 This body style is now called the Golf, but a decade ago it was called a Rabbit.  I liked the car, and it put up with a lot of careless use.  I use my cars for short hops, pickup truck-like hauling, and 2000 mile cross-country trips.  I do NOT baby them, and the Rabbit took it all like a champ.  Buyers should be cautious to make sure they are happy with the fit of the driver's seat with respect to the controls, because I experienced a tendency to find myself feeling off-center on long trips.  That is, I didn't feel I was sitting directly in line with the middle of the steering wheel.  I think that was because of a combination of leg length and the rather tight console tunnel placement.  This is designed as an inexpensive VW, so don't expect the best of anything - but I am sure that today's Golf offers some improvements over the rudimentary radio/CD player the Rabbit came with.  The big attraction back then was the Electronic Stability package, which VW was the first to offer at this price point - and that worked great!  If you are a believer in dealer servicing, be prepared for high routine maintenance costs, and be aware you cannot even change the air filter on this car yourself.  My particular car had a few gremlins in it:  the cruise control would sometimes not come on unless I re-booted the car...and I was never sure whether my interval wipers were stopping because the German engineers wanted them to, or because a gremlin wanted them to.  (It didn't make much sense to me that I didn't need a clear windshield if I was stopped at a traffic light, but they quit working nonetheless.)  I considered these all to be minor annoyances, though.  The plastic frame that supports the radiators, headlights and sheet metal at the front end of the car can be broken in very minor collisions or road debris encounters.  That's an expensive fix, and constitutes a real design flaw.  But I suppose other cars of this type have similar drawbacks.  The hatchback would admit an insane amount of cargo, and the car handled great in deep snow as well as deep water and misty-slick pavement.  No engine issues at all.  Tranny required work after 105K of hard use.