Thanks for all the advise! Hopefully I'm not developing a German car superiority complex. If someone wanted to race, I'd say "sure, let me go get my other car."
I have lurked around a bit on the VW forums but it's sometimes hard to get the honest truth from enthusiasts. Qball outlined most of what I have heard.
1) Stay away from the dealership!
2) Parts availability can sometimes be an issue
3) I've noticed they are very polarizing. People tend to either have great luck, like the diesel rabbit with over 1/2 a million miles, or you'd think buying a VW was the worst thing that ever happened in their life.
BTW, the Corrado (along with the original GTI) were the first VWs I really liked.