1997 Golf GL

We have a 1997 Golf GL, and have been very happy with it. It's just a smartly designed little car.

- 4 door hatchback. Try and find many of those. We fit about as much stuff in this that people with SUVs and minivans do. The seats fold down and it has a huge area to put cargo. With 4 doors, your friends don't pull a muscle trying to get in and out.
- Short. Fits, honestly, in Compact parking spaces.
- The Little Things. Small slots in the back seats in which to stow the back seatbelt clips when not used, keeping them out of the way of all that cargo loading/unloading. Driver seat adjusts up and down, so it fits both me, 6', and my wife, 5'2".
- Built well. 44K miles so far. Just a couple minor things like Engine light malfunction.
- Engine is pretty good, but you'll hear it work on hills.
- Cons: Alarm bleeps horn whenever locking car, which is annoying in a quiet neighborhood. Normal headlights are too bright (yes we adjusted them) and people think you have brights on. Model with sunroof is too short for tall people (6'), so we got model without sunroof.

Newer models have built on these features.