I'm thinking about getting rid of the scoob and going for something a little more sensible... The obvious choice for me is a VW Golf PDI 130 - great fuel economy and decent performance - also I had a Golf Mk2 for many years which was a great car.

However from my own experience I'm concerned that VW dealers aren't upto scratch and that the Golf mk4 build quality isn't all it should be. I have test driven 1.8T's in the past which had squeaks and rattles.

So what do other people think about the mk4 Golf...? - especially anyone running one.

I had a MKIV 1.8T GTi from new on a 'T' plate before my Impreza. Nice looking interior but bad creaks. I had one particular rattle in the passenger door that only occurred with the radio on and meant that any bass sounded like there was a bee in the car. My original dealer said 'we don't think it's anything to worry about'. My new dealer could never find it and even replaced the complete door trim.

I also had a new driver and passenger Recaro at different times because they sounded like an old bed. The leather on the steering wheel split at the bottom. The aircon packed up twice.

Get a good one and they are great, get a lemon like I did and you'll hate it. Just make sure you get a really good test drive b4 purchase!

Laurence

I swapped the Scooby for a Bora PD 130 TDI SE and have had no problems with build quality or anything.

Daz.

I was driving a Golf PD115 the other day (and a PD100 Auto estate), also have been in Daz's Bora and I reckon in the real world (as opposed to magazine fantasy) there are few better day to day cars for the money. The 115 Golf was quicker than my MK2 GTI about 90% of the time, in an out an out drag the Diesel would lose no doubt about that, but around town and overtaking they cant be beaten.

Reasonably quiet, well specced and 40 mpg whatever you drive it like.

Only things that bothered me was the vibes through the clutch pedal and the fact that it was completely hopeless off boost, however its not off boost very often.

Build quality seemed fine on the ones I drove and the handling was er, adequate. Residuals are also really good on the Diesel, bear in mind the MK5 is due soon.

I would say go for it

I'm looking at going down the more sensible (or at least cheaper as Co. car) route at the minute aswell.
I tested the Golf PD150 a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed.
Performance was suprisingly quick, torque was amazing but all let down a bit by the handling - despite 17" alloys and a sports pack as standard. If you're not bothered about having something a bit more run of the mill and you want excellent economy I would definately go for the PD150 (or most on this BB say the 130 is almost as good and much cheaper - can't comment as I've not tried one)

Good luck - its a nightmare choice when you have to downgrade from a Scoob.

Today is my last day with a Scooby:(

I've gone down the sensible route too. A shinny new Golf 130 arrives tomorrow.

I decided that the fuel economy and unobtrusive road presence was more to my liking. The little luxuries will make it more pleasant too.

As for handling, I never really pushed the Scooby to the limit as the performance was limited by driver ability. The Golf will do everything I want quite comfortably.

It's nowhere near as quick as the Scooby but speeds not everything when you got a 7 month old daughter in the back.

I was looking at either a PD150 or PD130, and having driven both, don't think that there's much in it in performance. The 150 feels quicker, but doubt that they're be much in it on the road. 130 seems a smoother engine though, which may be makes it seem slower.

I've pretty much decided to go for a 150. Price difference isn't that huge once you add 17" alloys - these are 500 quid cheaper on the 150.

If you go for the 130, note the colour concept pack gets you Recaro leather seats, plus 16" alloys, for considerably less than specifying these separately - some (ok, all of them apart from black) of the colour choices are a bit garish though!

Cheers
Tim

Golf have a production life of seven years....

... new is due 2004/5 ;)

Well im on my second Golf GTI T and it has to be the best car i have ever owned. Purchased new from Orbital VW in Ashford Kent.

One thing i would tell any other possible purchaser is upgrade to the bigger wheels 'worth every penny' makes the car stand out.

all the best.

Have any of you seen the chip conversions spec on these tdis,very suprising I may say, plus most are simple plug ins and improve mpg.