The departed: Volkswagen Scirocco

A moment's silence, please, for our long-term Scirocco, which is finally going to meet its maker. Don't get me wrong, the 'Rocco hasn't died on us — it's just going back to Volkswagen this week. This means now is the right time to reflect on the little VW's pluses and minuses, although it doesn't have many of the latter.

If you have been following my exploits with the Scirocco, you will know by now how I love its hot hatch handling and astonishing 207bhp 2.0-litre TSI engine. Perhaps you also know how this little car has transformed me.

Being a rear-drive purist, I didn't care much for the Vee Dub when it first arrived. I mean, what proper driver's car has front-wheel drive? But within a few days it won me over with its cheeky brilliance. And now after spending a few months with it, I can say with conviction that this is one of the best all-round cars you can buy today. It looks epic (although I still don't think it's a coupé), drives and handles fantastically and costs just over Dh110,000. Despite serious nit-picking, the only problems we could spot — and it took the collective might of the wheels team — were the cleverly concealed bits of cheap plastic in the cabin and the hypersensitive electronic key that locked me out of the car for an entire day.

A few weeks later, I discovered the launch control mode and that meant torturous standing starts three times a day. Even though this was exceedingly harsh on the transmission, I never got a warning light asking me to stop driving like a fool.

For all the punishment we meted out, the Scirocco never put a foot wrong. Never let us down. The only other slight problem was a sticky electric door mirror — also an issue with our long-term Touareg.

I have limited time with the VW and as you would expect I intend to make the most of it. Rest assured, the feisty Scirocco won't go quietly into the night.

Facts