tigeo
Autocross Champion
- Location
- Richmond, VA area
Picked up my Pure White (Titan Black cloth interior) 2018 Golf Sportwagen S 4motion DSG since mid-Nov 2018.
I knew I wanted a wagon (and not a SUV/CUV like the masses) and there really aren’t many (good) choices. The Subis just don’t do it for with their gutless motors and CVT weirdness. I considered a 3-year old off-lease BMW 328 but it would have been more money for a vehicle with 50K on it. I test drove an All Track but it rode stiffer than the GSW and I didn’t care for the lift/cladding. I did however love the Marrakesh Brown interior!
Starting with the deal…got a great one. $21.8K before TTL. This price*included*the following I had the dealer put on:
VW 17” Blade wheels with 225 45R17 Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season tires
VW Splash guards
VW Roof rack bars
VW Bumperdillo rear bumper protection plate
The car also included the customary VW port accessories including the monster mats, roadside assistance kit, luggage net, and HD trunk matt w/cargo blocks.
So for comparison if I bought just the car, it would have been around $19K before TTL. Amazing. I don’t buy any of the F&I/backend products but did finance through the dealer/local bank to achieve that price (as they are clearly getting some money on that which is fine and allows them to give me a better OTD price – the rate was 1.5% higher than my bank). I had a check from my credit union to combine with my ~30% DP but this will be fine and in the end it will be paid off in 4-6 months and the dealer loan will only add a few hundred extra in total to the bill vs. if I had gone through Navy Federal and I’m sure I did better than that in the overall deal. It’s not worth a re-fi for that little bit of money/time. Hoping to have this car at least 12 years and it will likely go to my youngest in about 7 years when he starts driving.
The car was missing a few things, the tow hook and the infotainment manual. The dealer I bought it from isn’t that convenient for me to get to so I just ordered the hook for the tool kit from ECS and the dealer mailed me the manual. I like things to be complete!
Initial impressions of the car after purchase:
The good…
Amazing car for ~$20K. I was concerned about the cloth seats but actually think I prefer them now..not so cold/hard in the winter and heated (HOT) to boot! For a “stripper”, it’s quite feature-laden and I’ve always liked that VW gives the base models essentially the same exterior appearance as the higher end trims so people don’t see your car and say “base model”; the VW Blade wheels I added certainly help in that regard but the stock 16s don’t look bad. Drives great. Love the extra room over my Focus in the cargo area. I know the manual purists will ding me but I really like the DSG. This is coming from DD’ing a manual for the last nearly 25 years (so this isn’t a novelty to me maybe as it would be for say someone younger that hasn’t driven one)…I don’t miss rowing my own gears one bit and can just drive the my manual Focus when I need a fix. Sure nice not having to mess with a manual in traffic and to me, the DSG feels “normal” with the slightly more jerky feeling you get at slow speeds/stop/go/inclines etc. I suppose I also drive it differently b/c of my experience with a manual and in slow stop/go I try to creep as I think about the clutches working so I try to be on/off with the brake to allow them to fully engage/not heat up from slipping if you scoot along not allowing them to fully engage. Also like that I can tune this with no drama w/r to the manual’s clutch not be rated for the extra torque. It’s got a ton of room with the seats down and I really dig that the rear seat release is in the cargo area. The HVAC is great and I actually don’t mind the manual system, it has crazy-good heat. No auto start stop (I assume due to the DSG)?….YAYESS!
The bad…
It’s a stripper so a few things are missing that I am used to namely satellite radio (working through that with Android Auto//SD card and getting used to our local regular FM stations) and fog lights (really like yellow fogs on cars like this but install seems to be a PITA). The more limited functionality of the infotainment unit is a bit disappointing especially since you can’t even use OBDEleven to enable some things in this car (no ability to upload station art…really? no compass?). I wish the LED tails were amber and it’s just not worth the cost/hassle to deal with a complete Euro replacement set to me for this functionality. I don’t like that the front doors are missing more detents to hold them open on a slope at less than full-open and almost closed. I don't think there is anywhere close to enough room in the cubby in front of the gear shift to reach in and plug in the USB for Android Auto etc., I'm not big and my hands barely fit. I just leave my cord plugged in and stowed in there. Finally, and this may sound odd, but I don’t mind the standard key vs. push button start. I think overall, VW does a good job on their base-trim cars and sure, you want more but if they gave it to you on the base it 1) would cost more and 2) nobody would buy the higher trims.
Current mod list (11/2022) etc. in post #267.
I knew I wanted a wagon (and not a SUV/CUV like the masses) and there really aren’t many (good) choices. The Subis just don’t do it for with their gutless motors and CVT weirdness. I considered a 3-year old off-lease BMW 328 but it would have been more money for a vehicle with 50K on it. I test drove an All Track but it rode stiffer than the GSW and I didn’t care for the lift/cladding. I did however love the Marrakesh Brown interior!
Starting with the deal…got a great one. $21.8K before TTL. This price*included*the following I had the dealer put on:
VW 17” Blade wheels with 225 45R17 Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season tires
VW Splash guards
VW Roof rack bars
VW Bumperdillo rear bumper protection plate
The car also included the customary VW port accessories including the monster mats, roadside assistance kit, luggage net, and HD trunk matt w/cargo blocks.
So for comparison if I bought just the car, it would have been around $19K before TTL. Amazing. I don’t buy any of the F&I/backend products but did finance through the dealer/local bank to achieve that price (as they are clearly getting some money on that which is fine and allows them to give me a better OTD price – the rate was 1.5% higher than my bank). I had a check from my credit union to combine with my ~30% DP but this will be fine and in the end it will be paid off in 4-6 months and the dealer loan will only add a few hundred extra in total to the bill vs. if I had gone through Navy Federal and I’m sure I did better than that in the overall deal. It’s not worth a re-fi for that little bit of money/time. Hoping to have this car at least 12 years and it will likely go to my youngest in about 7 years when he starts driving.
The car was missing a few things, the tow hook and the infotainment manual. The dealer I bought it from isn’t that convenient for me to get to so I just ordered the hook for the tool kit from ECS and the dealer mailed me the manual. I like things to be complete!
Initial impressions of the car after purchase:
The good…
Amazing car for ~$20K. I was concerned about the cloth seats but actually think I prefer them now..not so cold/hard in the winter and heated (HOT) to boot! For a “stripper”, it’s quite feature-laden and I’ve always liked that VW gives the base models essentially the same exterior appearance as the higher end trims so people don’t see your car and say “base model”; the VW Blade wheels I added certainly help in that regard but the stock 16s don’t look bad. Drives great. Love the extra room over my Focus in the cargo area. I know the manual purists will ding me but I really like the DSG. This is coming from DD’ing a manual for the last nearly 25 years (so this isn’t a novelty to me maybe as it would be for say someone younger that hasn’t driven one)…I don’t miss rowing my own gears one bit and can just drive the my manual Focus when I need a fix. Sure nice not having to mess with a manual in traffic and to me, the DSG feels “normal” with the slightly more jerky feeling you get at slow speeds/stop/go/inclines etc. I suppose I also drive it differently b/c of my experience with a manual and in slow stop/go I try to creep as I think about the clutches working so I try to be on/off with the brake to allow them to fully engage/not heat up from slipping if you scoot along not allowing them to fully engage. Also like that I can tune this with no drama w/r to the manual’s clutch not be rated for the extra torque. It’s got a ton of room with the seats down and I really dig that the rear seat release is in the cargo area. The HVAC is great and I actually don’t mind the manual system, it has crazy-good heat. No auto start stop (I assume due to the DSG)?….YAYESS!
The bad…
It’s a stripper so a few things are missing that I am used to namely satellite radio (working through that with Android Auto//SD card and getting used to our local regular FM stations) and fog lights (really like yellow fogs on cars like this but install seems to be a PITA). The more limited functionality of the infotainment unit is a bit disappointing especially since you can’t even use OBDEleven to enable some things in this car (no ability to upload station art…really? no compass?). I wish the LED tails were amber and it’s just not worth the cost/hassle to deal with a complete Euro replacement set to me for this functionality. I don’t like that the front doors are missing more detents to hold them open on a slope at less than full-open and almost closed. I don't think there is anywhere close to enough room in the cubby in front of the gear shift to reach in and plug in the USB for Android Auto etc., I'm not big and my hands barely fit. I just leave my cord plugged in and stowed in there. Finally, and this may sound odd, but I don’t mind the standard key vs. push button start. I think overall, VW does a good job on their base-trim cars and sure, you want more but if they gave it to you on the base it 1) would cost more and 2) nobody would buy the higher trims.
Current mod list (11/2022) etc. in post #267.
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