VW quality hit an astonishing low in '99 when the first Mexican Golf/Jettas rolled off the line but they've been improving ever since. I have just under 5k on my new Jetta TDI (manual) and my only complaint so far are a few rattles in the dash near the radio. This is a far cry better than my last two Subarus.
BTW the VW has a 4/50k warranty vs. the Subie's 3/36k.