Overview & Reviews

The speedy 1.8T four-door has been eliminated from the Golf lineup. A CD player now comes standard on the GLS model, and the GL trim level is available both in two- and four-door configurations. Mojave Beige joins the color spectrum. Also new for the 2002 model year, all Volkswagen vehicles come with an improved four-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, up from two years/24,000 miles. In addition, Volkswagen offers a fully transferable limited powertrain warranty that covers five years or 60,000 miles.

• Fun-to-drive, lots of standard goodies, hatchback design offers excellent cargo utility.

• Limited engine choices with departure of 1.8T four-door, some controls hard to decipher, handling could be crisper, dated styling.

User Reviews:

Showing 1 through 10 of 97.00

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  Poor service - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By Linsa - May 16 - 12:30 am

  The radio doesnt turn on six weeks after I get the car. The dealer promised to get me a new one; it has been another six weeks and now I am still waiting for the new radio to come in. My car only has three thousand miles and it wouldnt start twice last week.I had to call road assistance to jump start the car. Now the car is in the shop and the dealer is still trying to figure out whats going wrong. I am very dissapointed with the car and the dealter.

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  Need improvement - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By X_VW_Fan - March 11 - 10:00 am

  Had this car with manual tranny for 21 months. Basically I am happy with the performance and still think this is a fun-to-drive car. Quality is a biiiig problem. So far dealer had to fix/change clutch swtich, rear lid strut and power window. Today, the radio is dead.

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  HIGH fuel economy+LOW quality=Little fun - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By Daddy-D - February 2 - 2:00 am

  I bought this car because of TDI engine and fuel economy. Worst car I have ever owned. 26K miles and more than 7 dealer visits! check engine lights, rattles and squeaks, moldy smell from AC after 1000 miles. Rough running engine-idle could not be fixed to date. Too much body roll. Buy this car only if you drive a lot and need the 45+ mpg fuel economy and dont care about crisp handling. Low interior build quality level (rattles and squeaks). If you live in cold climates, beware: heater doesn’t produce significant heat until about 5-10 miles of driving due to very efficient engine. Too small for child seats.

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  Look elsewhere - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By robert - October 22 - 1:43 pm

  I bought this VW for quality German engineering. My mistake. It had chronic (monsoon) radio/cd problems which are expensive to repair. Front door windows fell out but were covered by mfr recall. Transmission went out twice (112,000 and 128,000 miles). It cost $4500 and VW America would not help with either transmission. Even the wheel logos are poorly installed and fall out at $40 each. Cup holders completely block access to stereo while in use. Black velour seats tend to hold lots of lint and dirt. Looking forward to selling this car and buying a Japanese or American car.

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  looks good, but doesnt hold up - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By annoyed in MA - August 23 - 2:00 am

  I test drove my brothers 2001 VW golf and loved it and decided to get a 2002 gls golf. Within the first year of having it i have had a lot of minor probs: all 4 doors completely freeze shut if there is freezing rain/snow, making me climb through the trunk and do power kicks to open them (and i am no weakling either), i had a faulty air intake boot clamp causing my car to completly stop running at rush hour on a highway exit ramp, an ABS recall, and lots of extra noises.

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  Very Sad - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By AMY - August 9 - 11:03 pm

  I loved my Golf up until this past August when the car hit 35k miles. The car has been the shop 3 times since then with electrical issues. Two of the trips required towing. First, the brake light switch went out and caused the car to reduce power and then it could not be shifted out of park. Next the fuel relay went bad and drained my battery. Could not jump the car, had to be towed again. Now the dash lights come on randomly on their own in damp weather. Dealer has no clue why its doing this. I love the looks of the car and driving the car. But I am afraid once its out of warranty I will be dumping tons of money into it. I had planned on keeping this car a long time but now Im unsure

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  Japanese for me - 2002 Volkswagen Golf
  By No Good - February 9 - 2:00 am

  Just like all of the other reviews here on Edmunds - drives and looks great with poor build quality and reliability (2002 model). In two years I have had it to the shop 7 times, including 1 tow. Lots of rattles from the dash and vents, broken radio and window motor, frozen doors (it snows/rains in Germany, right?), wouldn’t shift out of park so I needed a tow to the dealer and now I have noticed the burning oil at 27K (smells like a 2-cycle motor the first 10 sec after starting in the cold). Average 24mpg with 70% highway driving.