^ but thats not what i said. It always comes down to personal choice.
What i was saying was depreciation and holding its value was
NOT a reason to buy the golf as it
will cost you more in pound notes in depreciation than any of its rivals. % values don't tell the story. Which you agreed with.
I keep my own personal cars for ever and a day. The wife does not but i do (she likes to keep up with the jones i think lol) The mk1 i have had for 20 years now!! . So depreciation is not a reason for me to buy my own cars. Hers it comes into consideration. She pinched my mk5 and won't give it back

So i had to replace it.

. I looked at used mk5 GTIs but as shown on these types of forums how there get treated i did not want a thrashed car. I nearly bought one of the last R32 for ~30% off but i held back beacuse it was not really me and i was thinking VW would do the same with the stock of mk5 GTIs but they did not.
I picked the mk6 because it ticks the boxes i had listed. It cost me more than i would have liked (far far more than our mk5 GTI(18K)) but it ticked the boxes of things i was looking for in a car. Could i have had a better car or badge for the money yes. I could have had the equivelent Audi for example for much less ~11% off rrp than the golf cost, i could have had the S3 for little more over the GTIs due to the discount on the audis but the GTI ticked more boxes for me overall in the case of the S3 that was steering, fuel economy, less complicated drivetrain and in 5door shape better looking.