I think I messed up... Test drove a GTI today!

[lmoore1436]

Hi guys,

So I accidentally popped into the VW/BMW Dealer (Directly next to my local Honda dealer) today. LOL.. THen happen to recognize one of the senior sales people there. He's like what are you doing here. I said i wanted to look at the Golfs. ... Before I knew it he pulls up a White GTI with performance package and Autobahn package. All the bells and whistles. ... I said well, i guess i can test drive that before checking out the TSI's. .. (bad mistake)

That car is bad. very bad. Felt very German/European. Solid. and powerful! ... Makes our 1.5T feel a little light in the boots. lol

Bad News: I realized there are other compacts with some flare out there to consider.

Good News: I realized the back seats were too cramped. (had my 5yr old son in his carseat in the back, not much room back there) though he did fall right to sleep with the sound of that engine/exhaust tune. ha. ... the sport seats were a little to narrow, and definitely wasn't the type of economy car i should be focused on. ... They showed me the numbers. basically that car was listed at around 33k msrp. , and around 31k invoice. they were willing to give me invoice plus 1500 (competitor cash). .. so good deal , but not the direction i should be going. so gracefully walked away with the excuse i need to take my son home to put him down for a nap. ... and now i am more sure my next car is a Civic.

cheers.

Careful! GTI's are awesome cars, but definitely not worth it in the end. I had a mkv GTI and it was great to drive, but had tons of electrical issues. Sunroof would randomly be open when I would go out at night (this happened so frequently I started to keep a paper by the back door and mark it when I came in to know I closed the sunroof), brake and engine sensors had to be replaced pretty frequently too. I didn't dare keep it past the manufacturers warranty but I had a hell of a time driving it!

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[lmoore1436]

Yes, I agree with you. I enjoyed my test drive of the GTI. I liked that it had the option for the automatic transmission (will explain) option also for its sporty version of the golf. But i did see some negatives with long term reliability and price of repairs. I didn't even consider cost of regular maintenance. Even though i love honda and think their new civic is going to be a top selling car for years to come; i went with a new Focus ST. for multiple reasons, but one of them being that they were able to waive alot (all charges: over mileage and small nics/scratches/damages/etc) of things i was going to need to fix in my 13 ford fusion lease i was turning in . and they were able to help me pay out the remainder of my lease. ... I have found that long term reliability is with these new ford cars are much better than vw (not as good as honda admitingly) .. plus like you mention regular service is much cheaper. My local ford dealer mails out a promo coupon every few months for a 10$ off express maintenance deal. so 49.99 discounted to 39.99 . this includes oil change, and check on many components, along with tire balance and rotation. ... VW would be much higher.

So i am happy with my purchase. Really love this little peppy compact hatchback. I look forward to honda coming out with the 6 speed manual transmission for their new 1.5T engine along with the hatchback version.






I agree RT, as i mentioned above. cheers.






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a couple of pics of my new car in case you were wondering:

Nice ST! I think Ford did an awesome job with the ST, I test drove one last year and I loved it. Sadly though, I am getting to a point where I need something a bit more comfortable for daily commutes. If they offered an ST "comfort" version I would be all over it! Congrats on your car man!

 

[3vilhomer]

I had a 2015 GTI just before i got my civicX. I had a car accident during this year snow storm and insurance claim the repair fee cost more than the car valve and consider my GTI as total lost. I feel bad lossing my GTI, is a great car. The DSG and the 210HP is awesome. For a daily commute the174HP on the civicX i think is enough. There's only think i don't like on my GTI is everything is more expensive on it even a light bulb

 

[lmoore1436]

I had a 2015 GTI just before i got my civicX. I had a car accident during this year snow storm and insurance claim the repair fee cost more than the car valve and consider my GTI as total lost. I feel lossing my GTI, is a great car. The DSG and the 210HP is awesome. For a daily commute the174HP on the civicX i think is enough. There's only think i don't like on my GTI is everything is more expensive on it when a light bulb

Dang, glad you are okay though, everything on the GTI is so tightly engineered that it won't ever drive the same after an accident, so even if it wasn't written off they probably never would have gotten it to drive like it did before.

 

[3vilhomer]

Dang, glad you are okay though, everything on the GTI is so tightly engineered that it won't ever drive the same after an accident, so even if it wasn't written off they probably never would have gotten it to drive like it did before.

yea, the top speed i drove the GTI is 140MPH even if i got the car back after is fix i dont dare to go that fast. the fastest i go on my civicX is 100MPH and i already feel the car is gonna go out of control. with the GTI there is no such feeling even going on highspeed

 

[silverrascal]

Mkv GTI owner here and can attest that while it's a great car to drive, the maintenance costs are high and after about 100,000 miles, various parts of the car starts to fail (which can be expected) and repairs are also fairly high too. The GTI is a high-maintenance vehicle. I'm hoping my EX-T won't be! If my Civic performs as well in the area of reliability and durability as well as my previous Hondas I think I'll be ahead in the long run. BTW, I still have the GTI.

 

[Vtak Groceries]

I also went and test drove a GTI the other day. Its a decent feeling little car. Good little package. Lots of interior space and the power is ok for a daily with decent torque starting from 3000rpm. Im more interested in the Golf R which all the 2016s are sold out where I am. I might be moving into a 2017 Golf R DSG after the GTI test drive. Nice cars. Can get one for around 44k the way I want out the door which isn't too bad. We will see if Honda can sway me back with the Civic Si price/specs or the Type R. But I dont think it can... AWD + DSG is too much of an advantage for the Golf R over a Type R Civic. That DSG in the Golf is very very good. Surprisingly good. Shifts pretty much instantly.

 

[Troy Jollimore]

200hp is merely 'ok' for a daily driver? I'm glad you probably don't live near me! Especially if you also feel you need AWD to be safe! The power in the CivicX is more than adequate, in either engine, for everyday use. Sure, more is always nice. But when does it stop?

The Golf definitely handled and 'felt' better. More controlled, especially when doing emergency maneuvers at high speeds. Liked the DSG, but found it a bit clunky and hesitant around town, unless you accelerated and braked more firmly than you normally would. Oddly, the Mitsubishi RalliArt I drove with the same type tranny felt much more smooth.

 

[Vtak Groceries]

200hp is merely 'ok' for a daily driver? I'm glad you probably don't live near me! Especially if you also feel you need AWD to be safe! The power in the CivicX is more than adequate, in either engine, for everyday use. Sure, more is always nice. But when does it stop?

The Golf definitely handled and 'felt' better. More controlled, especially when doing emergency maneuvers at high speeds. Liked the DSG, but found it a bit clunky and hesitant around town, unless you accelerated and braked more firmly than you normally would. Oddly, the Mitsubishi RalliArt I drove with the same type tranny felt much more smooth.

Yeah the power is good. 210hp or so in a GTI? My weekend car is 500hp 450tq thats the only reason I say that. The GTI is excellent though. Impressed me. Congrats to anyone that picks up a GTI! I think they will be a great car as long as you plan to keep it under 5 years. For a long term car, the Civic will be better hands down. Way more reliable than a VW product.

 

[Troy Jollimore]

Mustang GT500? I was cross-shopping an Audi S4, 340hp... And that was 'too much', yet not enough!

 

[jrasero23]

Hi guys,

So I accidentally popped into the VW/BMW Dealer (Directly next to my local Honda dealer) today. LOL.. THen happen to recognize one of the senior sales people there. He's like what are you doing here. I said i wanted to look at the Golfs. ... Before I knew it he pulls up a White GTI with performance package and Autobahn package. All the bells and whistles. ... I said well, i guess i can test drive that before checking out the TSI's. .. (bad mistake)

That car is bad. very bad. Felt very German/European. Solid. and powerful! ... Makes our 1.5T feel a little light in the boots. lol

Bad News: I realized there are other compacts with some flare out there to consider.

Good News: I realized the back seats were too cramped. (had my 5yr old son in his carseat in the back, not much room back there) though he did fall right to sleep with the sound of that engine/exhaust tune. ha. ... the sport seats were a little to narrow, and definitely wasn't the type of economy car i should be focused on. ... They showed me the numbers. basically that car was listed at around 33k msrp. , and around 31k invoice. they were willing to give me invoice plus 1500 (competitor cash). .. so good deal , but not the direction i should be going. so gracefully walked away with the excuse i need to take my son home to put him down for a nap. ... and now i am more sure my next car is a Civic.

cheers.

The Golf is a GREAT car. Simply put many auto journalists and enthusiasts rave about VW and Mazda as the best "drivers" cars and I would have to tend to agree. The big thing I have against VW and Mazda jointly are that the prices are higher compared to Honda in most cases since your a paying for almost a premium car. It should be noted that the available features and performance on these cars in most cases whoops Honda and even Acura. My second problem is centered around VW and there German reliability and cost of maintenance.
if you were leasing a VW makes sense since you will be fully covered but if this is a car you look to keep until the wheel fall off I would keep with Mazda or Honda.

 

[civic08]

I have a VW Golf R and absolutely love it. I have a 2 year lease and it expires next April 2017. I would buy the car in a heartbeat if it wasn't expensive to run. It has 11,000 miles on it and not a single problem what-so-ever. I had a 08 Civic EX and that car gave me N0 problems. Just oil, grease, rotate tires, and keep in well maintained. I have been waiting for the Civic hatch to come out so I can get that for my next car. I am a bit worried with all the problems I have been seeing on the forum of Civic owners. I know its a new model and that is the toughest year due to getting the rust out/problems solved. My Golf R is a 2015 and that is the first model of the generation (I know they had it in Europe first), but it has been flawless. I do worry about the reliability of the VW over time, but it is a $39,999 car too. As far as the Touring Civic $27,499 the VW is way above in the fit, finish, interior, engine... etc, but that is expected for $12,000 more. The SI and the GTI will be in the same company and the Golf R is in the company of the Type-R. To me the Golf and the Civic are comparable.

 

[JYR]

I have a TDI Jetta that is falling in the buyback program as soon as its launched in the coming months. My thought was that I would hold out until the Civic Si and R are unveiled and then base my decision for a new car decision on what the new Honda platforms offer.

BUT, there are some absolutely fantastic deals being offered on GTI's right now, it seems on the east coast only.
http://www.lindsayvolkswagen.com/new-volkswagen-golf-gti-dulles-va

My oil burning Jetta has been a fantastic car needing nothing except routine maintenance. Several friends of mine have GTi's with -0- issues. The temptation is real...

 

[takemorepills]

I have a TDI Jetta that is falling in the buyback program as soon as its launched in the coming months. My thought was that I would hold out until the Civic Si and R are unveiled and then base my decision for a new car decision on what the new Honda platforms offer.

BUT, there are some absolutely fantastic deals being offered on GTI's right now, it seems on the east coast only.
http://www.lindsayvolkswagen.com/new-volkswagen-golf-gti-dulles-va

My oil burning Jetta has been a fantastic car needing nothing except routine maintenance. Several friends of mine have GTi's with -0- issues. The temptation is real...

I absolutely LOVE my '16 GTI. Had it 8 months so far, everything's been perfect so far. I have 28 months left in my lease, which seems to be about how long until the Si and/or R comes out, so I will definitely be looking at those cars.

As much as I love my GTI, it is too powerful for FWD. Kind of worried that a 2.0T Si and/or R will be too powerful for FWD also. I am strongly considering a Golf R to replace my GTI if a test drive of the CivicX Si shows it to be over-powered like the GTI. Another option for me is the newly released 2017 Golf Sportwagen 4Motion with DSG and a Stage 2 tune. Living in PNW I am starting to think turbo FWD cars is a bad idea. Enjoying the mild summer, though!

 

[Vtak Groceries]

I absolutely LOVE my '16 GTI. Had it 8 months so far, everything's been perfect so far. I have 28 months left in my lease, which seems to be about how long until the Si and/or R comes out, so I will definitely be looking at those cars.

As much as I love my GTI, it is too powerful for FWD. Kind of worried that a 2.0T Si and/or R will be too powerful for FWD also. I am strongly considering a Golf R to replace my GTI if a test drive of the CivicX Si shows it to be over-powered like the GTI. Another option for me is the newly released 2017 Golf Sportwagen 4Motion with DSG and a Stage 2 tune. Living in PNW I am starting to think turbo FWD cars is a bad idea. Enjoying the mild summer, though!

I put a 2017 Golf R on order. Cant wait. Plan to keep it for about 4 years and by then the Civic type R will be out for sure so we will see if its good at all.

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