Foolkiller, nice car you got, a Golf. The brand-new model, I suppose? What's your opinion on the styling?
Yeah, I guess I should have said 2007.
I love the styling. It looks a little sportier than previous models just because it is more rounded around the edges and the lines just have a "goes fast" kind of look to them. Plus the VW badge as the hatch release, while cheesy, is kind of cool.
The interior styling is incredible. Everything is laid out almost perfectly for me and even with the two door I watched the dealer, who stood over six feet, climb in the back and sit comfortably with plenty of extra head room. The stick shift is a nice ball shape that feels great and everything appears solid.
The interior really shows at night as the gauges light up with blue numbrs and all the buttons light up in red. Then just to be sure I can see there is red ambient lighting that comes from the ceiling.
I guess the biggest difference that I see is that this model looks like it should be going fast. I remember the first time I tried taking off on a Golf to get ahead of it. It was a TDI and just by looking at it I thought I could handle it (this was before I was heavily into cars, obviously). My car friend riding with me told me I couldn't do it, but I tried anyway thinking I could beat that boxy looking thing (nevermind that I was in a hand-me-down Buick). Well, the guy in the Golf saw what I was doing and just took off, leaving me way behind. That was when my love for VWs began. I realized they are much more than they appear.
This new model looks like it should be going fast. I've actually seen two people walk around my car in the parking lot at work (I park where I can see it from my desk). I hit the lock button on my key fob just so it beeps at them once and they know I am watching, but there is a Jetta and two Golfs at work and no one even gives them a second glance. Between teh design and teh pricing this model is gaining some attention and I imagine that if teh reliability holds out with most of the manufacturing moving back to Germany that this will become a very popular car.
I checked out a Yaris, the Fit, a Civic, a used Corolla, and a used Mazda 3. For the Yaris and Fit I tried adding options to make them at least close to the base Rabbit but the price went over every time. If it had been cheaper I might have forgiven that they had almost no power left after hitting 60mph unless you were willing to rev the engine. Last night a guy was going slow in front of me and so I changed lanes and barely pushed on the gas and it was like "hop" 10mph faster without realizing it. The Mazda3 was teh hatchback and was the closest to the Rabbit, and my second choice, but a used 2005 cost just as much as the Rabbit and had less features.
Of course, all the safety features that come in a VW made my insurance only go up from a used hunk of junk by $12 a month. So, that helped immensely in the decision making process as well.
Anyway, if anyone is looking for a sports hatch I will recommend the Rabbit every time at this point. If I can get some major miles with little problems then I will probably own VWs for life.
Well, I have a three foot tall stuffed Bullwinkle that I won at Cedar Point about 10 years ago and I always keep him strapped into the center of my backseat just for laughs. Well, when I put him in my car this weekend I was able to stand up slightly bent in the back floor board while putting him in. I imagine a child seat won't be too much more work and an actual child will only be a hassle if they are hyper, but no sized car will matter then. After doing that I decided to actually sit in my won backseat (I'm driving, why do I care?) and realized I had to slump way down before my knees hit the front seat. I'm 5'7", so average sized adults shouldn't have a problem. 
@ the second and last pic
