It is wonderful ride and the comfort is supreme (second to only a BMW IMO). It is however a guzzler (does approx. 6-8km/l town driving and 10-12km/l out of town) for a 2 litre especially considering that a 2.0 FSI will give you 10-13 km/l in town and 16-17 km/l on the open road.
For reliability, you need to be very careful about the fuel, oil and plugs you give it. Only use the recommended fuel, which depends on where you are buying it from. These can really mess up the whole system especially if the car doesn't like what you put in. It will never break down on you unless you neglect it. Just to warn you, it burns oil pretty rapidly such that you may need to have a change before your next service.
For issues, just pray that you don't get any because they normally have a domino effect. The most issues you will get locally are build-up of carbon in the torque converter, so be prepared to clean it frequently. Also, you will need to service it more regularly than you would want because of the low grade fuels which force the engine to work extra. V-power will not help you.
All in all, it is a high maintenance car. If you are sourcing, get the 2008+ versions. They have some of the issues sort/reduced.