What Car: Replacing a GTI with something with less European "reliability"

My wife is hitting the point of frustration with her 2015 VW GTI.  It's got about 70K miles on it, and last year, it went to the dealer 4 times for A/C problems, and stayed there once for 2 weeks while an evaporator was on back order.  This spring, it is starting to show signs of failing again, and on it's most recent trip to the dealer, they replaced the cabin air filter and called it all good, which is exactly how this adventure started last year.  She's still got a bit over a year on her extended warranty, so this isn't going to cost a bunch of money, but she's tired of the frequent trips for unscheduled service.  This is a major bummer, as she absolutely loves to drive the car, it is the perfect balance of comfort and performance for her.  She could replace the car this spring/summer, or she could wait until the warranty is closer to running out.

She really doesn't like car hunting, so asked me to start putting together a list of possibilities.  I told her there is probably nothing Asian or American that will be exactly like the GTI, but I'd see what comes close.  She is more likely to be willing to sacrifice performance in order to maintain comfort, and since the GTI is pretty much the most "mature" feeling hot hatch, I think she's out of luck for another little hatchback.  Acceleration is more important than handling, so a decent power to weight ratio is important.

Requirements:

1. Automatic transmission
2. Heated seats
3. Decent amount of power (I know that's vague)
4. Not European

Like to haves:

1. Compact sized
2. Ventilated Seats
3. Good handling (another vague requirement)
4. Prefer not to have a sunroof

Price hasn't been discussed yet, but I'm guessing under 30K, and she's willing to buy pre-owned, but it'd probably have to be CPO.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

• New Honda Civic EX or higher trim level
• New Mazda 3 Preferred or higher trim level
• Used Lexus IS (Probably the best bet, if I can find a CPO RWD model, would likely need to head a ways south from Ohio)
• Genesis G70 (Very dark horse candidate due to price)
• New Mustang Ecoboost Premium (Bigger than she'd want, but meets a lot of the other requirements, and looks good in Kona Blue, purple is her favorite color)

Any other ideas I'm missing out on?  If nothing above ends up being something she wants, she may give up and get a new Camry V6 or a CPO Lexus ES350 and deal with driving a bigger car.

I was cross-shopping the Mazda3 2.5 hatch with the GTI last year and only bought a GTI because I found a better deal sooner. She would probably be very well-served by a Mazda3.

I came across an Elantra GT in a parking lot recently that looked very "GTI" to me. 

I'd be headed straight to the Mazda dealer if I were in your shoes. The new 3 is probably going to check all those boxes.

A used IS is another great candidate.

Edit: I always forget about the Elantra GT, that's another good one to check out.

In reply to John Welsh :

Ooh, will have to mention that too her.  I just checked the regular Elantra and saw it only had the 147 HP engine, and dismissed it.  Maybe the 160 HP engine will be enough.  I suspect the N Line will be a little more harsh driving than she'd prefer, but who knows.

In reply to eastsideTim :

Pretty sure the Elantra GT has 200 hp. The interior will not be as nice as your current VAG product (despite crayon smell) and the Mazda, who have really upped the anti with the new 3's interior. People on the internet (hello!) are freaking out about the interior of that car, talking Audi and such. Look out.

pointofdeparture said:

I was cross-shopping the Mazda3 2.5 hatch with the GTI last year and only bought a GTI because I found a better deal sooner. She would probably be very well-served by a Mazda3.

I was in the same boat in '17, had narrowed it down to a fully loaded 2.5 3 hatch, and a GTI SE (I think).  I wound up in a '15 TDI Golf when the Dieselgate embargo was lifted, but I'd be all over a new or slightly used Mazda 3.  I don't think the '19 hatches have hit the market yet, only the sedans at the moment, but the hatches should be soon.  You can even get AWD on the new Mazda 3!

Anyone driven an Acura ILX with the DCT?  I think that was her second choice when she ended up with the GTI.  I seem to recall there had been reports of issues with the DCT, but I have no idea if it was a performance or reliability problem, or both.

CyberEric said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

Pretty sure the Elantra GT has 200 hp. The interior will not be as nice as your current VAG product (despite crayon smell) and the Mazda, who have really upped the anti with the new 3's interior. People on the internet (hello!) are freaking out about the interior of that car, talking Audi and such. Look out.

On the website, it looked like the base Elantra GT had the 2.0 non-turbo engine, and the 1.6 turbo was on the N Line only, but I could be wrong, I only looked very quickly.

EDIT:  Also, she's probably agnostic about a hatch vs sedan.  In 2015 she said she wanted a sedan, and wouldn't even consider a hatch until after she had test driven a Jetta GLI at the VW dealer, and wanted to see if the GTI was better.

FiST? Small, fast, technically not European, and when it breaks easy to fix?

Edit: NVM, I just saw the auto requirement....

In reply to eastsideTim :

I was wrong, it's 201 hp for the Elantra GT, according to a quick google search. :)

And I saw a new hatch 3 yesterday, they are here, at least in Calif.

I have no ILX knowledge I'm afraid.

From Motor1.com

" 2.5-liter, naturally aspirated four-cylinder Skyactiv engine that delivers 186 horsepower and an equal number of torque. The lone engine (for now) works alongside either a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual gearbox (yay!). Power is sent to the front wheels as standard, while the 3 gets its first all-wheel-drive system. Mazda’s decision to send the 3’s power to all four wheels puts it in a rarefied space in its segment, and will hopefully help tempt crossover drivers into something more agile but equally capable in crummy weather. "

John Welsh said:

I came across an Elantra GT in a parking lot recently that looked very "GTI" to me. 

Would be so awesome if they'd just bring this car wwiththe N package over.

CyberEric said:

In reply to eastsideTim :

I was wrong, it's 201 hp for the Elantra GT, according to a quick google search. :)

And I saw a new hatch 3 yesterday, they are here, at least in Calif.

I have no ILX knowledge I'm afraid.

I thought they were cool, but literally every piece of research I did on them basically said they suck in almost every aspect.

The 1.6 is only in the nline for 19.  Sport for 18's. 

I own a 18 Elantra GT sport M6 and really like it.  I cross shopped extensively between a Mazda 3, GTI and the Elantra.  Ride is comparable to a GTI, the interior is not noticably worse.  Keep in mind for same options it's almost 10k cheaper so some loss of quality is expected.  The Maz 3 (18) felt so slow compared to the GTI and felt heavier not in a solid way.  Also limited rear legroom it is noticably smaller then the Elantra and GTI which are nearly identical in dimensions.

Mine has 31k miles with no issues.  31 mpg overall average on 87 octane.  The 1.6 feels more urgent downlow then the GTI and the auto is a DSG that is the GTIs equal.  

I got mine for $22k out the door and could of gotten an Auto 1k cheaper but they had to bring in my Manual.  It could be an excellent time to get a deal on a new 18 GT Sport auto if you found one.  

In reply to bigdaddylee82 :

That is a nice looking vehicle.

irish44j said:

John Welsh said:

I came across an Elantra GT in a parking lot recently that looked very "GTI" to me. 

Would be so awesome if they'd just bring this car wwiththe N package over.

That picture is my exact car.  If they brought the N-line 270hp LSD car over I would trade mine tomorrow.    

I have driven and Ecoboost Mustang and was pretty impressed with it (other than the exhaust note). It also seemed to have held up well to about 30k miles of rental car abuse.

Your dealer sounds incompetent.  Is there another one you can go to?

docwyte said:

Your dealer sounds incompetent.  Is there another one you can go to?

Unfortunately, the only other close one has the same ownership.  Although, last summer, I mostly suspect it had to do with the usual "throw the easy parts at it first" syndrome.  AC always worked when she left the dealer, just didn't stay working long until they replaced the evaporator, which is what I had suspected from the beginning.  Heck, the AC still worked when we took it in yesterday, it just wasn't as strong as it should be.

EDIT:  the AC isn't the only issue she's had with it.  The two burnt out headlights (first step to replace - remove front bumper cover), and the shifter assembly failure didn't help.  The AC is just the last straw.

Go test drive an GX460, and when she says its too big, too lux, or too Lexus, let it marinade and test drive it again.

Im going to throw in the subaru forester XT. we bought my wife one CPO last year and it has been trouble free so far. With the turbo it has great acceleration and the CVT is the best one in the business. I don't even hate it, and I only buy manuals. It handles awesome compared to her last car, a 2003 sienna minivan,  but even at that it will corner way better than I expect it too. I suspect the AWD has something to do with that. The interior is very nice, I think they did a major upgrade to that in 2015? Hers is a 2016. I think of it as a wagon more than a crossover.  Like an updated AMC Eagle, but without the AMC issues.

Looks like that would get you a new Buick Regal with the turbo four cylinder as well. A little larger than a GTI, but not a boat, and sportier than you might expect. Weirdly enough, you can get the Regal as a hatchback, too.

irish44j said:

John Welsh said:

I came across an Elantra GT in a parking lot recently that looked very "GTI" to me. 

Would be so awesome if they'd just bring this car wwiththe N package over.

They are.  I sat in one at the Atlanta Auto Show last month.  Pricing is roughly $27k if I remember correctly.

In the same family is the Kia Forte5 SX, a very nice car.

Others that would come to mind, either new or slightly used.  New generation Accord Sport, Infiniti Q50, Kia Soul Turbo, Mazda3 hatch (this generation or last)

The answer is in the OP. CPO Lexus IS. They're almost engaging, will have been well maintained, easy to work on mechanically, reliable, comfortable, look less boring than they actually are and only come with the autotragic.