I know what you are saying about reliability. VW has a terrible reputation for reliability. But FWIW, back in the day, I owned a 1994 Jetta GLI and had no problems in 4 years of ownership. And my dad has a 2000 Jetta VR6 that has nearly 100K miles and has had no problems to this day. It still looks great and is very fun to drive.
Before I bought my 330i, I tested the new GLI among others and really enjoyed it. The turbo kicks in so quick that it would make a terrific commuting car. But VW's reliability reputation scared me off despite my own good experience with VW. If I bought a lemon, I'd never forgive myself.
