Looking for a FWD Daily rain beater. Most likely a VW. VW people chime in with info

[handsome.garage]

As title states, I'm going to be looking for a FWD daily soon since its almost rainy season. Most likely a VW, since Toyota doesn't have anything that appeals to me in mass quantities, meaning the cool FWD cars Toyota does have are hard to find. This is going to be in the USA if that matters since we have some international members.

Reason is yesterday I got a sample of how gay the rain is going to be. When it does happen on constant basis its going to suck.. Every turn I drove through last night no matter how slow my car would step out... Its super irritating having to be cautious wherever I go in rainy weather.

Now I'm looking into the MK1 - 3 Golfs. What I need to know FIRST AND FOREMOST is which generations had 4 doors in the USA, I am a 4 door kind of person and this is a must.

My questions are how reliable are the motors (ie any common problems with them), is there any common electrical problems within the generations, any other faults, how suspension setup is and which ones came EFI I don't want to deal with carbs anymore/again.

I know I can google this stuff, but I'd rather have straight forward facts/opinions from people who dealt with these cars. Instead of wasting time searching for everything.

Thanks.

[mpower5266]

I think the 1st gens are rabbits I believe and they had 4 doors, all golfs are available with 4 doors as well.

[SeanDub]

Do work

[Zack01GC]

My buddy has had a 2002 Jetta 2.0 5 spd, and a 2002 Jetta GLI VR6 6 spd. I have nothing bad to say about either car, the 24v VR just has a boatload more power. He never had a problem with either, but kept up on maintenance.

A car with a VR6 is well worth the extra money over a 2.0 or a 1.8T. The 2.0 is just painfully underpowered stock, and the 1.8T has a lot of reliability issues and other problems (in my own personal experience.) This is all MK4 talk. I would still love a MK3 with a VR6.

[handsome.garage]

I see thanks for the info guys. Anyone else care to chime in? Not looking for anything fast or power for that matter, thats what I have my Cressida for.

[Tuck&Poke]

i had a 2001 mk4 jetta 2.0 5spd, ticked like a clock, only thing that went bad were the o2 sensors, i even ran it with no oil accidentally one day. I currently have a 1.8t passat which has a very similar motor to the 1.8t in the mk4 jetta/gti. Never had an issue with the motor, nothings ever broken, its never needed anything out of the ordinary, no electrical issues, it doesn't burn oil, nada. Thats pretty impressive to me after 109K miles.

All the US golfs had 4 doors available, from the mk1 to the mk4. What was limited though was engine options, like 1.8t 4dr's are rare, there are no vr6 4dr's unless its been swapped. The mk5 is the first time the 4dr GTI makes it to the states. I dont know what else to add, the cars vary depending on generation, and theres alot of changes within generations. Are you gonna keep this stock, do you wanna slam it or anything?

[Byron]

get good tires and drive rwd

[Russell_G]

rabbits and mk1s are only cool in 2 door mk2 only 8v 1.8 offered in 4door If you get an mk2 and plan on a swap get 89.5 and newer for ce2 wiring. The mk3 4 door is ok and mk4 4dr has tons of room. Im a VR and tdi guy so i would stay away from anything but those.

[BADwayz]

FWD is for the gays, but if it's a must have requirement, Passat or Audi wagon is winner winner chicken dinner