 Bought in Nov. '02 for my son.  
Impressed with style and ride but 
mechanical and body are a piece of 
junk. Within weeks, the parking light 
assembly fell out. Then within 6 months 
and with only 62,000 miles on it, the 
timing belt tensioner failed and 
smashed the valves requiring a new 
cylinder head - total cost near $4000.  
Research indicates that the tensioner 
problem is a manufacturer design flaw 
but VW of America wouldn't admit it or 
help a nickels worth.  We dumped the 
car at a major loss and wouldn't own 
another VW under any circumstances.