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Debating getting a GTI. My wifes car is nearing the end of its life, and she really loves my SUV. I bought the SUV last year because I needed something with utility for various house projects, but I really wanted to get something sporty and with better MPG (My commute is just over an hour). I am think of giving her my SUV, and buying something fun for myself. I was thinking of getting a CPO'ed BMW or Audi, but when I started thinking about the GTI, and figured I could get one brand new for $5000-ish less than a CPO'ed BMW/Audi and get the sportiness and MPG that I am looking for.
So my questions are:
1. Has the quality and reliability come up in recent months/years?
2. I'm tall (6'3") and not skinny, is there enough room for me? I owned a 85 GTI and a Mid 90's Golf, and they both had enough room, hoping the carries over to the present day VW's.
3. I am going to assume you need to fold the seats down to fit golf clubs. Will they fit with just one side of the 60/40 folded down?
4. Looks like the GTI Sport has all the features I want, are there any must-haves that I am missing out on with the higher level trims?
5. Does it require premium fuel? From what I can see on the website, in order to get book performance numbers, you need premium, but doesn't say if its required vs preferred.
6. How is it in the snow? My Golf was one of the best snow vehicles I ever owned, once I put a good set of snow tires on it. Has this also carried over to the present day GTI?
I haven't test driven one yet, as I am sure you can tell, but I plan on it soon.
I would say this generation of GTI is the best ever made, in both terms of quality, solidness, and thoughtfulness of design and livability. As I noted earlier, I've been driving them every single day for the past 8 years across 3 different generations. I am 100% convinced that my earlier comments were more about being one of the first off the new assembly line than the quality of the car itself. I'm willing to bet they've ironed out those issues now.
They're not Honda Civic's in term of reliability, but if you just maintain the fluids like you're supposed to, then you really shouldn't have too many problems. But do get the CPO warranty just in case. Except for my current 2015, each of the others both had one problem each. The 07' had a stretched timing belt that was fixed under the CPO warranty, and the 2013 had a bad water pump that was fixed under warranty (a 2.0t engine problem in general across VW and Audi). I've not any major problems like that with the 2015, just little nits here and there due to assembly issues. I looked at a 2016 recently, and could easily tell the kinks have been ironed out at the new plant.
In terms of comfort, you might want to give the seats some consideration. The side bolsters are stiff and the seat is snug. I'm 5'11" at 200lbs (never saw a donut I didn't love) and it's a snug but perfect fit.
I really thought about replacing my GTI a few weeks ago. Went to look at a new Toureg that was discounted heavily. Was ready to pull the trigger and do it, but when the KBB figures came up for my trade on my GTI, I immediately decided against getting rid of it. Mine is a fully loaded white autobahn 2015 4-door with 36k miles. It's in perfect condition, always garaged, detailed yearly, adult driven and not tuned/tweaked in anyway. Just put on a new set of Michelin tires too. Trade was only worth about $16k. Told the guy no way on earth am I willing to part with this car for that kind of money.
So, I've kept the GTI and bought a CPO'd 2014 Mercedes Benz E350 4matic with sport package to go with it. MB only has 22,000 miles on it and has all the toys. For the price of one new luxury car, I can have two slightly used instead. The GTI is now our 3rd vehicle and weekend sports car, and the MB is my daily driver. If I feel like taking it easy and cruising down the highway, it's the MB. When I feel like slapping through the gears on the DSG and sling around exit ramps, it's the GTI.
Case in point - if you're buying one, I personally would suggest not buying brand new anymore, but CPO instead. Depreciation has apparently hit these MK7's hard. For me, turned out to be a good thing because if I had traded my GTI for that new Toureg, I can guaranty you that'd I would have regretting not having access to a GTI anymore. Yes, they're just that good. Neighbor has a Porsche Cayman. He and I both agree that the GTI far more "Porsche" than VW lets on or wants the public to realize. Especially if you go with the Autobahn model of the GTI with the leather trimmings and lighting package.
On the lighting package - GET IT! Trust me, of all the options, that is definitely the one you really want to have. The lights move with the steering, and do such a fantastic job at night over the standard bulbs, it's really amazing how good they are.
I would say this generation of GTI is the best ever made, in both terms of quality, solidness, and thoughtfulness of design and livability. As I noted earlier, I've been driving them every single day for the past 8 years across 3 different generations. I am 100% convinced that my earlier comments were more about being one of the first off the new assembly line than the quality of the car itself. I'm willing to bet they've ironed out those issues now.
They're not Honda Civic's in term of reliability, but if you just maintain the fluids like you're supposed to, then you really shouldn't have too many problems. But do get the CPO warranty just in case. Except for my current 2015, each of the others both had one problem each. The 07' had a stretched timing belt that was fixed under the CPO warranty, and the 2013 had a bad water pump that was fixed under warranty (a 2.0t engine problem in general across VW and Audi). I've not any major problems like that with the 2015, just little nits here and there due to assembly issues. I looked at a 2016 recently, and could easily tell the kinks have been ironed out at the new plant.
In terms of comfort, you might want to give the seats some consideration. The side bolsters are stiff and the seat is snug. I'm 5'11" at 200lbs (never saw a donut I didn't love) and it's a snug but perfect fit.
I really thought about replacing my GTI a few weeks ago. Went to look at a new Toureg that was discounted heavily. Was ready to pull the trigger and do it, but when the KBB figures came up for my trade on my GTI, I immediately decided against getting rid of it. Mine is a fully loaded white autobahn 2015 4-door with 36k miles. It's in perfect condition, always garaged, detailed yearly, adult driven and not tuned/tweaked in anyway. Just put on a new set of Michelin tires too. Trade was only worth about $16k. Told the guy no way on earth am I willing to part with this car for that kind of money.
So, I've kept the GTI and bought a CPO'd 2014 Mercedes Benz E350 4matic with sport package to go with it. MB only has 22,000 miles on it and has all the toys. For the price of one new luxury car, I can have two slightly used instead. The GTI is now our 3rd vehicle and weekend sports car, and the MB is my daily driver. If I feel like taking it easy and cruising down the highway, it's the MB. When I feel like slapping through the gears on the DSG and sling around exit ramps, it's the GTI.
Case in point - if you're buying one, I personally would suggest not buying brand new anymore, but CPO instead. Depreciation has apparently hit these MK7's hard. For me, turned out to be a good thing because if I had traded my GTI for that new Toureg, I can guaranty you that'd I would have regretting not having access to a GTI anymore. Yes, they're just that good. Neighbor has a Porsche Cayman. He and I both agree that the GTI far more "Porsche" than VW lets on or wants the public to realize. Especially if you go with the Autobahn model of the GTI with the leather trimmings and lighting package.
On the lighting package - GET IT! Trust me, of all the options, that is definitely the one you really want to have. The lights move with the steering, and do such a fantastic job at night over the standard bulbs, it's really amazing how good they are.
Thanks for the info. I might go test drive one this week.
Thanks for the info. I might go test drive one this week.
Hey Groundpounder, you seem to be in the market for the same type of car and you are also built very similar to me so I wanted to find out if you had a chance to test drive one yet or not?
I don't think the height of you two will be a problem. I have a coworker who is 6'5 and he fits in mine just fine. The amount of travel up/down on the seats is pretty impressive. The area I think you'll want to focus on is the side bolsters to make sure you don't feel too pinched up.
I will say that since posting my original above, I took a two week break from driving mine. Took a week long road trip in the family SUV, and have been driving the benz to/from work. The GTI has been sitting in the garage ever since the MB showed up on 6/23. I finally got back into the GTI last weekend to run some errands around town. Really reinforced my decision to keep it too. Just felt great to slip back into those seats and go screaming around town like a teenager again. Honestly, I would put the comfort of the seats above the comfort of the seats in the benz. Different style altogether, but regardless, the GTI seats in leather are some of the best out there at this price point. I can't speak about the cloth seats though, I haven't had cloth on any of mine in the past.
Hey Groundpounder, you seem to be in the market for the same type of car and you are also built very similar to me so I wanted to find out if you had a chance to test drive one yet or not?
Hey, sorry for the slow response. I have not had a chance to test drive a GTI yet. Hopefully soon, and if I do I will report back here.
Hey, sorry for the slow response. I have not had a chance to test drive a GTI yet. Hopefully soon, and if I do I will report back here.
Not if I beat you to it!
I will definitely test drive one but not likely to rush into buying one unless I get a crazy deal that I can't ignore. Let's face it, as cool as they are, at their typical $30,000+ range, they are quite overpriced.
But I am getting offers via e-mail at around $25K-$25.3K for the Sport trim and $27K for the SE trim.
So, I am intrigued.
Last edited by TurcoLoco; 07-21-2017 at 03:51 PM..
No argument they're not the cheapest option on the block. But you really can't compare them to the Subaru, Ford, Mazda crowd in my opinion, because they're not meant to be these over-powered torque steer street racers. Instead, they're meant to be exacted and well balanced machines that don't do just one thing exceptionally well (like a ton of horsepower and 0-60 faster than anyone else), but rather when all features and design characteristics operate in sync with each other, do everything exceptionally well. That puts you in a higher tier group for comps to consider when looking at the GTI. Like Audi, BMW and MB. The german manufacturers. On that stage, $30k isn't as painful as it seems.
Now granted, I understand everyone's opinion is different, and the majority would likely disagree with my opinion here. But in my world, I have a newly acquired luxury sport sedan along with my 2 year old GTI (of which is the 3rd over the past 8 years). The MB has 22k miles, fully loaded E350 with AMG appearance package. It's by all measures a world class vehicle.
Care to guess which one is sitting in my garage at the moment, and which one I am about to get into and drive home for the next 45 minutes with a smile on my face?
The fit and finish of a GTI is absolutely on-par with the top german cars. Just close the door on one and you'll see for yourself. Then do the same for what you might think should be it's competition. That heavy thud of the GTI, doesn't fade either with age and mileage. It's not "nice now, but what's it going to be like in 40,000 miles". I can tell you (3x's now), it's the same mile #1 as it is mile #40,000 (granted, you're going to be on a new of tires by then, which I highly recommend the Michelins when you get to that point).
If push came to shove and I had to part with either the Mercedes or the GTI - the Mercedes would be gone tomorrow and I'd keep on going with my GTI, no doubt about it.
We had a Mk III Jetta VR6 5-speed, the faster you drove it the better it drove. Guy who bought it from us said he drove 95+ on the highway back home. Really loved driving that car; didn't like fixing it so much. Replaced with a Prius (I know). Much cheaper to keep going.
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