Hey guys,

I am currently looking to buy a Golf and wondered if you could give me some advice, I’m the first to admit I’m not particularly knowledgeable about cars! I’ve got about £10 000 to spend and have found a 2007 MK5 1.6 FSI Match with 7500 miles for just over £11 000, which seems like quite a reasonable price. What confuses me is the engine variations between the different models, particularly with regard to the varying PS. On a very crude level my understanding is that more BHP or PS means more power (plus a multitude of other things of course). When you look at the specs of similar golf’s they’re as follows (excluding the GT / Blue motion etc engines):

MK5 1.4 80PS
MK5 1.6 FSI 115PS
MK5 1.9 TDI 105PS
New Golf (MK6) 1.4 80PS
New Golf (MK6) 1.6 102PS
New Golf (MK6) 1.4 TSI 122PS
New Golf (MK6) 1.6 TDI 90PS

My questions are:

1)Doesn’t this make the most powerful engines the MK5 1.6 FSI and the MK6 1.4 TSI by quite a long way? Would it be true to say if you could have any of these, the 1.4 TSI is the most powerful? This seems strange to me, although I guess the TSI could do that. Assuming I can’t afford a MK6 then am I right to say the MK5 1.6 FSI is pretty much the one to go for?
2)If you were gonna spend about £10 000 on a Golf now what would you go for? Does £11k for a 2007 MK5 1.6 FSI Match with 7500 sound like a good deal or would you go for something else (I do like the addons you get with the match over the SE)?

Thanks very much for your help guys it’s very much appreciated.

Dave