sevenracer said:
Congrats, I had the 2010 version of that car. Same dark blue metallic, 6spd, tartan seats. Loved that car.
BTW, my car came with the standard 17" wheel option, that looked just like detroit wheels, but they were all silver, the coves were not blacked out. So double check that if you are shopping a second set of wheels.
Denver wheels were a 1 year option on the Mk6.
Vigo said:Which I guess is reasonable, but I've spent about $10k over the years at TR and never returned anything lol......I was hoping they'd take my word on it.
I think it's fair to point that out to them. I don't even do tires for a living per se but I teach tire machines in the vocational program i teach for and in my experience I can't even say it's 'rare' to find tires with serious runout and/or road force issues straight out of the factory. I know it's pretty much standard operating procedure when dealing with warranty claims to first just punt hoping you'll give up and go away, but as an enthusiast I'd like to think TR would handle a long-time customer slightly better, especially in the modern day when you can just snap a vid of a spinning wheel/tire where the wheel visibly doesn't move and the tire visibly does. If you can see it on a spinning tire it's probably 40 thousandths plus.
I went ahead and had the roadforce check done today and, as expected, it was way out of spec (it had a "21" number for out of roundness, with 18 being most manufacturers' thresholds). Anyhow, TR has a new tire on the way and is reimbursing me for the cost of the roadforce check, so at least that's good. Though they didn't even ask to see the readout from the machine, lol.....just took my word for the number, after they wouldn't take my word for the tire being bad, lol.....
Dave M said:irish44j said:Dave M said:Nice car!
With this and the WRX, you have definitely earned your flat-brim hat, tattoos and vape pen BRO!
which is funny, since all my hats are decidedly bent-brim, I have no ink, and I (occasionally) only smoke actual cigarettes :)
In all seriousness, the other owners were a really annoying part of owning a WRX. Hopefully with a GTI you can avoid the VEE DUB crowd! The Golf Rs seem to attract them...
Funny part is with these wheels, my car looks more like an R now.....but with stock stance, normal wheels, and taller tires, it's unlikely I'll be mistaken for a DUB tuner type, thankfully. I rally/rallycross so I know a million Subaru people. Never really an issue in the motorsports arena. It's the people who stance out their STi's and stuff that I always just stayed away from in general.....
Sunday I was cruising through the woodsy backroads that enthusiats cruise on nice days, and was behind a fairly new STi. And we must have passed about 4-5 subarus going the other way, all of which gave him the "wave." For a second I forgot that they weren't waving at me lol.....
Thank you for the review! I really wanted to grab a '16 S model with the DSG and LSD. Drove it, loved it, couldn't find one in gray anywhere. As much as I love the FiST, it is not great with other people or long trips with the family. I am faced with one year left on the Rondo (subframe rust will mean that I trade it in rather then repair it) and I think I will consolidate into one car. This makes me want to do it on an '18 GTI.
Good write up. I have to drive one of the normal GTIs again. My Subaru has been sliding from Daily Driver to Project Car status for a while now. It's 14 years old, it may be time to switch it up.
Brett_Murphy said:Good write up. I have to drive one of the normal GTIs again. My Subaru has been sliding from Daily Driver to Project Car status for a while now. It's 14 years old, it may be time to switch it up.
I don't particularly think the GTI is, stock for stock, the raw performer the WRX is by any measure at all - but it is infinitely more refined in terms of comfort, soundproofing, features, and overall quality feel. I already miss the WRX's frantic rumbly tone, amazing grip, simple yet perfect interior controls, and excellent seats (though the GTI has very good seats as well), but I don't miss the overall cheap feel of the rest of the cars, from the flimsy body panels, to the hard plastic/rattly interior (even when new), to the squeaky clutch and pedals (even when new), to the lousy and chip-prone paint, to the awful headlights, to the front clip that basically wanted to fall off if someone stared at it hard lol..
I've been fighting the GTI bug for a long time. I really want one. Do they still come in two door form? Anyway congratulations!
Nick Comstock said:Do they still come in two door form?
VW sensibly ditched the two door model, as it was awful.
You can get a 2 door in a 2015 or 2016 model, I think.
I went ahead and had the roadforce check done today and, as expected, it was way out of spec (it had a "21" number for out of roundness, with 18 being most manufacturers' thresholds). Anyhow, TR has a new tire on the way and is reimbursing me for the cost of the roadforce check, so at least that's good. Though they didn't even ask to see the readout from the machine, lol.....just took my word for the number, after they wouldn't take my word for the tire being bad, lol.....
Well, that pretty much makes the best of it at this point. That much closer to fully enjoying your upgrade!
In reply to Brett_Murphy :
That sucks.
Very nice write-up. I sat in one this weekend at Cars & Coffee Austin. I fell in love. Sound system was great, interior was very nice, and it's a hatchback which I love.
I'd have to sell my E36 M3 and S2000 to get something like that though and I'm having a hard time even thinking about letting those go. Would be a great DD vs. them though. The Sequoia I bought is def not going on DD duty.
You also got one hell of a deal. GTIs are starting to get into STI and Civic Type R territory with their prices.
DirtyBird222 said:You also got one hell of a deal. GTIs are starting to get into STI and Civic Type R territory with their prices.
Seems like most of the 2018s around here are listed between $23.5 to 25.5 for non-Autobahn models. I looked at regular WRXs for a second and most of them were listed at $32k+. The GTI Autobahns seem way overpriced, they're like $4k more and basically you're just getting the adaptive dampers vs. the SE.
IDK how Type R's are doing. This area has plenty of money but I've literally seen only 1 or 2 of them ever. There are Golf R's and STi's and Focus RS's everywhere....
DirtyBird222 said:Very nice write-up. I sat in one this weekend at Cars & Coffee Austin. I fell in love. Sound system was great, interior was very nice, and it's a hatchback which I love.
I'd have to sell my E36 M3 and S2000 to get something like that though and I'm having a hard time even thinking about letting those go. Would be a great DD vs. them though. The Sequoia I bought is def not going on DD duty.
hah, I hear you on the Sequoia. I don't hate commuting in mine on occasion, but it's too tall for my parking garage at work so I have to park in the boondock surface lot. That, and the 15mpg....
GTi standard sound system is "ok" though nowhere near the aftermarket setup I had in the WRX. I'm a music afficianado and always listen while driving but I can't say I'm terribly impressed with the sound in my GTI. I didn't try a GTI with the 12-speaker Fender system, which I assume sounds better. Not sure what my upgrade options are with this car since the audio is all integrated. I may look into it at some point.
I love the GTI, and the "adult" wheels were a good choice.
I mentioned this in the GRM article's GTI thread, we were shopping in Spring of '17 for a TDI Sportwagen replacement. VW bought our Sportwagen back as part of the Dieselgate nonsense.
We weren't in a particular hurry to buy, but indulged the salesman and test drove some cars. We drove a 4motion Sportwagen (may have bought one if it could have been had in a higher trim level than S) a '17 GTI SE DSG, and some Mazdas (it's a VW/Mazda dealer). I noticed they had a leftover '16 GTI SLE DSG Autobahn Sport Package on the lot still, and set my sites on it. I test drove the '16, and decided we needed it, but even though it was a '16 still on the lot, we were too far apart price wise.
Over the next few weeks, the salesman stayed in touch, and the price got better and better, until it was end of the month (April '17) and the salesman convinced me to come talk to the sales manager about the '16 GTI and to look at their '15 TDIs that had just been released from Dieselgate purgatory. We didn't have anything better to do on a Friday night, so we made a trip.
I showed up thinking I might be leaving with that '16 GTI, but test drove a couple TDI Golf Sportwagens, both were on S trim, we wanted more features, sat in a TDI Passat, didn't even like it enough to test drive, but at the end of the row of TDI Passats was a single solitary TDI Golf. Julie (SWMBO) claims she knew we were coming home with the Golf as soon as I saw it.
We test drove the leftover '15 TDI DSG SE Fender Audio Golf, and loved it, it's not a GTI but we're diesel geeks, SWMBO more so than me even, and I got the Golf $8K less than what I was originally willing to spend on that left over '16 GTI.
We've had the Golf ~18 months, have just about 33K miles on it, I just recently ditched the worn eco Conti tires in favor of some DWS06, and had stage 2 of the emissions fix done a few weeks ago. I really have no complaints. I sometimes lust for a GTI still, I sure admire the ones I see on my commute, but I believe we wound up in the right car for us.
The Fender Audio is the best OEM audio system I've owned, pretty cleaver the way they tuck the sub into the spare tire.
In reply to irish44j :
The CTRs are still being sold for way over MSRP; but, there are a few dealers that will sell at MSRP. I've seen a few at this remote location long term TDY I'm on; but, there's also a plethora of E-1-4 military members who like to blow all their money on the coolest ride lol.
I believe the car I sat in had the Fender system, then again, I've been DDing an S2000 that only has two speakers and lots of road noise so either way the GTis sound system was light years better than what I've been accustomed too.
Were you looking at premium and limited model WRXs? I've seen base models go for $26k around Central Florida. Apparently Subarus are equal to gold in pricing in Texas though.
DirtyBird222 said:In reply to irish44j :
The CTRs are still being sold for way over MSRP; but, there are a few dealers that will sell at MSRP. I've seen a few at this remote location long term TDY I'm on; but, there's also a plethora of E-1-4 military members who like to blow all their money on the coolest ride lol.
I believe the car I sat in had the Fender system, then again, I've been DDing an S2000 that only has two speakers and lots of road noise so either way the GTis sound system was light years better than what I've been accustomed too.
Were you looking at premium and limited model WRXs? I've seen base models go for $26k around Central Florida. Apparently Subarus are equal to gold in pricing in Texas though.
Honestly, I didn't look all that hard at WRXs, but the ones I saw were Premiums (like mine was). I like sunroof, heated seats, etc since it's a DD and not a track car.. My biggest issue with the WRX was the fuel economy, and the new ones aren't an improvement so if I wanted to stay with WRX probably just would have spent more time and money figuring out how to fix the emissions issue on mine and put on new suspension. The new ones don't do it for me visually and aren't as fast or as good-handling as mine was with the setup I had for it. I think it was just time for a change. Plus Subaru's warranty hasn't gotten any better.
The fuel economy and giant warranty really sold me on the VW, as did the fact that it has great seats (the one thing I figured I could not improve upon the WRX on, but they come close). There are a few things I dislike about it (the stock engine sounds lousy, IMO, and the quiet stock exhaust means you hear engine all the time), and though the electric steering's adjustability is nice, it still isn't as nice as the WRX steering feel. I totally hate the GTI's steering wheel wrap - it's so smooth like our Mazda CX-9 and has no grip. I feel like my hands are dried out when I touch it lol. I would put leather conditioner on it but not sure it's real leather. But that's about it so far as far as dislikes, and those are pretty minor things, really. I miss AWD but at 8-9 mpg better, I'll get over it. The LSD hooks up nicely.
As to your other point.... I work at a military command, so i hear you. I always get a laugh how all the 0-6/0-7 and executive parking spots are full of Honda Civics, Camrys, and other sensible things. Meanwhile the junior sailors are rolling up in new Camaro SS's, STIs, Golf R's, F250 Diesels, and one even has a RHD R32 GT-R (he's an E-2!). I have not seen a CTR though, which does surprise me a bit.
Of course, the funniest is two of our janitorial staff, who have a car-restoring business on the side. The two of them show up with different nicely-modded cars every week, ranging from new Chevy (Holden) SS to vintage 944 Turbos to stanced-out STIs, to vintage muscle cars, all with nice wheels and perfectly detailed :)
bigdaddylee82 said:The Fender Audio is the best OEM audio system I've owned, pretty cleaver the way they tuck the sub into the spare tire.
I'm curious whether it's just a different amp behind the dash and different speakers, or if the whole "head unit" is a different part. I will eventually have to look into it, This audio is ok, but probably sub-par compared to every other car I own (except the rally car, that is....), and the quietness of the GTI exacerbates the so-so sound.
A few follow-on thoughts now that I've had the car for 2 weeks and am driving it a little bit harder.
1. My daily commute MPGs are closer to 30 now that I'm not babying it (as opposed to 31-32 on the first tank). Not a shock here. But still blows away the 23ish that the WRX used to get. The car is so quiet I find myself getting harder on the gas so I can hear the exhaust note.
2. First time I drove the car at night I thought the auto-dim feature on the rearview must not be working until I looked and noticed....it's a standard manual-dim rearview. I don't really care/mind at all, but thought it was kind of funny that on a car with so much tech, ranging from LED adaptive headlights, rain-sensing wipers, heated mirrors, LCDs in the interior, etc that it had something so.......so......"old style." Guess they needed to save a few things for the Autobahn edition...
3. Just found out that the adaptive LED headlights in "Auto" mode basically pivot on turns and to cope with varying night visibility conditions. Not sure if I really care since I usually don't run on Auto mode, but still a nice feature for a pretty cheap car, to go with the fact that it already has excellent headlights AND cornering lights that come on a) any time your turn signal is on or b) whenever you're turning past a certain sharpness (i.e not on high-speed curves, but if you're actually making a "turn")
4. It could be a bit less quiet. Even with the "piped-in" sound, I still have trouble hearing what the engine is doing and find myself in lower gears because I don't realize I'm in 3rd on the highway.......I've also stalled it a few times with the music on, since I can't hear or feel the engine at all with music on.
I’m thinking really hard about one of these and you are not helping.
I just saw Stohlman VW has a couple for $24.8k. I bought two cars from them from 900 miles away and they were awesome to deal with. Might need to make a call.
BTW, any idea if the fender is available on the SE trim? Otherwise your car is perfect.
Slippery said:I’m thinking really hard about one of these and you are not helping.
I just saw Stohlman VW has a couple for $24.8k. I bought two cars from them from 900 miles away and they were awesome to deal with. Might need to make a call.
I got mine at Sheehy VW in Springfield (not far from Stohlman). Not sure what you're looking for specifically but Sheehy has a white SE (basically same car as mine other than color) listed for $23,587 right now with 6MT.
One of my good friends works at VW corporate here in NoVa. He said that this is by far the most competitive sales region for VW in the USA, and there are like 6 dealers within a 30 minute drive, so they price against each other pretty aggressively.
No idea on the Fender setup, though after messing around with some of the settings, I think the audio sounds somewhat better than my initial take on it. Stock setup is very front-biased, and I found that fading it rear slightly improved pretty much everything.
In reply to irish44j :
I dont care about color as long as its not black. Black and Florida is not a good combo.
How was Sheehy to deal with? Did you go in person or did you email them?
Slippery said:In reply to irish44j :
I dont care about color as long as its not black. Black and Florida is not a good combo.
How was Sheehy to deal with? Did you go in person or did you email them?
I went in person since it's on my way home from work and wasn't sure I wanted the blue (the black one i had my eye on was more).. My VW corporate guy basically said "the price listed is about as low as it's gonna go" so I went in with no expectation of changing the price, and considered it to be a good price. Overall I knew what I wanted and it was fast and easy. Additional costs were exactly as stated on the website, so no surprises.
That said, to get the "good price" you have to finance through VW (which had a just slightly higher rate than my credit union) - if you pay cash or finance elsewhere it would have been $1500 more apparently - some VAG "deal" that was ongoing. This was the case at ALL local VW dealers (though at another one they said it was a $2000 penalty if you didn't). So my guess it was some kind of corporate rebate for financing, which isn't a big deal.
----
One additional comment: This car has amazing brakes, that bite hard. However, the OEM brake pads dust like crazy. I have 500 miles on the car and have had to clean the wheels like 4 times already. Surprising since most OEM pads are low-dust. May have to switch to HPS for Christmas.
Alternately, I'm just not used to having silver wheels and just never noticed all the dust on the WRX's gunmetal wheels lol....
You'll need to log in to post.
