Value Retention: 2018/19 GTI or Used 2016 R in 2 years?

Hi everyone. Want to get some feedbacks from fellow members regarding value retention in a couple years on two variants of Golf.

We’re searching for a daily commuter for the family, and we have set a budget of $30k USD for this quest.

For that budget, we can get a new 2018/19 GTI SE, or we can get an R with 35k miles. Let’s assumed the R is clean and never been modified with 2 years warranty.

Our plan is to drive this car as a daily (short commute so at most 7,500 miles per year) for 2 years so the GTI will have 15k miles and the R will have 50k. At that time, will these two cars still be valued the the same? I’m conservatively guessing both cars will be worth around $20k, but will one of these be down to $15k range?

Thanks for your inputs!!


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Personally i would pick a GTI for the following reasons:
- Prefer owning a brand new vehicle over a used performance hatch without knowing the complete history of that vehicle.
- Many people tune their Rs and it might be a little difficult to find a clean unmodded vehicle.
- In 2 years GTI will have 4 years of factory warranty left whereas R would be out of warranty.

I sold my 2016 GTI autobahn after owning it for 20 months with 26,000 miles on the clock. Car was in great shape without any abuse or damage.

Buying price - $29,250 + TTL
Selling price - $22,000 + TTL

Also attaching a link to a thread with similar discussion. https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47538

I'd look at KBB or something similar and compare a 16/17 GTI with 15K vs a 15 R with 50K and see where they fall.


The Rs AWD and the extra HP is nice, especially if you want to stay stock, but the GTI is a great value.

In addition, the R has a higher ownership cost with premium fuel required while the GTI requires 87 octane (with 91/93 getting you a few extra ponies).

The R may have lower insurance costs (older and for some reason in the same category as the Golf).

Thanks for the feedbacks everyone!


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don't get a GTI on retained value....






or ANY new car

CB1111 said:

The R may have lower insurance costs (older and for some reason in the same category as the Golf).

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Yeah i have read this several times. Recently i verified with my insurance provider and there wasnt any difference between GTI & R. I do understand that insurance quotes is dependent on several factors and just reporting what i saw.

vj123 said:

Yeah i have read this several times. Recently i verified with my insurance provider and there wasnt any difference between GTI & R. I do understand that insurance quotes is dependent on several factors and just reporting what i saw.

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There are about a zillion variables. When I checked last year (using VIN numbers from a local dealer) the Golf SEL was cheapest by about $25 for six months, while the GTI Autobahn was about $2 than the R (but the R is about $10k more). The difference between the Golf and the R makes sense because of the difference in cost, but I was surprised that the GTI was more (even by a very nominal amount) than the GTI.

This is even more surprising given that parts for the R are harder to come by and more expensive.

With an iffy driving record, I can see the difference being far greater.

Thanks everyone!!

I’ve decided to go with a different car, but for everyone reference regarding insurance premiums when I was shopping for quotes:

Same MY Golf R > GTI by roughly 10%.

Interestingly, 17 Golf R also has 5% higher premium than 19 Porsche 718 Cayman base.

These % gaps are consistent for me between my current carrier (Farmers), State Farm, Geico and Progressive.





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CB1111 said:

There are about a zillion variables. When I checked last year (using VIN numbers from a local dealer) the Golf SEL was cheapest by about $25 for six months, while the GTI Autobahn was about $2 than the R (but the R is about $10k more). The difference between the Golf and the R makes sense because of the difference in cost, but I was surprised that the GTI was more (even by a very nominal amount) than the GTI.

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Yeah i get your point. I was comparing the absolute insurance premium whereas you were also including relative msrp of the vehicle into the equation.

Just as a comparison, my Durango (stickered $15k more than a GTI) is $50 cheaper (for a month) to insure when compared with my GTI with same variables.