Last fall my fiance and I were cross-shopping the Civic Si, Jetta GLI, GTI, and WRX. We traded in her 2013 Touareg VR6 because she was complaining about the MPG. Prior to that she was driving a 1995 BMW 325i 5psd. She didnt like the lack of visibility and interior of the GLI. She thought the exterior styling of the Si was too obnoxious. The GTI was a perfect fit for her.... but she ended up getting the WRX. Its a really fun car, but it lacks so many amenities, the ride is harsh and not adjustable, the car's gearbox is like dragging a broom stick in a bucket of gravel and rev hang is awful from 1st to second. She got the middle trim, the "Premium", and you still physically have to use a key for the ignition, has cloth seats, has halogen headlights, doesnt have auto headlights or wipers, and the stereo leaves much to be desired, and funny enough got the worst MPG of all the cars we were looking at.The GTI is what she should have gotten.
So..... the following month I bought a 2019 GTI SE DSG DCC leather and sold my 2007 Audi A4 on Craigslist for $6500. The dealer was only going to give me $2500 for trade in on it. It took about 3 weeks to sell. The GTI is very luxurious in its own right. The only things I am missing are power seats and automatic climate control from my A4. I love the push to start, adaptive dampers, fender audio, the led headlights, the leather seats (we have 2 dogs that shed like crazy), and the massive sunroof. I was originally looking at buying a 2018 CPO GTI or leasing one, but with $5000 off msrp, my monthly payment was actually cheaper to just buy the car. The CPO had a higher interest rate with the bank, and if I were to lease, I wouldnt have gotten the $5000 off. So far I've only done spacers, DG springs, snow tires, and JB4. Sway bar and summer tires are probably next.
