I purchased brand new and was told when I bought it form VW of America that it was a pretty reliable car. I have owned it since July of 2007 in addition to paying for the car the cost of repairs are supposed to be normal for the average driver. It has been nothing but money with major issues going wrong including the transmission which was a 3k fix last year as well as the clutch pedal and the clutch spring which was another thousand to fix.vw did not stand by any of the major things and blamed it all on the mileage. if you are not ready to pour a lot of money for your investment buy a Honda or a Chevrolet as both of those that I owned never had these issues. The latest is the suspension bar which was failing and had a hole in it and cost 850 to replace along with one bearing as the other one I could not afford. this car has eaten all of my savings. yet I still love her a very co dependent relationship to be sure.10k on the new transmission .