that matter too :D

Man, FUCK the Golf IV, seriously!

I'm glad it's gone, much happier taking the subway.
 
So you had a bad one, I presume?

I'm deeply sorry for you ;)
 
It really depends on the car itself, I think. I have had mine for nearly 5 years now and I have driven more than 100k km with it, and really few things were wrong.

Like MacGuffin said there can be some issues: In my case, one power window and one door lock, the air intake sensor and the coolant temp sensor. Also, the battery had to be changed because it was leaking, but after more than 5 years, I think it can be normal. And two months ago I had to change the brake pump (it was starting to weaken).

In my case, something more: in the first months I had the car, I had to change pretty much everything in the steering, and part of one of the front suspension. But that's because the former owner must have used the car to jump on (and over) sidewalks (and because I am perfectionist on some things). It was not the car's fault, because in the next 100k km, everything worked fine on this side.

The engine (TDI 130hp) is the best part of them all: it always run fine, the oil level has NEVER been low (1 kg of oil added in 100k km, changing it every 15k km), fuel consumption can easily reach 20 km/l outside cities and it still has (at 170k km on the clock) a higher top speed (with two people and luggage) than what the VW data say.

I also have automatic air con, which always worked perfectly with hardly any maintenance needed.

Only real disappointment on the interior is the peeling-off of the rubbery paint of some plastic parts, like the central console and door handles. But it's only aesthetic.
 
Mac:

InSP? :p
Also, Nightwish yay!
You didnt open the cupholder :(
 
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