quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
I drove the RS as well. More power with less torque steer, but rougher ride and worse fuel economy compared to the ST. My goal was to get something that would be cheaper to daily drive than my F350 and more fun. Tires for the RS are about the same price as my F350, but don't last as long. The RS requires premium gas which costs more than diesel which offsets the better mileage it gets vs. the F350. Then there's the $13k price difference over the ST.

The ST checked all the boxes for me.

Wasn't aware the ST was an 87 burner, assumed it required 91/93 as well.
I've not heard great things about the concept of having the RS as a daily driver, mostly from the very stiff ride & seat comfort areas.

They have the reputation of being go-cart like, and not super comfortable. Some people enjoy the fun aspect enough to be able to live with the decreased comfort. It probably wouldn't be my cup of tea.

Agreed. To me the GTI is much more of an adults car. Plenty of fun but also not loud or obnoxious.

Ugh, my agent got back to me & the GTI (he had to quote a 2017, since the 2018 isn't in his system yet) is more to insure than the F150 it would be replacing. Definitely not what I was expecting.

My ST was half the price of my F350 and yet costs about the same to insure. My agent says smaller cars don't fair as well in accidents which is why it costs so much to insure.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Ugh, my agent got back to me & the GTI (he had to quote a 2017, since the 2018 isn't in his system yet) is more to insure than the F150 it would be replacing. Definitely not what I was expecting.

Call Liberty Mutual.. I have had them for 10 years..but they discount VW, and have been excellent.

I've been seriously considering the GTI to replace my first and only car. Bought my '06 Sentra new in '06, and have driven almost 150k miles, with very few minor problems. I started looking at the GTI when the Mk7 came out in the States in 2015. Only concern for me is being able to drive it for more than 10 years and around 150k again with few minor problems. Of course when I start looking into it I want to tune it and whatnot, but I'd likely keep it stock...
Any comments on long term reliability?

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Originally posted by SigSauerP226:
I've been seriously considering the GTI to replace my first and only car. Bought my '06 Sentra new in '06, and have driven almost 150k miles, with very few minor problems. I started looking at the GTI when the Mk7 came out in the States in 2015. Only concern for me is being able to drive it for more than 10 years and around 150k again with few minor problems. Of course when I start looking into it I want to tune it and whatnot, but I'd likely keep it stock...
Any comments on long term reliability?

I would like to know about reliability as well. I have never had good luck with turbos lasting long term.

I can say I have had 0 issues with Turbo's in a Mini Cooper,
however, the first I traded for the second at about 68K., and the second was totaled(rear ended) at 71K,,

the service guy at Crown Mini is fantastic, and he had mentioned that there has been very little issues or repairs on the Turbos, AS long as the oil changes are done on schedule

yes, I know that is a different brand, but overall the use is the same

I'd imagine, with the sheer volume of turbocharged cars (total) on the road, the incidence of turbo failure has dropped quite a bit.
I'd think it may be a slightly higher occurrence in performance applications, but without modifications, I'm not overly worried.

I know a few people with over 100k on Ford EcoBoost engines (mainly trucks) that haven't led easy highway lives.

Change oil when recommended and let the engine cool off before you shut it down. You can check into a Turbo Saver also.

Not much to worry about with the turbo. New 2018 VW's have a 6 year /72,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty as well. Every other car on the road has a turbo these days. VW/Audi has coolant running through theirs. You don't have to sit there for several minutes and let it cool down. Even after it's turned off, the engine will continue to pump coolant through the turbo if needed. It's also fairly easy to replace the turbo, and not super expensive. That engine is super efficient, rated at 220hp/258tq - yet always dyno's right at or often more than that at the wheels.

Going to try to go check out an Autobahn today after work.
Will have to see if I can get the price where I want it, to not have to give up some of the tech/goodies missing from the SE.

Just bought a Golf R this week. Unfortunately my car won't ship from Germany till the beginning of the month. I did a lot of research and choose the R as I really wanted the all wheel drive for winter.
From all I have read etc.the GTI is very close in performance to the R though.
I got to drive an R before I ordered mine and it was a real blast to drive. Really fast and surprisingly comfortable.

I wouldnt mind having a used R32 with the V6 engine.

We have three Golf TSI (i.e., base model) in the family, one 2016 and two 2017.

The 2017’s are both manual, and came out to ~$15,200 each (I bought them new, but at the end of the 2017 model year so the dealer needed them moved)

At $15k, they are an unbelievable bargain. Great fit & finish, good clutch and transmission, solid performance...

I just don’t see spending $40k+ for it. That almost buys 3 Golf TSI!

Just my thoughts, I love mine but it IS a Golf at the end of the day.

GTI=ThunderBunny.

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Originally posted by darthfuster:
I bought an 85 gti in 87. That thing was a missile. I called it Jack. Jack B. Nimble...

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Originally posted by reloader-1:
We have three Golf TSI (i.e., base model) in the family, one 2016 and two 2017.

The 2017’s are both manual, and came out to ~$15,200 each (I bought them new, but at the end of the 2017 model year so the dealer needed them moved)



At $15k, they are an unbelievable bargain. Great fit & finish, good clutch and transmission, solid performance...

I just don’t see spending $40k+ for it. That almost buys 3 Golf TSI!

Just my thoughts, I love mine but it IS a Golf at the end of the day.

At end of year sales you can get new S model GTI’s for $20k and SE models for $23k

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dusty78,

Bumping this back up.

GTI owners, is it worth the extra cost to go for the Autobahn over the SE? Running the numbers, it looks like a slight advantage to the GTI Autobahn in monthly expense to my F150 (assuming pmt & insurance don't change, so only a MPG savings).

Looks like the SE loses: DCC, adaptive cruise, full power seats, Fender audio, Navigation, automatic climate, parking sensors, lane keep assist.
Performance-wise, outside of whatever benefit the DCC adds, they should be about equal, same hp/tqe, same brakes, same DSG, both have leather & full LED exterior lighting.

The dealers closest to me office & house have both & it looks like about a $4k difference between them before any negotiation.

One more bump for opinion....

Autobahn or SE?

Not sure how much better it would handle with DCC as never driven a car with it. Don't use Nav in vehicles as I use Waze and Google Maps, though I might use Waze and Google maps in a car's Nav if the car had Apple Play. I'd have to listen to the upgraded audio to hear the difference. I'm usually the only one who drives my car so adjusting the seat is a rarity, so full power seats would be unnecessary. I do like automatic climate control. Do the Autobahn's have higher resale value?

Good points. I'd have to go drive the Autobahn again & see if the DCC makes a marked difference on some of the roads on my commute.

Resale, locally within 100 miles there are about 10 2015+ GTIs in the 3 trim levels, all average around the listed price, so no appreciable price difference with regard to trim level on the used market.

May just need to go drive them back to back. DCC, radar cruise, auto climate & Fender audio are probably the most desirable bits from the Autobahn. Audio is an easy upgrade & suspension can be upgraded; the other 2 are likely not possible or prohibitively expensive.