Hmmm methinks you have no experience of VAG NA engines
2.0 is old and was stupid to put it in the mk4 golf, however in the
ibiza its right at home, very reliable and great fun to drive. Tax in 2001+ models is high, but in mine its a nice £180 does 40mpg and costs me sod all to insure.
1.4 8v's are fine, underpowered maybe but great little work horses, 16v's can be troublesome. I've had 3 1.4 8v's and none of them have given me any major mechanical issues.
1.2's are slow and steady, but in an
ibiza they come cheap with a nice amount of kit and if all your gonna use it for is a town car then its good enough. My mum got a brand spanking
MK4 Ibiza 1.2 SX fully loaded and she loves it to pieces all for £6995. Plus when pushed it makes the best old skool porsche engine noise ever!
VAG's reputation was built on the beetle, then the MK1 and MK2 Golf/Polo's for their bullet proof engineering and involving drive. Yes of late the PD's are what stand out, but they can't of been all that great as they have now been dropped.
The 1.8T is very tunable, but as standard no better than the NA 2.0 16v and not as much fun to 'drive'. Its also riddled with daft little problems like coil packs, MAF sensors and such like.
What do you drive?