My only comment about the Golf/GTi line is this:

They are great fun little cars. But they last exactly ten years and then they start to fall apart, one piece at a time.

The things that started to go wrong with mine at the ten-year mark were all related to individual parts that have about a ten-year lifespan. Generally, little plastic bits that (if longevity had been a design goal) should have been made of metal. For example, a plastic section of the shift linkage that tolerated about ten years of weather before failing, but would still be going strong if it had been made of metal. Or the plastic power-steering fluid reservior that cracked and leaked after ten years.

Those are all just nickel-and-dime things, though. The thing that's always held true for old VW's is that they will nickel-and-dime you to death. I knew this in 1988 when I got my GTi new, but I bought it anyway because it was a fantastically fun car. And I'm glad I did-- I enjoyed that car very much in the 12-or-so years that I owned it.

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Tony Fabris