well, as a vw tech, i can say that there are good apples and bad apples when it comes to vw. the only way to really pick a vw out is to go with the vibes. if you don't get good vibes, run! these cars give off energy i'm convinced. i've been lucky thus far and not had to deal with a potential lemon situation...i don't know if i'd be as nice as you've been with it.
if you want a car that's dead-nuts reliable 99.9% of the time under any circumstance, will never leave you stranded, and does everything quite acceptably, then hell yeah, buy a honda. i've got a 1994 acura integra with almost 300k on it, and it runs as good as new. i don't foresee it breaking down anytime soon...not before 400k anyways.
for some of us though, there is no substitute for german engineering. we can live with the quirks (though when your car spends more time in the dealer's garage then yours, it's time to run for the hills). we can deal with the small idiosyncracies that make up vw as a company. we don't mind a recall here and there...means vw is improving the products.
however, you have people like me who love both sides (and yes, you can love both sides...it's called being open). i LOVE the way my integra handles and feels. to me, it feels (and handles) like a go-kart, it gets great mileage, has plenty of power, and has never let any of its 3 owners down. i do LOVE my jetta as well. it's got gobs of torque, it eats asphalt like whitney houston eats crack rocks on a binge, the exhaust note is enough to make my jeans get tight when i stomp on it, and the mk3 bodystyle is timeless. each car does something extremely well, and much better than the other car. for me, nothing beats double wishbone rear suspension, which is something honda has perfected over the years...this is why the integra will eat alive the mk3 down the backroads. however, once you get the car straightened out...vr power baby! vw's are known for high-torque motors, even in the 4-cylinders, and the vr6 is NO exception to that. it's a double-edged sword, and i could go on about things that EACH company does better than the other, but that is a different thread entirely.
no matter which way you go, your car isn't going to be perfect. no car is. if there were perfect cars, i'd be out of a job (and that would suck
). the trick is to find a car that does what YOU need it to do, and make sure it does it reliably, regardless of make or model.
i wish you the best of luck david, if there is anything i can do as a vw tech, please let me know...whether it be an explanation of any work being done, or just a friendly face.