I do. But I have children and need 4 doors. The selection of safe RWD cars with 4 doors and can actually fit humans in the back seats is rather thin.
Doh. You’re 100% right. My head space is in my own world of only needing to haul my sorry butt around (hell, my wife hates to ride with me; for some reason she hates my driving!). RWD is pretty much the realm of sports cars and expensive Euro sedans these days, for sure.
In that case, absolutely, the WRX is a fabulous choice. Fun, not dowdy, practical, and cool.
And wonderfully inexpensive as far as a late-to-midlife crisis goes.
You might like this SavageGeese review of the '18 WRX. These guys, Canadians I think, have some of the best reviews on YouTube overall. They also have this retrospective on the 2002 model (similar to the one I had, though mine was white), for comparison.
I told my wife–jokingly, at least about the mistress bit–that as I was now on the other side of 55, I needed either a mistress or a sports car. Sure as hell can’t afford a mistress, and can’t have RWD (and can’t afford a Porsche anyhow) so I’m trying to zoom in on a year-round daily driver that checks all the boxes. My Golfs (GTI/R) have been great, but lack a certain visceral quality in looks and demeanor that I want, and both are/were base models. I don’t drive many miles–like, 8k a year–but I’m really hesitant to lease anything for a variety of reasons.
But I’m also really hesitant to shell out the money for the cars I want! Cheapskate at heart I guess.
I feel I should put an addendum on my earlier VW story from 3 weeks ago.
In that tale I mention that I showed up to the VW dealership that was supposed to have that used GTI and it had a bent frame? I discussed this with the VW dealership and they admitted that yes, it did have a bent frame and that they could not sell the car that way. They would have to send the car to auction. A week later that same car showed up back on the dealer’s website, advertising a clean CarFax with no damage. Dishonest wankers. Someone is going to get screwed on that deal.
It is a very small sample size but that is now two different S FL VW dealerships I have worked with over the last two years and both have been crooked. Are all VW dealerships as crooked as their emissions engineers?
This sounds illegal.
Lets design something that will catch fire!
https://www.leftlanenews.com/vw-recalls-tiguan-over-panoramic-sunroof-fires-101089.html
I’m feeling pretty good about going with Honda this round.
Well, there’s this list of Honda recalls, too. Everyone gets them. VWs are no worse or better than any one else I don’t think. Now, Dieselgate, that was all on them, and bad.
As to the Florida dealerships, I suspect it’s more that, hey, you’re in South Florida, rather than VW. I’m willing to bet the entire dealer culture down there is screwed.
Interesting theory but that does not hold with my experiences at Toyota, Subaru and Mazda dealerships. The only issues I have encountered have been at the VW ones. Knowingly selling a car with a bent frame without disclosing it seems like a particularly scummy thing to do.
No argument there. They call them “Stealerships” for a reason. I can’t see any reason why specifically VW dealerships would be more scummy that the others, though. In my experience the scum is pretty evenly distributed across brands. Are they both owned by the same person or company, perchance? Or maybe it’s just coincidence. Either way, stay far, far away from either of 'em.
The guys at my vw dealership were always cool.
I have bought cars and used the service departments from dealers across the country, from Ford to VW. Only new cars though. Sales, they are all kind of sleazy and will take advantage of you in a heartbeat. VW dealers have been a little less desperate in my experience, unlike the Japanese car dealerships. VW has been much more take it or leave it compared to everything else I have bought. Although TDIs used to be in high demand, and they don’t seem to have problems selling GTIs, so it might not be a fair comparison to a Ford Ranger or Nissan Versa.
Service hands down has been better across the board with VW. Ford and Honda I felt like I was going to a 10 minute oil change place. VW always seem to take longer but are thorough. Always wash my car too.
All anecdotal of course, but I generally hate buying cars no matter who the dealer. It always seems like a battle I am ill prepared for.
I love shopping for cars. I loathe buying them. I think there is a special place in hell for finance managers from car dealers. Many of the sales people I’ve worked with have been cool, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a finance guy who didn’t positively leave a trail of slime across the dealership floor.
I bought a Golf a few years ago and this is pretty much has been my experience with VW as well. The VW salesman was laid back – asked about the other cars I drove, but not in a pushy sales way. He told me he drives an Imprezza when I mentioned I tested Subaru’s and was surprised when I told him I didn’t care that much for the Mazda 3. Probably some small part of the reason I bought this car is because I had a better experience with him than the other dealers who were trying too hard to sell me something.
Audi just agreed to pay an 800 Million € fine for their emissions cheating, just a day after Opel’s HQ was raided by police and the company was forced to recall 100.000 Diesel cars.
Not sure where to ask this, but some of you car guys were talking in this thread.
I will need new tires for my GTI within the next year. (I have never gone through tires this quickly!) The stock tires spin under hard acceleration. What is a good replacement that won’t spin and aren’t outrageously expensive?
This probably doesn’t address your issue directly but I find going thru Costco Tire Service to have the best cost performance balance. If you put in your car make and model the website will recommend a few tires for you.
When I needed tires for my Golf R, which is fairly similar, to replace the stocks I went with Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 rubber. They were affordable, performed much better than the stock tires (which had worn out something fierce), and didn’t give away much to much more pricey tires like the Pilot Sports from Michelin.