Teething problems or permanent weaknesses?
The Volkswagen Golf III was, as expected, a sales success. Yet it was not necessarily the most loved Golf ever and for several reasons. For example, due to its build quality, it did not have the best reputation. Exactly thirty years ago we discovered a nice list of defects in the then very young Golfjes III.
The Volkswagen Golf III dates back to a time when Volkswagen was not yet concerned with glimmers, gadgets and appearance, but mainly aimed to sell solid no-nonsense cars. The third Wave fit that picture perfectly, with its modern but unobtrusive design and down-to-earth nature. It made it a popular choice in its time, although the Golf III would ultimately remain somewhat in the shadow of its predecessor. That was mainly due to the GTI, which was quite disappointing, but there were also for the bread and butter-Waves of business that got in the way of a spotless record.
We discovered this exactly thirty years ago when we held young, used specimens up to the light. The Volkswagen Golf III was then on the market for about a year and a half. We had already tested it regularly, but were curious to see what flaws might have been noticed in used Golfs. It turned out that a nice laundry list of problems could occur. For example, the glove compartment could rattle, the door locks falter, the front brake discs could squeak (also a maintenance thing), the switch of the electrically operated sunroof broke off easily, the headlights were not completely waterproof, the button to adjust the side mirrors could block , the fuel gauge proved inaccurate and the dashboard could creak.
Wow, those were quite a few setbacks. Fortunately there was a bright spot; these would simply be teething problems. “These ‘juvenile sins’ have now been improved in production and most of the early models should have these imperfections corrected by now.” With retroactive effect, we would adjust our advice at that time. At the time we said that you could already go for a used Golf III, but perhaps it would have been better to wait until a somewhat later batch of second-hand cars came on the market. We also found the 75 hp 1.8 to be the recommended choice, because “this power source has a high torque and is hardly less powerful than the 90 hp version.” However, a 1.8 with only 75 hp power was not really possible at that time. In 1993, the equally strong 1.6 was added to the range, making the Golf faster and more economical, so that was also worth the longer wait.
Have you driven a Volkswagen Golf III and do you recognize the defects mentioned? Let me know in the comments.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl