'03 Sport TDI 5 door...still love it, but:
rear washer
problem - once. They recommended we ensure that there was really good de-icer in the windscreen washer...no idea if it made any difference but it hasn't happened again...yet
headlights also mist up.
Both headlight bulbs went suddenly at around two years, only sidelights came on. Reckon it's unlikely that would happen "naturally" - cost me £26 (not impressed!) because I thought it was a fault and they reckoned wear and tear.
Since the car was two and a half years old I have had problems with the aircon. It can do cold - "lo" and it can do "hot" - so anything from 18C-24C comes out as 28C! The fan is also very confused, it blasts out air then cuts out, then blasts it and cuts out again. At the 3 year service they replaced a part , said it was one of the fans not working (they took the dash off), but it's no different now. I could not afford to go back there as the dealer is not nearby so I left it. I'm due a 4 year service in July but it's now out of warranty and going to be expensive to fiddle with the air con.
Because of the air-con
problem, the CD unit gets hot and won't eject the CDs until they have cooled down. It tries to eject and then displays "mechanic" on the screen. CDs also jump if the unit heats up. Again, I asked them to look at this at the last service and they couldn't find anything because it only does it when the unit is warm from the air con
problem! To be honest, this one annoys me because the old 1.4 estilo
Ibiza I had before used to get hot too and wouldn't play tapes, so I know it is almost a 'design feature' - ie naff design. Any long journeys and after an hour or so I am stuck with the radio unless I turn the aircon off completely.
Also, you describe a knock when reversing, I have experienced that but I get more a squeaaaak if I reverse - i think it's only when I am steering, usually more prominent when it's wet, like I have my foot on a worn brake. One guy even told me "get your foot off the brake" when i wasn't even on it so it sounds like that to others too.