I've only owned Mk4s the last few years. I was a Mk3/B4 guy before that. The mk4 is worlds more refined, smoother, quieter, easier to mod, doesn't leak so much, door handles and window regulators don't break so frequently.. I mean, mk4 regulators used to break all the time, but they've gotten that well sorted.
Mk4s for me are at that sweet spot. I'm cheap. I'd much rather purchase a car for next to nothing due to its age and neglect and then treat it as a blank canvas to make it whatever I want. Most of it is bound to be tired, so make the suspension awesome, put in better seats, more modern factory radio with bluetooth and other more modern features, upgrade the engine and clutch and motor on.
It's also that sweet spot of it has just enough convenience features and tweakability without being too overly reliant on a centralized computer system for the electronics. It was the start of things heading that direction, but before it got so crazy that even light bulbs had to pass through a computer's control. The wiring diagrams are also much easier to trace due to this reason. Less "factory magic" voodoo happening and I can easily trace power and ground sources for most things.
Plus, out here at least, they are plentiful in Pick n Pulls for a cheap source of all kinds of parts to make your car better.
Most of the mechanical work on these cars is also pretty simple and easy to do, maybe partly because I've done it all so repeatedly on mk4s.
Sure, newer cars have a superior chassis and better interiors and more features, but these just have that combination of being still decent in all those departments, but at the same time simpler to deal with.
