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The JD Power Initial Quality Survey for 2017 has just been released and ranks cars into four categories: Among the Best, Better than Most, About Average and The Rest. Volkswagen Golf ranks squarely in the "About Average" category. Proceed at your own peril.
The award recipient for the Compact Car segment is the Kia Forte.
For being a car guy, why would you want to marry a car for 10 years at a time? You'd only get in like 8-10 different car ownership experiences in your entire life.
I don't know how old you are, but I rarely see anybody over the age of 24 driving a GTI. 10 years of ownership is a long time.
For being a car guy, why would you want to marry a car for 10 years at a time? You'd only get in like 8-10 different car ownership experiences in your entire life.
I don't know how old you are, but I rarely see anybody over the age of 24 driving a GTI. 10 years of ownership is a long time.
I bought my first MK IV GTI in 2001 when I was 43. I put 142,000 miles on it. I put a 100k extended warranty on it and made about $100 worth of warranty claims. It had $600 worth of turbo plumbing repairs at 105,000 miles. That's it. Timing belt & water pump were the only big ticket scheduled maintenance item. 6 years.
I replaced that with an orange MK V 2007 Fahrenheit special edition GTI. I was 49. I traded it in 2015 so I owned it for 8 years. That one had an electric fan at the radiator replaced and an A/C valve as the only extended warranty claims. 7 1/2 years.
I drove those cars because I had a big commute. In 2001, I had a miniature garage with a tight 90 degree turn to get out of it. A GTI was about as big as would fit. They ate up the miles without expensive repair bills. An engaging-to-drive econobox with a soul. My job title in 2001 was "Chief Architect". My engineering management peers mostly drove Euro sport sedans or 300 hp club cars back when those were unusual with some kind of SUV in reserve. I had the SUV in an outdoor parking space, too, but I had no interest in having it as my daily driver.
I don't see any contradiction in a "car guy" owning a car for 10 years. I know tons of car guys who have a garage queen that they've owned for 20+ years and drive their engaging daily driver until it wears out. If you're only doing 12,000 miles per year, that's 10 years. Churning cars every couple years is kind-a stoooopid personal finance.
As far as reliability goes, an average 2017 car should go 125,000 miles without having anything expensive go wrong with it. If you maintain it and don't beat on it, a GTI should be average reliability. This isn't 1985 when non-Japanese cars imploded by 125,000. Will it have a few little things break? Sure. It's a car. Things break unless the car is so simple that there isn't much to break. If you flog on it and don't maintain it, all bets are off. The drive train should be solid. Turbos don't die like they did in the 80's.
I bought my first MK IV GTI in 2001 when I was 43. I put 142,000 miles on it. I put a 100k extended warranty on it and made about $100 worth of warranty claims. It had $600 worth of turbo plumbing repairs at 105,000 miles. That's it. Timing belt & water pump were the only big ticket scheduled maintenance item. 6 years.
I replaced that with an orange MK V 2007 Fahrenheit special edition GTI. I was 49. I traded it in 2015 so I owned it for 8 years. That one had an electric fan at the radiator replaced and an A/C valve as the only extended warranty claims. 7 1/2 years.
I drove those cars because I had a big commute. In 2001, I had a miniature garage with a tight 90 degree turn to get out of it. A GTI was about as big as would fit. They ate up the miles without expensive repair bills. An engaging-to-drive econobox with a soul. My job title in 2001 was "Chief Architect". My engineering management peers mostly drove Euro sport sedans or 300 hp club cars back when those were unusual with some kind of SUV in reserve. I had the SUV in an outdoor parking space, too, but I had no interest in having it as my daily driver.
I don't see any contradiction in a "car guy" owning a car for 10 years. I know tons of car guys who have a garage queen that they've owned for 20+ years and drive their engaging daily driver until it wears out. If you're only doing 12,000 miles per year, that's 10 years. Churning cars every couple years is kind-a stoooopid personal finance.
As far as reliability goes, an average 2017 car should go 125,000 miles without having anything expensive go wrong with it. If you maintain it and don't beat on it, a GTI should be average reliability. This isn't 1985 when non-Japanese cars imploded by 125,000. Will it have a few little things break? Sure. It's a car. Things break unless the car is so simple that there isn't much to break. If you flog on it and don't maintain it, all bets are off. The drive train should be solid. Turbos don't die like they did in the 80's.
Then you're not a car guy. You're settling and compromising based on your actual enthusiasm for saving money toward some other goal.
That would be a fun car. If you can afford it, go for it.
If you are a car guy and you plan to trade about every 3 years for the newest toy, you might want to consider leasing. One advantage to leasing is that your cars will always be under warranty.
A big disadvantage is that it costs more than buying and keeping for 10 years. It's your money, you decide.
Then you're not a car guy. You're settling and compromising based on your actual enthusiasm for saving money toward some other goal.
That's a ridiculous argument. Car guys can keep cars a long time also. Do you even know what "car guy" means? For me, I enjoy driving an exciting car but also work on it myself, learn the ins and outs, and learn mechanical things so I can buy my own parts and replace them myself. I have fun doing this, and invite friends over to help with a beer or two. These days, many people don't even know where to check the oil (although some cars like BMWs don't even have an oil dipstick!).
It is about balances - maybe a "car guy" actually grows up and wants to put money towards a house or other things that life throws at you.
Then you're not a car guy. You're settling and compromising based on your actual enthusiasm for saving money toward some other goal.
So you're defining "car guy" as someone who churns through pricey new cars every couple of years eating huge amounts of depreciation. That's not "car guy". That's bone-headed personal finances.
I know lots of car guys who have 2 or 3 garage queens they don't churn and a daily driver they keep for years. 911. XKE. Lotus. Old Land Rover or Jeep. Saab Sonett. 60's Mustang. Corvettes. Model A. Muscle cars. They do their own wrenching. They do all their own wrenching. Some do SCCA and car shows.
So you're defining "car guy" as someone who churns through pricey new cars every couple of years eating huge amounts of depreciation. That's not "car guy". That's bone-headed personal finances.
I know lots of car guys who have 2 or 3 garage queens they don't churn and a daily driver they keep for years. 911. XKE. Lotus. Old Land Rover or Jeep. Saab Sonett. 60's Mustang. Corvettes. Model A. Muscle cars. They do their own wrenching. They do all their own wrenching. Some do SCCA and car shows.
Excuses excuses.
I bought a used Vette for $25k. After 5 years I sold it for $20k. It cost me $83 a month.
Paying $25-$32k for a brand new hatchback and keeping it for 10 years is nuts.
"Car guy" means what each car guy thinks it means. I'm a car guy.
In my case, I just sold a 2004 Expedition to a friend. Rode in it yesterday. That SUV survived 12 years of pounding over five miles of granite road every time it left our garage. Of the four Expys we've owned, none had any problems worth a mention with one exception, and that was handled under factory warranty.
DW has a '13 King Ranch. Beautiful ride! But I just couldn't bring my self to buy another Expedition, so went with a GMC Yukon XL Denali. It seats two. The rest is set up for our mutts.
A couple years ago I traded my 1985 F-250 6.9 diesel with less than 130k on it for some work. Loved that old truck!
Got DW a then new '97 Cadillac STS, a beautiful almost candy apple red automobile. I thought of it as a Vette with a back seat! She wanted the STS over the SLS because it had 25hp more. This in a little lady that takes ten minutes to accelerate to 60 on the 405! But I shudda kept it. '98 and later model years sucked IMHO.
Still own a 2002 F-350 7.3 diesel, the super cab black beauty that Ford used in a commercial that year, still beautiful. Only 119k on it. Wouldn't swap it even for a new one. (Well, maybe!)
Had a 1966 Austin Healy Sprite in '68 when I was in the service, a 1965 Impala SS was my first new car (never cared for it other than looks.)
So if a guy wants to trade cars every couple years or keep one 'til the wheels fall off, wants a Maserati Ghibli at $90k or my GMC, for almost as much, or a Kia for $16k or a VW at whatever, he can be a car guy.
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Go with new GTI or Golf R
