An Audi is probably the only other car I'd consider. The new S3 looks really nice.
I've had no probs with my GTI so far, and I owned my last GTI for 9 years with minimal issues. I've read on the American VW forums of people having all sorts of shit go wrong with their cars, maybe you guys get all the lemons or something. Or maybe you should take your girlfriend's car to a proper mechanic?
Fucking bullshit. I just wrote out this really long rant and my browser froze when I went to post it. Oh well.
Long story short, I did take it to a mechanic, 4 times. First time he told me it was her plug wires, second time it was her O2 sensor, third time it was her coil pack. I changed them all myself because they are all easy to change. Once the light came on for the 4th time I was super pissed and bitched them out and decided to research it myself. I figured out that one of the causes for the malfunction indicator light had something to do with the thermostat and/or housing. So unbolted the housing and wouldn't you know it, the housing had a crack in it and I'm a fucking genius.
I took the housing back to VW to get a new one and a new thermostat just incase. Once I put it all back together the light went off and it was all back to normal. I decided to drive the car a bit to make sure it was ok and about 2 minutes into the drive the coolant light comes on. I'm like wtf? I know the coolant level was fine what is going on? So I do a u-turn real fast and as I'm driving back to my apartment I see this trail of liquid drops as I enter the parking lot. It trailed all the way to the parking stall my girl's car was in and I knew something was fucked.
So I took the housing apart again and figured out that o-ring, which acts like a seal between the engine block and the housing was too small and it was leaking like a sieve. So now I had to take it back to VW, again, for the 5th fucking time and I exploded on those people. I told their shop manager he should fire his entire crew and hire me instead because I figured out what the problem was and I have ZERO mechanic training.
Eventually I got all the right parts and it purrs like a kitten.
Fuck VW and their mechanics.
Anyways, right now I'm trying to figure out why her car keeps blowing tail lights like there's no tomorrow.