Golf 5 1.6 Comfortline
Here's a few thoughts about my car. It’s a 2004 VW Golf 5 1.6 Comfortline. I bought the car second hand from my favorite second hand car dealer: Gary Judge. If you're looking for a trustworthy, honest, honorable guy to buy a car from, then Gary's your man. He owns and runs SMT Motors in Randburg, Johannesburg and I have bought three cars from him, my mom bought a car from him and at least four of my friends have bought cars from him. All have been brilliant buys. But back to my car.
My first car was a Toyota Corolla 1.8 GLE. And I bloody loved it. It drove like the wind and never gave me any trouble. In fact we still own it and use it at my parent’s beach house. It’s a 1997 model and still turns over first time every time no matter how long we leave it unattended for. After that car I swore I’d always buy Japanese cars. Until I bought my Golf.
The Golf was the best I could afford at the time. Compared to its price range rivals: The Toyota RunX, the Ford Fiesta or Focus, The BMW 1 series, the VW Polo it was a no brainer. The Golf is far higher specced than the Fiesta, the Focus, and the RunX. And when comparing prices you’ll only get a very low spec 1 series for the price of a Golf 5. Obviously its a better buy than it's poorer, badly built cousin the Polo. With the Comfortline Golf, however you get great build quality and all the specs you could ask for: My Golf has all round electric one-touch windows, leather interior, ABS, 5 start NCAP safety rating, automatic front rain sensor wipers, automatic headlight management, automatic dimming rear-view mirror, full on board computer, front loading CD shuttle plus six CD shuttle, climate control and independent front seat warmers. You won’t find those bells and whistles in any of the Golf’s price range competitors. Just after I bought the cars quite a few things went wrong. With all those complex electricals running around things tend to, and I was convinced I’d made a mistake and should have stuck to my guns and bought Japanese. But Gary-the-honest-and-honourable car dealer sent the car in to be serviced and everything was sorted out. Since then the car seems to have settled down.
Now I have a real love/hate relationship with the car. I love its features and smooth ride. I love it on the open road. I love the way it looks and love the relative luxury inside. I love a lot about the car. But I hate its engine. I hate it!
The 1.6 engine is a lame donkey. Its 1st and 2nd gears are like old women with zimmer frames and its power to weight ratio is that of an American tourist wearing socks and sandals. Once you get up into the higher gears things seem to catch up a bit and the engine performs very well. This means that the car is a dream on the open road, cruising smoothly and overtaking easily. But in the city, stopping and starting in traffic I feel like I'm constantly fighting the car for a little power and performance. A fight I have yet to win.
Bottom Line Verdict: I like my car, its comfortable and very fancy in many regards. But if you’re thinking of buyin one, get one with an engine instead of a sowing machine under the hood.
No comments:
Post a Comment