Goodbye, and thanks for the years!

[ElectricEye]

Thank you all so much for all the great years, and great help on this forum!
I believe I first joined back in 2012 with my MK6 on the MK6 forum.
I had been planning to keep my GTI for another year and a half or so, but after needing its third tow since September, and yet another costly repair - I stopped at a Mazda dealer on the way back from the mechanic, and traded in the GTI for a CX-5.

 

[PerceivedShift]

Booooo

Welp, good having you around! What made you jump on an SUV? Please tell me you got the 2.5 turbo...

 

[ElectricEye]

Booooo

Welp, good having you around! What made you jump on an SUV? Please tell me you got the 2.5 turbo...

The SUV jump was due to a couple of things I wouldn't do with the GTI.
There are a couple of parks I go to that have dirt or gravel roads into them.
Well maintained, and the GTI was capable of going down them - but really slowly and carefully.
To the point that I avoided going to these outdoor places, which is a shame. Not enjoying something because of the car.
That, and I got tired of babying the car on broken pavement, dips in the road etc.
No turbo.
The reason for that is that I wanted to keep things simple and reliable, and most of all less costly to maintain.
I just went through three very expensive cooling related issues with the GTI since September.
I want naturally aspirated now.
Got to say though, driving normally on the same routes I drove the GTI on - the Mazda feels really good.
Very nimble, nice and firm awesome interior.

 

[PerceivedShift]

From what I've read the CX-5 is pretty nimble for a crossover. Initially I wanted my GF back in 2021 to look at the CX-5 but she was dead set on another Escape. If we want to go off road or play in snow we take the Escape.

 

[ElectricEye]

From what I've read the CX-5 is pretty nimble for a crossover. Initially I wanted my GF back in 2021 to look at the CX-5 but she was dead set on another Escape. If we want to go off road or play in snow we take the Escape.

It's pretty amazing how little adjustment I needed to make from the GTI to the Mazda.
The controls are in similar places, nice steering wheel and steering feel, overall length isn't much different.

 

[anotero]

Thank you all so much for all the great years, and great help on this forum!
I believe I first joined back in 2012 with my MK6 on the MK6 forum.
I had been planning to keep my GTI for another year and a half or so, but after needing its third tow since September, and yet another costly repair - I stopped at a Mazda dealer on the way back from the mechanic, and traded in the GTI for a CX-5.

It's possible to trade in a broken car? I'm new to this, hence the question.

 

[anotero]

The CX-5 BSM is aaaaawful. I had to turn off my radar detector's K band because of it. But the car itself looks good.

 

[ElectricEye]

It's possible to trade in a broken car? I'm new to this, hence the question.

Oh, I fixed the GTI before trading it in.
I literally drove it from the repair shop - JA Autowerks in Red Bank NJ, to Shwartz Mazda which is located right around the corner.
I really wanted to hang on to the GTI another year and a half or so, but had very little confidence I wasn't going to go for another major repair soon.
Now that I'm driving the Mazda, it's really hitting me how little faith I had left in the GTI.
I wasn't going anywhere at night, wouldn't go anywhere with my wife in it, (we'd take her car) stopped making runs down to the beach in September - a time when the beach is really nice because the extreme heat of the summer is gone and so are the crowds...

 

[ElectricEye]

The CX-5 BSM is aaaaawful. I had to turn off my radar detector's K band because of it. But the car itself looks good.

I've got to say, it's kind of nice having some of the newer safety features.
Really nice having Apple Car Play!
I liked using CD's, but hooked up car play and... My songs! My bands! My albums!

 

[OLD MEN RULE]

Good luck with the CX-5.
How many miles were on the GTI when you traded it in?

 

[Nineeightyone]

Enjoy! I'm very fond of our CX-5 for what it is (also an NA 2.5), I've certainly owned slower cars. In a similar place the desire was to get something simple with better all-weather capability, and still decent fuel economy. More details about the CX5?

 

[ElectricEye]

Good luck with the CX-5.
How many miles were on the GTI when you traded it in?

Thank you.
I had 75,500 miles on the GTI.
The GTI was essentially immaculate.
A shame about the litany of expensive recent issues.

 

[ElectricEye]

Enjoy! I'm very fond of our CX-5 for what it is (also an NA 2.5), I've certainly owned slower cars. In a similar place the desire was to get something simple with better all-weather capability, and still decent fuel economy. More details about the CX5?

Thank you!
It's an S Preferred Trim, which is the trim level that brings in a sunroof (which I wanted) among other things.
The more I'm driving it, the more I'm liking it and am happy with the admittedly forced decision.
I just came back from getting the front windows tinted to match the factory tint of the rear 3/4 glass, and much of route 18 North I took there and back was under construction and full of badly patched roadwork
I know how I'd have been wincing and gingerly passing over those areas in the GTI.

 

[19birel]

Sad to see a member leave the VW fold but newer Mazdas seem like fun cars to drive even in SUV form so I'm sure you'll enjoy many years of happy motoring!

Once you lose faith in a car's reliability to the point of restricting your use of it, it definitely has to go at that point, totally feel you there.

 

[Parabola]

Thank you!
It's an S Preferred Trim, which is the trim level that brings in a sunroof (which I wanted) among other things.
The more I'm driving it, the more I'm liking it an am happy with the admittedly forced decision.
I just came back from getting the front windows tinted to match the factory tint of the rear 3/4 glass, and much of route 18 North I took there and back was under construction and full of badly patched roadwork
I know how I'd have been wincing and gingerly passing over those areas in the GTI.

Congrats on the CX-50, I tested one for my wife before we opted for a Tiguan, mainly based on space. I remember it drove very good, but I wasn't impressed with the back seat space.
Just curious, what were the issues with the GTI that warranted expensive repairs?