What a flippin' ball ache.....the more I discover on here re-inforces my concerns about VW egineering /design.
I thought that I was buying into a well thought through design and quality build, but I read about sooo many problems. Is it just the GTI??? Am I just looking on my previous cars from BMW (E46 330; E46 M3) and Porsche (911 / 996 C4S) with rose tinted specs?? They were all new cars kept for about 3 years each, but no problems like I see here........ 
New as in brand new? I think you were just fortunate enough to not need any work doing on them, because they were so new?
The M3 and the 911s are probably built more pragmatically, being enthusiast grade cars that require some hand finishing/building. Check out the 911 Exclusive Edition factory tour video on YouTube to get a flavor of that
By comparison, the Golf is thrown together for volume sales but one thing is true of most car makers - the engineers, designers and dealers never seem to talk to each other. It's how we end up in situations like this. Some crazy arsed bent bit of metal being required to remove a sodding clip!!
Proper after thought job that, and zero consideration given to the guys who have to fix these cars.
For me personally, I don't mind the quirkiness. I like the challenge. Cars that don't test me, bore me. It's like Clarkson banging on about cars with no flaws are hard to develop a 'relationship' with. Not many people like him or his approach, but I do know where he's coming from. The cars I've enjoyed the most are the ones I had a love/hate relationship with.
The GTI was the first mass produced car, afaik, to use direct injection. New technologies often have teething problems, and the benefit of enthusiast groups like this one is they are all well documented. Stupid stuff like the brake pedal and moving the engine to get at a brake servo is an inexcusable waste of peoples time, but that's just how it is. Pack 'em, rack 'em and stack 'em. They don't give a toss because it only has to last the warranty period, and then they want you to crush it and buy a new one.
Having said all that, I've had German cars since 1990 and they're largely as bad as each other. Who'd have thought M3s would suffer from cracked floors due to M division underestimating the loads in that area? M division f'cking up......unheard of! But it's a thing, and is now documented and fixable. I haven't really seen anything so utterly ridiculous in the GTI, that makes me want to sell it yet
