VW GTI, anyone have one?

[SlipknotX556]

I was looking into getting a VW GTI, I just wanted to know if anyone here has one, what you think of it. I need a small car, because we have almost no room in my driveway and its only going to get more crowded, because my brother will be coming home from college to visit sometimes, we need to fit 3 more cars in the driveway, cant use the garage, because no room. My mom had a 69 bug as her first car, she said the thing was built like a tank, never died on her, even when it blew a cylinder, it kept on going. Only thing as a drawback to getting a GTI is, that I dont know how to drive stick :( , so I wont be able to have a 6 speed, it will have to be automatic.

Well, whats all your opinions on the GTI's? Anything I need to know about?


Thanks

[Python14]

Why don't you just learn to drive stick there chief?

Btw, I don't know what your budget is here, but try looking at the TDI. Those suckers get insane fuel economy on pump diesel.

[SlipknotX556]

Why don't you just learn to drive stick there chief?


I dont have access to a stick, so I will never be able to try and drive one.

[Python14]

If you buy a 6-speed, you will have a car to learn on, and best part? You get to keep it.

[SlipknotX556]

If you buy a 6-speed, you will have a car to learn on, and best part? You get to keep it.

I thought of that, but when I get my car, I want to just be able to go, not have to learn to drive it, I am trying to get one of my friends, to let me try out one of their cars, but so far the only one, that has a stick has a sky blue 67 bug and wont let anyone near it, lol.

[ShooterJM]

See if you can rent a stick shift car for a day or two.... ;)

[ShaftyMcGee]

i have an 84 volkswagen rabbit GTI, convertible. Currently in pieces getting ready for paint. Awesome little car. I love it.

[Chris42050]

You should really make an effort to learn standard. You will probably like it better. You have a lot more control of the car. I was just like you when I started to drive. It took me no time at all to learn on the company truck. 4 bangers are really easy to learn on. Give it a try it's very easy. Just get a few pointers and go out by yourself. It's alot easier than someone screamin at you.

[SlipknotX556]

See if you can rent a stick shift car for a day or two.... ;)

Already looked into it, no car rental place around me has sticks, they are all automatic.

[AcemanPB]

You should learn to drive stick, you never know when it might come in handy. On a small car like that it will take you no time. You'll have it down in a week at the most. And you will get slightly better fuel economy on a stick too (if you drive mildly that is ;) )

[Maksimus54]

I had to beg my parents to get a car with a stick and you are complaining about learning how to drive one. Get the damn stick and learn how to drive. It's not that freaken hard. I have only got to drive a stick a few times and all i want to do is drive one.

[SlipknotX556]

I had to beg my parents to get a car with a stick and you are complaining about learning how to drive one. Get the damn stick and learn how to drive. It's not that freaken hard. I have only got to drive a stick a few times and all i want to do is drive one.

I am not complaining about driving a stick, I would love to get the GTI in stick, but you see its kind of hard to learn how to drive a stick, when you dont have access to one. Few car rental places have stick anymore, besides, if I was driving it, something happened, I would get in trouble, because I am not over 18, the car was not rented to me.

[FooTemps]

All my friends learned on the fly...

For example, one of my friends had to take his friend's car out to a car shop and he had to learn to drive stick while driving to the shop.

[Maksimus54]

Thats cool, but once you recieved the car it would not take long to learn, maybe a while to get good at it. Ive driven a stick for an extremely limited time and I feel I could drive most cars with a little practice and some room for error.

[Python14]

Yea dude, learning to drive stick ain't hard. I did it in a few hours one afternoon at a parkinglot
Granted, I wasn't a master, but I had the principals that I needed to drive and learn for myself.

[soccer4minimags]

Give the guy a break. I doesn't really sound likely that he is going to learn how to drive standard and there is nothing wrong with that, the majority of people out there today are uncomfortable w/ standard or don't know how to drive it. Like he is saying he doesn't have access to one. Personally if I owned a standard I wouldn't lend it out to my friends to "learn" on, the only reason I know how to drive a standard is cause I'm lucky enough my parents have an old beat up car that is standard. I definitely wouldn't just hop in a brand new car, especially if you have no experience driving standard.

Basically, you are stuck. To bad the GTI only comes w/ standard, the auto is the golf and its 4 door.

BTW the GTI I am pretty sure its 5 spd. Also just cause a car is standard doesn't automatically mean it gets better milage. Maybe 10 yrs ago, but things are changing, and that is not always the case anymore. My car for example gets better milage ratings in the auto version than the standard.

[SlipknotX556]

Basically, you are stuck. To bad the GTI only comes w/ standard, the auto is the golf and its 4 door.

Not anymore, you can get an auto GTI, just have to pay 1,100 extra. If I couldnt get the GTI in auto and I wouldnt be getting one, I would be getting an accord or something. One of my local VW dealers has a black auto GTI, I was looking at a week ago.

[Benfica4ever]

Gti's are great, fast too, what kind of engine will it have?

[soccer4minimags]

Look at the jetta's. Anything with the VW 1.8T engine is :headbang:

My GF has a wolfsburg jetta (replaced currently with GLI), and that thing is awesome, even for an automatic.

The reason I bring this up is cause you mentioned accords, well her jetta puts her brothers V6 accord coupe to shame. I have driven both, the jetta is a better car in my opinion.

[SlipknotX556]

Gti's are great, fast too, what kind of engine will it have?

V4, 1.8T, the V6 would kill me in insurance money.

I would get a jetta, but I wanted a nice coupe, if I cant get the GTI, then Ill have to move on to the next car inline, but I dont think it will even fit in the driveway, lol.


German cars will put Jap cars to shame anyday :).

[danoxide]

i have an 84 volkswagen rabbit GTI, convertible. Currently in pieces getting ready for paint. Awesome little car. I love it.


its not a GTI if it is convertible....it is a cabrio...the GTI's are the same thing but only two doors...and no they never made a 2 door convertible...(i should know i own 3 GTI's)




didn't mean to shoot you down im just letting you know...its very possible that your car has GTI decals on it tho...its still not one


:cheers:

[PyRo]

Already looked into it, no car rental place around me has sticks, they are all automatic.
Give U-Haul a call, they have stick trucks.

Learning standard isn't really all that hard. You will be able to just get in and go for the most part, basically just go to an empty parking lot and practice for an hour or so (getting moving from a stop is the hardest part). After an hour you should be just fine, for the next few days your going to stall ocasionally when you're stopped at a light but its really no big deal. In about a week most people have it down pretty well, 2-3 weeks and your a pro at it.

[RetroEclipseMan]

its not a GTI if it is convertible....it is a cabrio...the GTI's are the same thing but only two doors...and no they never made a 2 door convertible...(i should know i own 3 GTI's)




didn't mean to shoot you down im just letting you know...its very possible that your car has GTI decals on it tho...its still not one


:cheers:

If I'm not mistaken the GTi line of vw's started with the rabbit. The cabrio's body is not a golf gti but a rabbit body. I think there were some cabrio gti's put out in the early years of it. before the MKII golf platform was put out but I'd have to check. For example if you go to any parts store for you vw the parts aren't listed by "gti" but by either rabbit, golf, jetta, or passat, "gti" is just a submodel of the main ones.

As for if you're deciding on a car definately go with a vw, I love my mkII. Trust me, learning to drive stick is not that hard, takes only about an hour to get used to it and then about another week to really get it down. It took me a bit longer since I had to learn on my mom's pos '71 Beetle that had a sloppy clutch and a carborator problem so it was a pain to keep running to begin with. If you're going to learn on a newer car you'll have no problems.

[PBCapo]

Not anymore, you can get an auto GTI, just have to pay 1,100 extra. If I couldnt get the GTI in auto and I wouldnt be getting one, I would be getting an accord or something. One of my local VW dealers has a black auto GTI, I was looking at a week ago.

Do not pay money to have less fun. Stick is really fun man, i had to learn on a 97 mustang cobra with 4:30 gears in it, needless to say that was tough, but it still only took a day. Really, just buy the car, and learn from there. Though, you said your mom said the bug was very reliable. After reading a new consumer reports, vw rated the worst for reliability. In fact, my brothers gf has a golf, and the water pump busted blew after 35000 miles, its supposed to last 80k vw supposedly said. Plus, the gti really isnt that fast, people seem to think it, and it sounds it, but its not. I would reconsider, there are many small cars out there to fit in your drive way.

On a final note though, in case you still go with the gti, get the stick based on speed. In tests, i believe it was motor trend that found that the automatic in 04 did 0-60 in 8.1, while the stick version did 6.5, don't pay money to go slow! sorry for the rant, just tryin to help haha

[Snake847]

Yep the new VW are crap. Made in Mexico. My friend had a 2002 VW Golf for about 1 year. After about 10k miles the tranny blew, the engine blew and fell off the engine mounts( :nono: ) caused a bunch of problems. The underbody was rusty, and the dealer banned him from the dealership and voided the warranty because of something not being done to spec.(The dealer did all of the work on the car).
The new VW are pieces of crap and are not roadworthy. if I were you I would get something pre MK IV.
And yes the new VW are alot heavyer and not as peppy feeling as the old light versions. They do have more power but alot more weight making them feel..odd. They look good drive good(for a short time) but I would not buy a new VW unless it is a Audi.

[ShaftyMcGee]

its not a GTI if it is convertible....it is a cabrio...the GTI's are the same thing but only two doors...and no they never made a 2 door convertible...(i should know i own 3 GTI's)




didn't mean to shoot you down im just letting you know...its very possible that your car has GTI decals on it tho...its still not one


:cheers:

i guess i have to post a picture then. :D

*edit* ok it might be a while, i have to go get some more AAA betteries for the camera :tard:

[mcveighr]

Spend the extra and get the diesel its worth it.

I mastered the standard in about an hour so its not hard, at all.

[SlipknotX556]

Though, you said your mom said the bug was very reliable. After reading a new consumer reports, vw rated the worst for reliability.

My mom had a 69 bug, back then they were still made in germany.

[SlipknotX556]

Well after talking to my mom, If I do get the GTI, it will be a stick, she said, having an auto GTI is no fun. So if I do get the GTI, I will buy it, have her drive it home, just take the car and go learn, only reason I cant drive it home is because I would then have to drive on I-95 with a car, I dont know how to drive, that could be bad. I still have a few more cars to look into.

[Maksimus54]

Have you given any thought to a domestic car? The focus is an awesome car and for the price of a new vw, you could probably get an svt version. There is also the new chevy cobalt that packs a punch. Or better I hear is the dodge srt-4. Just some food for thought.

[MarkM]

If you already can drive...I use that term very loosely when it comes to automatics ;) a GTI is not the right sort of car to learn how to drive with gears, as the torque steer from the GTI is pretty powerful but then in fairness american roads are rarely much off straight and the corners you do have are of the 90 degree variety so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult. :)

[SlipknotX556]

If you already can drive...I use that term very loosely when it comes to automatics ;) a GTI is not the right sort of car to learn how to drive with gears, as the torque steer from the GTI is pretty powerful but then in fairness american roads are rarely much off straight and the corners you do have are of the 90 degree variety so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult. :)

Well, I will give it a try, I do have to test drive 4 other cars, before I make my decision.

I dont really want an american car, used american cars arent very reliable now a day, only one I would think of getting is a ford explorer. I believe that foriegn cars are the best you can get now a days.

[PyRo]

The Explorers are a heap of junk. American cars are reliable, my camaro is still going with 110,000 on it, the only thing I have replaced (besides normal tuneup stuff) is a $20 heater control valve. My grand cherokee had 117,000 miles on it and had a few problems that resulted from an accident but mechanically it was in great shape. My other camaro had 114,000 on it, never had a problem. My explorer had 165k on it, needed a rear main seal, was on its 2nd transmission, and very close to needing a third (slipping bad), I got a folder with bills from all the parts replaced with the thing, and it had alot of work done to it.

[Fixion]

I've never seen a 6 spd VW, VW Golfs (GTI or not) only come in 5 spd + reverse. Plus automatic, but I've never driven one of those. The Golf GTI is an excelent car. I had a 2 door 89 Golf (same as GTI except for the engine), it was awsome. But sadly I had to sell it.

Anyways, you probably won't have too much trouble learning how to drive a stick-shift car. The worst that could happen is you burn out the clutch.