Buying one

[senna]

Hi, I'm very seriously considering buying a nice gti dsg for the wife. Is there anything I should know before parting with the cash. I don't want to get it, and then talk to someone who says, "Oh my God, you didn't get the Bi-xenon headlights?!" or "yeah, lovely car but it's a pain in the arse changing oil every 500kms!"

I've read the reviews, driven it, I like it. Any tips from existing owners?

Thanks in advance

[gtimk5]

Hi senna and welcome to the forum !!! Good to have you here. I think the GTI DSG is a fantastic choice. I have a manual but sometimes I wish I had a DSG version. Problems are rare with them so far and maybe the only thing is an extra maintenance charge for them every 40,000 kms, I think ?
They out accelerate a manual and are a little more fuel efficient too.
Go for it, I say!!
Hope you enjoy the forum too mate, Andrew

[Dr Spine]

I can only report great deals of happiness from mine. You will not be sorry, I promise. Regarding the options. In my opinion it obviously depends on what you want them for. If you plan on doing plenty of night driving the Bi-Xenons might be an option for you. I've got the standard lights and think that they're fine at night. Some brighter aftermarket bulbs are a future option for me and then my lights will be even brighter without any of the cost of the Xenons.

I got the Sunroof as I just love the open top feel. Interestingly (or strangely)I think the best time of day for a sunroof is at night. I just love the feel!

I was always a DRIVER who said that I'd never get an "Auto", as if real driving was only when you're in total control. Gues what, in the DSG you have it all. You can have the relax and forget driving by just leaving it in "D" or just flip the selector across to the left and you've got total control. The car will only intervene and change gears to stop you from destroying it.

The sat nav thing? I know that some are all for it and I'll grant you that it looks pretty cool....but for mine, save the money and buy a NavMan. They work great at a fraction of the cost.

The leather option depends on where you live. I'm in Qld and chose the standard cloth. As a bonus I love the look of it and I didn't have to pay $3K.

Have fun making your choice. You wouldn't regret a GTI regardless of how you option it. It is a fantastic car and is destined to be a future classic! We're just enjoying it now.

Hope this has helped some.

[Subie25L]

Just have 1500km down now on ours and I agree with what everyone else has said. Great car.
My wife loves it more than she thought she would and is always wanting to drive it even though in the past i have done all the driving. She also has more of a lead foot than me now.

One thing i'm still getting used to is hill starts. With no clutch you always have to use the handbrake or both feet to take off on step hills.
Also doesn't help when the car i have come from had a hill holder clutch.

Only options we got where DSG and leather. Once you have leather in a car you cant go back.

[Lima]

Nilly 4000kms on my ol' girl's GTI ... and OMG, you like seriously have to get a 3dr OMG, they're so sexy!

I think all the options are personal preference in many respects. I did want xenons, but our 3dr was one of the first batch delivered which were pre-spec. In the end we wanted three options and got two of them (leather and sunroof). It would have meant April delivery if we were to spec exactly what we wanted, and by then we might have become sensible and spent the money on our house instead. We couldn't have that!

Incidentally, CW was our biggest non-negotiable when buying our GTI and the only other one that seemed to be available at the time that had us interested was leather and sat nav. I would have preferred that one I think, but seeing as it is not my car I had to give in to the sunroof (which I had no objections about either tbh). But I'd really like a car with factory nav. I accept all the comments about nav mans et al, but I just reckon the factory options look the bees knees, and you get the added bonus, in Australian spec, that you can tailor some of the convenience functions (auto lock, coming home lights ets) via the highline multi-function display (trip computer).

Either way, we're just quibbling about the cream on top. And DSG is amazing, and I've only driven a mate's car once around the block! Good luck.

Cheers Liam

[Bing56]

Hey man what do you drive. I wouldnt mind betting that you will take over the Gti. Its an awsome bit of kit for the money. They are for drivers who like to fang around as they are so much fun. Ive had mine for a couple of months now and pretty much have the things limits sorted sorted. Only on a quiet road in the country though...... Keep the Gti for yourself. You will be sneaking it out for a fang when she's not looking anyway!!!!
Anyway; go for it its a great car. Not sure how long you will have to wait for one though, hard to get of the dealers showroom floor.

[senna]

Thanks for the input, just put a deposit down! Red, leather, sunroof, dsg 5 door. It's done 3000km, was traded buy a guy who decided he wanted the R32 when it came out. I've got a BF Xr6 Turbo, with edit, so I'm sure I'll steal her keys if I'm on the old pacific hwy, but I don't think she'll have much show over 100kmh.

Although, the car I bought has had an APR remap , you guys know anything about them? The difference on my falcon was incredible, picked up 40kw atw.

[Tensixty6]

I've had my GTI for 7 months and will be clocking up 10,000 klms in a couple of weeks.

The car is really settling down now. The engine/dsg combo is fabulous.

Options can only be determined by the individual.

I chose the sunroof because l love the open air feeling that it provides. The DSG because l haven't driven a manual for over 30 years.

I chose the tartan cloth trim for 2 reasons. 1 - I've had leather before (twice) and l wouldn't have it by choice again and 2. l felt the tartan look gave a bit of variation to the interior. In other words, with the leather, there was too much grey.

No to xenons because l don't do enough night driving.

Finally, l chose the SatNav (overpriced, yes) because, put simply, l couldn't read the "half" MFD display located between the speedo and the tacho. The digits were so small l had to put my reading glasses on the see them. The highline display that comes with the SatNav is a breeze.

Having said all that, options are a personal choice that you'll have to make for yourself. Good luck. Don't hesitate, its' a car you'll fall in love with.