not owned a mk2 but i owned a 3 nd a 4 nd i cant fault my mk3 it just kept on goin no matter what u do to it even if u starved it of diesel! but im not bein biased but the mk4 is a better car than the mk3 both in build quality and how it drives, bt the mk3 is better looking (apart from r32). (This is comparing completely standard cars!)