I've had the Golf before, and it was "OK"..I got mine b/c it was the TDI, the only way to go b/c it's the only diesel in it's class making it unusual and worth the money.
I liked the diesel, the MPG...the mechanical nature of the thing..but the rest of the car really wasn't that special. This notion of "German engineered" being somehow superior is a lot of arrogance (and unjustified) marketing hype. And MT naming it COTY is about as useful as my uncle Bill's generalizations about his one Buick. Folks who drive cars and write about them yet don't own them and have vastly different criteria for desirability offer generally useless assessments, entertaining, perhaps, but not much else.
If you drive the VW and like it, buy it. Not b/c it's somehow "better"...it's not, all cars today arejust so basically "good" it comes down to personal preference, not engineering excellence..I'd recommend doing that test drive in the evening when its dark, so the visuals are muted allowing you to really focus on the driving experience.
One of my new rides is the (5 speed) Fiesta, and it is simply superb...and $14000.