I love the styling of this car. I've recently added the factory spoiler and it really brings out the rear of the car. The front end styling is my personal favorite, the headlight, upper and lower grilles match together flawlessly in a sporty modern way that has aged really well with newer models. The car's 1.9 Liter turbo charged diesel engine will surprise you with it's great low end torque, which provides at peak around 200FWTQ if you really push it. The car's overall acceleration is good between 0-50MPH but at any higher speed, the car does seem a little slower when moving through traffic at 60MPH. The car is also very fun to drive with the low end power, providing great commuting. The deal breaker vs other cars in its class, though, is you get all that power but all that power doesn't come at a cost for fuel. I average 42-43 MPG with this car and couldn't be happier. (Keep in mind, it is a diesel standard vehicle!) The car's interior is very well designed but the cheap plastic materials do not age well. Also the silver sticker trim along the door handles has faded over the years I've owned the car. There is one big con for shorter drivers though, the dash shoots up around the steering wheel and can block view for shorter drivers. The cars style has aged very well with minimal repair except for the suspension which is very squeaky even with factory VW parts installed. The car has been in the shop twice with rather pricey maintenance because the car requires specialty tools for the timing belt, tensioner and water pump which I later acquired after the second timing belt change. Each service for the timing belt and water pump ran around $780 dollars by a European Auto Shop, keep in mind you will have a hard time finding regular mechanic shops wanting to work on a diesel. Fuel additive is also necessary for this vehicle which is an additional cost to already expensive diesel fuel. Oil changes are recommended to be synthetic further increasing the cost of maintenance. Overall the car has been very reliable, 175k miles on the original engine and 5 speed manual transmission.

Overall, the 1995 VW Golf was a reliable car, and excellent in wet weather or snowy conditions. It was small, and not the most comfortable to drive. However, the driving experience was pretty great, and it was easy to fall for this little car. Despite it's compact size, this car was very good looking. Perhaps 'handsome' is a better description. All in all, I truly enjoyed every driving experience with the Golf. It was the maintenance and repairs that forced me to give it up.