Volkswagen is a German made brand headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen means, "People's car" in German. The makers of the car had stood third in spending for R&D as in 2011. It is among the top 3 cars amongst the list of 10 which is considered as the best seller of all time. It was formed in the year 1937 by the Nazi trade union. This car has been a symbol of style and status since the time of Hitler. One of the famous Volkswagen car brand is the Porsche which was also used by the Germen Dictator Hitler. The common man has always desired the car since it was formed. They used to acquire this with the assistance of various schemes offered by the dealers. The Volkswagen has seen a lot of technological and appearance change since its birth. It also stood as a sign of West Germany's regeneration after the World war-II was over. Since the 1970's we see the Volkswagen Passat, Golf, Volkswagen New Beetle and Polo hitting the road with more style. The fifth generation car is known as Volkswagen Jetta.
The 6th generation car is called the Volkswagen Golf and you also have the Volkswagen Tiguan. The Volkswagen Golf won the world car of the year in 2013. With such a rich and famous past, this car ranks among the top most desired cars in the world. The company has a worldwide presence, which expanded from its native Germany. You can avail this car and it's repairing services anywhere in the world today. It's a world renowned brand, which does not require any introduction. You will come across several repairing and restoring services online, which offer pick and drop for the vehicles from your place for the regular repair. These company's have their own workshop which can be visited by the clients, for discussing the issues faced by the vehicle in details. They have experienced technicians who are experts in repairing Volkswagens, both old and new ones alike. These companies often offer servicing at a better rate than the market price. You can ask them for a free quote, by giving them the details of problems faced by the vehicle. These cars have antique value, especially the ones like Porsche of the 1940's which can be easily restored by these repairing and maintenance services. So you should not sell off the old VWs, instead get them restored by a repairing service provider. They are generally family run business, who take pride in their trade and feel very good when they see the old and dilapidated cars back in shape and on the road. You can search these service providers online and contact them for a prior appointment. You may have a look at the testimonials of the past clients, for verifying their credentials.
Better yet, get a Polo and save yourself even more on insurance. 1.4 and 1.6 refer to the engine size. The numbers are the capacity of the engine's combustion chambers, measured in litres. A 1.6 litre engine will suck in more fuel for each complete revolution than a 1.4 litre engine. This means that it will generate more power per revolution. This makes some very real differences between the two types of engine. There is not a huge amount of difference between the 1.4 and 1.6 engines at top speed. Both will go fast enough for you to lose your licence at one offence (that is, you can go more than 100mph with either engine, and that is an immediate disqualification offence). The 1.6 engine will make the car accelerate faster if that's important to you. But honestly, unless you're a "flash git" who likes to burn (expensive) tyre rubber, a couple of seconds difference on the 0-60mph times isn't important.
If you are on a long journey at motorway speeds (60 - 80 mph) then the 1.6 engine will be quieter and smoother because it's not working as hard as the 1.4 to maintain the speed. Although both engines will happily take you hundreds of miles at 70 mph the car with the smaller engine will deliver you feeling more fatigued (mostly 'cos of noise) than the bigger one. The 1.4 engined car will be considerably cheaper to own than the 1.6 engined car. It will use less petrol and produce less emissions (so the car tax band will be lower) and the insurance will be a lot less. As an 18 year old your insurance will be very high anyway, so you must consider whether the perceived "benefits" of a 1.6 engine are worth the extra premium costs. Try phoning a couple of insurance companies (or do an on-line quote) to compare the cost to you for each type of car. There's not enough difference between the two engines for it to influence your decision.
You're buying a car that's nearly 10 years old, so buy on condition alone, and never mind what engine it's got. You need to get the insurance quote before you purchase the car. Most Insurance companies work on registration numbers so look at available cars in the classified ads and quote a registration number from a suitable car telling the insurers you are interested in buying that particular car. I have a feeling that any quote you do get will be prohibitive because of your age, you may be better lowering your sights to a car in a lower insurance group. Will regular gas damage the catalytic converter of my 2006 beetle? If you are talking about regular unleaded gas, then you will not have any problem with your catalytic converter. If you are talking about regular leaded, which I doubt because it has not been available in the U.S.