If your in USA, Run away as fas as you can

If your in Europe, meh not horrible as they are more popular parts etc. but still not reliable to any extent of the imagination

US diesel emmisions are a nightmare in those.

Don't do it. Volkswagens diesel engines are better than their gasoline engines and Volkswagens manual transmissions are better than their automatic transmissions. But even if you get a diesel with a manual transmission it will still be an endless moneypit.

I would avoid VW personally. They aren't the best built vehicles.

You didn’t say if it’s a primary vehicle or not and what you plan to do with it.  But if you plan to keep it for as long as possible, it’s going to become a money pit over time.  Realize, it’s also all the stuff besides the engine that can fall apart and give you headaches.  Here in the states VW quality is not all that great.  You always have to look at the complete package, not just the engine/transmission.

It depends how long do you want to keep a car. Do not expect it will last as long as 1.9 TDI  one without serious costs, even in Europe.

I have a 2012 VW Golf TDI that I bought before I started listening to Scotty.  I would not recommend one if you can afford to get a Toyota, Honda, etc unless you live somewhere they are extremely popular with lots of mechanics and parts easily gotten.  I do love the car, but here is a bit of the history on it:

Bought it a few years ago with 40K.  Now has almost 80K.  Has a 6 speed manual transmission.  It was made in Germany and not in Mexico so that is a plus hopefully.

Struts went bad at about 50K.  IMO Way too early for struts to go bad.  Spent quite a bit on Koni struts so hopefully wont have to worry about replacing them for a long time.

Two winters ago it had intercooler icing, caused by condensation in the system and driving it on a really cold morning.  Car went into limp mode (limits you to about 40mph) which scared the crap out of me.  Could turn off car and restart to clear limp mode but if I got on the gas too much it went back into limp mode.  Had to carefully take it to the dealer without triggering limp mode.  I thought a fix for it was covered by the emissions fix extended warranty, but nope.  Had to pay for ice removal.  Spent maybe 150 bucks for some covers I put over the grille intake areas on the front of the car in the winter.  No problems since.

Had to buy a OBII scanner called Vag Com that hooks up to a computer just to be able to safely change the fuel filter (fuel filter needs to be changed every 20K).  Cost 200 bucks, but works great and theres a lot of stuff it will do, but so far thats all I use it for.

I'm paranoid of killing the High Pressure Fuel Pump as I've heard many horror stories about it going out.  I use Diesel Kleen every tankful to help ease my worry.

Now, the car does get great mpg and is extremely quick for a little car.  I really enjoy driving it.  And I'll probably never get another because I feel like I worry about it too much.  I do intend to drive it until it truly breaks and then get a manual transmission Toyota Corolla Hatchback.  Hopefully that won't be for a long time, but I'd prefer to have bought something I could just drive and not worry about.

I'm probably forgetting some other things but thats all I can think of right now.  Again, love the car, will drive it till it falls apart, and probably never get another.