In the market due to wrecked MK7

Hey all,

Just a quick introduction about me; I've been driving Volkswagens for 12 years. I've had a MKI, two MKIIs, a MKIII, a MKV, and now a MKVII. I've also had BMWs, Chevy trucks, a Benz, and other fun cars. Suffice to say, I always go back to Volkswagen because they are simply amazing cars.

Now here's my dilemma, on November 1st while on my way to work, my car was totaled as a result of an accident caused by two other drivers. Fortunately, nobody was seriously injured during the accident. My insurance gave me the news on November 2nd. I was pretty bummed as I was starting to finish up the cosmetic mods and making my way to the performance modifications. Luckily, my insurance company is taking care of me and I'll be able to get a brand new car.

Here's the decision I have to make:

I want to stay under $35,000 with my new purchase and I want to buy new. Ideally, I would like to buy a MKVII R. Unfortunately, I can't find any manual Rs close to my location for under $42,000.

That leads me to my second choice, a manual 2017 GTI Sport. Again, I can't find one near me for the right price. I would have to drive 4 or so hours to the dealership with stock closest to me, but they are asking $27,000+ for that trim. With the 7.5s being released soon, do you think they would drop the price to somewhere in the $25,000 range?

My third choice would be a 2018 GTI SE. Unfortunately, I'm expecting this trim to start in the low $30,000 range, and I'm not sure the car would be worth that much to me.

Finally, I've been looking at a Focus RS and even the WRX. My brother has an RS and it's a blast to drive, and with the 2018s coming out soon dealers are letting 2017s in my area go for around $36,000 which I'm considering.

This is mostly me babbling since I took the day off from work and I'm bored, but any advice or help searching for the right car is greatly appreciated. I'm in 89431 and willing to travel around 300 miles for the right car. I'll post pictures of the accident once my insurance claim is officially processed.

Thanks everyone!

Glad to hear that no one was seriously injured. There are not many MK7 Rs left with the dealers so your best option might be GTI Sport / SE. People are finding great deals for GTI on east coast and there have been some good deals in the west coast also. You might want to look into”Post your deal” thread.

Personally Sport is a bargain for the money.

vj123 said:

Glad to hear that no one was seriously injured. There are not many MK7 Rs left with the dealers so your best option might be GTI Sport / SE. People are finding great deals for GTI on east coast and there have been some good deals in the west coast also. You might want to look into”Post your deal” thread.

Personally Sport is a bargain for the money.

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There is a Sport trim at my local dealer for $25,640, but it is a DSG car. I know the transmission is reliable and very well balanced, but I would have a very hard time moving away from the manual gearbox. The price is definitely right, just not sure I can pull the trigger due to the transmission and color of the car. Decisions decisions haha.

Unless you can get a really good deal with the R, I would go for a Used CPO GTI. Great bargain considering what you get.

If I had to do it all again, I would still go for the GTI. Probably get White instead and maybe 2 door

I would skip the Focus RS though, seems a lot of people are having head gasket issues. A bit concerning. If it didn't have much issues, I probably would get the RS...

First and foremost - glad you weren't hurt. End of the day, cars are just things, and they're far easier to replace than people.

My personal opinion... get the R. I'm sick and tired of waiting on one, and with the markups many dealers are reported to have done on them, compared with the crazy deals on GTIs, I'm getting sorely tempted - but absolutely EVERY article, review, and firsthand experience says that the R simply is a better car. The extra power, the AWD, the options that come as standard - by the time you modify a GTI to get even in the same ballpark, you're spending the same money.

Now yep, the 2018s aren't available, and the 2017s are thin on the ground. I get that you don't want to travel, but... there's a 2017 R, manual, DCC in Texas. It's red. They're asking $37,995. If I were in your shoes, and you liked red, I'd be on the phone to them and asking if they can come down a bit more. Plop the $100 or so a one way ticket on Southwest would be, get the car you wanted, and have a blast spending a weekend breaking her in on the way home.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/688415303/overview/

ubermick said:

First and foremost - glad you weren't hurt. End of the day, cars are just things, and they're far easier to replace than people.

My personal opinion... get the R. I'm sick and tired of waiting on one, and with the markups many dealers are reported to have done on them, compared with the crazy deals on GTIs, I'm getting sorely tempted - but absolutely EVERY article, review, and firsthand experience says that the R simply is a better car. The extra power, the AWD, the options that come as standard - by the time you modify a GTI to get even in the same ballpark, you're spending the same money.

Now yep, the 2018s aren't available, and the 2017s are thin on the ground. I get that you don't want to travel, but... there's a 2017 R, manual, DCC in Texas. It's red. They're asking $37,995. If I were in your shoes, and you liked red, I'd be on the phone to them and asking if they can come down a bit more. Plop the $100 or so a one way ticket on Southwest would be, get the car you wanted, and have a blast spending a weekend breaking her in on the way home.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/688415303/overview/

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That R is a beautiful find my friend. Good price and a great color. I don't think my wife would let me drive that distance and leave her with our little one for a weekend. It's definitely worth a conversation with her and call to the dealer. I'll give it a shot and report back!

On another note, found a GTI SE for $27,065 in my preferred color (Pure White). If I can get that price down to $25,000 I will likely jump on it.

Brando said:

Hey all,
That leads me to my second choice, a manual 2017 GTI Sport. Again, I can't find one near me for the right price. I would have to drive 4 or so hours to the dealership with stock closest to me, but they are asking $27,000+ for that trim. With the 7.5s being released soon, do you think they would drop the price to somewhere in the $25,000 range?

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This should definitely be possible. The manual transmission cars seem to be harder to find but I have seen people paying less than $25k for a SE. Sport should be in the $23k range although it does depend on market. They are aggressively pricing GTI's right now, I wouldn't pay anywhere close to $27k for a Sport. I did receive a quote similar to that from one dealer though so you may have to be willing to travel. They basically called me a liar when I said I already had quotes for $6k+ off MSRP.

I ended up with a DSG Sport for $24k + TTL. Perhaps I could have done better but it was a local, hassle free experience. Price was a deciding factor for me, estimating a 2018 SE would be pushing $35k out the door which is more than I want to spend. Good luck!

MK7 AP2 said:

This should definitely be possible. The manual transmission cars seem to be harder to find but I have seen people paying less than $25k for a SE. Sport should be in the $23k range although it does depend on market. They are aggressively pricing GTI's right now, I wouldn't pay anywhere close to $27k for a Sport. I did receive a quote similar to that from one dealer though so you may have to be willing to travel. They basically called me a liar when I said I already had quotes for $6k+ off MSRP.

I ended up with a DSG Sport for $24k + TTL. Perhaps I could have done better but it was a local, hassle free experience. Price was a deciding factor for me, estimating a 2018 SE would be pushing $35k out the door which is more than I want to spend. Good luck!

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Sounds like you got a good deal! I'm worried about the 2018 SEs pushing that price range too. I'm going to see the car tomorrow and the salesman is a friend of a friend. Hoping I get the price I want.

Went out and drove a 2017 GTI SE, 2018 WRX Premium, and a Focus RS. The dealer wouldn't go any lower in price on the GTI, so before taxes and fees they're offering it for $27,065. That's more than I'm willing to spend on a 2017. I'm thinking I might lease the WRX for two years and then jump into a MKVIII R in 2020 or so. Pretty disappointed in the dealer to be honest.

Brando said:

Went out and drove a 2017 GTI SE, 2018 WRX Premium, and a Focus RS. The dealer wouldn't go any lower in price on the GTI, so before taxes and fees they're offering it for $27,065. That's more than I'm willing to spend on a 2017. I'm thinking I might lease the WRX for two years and then jump into a MKVIII R in 2020 or so. Pretty disappointed in the dealer to be honest.

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I'm sorry to hear about the dealers in your area! That's super frustrating... A tree fell on my GTI and now I'm in the same circumstance as you. I want a Golf R, but I do not want to spend that much money, but I really want AWD... How did you like the WRX?

Johnpaul said:

I'm sorry to hear about the dealers in your area! That's super frustrating... A tree fell on my GTI and now I'm in the same circumstance as you. I want a Golf R, but I do not want to spend that much money, but I really want AWD... How did you like the WRX?

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Oh man! Glad the tree fell on the car and not anyone around it. I liked the WRX enough to lease it today. Got a good deal and it'll serve its purpose until the next car if I don't end up loving it. The interior is cheap cheap cheap, but everything else is very nice and quality. I will say that the rev hang in the WRX is ridiculous. I've only put 20 miles on the car and I'm sure I'll like it more and more until I eventually love it. I think my excitement is low because I'm still sad about the GTI. I would've driven that thing until its tires fell off and then some. Go drive a WRX though it's a different experience and feel. Maybe you'll make the switch (for now) too.

Brando said:

Oh man! Glad the tree fell on the car and not anyone around it. I liked the WRX enough to lease it today. Got a good deal and it'll serve its purpose until the next car if I don't end up loving it. The interior is cheap cheap cheap, but everything else is very nice and quality. I will say that the rev hang in the WRX is ridiculous. I've only put 20 miles on the car and I'm sure I'll like it more and more until I eventually love it. I think my excitement is low because I'm still sad about the GTI. I would've driven that thing until its tires fell off and then some. Go drive a WRX though it's a different experience and feel. Maybe you'll make the switch (for now) too.

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What was your lease deal?

mopar22 said:

What was your lease deal?

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I'm saving about $140 monthly versus financing. My insurance went up but it wasn't much. I figure that the savings will be a nice down payment for a MK8 R when it's released.

Drove the WRX more today and it's weird, it feels faster than my GTI was, but it's not faster at all. Might just be the feel of the car and the more aggressive clutch/suspension. It's starting to grow on me though.

Brando said:

I'm saving about $140 monthly versus financing. My insurance went up but it wasn't much. I figure that the savings will be a nice down payment for a MK8 R when it's released.

Drove the WRX more today and it's weird, it feels faster than my GTI was, but it's not faster at all. Might just be the feel of the car and the more aggressive clutch/suspension. It's starting to grow on me though.

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I know the WRX has better low-end than the GTI and with less noise insulation you feel less isolated from the outside world... Maybe that's why it feels faster?