u/Lowriskplease

I'm starting to look for a new car and the golf gti looks to check a lot of boxes for me.

We have a Crosstrek that was recently written off. It was a little more than we needed (cargo wise) and I'd like something a little more fun but still with handy cargo space.

With a budget around 25k cdn/18k USD what model years should I look at in that price range and also reliable?

I'm leaning towards a manual. Especially with extra maintenance I've heard with the dsg.

I drove about 3000-5000km per year.

Any years to avoid?