My First Car - Golf or Jetta
 

I'm buying my first car soon, and I like the VW Golf and Jetta. During my research, I have heard there are or were problems with the automatic transmission and that 5-speed manual is the only way to go with VW. Can any VW automatic owners provide some insight and share positive and negative experiences please? I have nothing against learning to drive manual, but I would rather learn on someone else's car before learnign on mine. What is the worst that can happen if I don't time the clutch and shifting correctly?

Worst case scenerio you grind gears..Learn on your own car. Its easy. 10min out there with a 5spd and you'll be fine..

Stay away from automatics..

golf is sick it was my 1st car still have it but make sure you buy 1.8t or gti not 2.0 like me(made a mistake) its still good. Anyway you can learn to drive on a golf i did it wont take long just dont burn the clutch.

Ya, if you plan on modding get a 1.8t


MK4s are a joke to drive, the stock clutch is extremely forgiving. The autos are garbage and no fun to drive, especially on the 1.8t

The golf and jetta are built of the same basic platform so just pick what you like better.

its all up to the body style you want but get a mk2 they are cheep and light and parts are cheep if you want one that goes fast try to find one with a vr6 the 8v 4clyenders are slooooooowwwww but its all up to you

are you looking to buy new or used?

I would recommend at a manual Golf. Relatively cheap to fix, and fun to drive. Besides you can jam a huge amount of stuff in the back with the seats down.
Had a '92 Golf and replaced the original clutch at 230k. Currently have a '03 gti, with 130k, still original clutch. You can't go wrong with a manual VW that's been maintained properly.

Re: My First Car - Golf or Jetta
 

Agreed, Im also in the market to buy a VW. Once i sell my integra (hopefully) VWs are solid and reliable cars and can be tuned and boosted on the stock engine just fine. Just got to find a nicely maintained VW first.

Re: My First Car - Golf or Jetta
 

I think selling a teg for a vw is a mistake.

Re: My First Car - Golf or Jetta
 

why would you say that? i was selling because id like a nice 4 door. Was looking at the Mazdaspeed line too. now im really 2nd guessing....

Re: My First Car - Golf or Jetta
 

answered your pm.... but will say here i still think a teg is more bang for the buck, easier on the pocket to maintain, tons of aftermarket which is also cheap.

screw the VW :)