Am I seriously thinking about this? (GTI)

Hmm, considering the overall quality and reliability of the Ford and Chrysler products compared to ze Germans, I would go the other way, IMO.

The horror stories about ze Germans abound, while the Fords are highly regarded and even the Chryslers are fairly well loved due to their simplicity in repairs.

Oh well.

Ian F wrote: Generally, I agree. VW's get a bad rap and sometimes it's justified, but often troubles can be traced back to poor maintenance. These cars do NOT respond well to "appliance treament". Some repair tasks are a PITA, but that can be said for most modern cars these days.

As much as I now despise waterpumpin' VWs these days, this statement is sooooo true. Only other statement in this thread I see that correctly describes 1.8Ts is the one referring to barfing up coilpacks.

I have owned a ton of 8v VWs in my time and rarely found any love for anything outside of them. But the 1.8T was the second coming for alot of people.

nicksta43 wrote: http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/3599339334.html They made older GLI as well. Actually I'm thinking along the same years as Per's most recent Golf. I can't really remember for sure but I think it was a '96? Anyway I saw a VR6 in that body style in very nice condition the other day. I just don't know enough about them.

Mk III????

Umm.... Not my cup of tea... Everything I've seen is they're basically the worst parts of a Mk II and the Mk IV with the good parts of neither.

tpwalsh wrote: Yes. :) I've got a 1.8T and it's been pretty darned reliable, but it can be a PITA when it does break. Bought it new. Now has 208K. Radiator replacement:

That is horrific.

I am debating selling my Red '95 2-door Golf Sport (rear disks, sunroof) with spares (engine block, heads with .20 overbore, the correct Wiseco pistons, aftermarket cam, correct ECU chip for cam, 15" rims, maintenance items). It has about 125k on the stock ABA, so it the spare block was just to build up the breathed on motor.

I'd sell it to a GRM person who was going to finish the project.

It has the super awesome plaid seats, too.

I've put hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles on VAG 1.8T motors. Change the oil every 5000 miles and use the OEM big oil filters and all is well. I've had 1 set of coil packs go on me in that time, which Audi replaced for free. If maintained properly these are great cars. If not, they can quickly bury you.

I always felt that 1.8T was a great motor attached to a bad car. Thats why the idea of a 1.8T Rabbit always interested me.

Then I lost interest in the whole torque steer thing and decided that a 1.8T Golf Country or Synco was a much better idea.

I've always liked the looks and the idea of the GTI, but after owning a 2002 Jetta as my 1st new car back in college, I don't know if I can subject myself to that kind of abuse again. I considered them when I bought the 3, but after the nightmare I endured with the Jetta, I just couldn't pull the trigger.

I like VW's, but particularly liked the Mk V. I had a Mk V Jetta 2.5 as a lease for a while, and it was really a great appliance car, and felt more upmarket than it cost. Burned tail light bulbs at a rate more like an outdoor security light that stays on 24/7 than a brake light, but that was it. Great seats and features as well, like heated mirrors. VW was easy to work with from the dealer to the lease termination turn in.

I'm looking at a newer car this year as well, and have considered the MkV GTI or even the R32. I have little to contribute but am reading with great interest.

I'd really like to have the new Golf R.

My wife owned one for 10 years and all it needed was water pump and TB to 130k miles. Plus, resale is strong on these cars.

I thought it was well engineered, even for the 2.slow auto. It hauled ass at highway speed for passing, and handled great for a back and forth to work DD that I was "stuck" with for off-and-on 3 years. If it would have been a 1.8T or VR6 manual I would've kept it, possibly forever, since she bought it new, it was a rare color, and had 0 rust.

Pretty damn fun DD and definitely not overhyped IMO. Wayyyyyy less expensive to repair than an R53/R56, and a ton more room.