I know what you are saying WhiteGTI. I wasn't trying to say that the MK5 Golf was the best car at everything in it's sector. If that were the case, there would be no need for a MK6, and no one would buy anything but a Golf. I have friends that have Focus ST's, Megane Sports and Astra VRX's. They all love them and I'm sure they are all great cars.
The thread really wasn't meant to be "our cars are the best in the world", just do we find it a reliable car, or did VW's game slip with the MK5 ? From my experiences (and the replies on here), I would say that it's certainly no worse than many of it's comtempories, but also maybe no better ?