Bought the car when it was one year old. After a couple months, I noticed a ticking noise from the Engine. Went to the dealer and they said, "it is normal". Got a second opinion and third and both said it was not normal and it spelled big $$$ in the future. Haggled with the dealer and demanded they fix it (this was at 23K miles and my warranty expired in 1,000 miles ie. 24K). Finally they agreed to fix it and said they would replace the entire Engine. I thought "Wow", more than I expected. After a week, the noise seemed to be gone, I then moved to California and then had the car inspected by another shop (this was because the ticking noise was back). The guy there said the engine was never replaced, he pointed to several seals which proved they were original factory seals (when it was built). He said VW probably just added some sort of anti-tick fluid to the oil and then kept the car for a week just to make it look good. That was in 1998 and I still have the car 5 years later, same ticking noise but it never has turned into anything other than just a ticking noise.