Volkswagen Bora (1999 - 2006) Car Review

THE BOOT’S COSMETIC COUNTER

Our Rating: 6.3 / 10

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Americans and Europeans rarely see eye to eye on matters of automotive taste. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the comparative sales of Volkswagen Boras and Golfs. The Yanks can’t get enough of the booted Bora, outselling the hatchback Golf three to one, yet over here the trickle of Boras leaving Volkswagen showrooms is engulfed by the tidal wave of Golf variants. So much for the cultural discourse, but how does this impact on the used buyer? It basically means that if you’ve no objection to having a boot, a used Bora will be in less demand than the equivalent Golf. Therefore, it will be cheaper, enabling you to save significant sums whilst still benefiting from the Volkswagen ownership package that has proved so successful of late. A Volkswagen for Ford money? That’s about the size of it.

History

Booted Golfs go back a long way. The Jetta was the first, a car with a boot so large it looked like it was trying to claw its way up the rear window and engulf the rest of the car. To be able to proceed without dragging its posterior along the Queen’s highway when the boot was full, Volkswagen chose to equip the Jetta with rear springs apparently made from a solid billet of steel, thus giving a teeth-shatteringly firm ride. Resultant sales were minimal. The Vento came next, with its more sophisticated suspension. Unfortunately, with its grotesquely distended rear end, it resembled something in a pickling jar at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. It too sold mainly to police forces and to human traffickers with a soft spot for quality fit and finish.

It wasn’t until the introduction of the Bora in 1999 that Volkswagen proved that a Golf with a boot could be a genuinely attractive proposition. Based on the Golf Mk IV, the Bora was, if anything, even prettier than its hatchback sibling, especially in plusher guises. Initially available with five engines, three petrols and two diesels, the Bora had an uphill task on its hands to convert buyers who were passionate for parcel shelves. The petrol engines were all tried and tested Golf units, kicking off with a 100bhp 1.6, with the ubiquitous 115bhp 2.0-litre unit and the oddball 150bhp V5 supporting it. Surprisingly, there was no place in the Bora range for Volkswagen’s ‘default’ 1.8-litre engine in either normally aspirated or turbocharged guise. Diesel buyers had the choice of two 1.9-litre direct injection turbo diesel engines, one with 110bhp, boasting Volkswagen’s innovative Pump Duse technology, the other with 90bhp, not boasting Volkswagen’s innovative Pump Duse technology. Both were well received, and the 110bhp PD engine received a small power boost to 115bhp in October 1999, with a five-speed automatic tiptronic gearbox option being offered shortly after. This engine was in turn replaced by a 130bhp TDi unit in 2001,

Opinion

Despite being pigeonholed as merely a booted Golf, this description sells the Bora short, both literally and figuratively. Volkswagen’s compact family four-door now has its own identity; the boldly styled front end, flared wheel arches and a lopped-off, chunky rear all make an aggressive fashion statement that has much more street cred than any Golf. Certainly, most will agree that the resulting profile is sharp enough – in up-market forms at least – to make the car a real quality alternative to lower order 3 series saloons, A4s and 156s.

Nor is the Bora much smaller than these two rivals. As we’ve suggested, it sits on the same platform as the Golf, but there are some big differences between the pair. A nine-inch advantage in length over the hatchback gives it one obvious advantage - load space. Luggage capacity is an impressive 16cu ft - almost 50 percent more than a Golf. With the back seats folded, this rises to a cavernous 28cu ft - enough for three or four sets of golf clubs or anything else you may need to carry around. All versions get Volkswagen's 12-year anti-corrosion warranty and comprehensive 12-month overall cover and trim levels are much as you’d find on the company’s other mainstream models – which means a range from S to SE and Sport. Standard features on all trim levels include air conditioning, anti-lock brakes, power assisted steering, twin airbags plus front seat side airbags, electric windows and door mirrors and central locking.

The SE and Sport models add remote central locking, an automatic dimming rear view mirror, a windscreen wiper rain sensor, a trip computer and an alarm. They also get slightly larger, 16-inch wheels, provided in the form of racy alloys on the Sport, a trim level that also entitles you to grippy sports seats and a CD autochanger. If that’s not enough, optional extras include a satellite navigation system and electrically adjustable seats with memory facility. In a bid to compete against more upmarket German rivals,

Cost

If the Bora was a lager it would be reassuringly expensive, with values starting at £3,000 for a 1999 T-plated 1.6 S. Though this is by no means cheap, it still represents a comparative bargain, being £500 cheaper than an equivalent Golf. You’ll need to fork out another £300 for an SE specification, and another £100 on top of that for an SE automatic. Opt for a Bora 2.0-litre and that same 1999 T-plate will cost £3,400 in SE trim and only slightly more for a Sport. If four cylinders don’t appeal, a 150bhp V5 starts at £3,500, or just under £4,000 with an automatic box. The 170bhp V5 and 4motion models are rare in the used arena, so compare and contrast values on a car-by-car basis, as prices will fluctuate wildly. Diesel power starts at around £3,200 for a 90bhp S, and another £200 for an SE. The excellent 110bhp cars start at just under £3,500 for SE spec and £4,500 for Sport trim with the 130bhp models coming in at £5,500 on Y plates.

Problems?

Whilst not quite up there with the likes of Toyota and Subaru in customer satisfaction surveys, Volkswagen have an impressive reliability record and the Bora range has yet to spawn any significant faults. Despite failing to pip the Japanese in terms of ultimate reliability, no oriental rival can even approach the Bora’s bulletproof feel-good factor. Soft touch, rubber and leather Audi-ness has seeped into every pore of the car and it feels unremittingly substantial. When buying used, look for a decent service record and check the obvious things like panel fit and so on. Boras have never proved particularly popular with the light-fingered fraternity, but it may well pay to get an HPI check, especially on suspiciously affordable examples. Despite the addition of more powerful models, the Bora has cultivated a mature image that deters boy racers, the flipside of which is a handful of hard-treated ex-fleet cars. Otherwise a used Bora is a sound and surprisingly cost-effective buy.

Parts

(approx based on a 1999 Bora 1.6 SE ex Vat) Cue for some sharp intakes of breath. An exhaust system with catalyst is about £730. A clutch assembly will be around £180 and an alternator should be close to £600. Brake pads front and rear are about £50 and £35 respectively whilst a starter motor retails at around £120.

Road

Despite its sports saloon pretensions, the Bora never really feels alive in the same way as an Alfa Romeo 156. The additional weight of all that silicon-damped, auto-dimming, rain sensing, wax-injected quality has dulled the Bora’s senses somewhat. Despite this, Volkswagen have managed to cherry-pick the best engines from the Golf range and leave behind the duffers like the 1.4 and 1.8-litre units. Even the base 1.6-litre Bora is respectably refined, but becomes a bit self-conscious when shown a corner. The most popular compromise in the petrol range is the manual 2.0-litre Sport, which reaches 60mph in 11 seconds on the way to 121mph, performance figures which would leave owners with the prospect of getting acquainted with a receding vie