I bought this bad boy back in October of 2003 used with 29K miles on the odometer to use as a daily driver turtle commuter. This is what it looked like when I bought it:
It's been a fun car and has served it's purpose perfectly as a beater car.
The only mechanical problems I've had so far with the Golfy are the front left wheel bearing went at 36K miles, and the drivers side door lock module failed (very common on this model) soon after buying it.
Here is the link from VW Vortex for the DIY to replace the door lock module. The link is extensive, and if you search far enough in the thread, you will find a good, inexpensive source to buy the upgraded door lock module.
My good friend Kris Hansen was kind enough to help out with the replacement of the door lock module at his state of the art shop located in the basement garage of his home.
I must admit, when I first bought the Golfy, the 2.0L engine felt so tame compared to the 2.7T. But, it has some really good low end torque @ 2,600 rpm for city driving.
Mods to this beast of a Golf include the oem CD changer, Monster Mats, Dunlop Graspic DS-1's mounted on the 15" oem steelies with MK IV VW Jetta hub caps for winter, and Dunlop SP 5000's mounted on oem 15" 5 spoke alloys for summer.

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