My car cranks, but won't start, while cranking I can hear puffing sounds near head gasket

Hello, That sounds about right. Great description of the issue. If you have the 2.0T, the repair should not be too bad, but if you have the 3.2 v6 engine, that may become pricey. First, move the little plastic inspection cover on the very front of the engine towards the top. You should see one gear and a timing belt. If you have no timing belt, replace the belt, replace the water pump, flush the coolant and replace the thermostat. Also, there is a little electronic water pump on the bottom driver side of the engine that makes a great place to drain the coolant without spilling it everywhere. Do a compression test on all four (or six) cylinders to see if the head gasket is the issue.