Should I buy a used 2014/15 GTI?

[Taco]

Just over a year ago I was on the forums looking at buying a new or close to new GTI, but soon decided not to go ahead with it as thinking about it financially I didn't want to "lose" money. This would be my second car coming from a Holden Cruze which I purchased brand new in 2014 on my P plates. Thinking about what dealers offered me for a trade in on my Cruze just put me off the idea of buying new and taking that big hit of depreciation.

So over the year I've still had this itch to get in a GTI and feel the fun that it offers and also the wider availability of mods and stuff to do compared to a Cruze. I'm open to other alternatives, but something in my head keeps pulling me towards a GTI (maybe because I would love to have a brand new Audi S3, but see a GTI as a stepping stone).

So my budget would be around $20k or so, preferably the trade in of the Cruze plus $10k cash. I've searched the forum and there is a lot of stuff to go through. If I could get a small summary here that would be great.

TL;DR So after my little ramble the real point of this post is to find out a summary of peoples opinions on the MK7 and the main issues I should be cautious of looking at a used GTI (2014/15) model. Service costs/frequency would also be appreciated.

[Transporter]

From my experience, get what you really want, which would be the new Audi S3. Buying secondhand keeping it for a couple of years (steppingstone) is IMO wasting money. The $20k is a good deposit which will reduce your monthly payment and you could’ve residual at the end of loan. So, for less than you think you could’ve what you want. No compromise.

But, hey ...even if you don’t, you get there, though you’ll see that it cost you more.