My sister has a 2004 Golf TDI with a manual transmission; she is in love with that car!

She’s kind of a slow poke driver... so maybe the transmission is not super sporty, but she has never had a complaint. Being a manual I think its all about how you drive it since you are in control.

The only bad thing that happened to my sister since owning it was when the engine broke... Something to do with torturing down the engine mount after the timing belt was changed. She had the T belt changes and about a year later the engine fell in the compartment because where the mount bolts to the engine failed. Not the mount mind you the engine block, the casting that provided room for a hole to be tapped (kind of an ear off the side of the block) ripped apart. Since it happed a year after the T belt service, the shop would not warranty the work, and the VW dealer said she needed a new engine block... Thanks to the guys on TDIclub she learned that there was a guy making a bracket that relocated that bolt so that she did not need a new engine.

All of this was pretty scary for my sister... and a head ache for me because the work was done by her boyfriend in my garage! lol.... I suppose the moral of the story is to take the car to a reputable shop for timing belt services.

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