Golf 1.8t, Jetta TDI or Passat 2.5?

[judge]

Greetings all,

I have a chance to trade in my Passat 2.5 with 17,000km on it with no negative equity on a...

1. New 2015 trendline Golf with leather steering wheel.
2. 2014 trendline Jetta TDI with leather steering wheel.

For US owners.. trendline loosly translates as "poor person's" or "should have paid more attention in school" edition...lol

Heres the scenario.

I have a new kid (1 total), and no fluffy pet creatures.

Problem number 1.

I need to cart around a big BOB stroller, and crap to go to niagara on weekends.

The numbers suggest.. and oddly... that the jetta has the smallest trunk at 15.5 cubic feet, the passat is slightly larger and flatter at 15.9 and the golf is at 16.5??? So the golf has more trunk space than my passat?

Need some help on this it does not seem right, although awsome for golf/gti guys that need to convince thier females that a golf/gti is required for a growing family.

Problem number 2.

VW turbo problems... which evil is better

1. the golf 1.8t gdi super duper carbonizer engine
2. the jetta tdi dpf/mechtronics nightmare.

The jetta is $10 dollars more per month.

(probably for the first time in VW history my passat 2.5/6spd auto may be the most trouble free...lol)

Which is the right move?

Note.. my passat should go for undisclosed reasons.

 

[irondwill]

the golf/ gti trunk is oriented more vertically than the jetta/ passat. This works well to accomodate many things - like maybe a large stroller - but has a smaller horizontal footprint compared to sedans. The back seat drops 60/40 if you need even more room and still accommodate a child seat.

I don't really know about the various turbo quirks of previous models - I've owned a 2001 Mk4 Golf and now a 2015 Mk7 GTI. The 1.8T in the Golf held up for many years with a few expensive electronic problems (coils, air sensors, etc) and eventually a vacuum system problem. Still, I got 14 years of city driving out of it, so on balance it was a pretty decent car.