well golfs suck in automatic, those germans could never get it right, other than that they're very reliable. the honda civic gets better gas mileage. unless you get the golf tdi (diesel) that gets like 3 times the amount of mileage than the civic, but you may have trouble starting it in winter, i dont know how cold, if it all, your winters get. besides that i would call insurance comapre quotes, and see whats more affordable for you. also if they come out to being the same price, more or less, just choose which suits you best. or which you like best (personally i like the vw, damn nice!)