My second vehicle was a MKIII GTI. It was a fun car, but it was a nightmare at the same time. I was fixing it every other week. I lost 5th gear once because of a plastic clip in the shift linkage. I had to order the part and it took over a month to get here. Sure there is a large aftermarket following, but that comes at a higher cost.
A couple of my friends own MKIV's ... they are cool cars, but they are pigs, don't handle very well (stock), and the 1.8t is complete garbage. If you were talking about any year R32, or the newer 2.0T, you would have me sold already. I can also add that the Audi and VW techs that I know, I only know two of them however, would talk you out of that car for sure, especially if you don't know its service history.
As far as the P5 goes. Yes its slow, no the interior isn't the nicest but it is layed out nice. I can honestly say it is my favorite vehicle I have owned. It is somewhat rare since it was only sold in the U.S. for two years, so it still turns heads. People still ask me what it is, most people think its a 3, and at this point I stopped correcting them. It is reliable, I'm only at 170,000 miles, and no major problems yet. As far as the ABS, leather, sunroof... The only one I would want of the group is the sunroof. I live in Florida.... leather + 100 or more degree heat, no thank you. ABS.... not if you want to autoX....
I'm sure I could keep going if I wanted to, But I will stop there. As you can see, my biased opinion goes to the Mazda
