Anonymous asked: I don't know much about cars, I'll say that right now. I might even say I know NOTHING about cars. I've watched Top Gear once or twice, that's about it. What I'm wondering is...would a used Golf GTI be a good first car? I'm wondering what to look out for...i.e., are there any particular model years that are better/worse than the others? Thanks for taking the time out to help me.

its really hard to say what model years are better/worse than others because honestly, they all have problems, but i guess you could say mk5s because they haven’t had enough time to develop as many problems. personaly (stephen) i would recommend a mk3 or a mk4, i drive a mk3 and it has plenty of issues, but i’ve yet to have to take it to a shop to fix those issues. also my friends all have mk4s and i know they work on them by themselves with little problem and i’ve helped tear a mk4 GTI apart and it isn’t too hard.

honestly though, any volkswagen you buy, you kind of have to buy with the expectation that there will be problems. what works best with volkswagens is to do a lot of research, learn a lot about your car and be able to do a lot of the work on your own or with help and to try and avoid the dealership because i think as most would agree, they will rip you off.

it really is just hard to say what model would be the best to buy for a gti, but i mean my second car was and still is a 98 mk3 gti and as much as i say i hate that car, i still do love it. for instance, the other week one night i was sitting at a light and smoke just started coming out of my dash, next day i pull all my gauges out and i can’t even smell anything or see any sign of damage and it hasn’t happened since.

i guess i wouldn’t say no to someone if they asked me if they should buy a golf or more specifically a gti for their first car. but check out vwvortex.com, all we ask though is that you browse and learn a lot before posting, because if you know how to search that site, you can pretty much find whatever you need to know