In reply to pres589:
Pick up a 2.0L or TDI VWAG car and they can be quite reliable. I have an 03 Golf that I have been DDing and I am quite happy with it. Get a VW specific code reader, I picked one up for $55 and clear the codes. You can routinely find them with over 300k miles on them still going strong. They key is to avoid the heavily optioned ones.
Stay away from the 1.8T as they cook everything under the hood and don't buy ANY B5 product and they aren't as bad as the rumours.
They are a pleasant car to drive. I was coming out of a bugeye WRX and the Golf is a bank vault compared to the Subaru. 115hp isn't going to be a thrill but for a DD, it's enough.
Mine was $2k with roughly 80k miles and it cost me $300 in parts to get safetied. So for $2300 I have a nice DD that should be able to be driven by my 11 year old when I buy a Focus RS in 5 years!
