Hi guys/gals. Im new to the VW. This is my 1st VW. I just picked up a 2022 Golf GTI Autobahn 6spd in Pomelo Yellow this past Sunday So far I love the car. Ive had 1 Honda, 1 Ford Explorer, 2 Audis 6 BMW's 3 series (2 sedans, 2 coupes, 1 GT and one grand coupe. Four of the 6 BMW's were 6spd) 1 Jaguar, and 1 Infiniti after my 4th BMW then back to the GT and Grand Coupe. And so far I swear I love this Golf. Granted its not the awd but it handles great. And I miss having a 6spd. Ive wanted a Golf R or GTI since I was 18. But somehow always wound up with the other cars because of European Deliveries or something else popped up. I wanted the Golf R because its awd. However my dealer said it was still out a few weeks. I needed a car asap because my rental ran out. I had 2 months left on the Jaguar and extended the lease 6 months. But a 90 year school bus driver drove through my fence, through my bushes and totaled my Jaguar end of November. As well as damaging the side of my house along other parts on my house. She hit my car so hard that the wheels were turned past 90 degrees. And the car wound up on top of my brick flower beds.
For the last month I went to different dealerships and looked at different cars. Every car was being sold $5k to $12K above MSRP. I was looking at a 2021 Ford Bronco with a 7spd and soft top. The model was the Big Bend. No options in it. The dealer was selling it to me for $500 below MSRP and was going to add Katzkin heated leather seats for another $2000. I wound up passing on the deal because I found out when the Bronco was being removed from the truck, another car wound up driving into the rear right side. There was body damage, electric damage and he said the wheel and some other structural part needed to be replaced. So I was like no thanks. I looked at a 2021 Subaru WRX, BMW 240 series awd coupe, BMW 235 series 4 door awd, BMW 335 awd, Infinit Q50 awd, Audi A5 sportback awd in the 40 and 45 series, Audi A4 awd in the 40 and 45 series as well as the Genesis 70 3.3 awd (ridiculous lease price. dealer wanted $780 a month plus tax, $1500 down and fees for a $41,000 car). All the lease prices on the cars I listed were $725 a month and higher plus down payment, taxes and fees ( I also needed 15k miles a year) except for the 2021 Subaru WRX Premium. The 2021 Subaru WRX Premium was $3500 out of pocket total and $540 a month with 15K miles a year. The premium doesnt come with leather.
I went to 3 VW dealers here on Long Island. All 3 were selling the 2022 VW GTI's at $4k to $5k above MSRP. My local VW is Sunrise VW in Lynbrook. Sunrise VW only had 1 GTI Autobahn in Pomelo Yellow. I went there 3 times but they only dropped the price by $1500. My dealer is a young 21 year old guy. He kept saying that VW will only make 700 Pomelo Yellow GTI's for the US this year. And that its the most popular color. I love the color. But lets be real, Atlantic Blue Metallic and Moonstone Gray are hot colors as well. Pomelo Yellow is a color that really has to jump at you because it stands out. My wife thinks it looks like an unripe banana. My younger daughter loves it and my older daughter hates the color. I called the dealer and told him l just saw the car in the lot as I drove by. Then proceeded to tell him " you told me the car has been there since the beginning of the 3rd week of November. And said that color is the hottest color around. We are selling it at $5k above MSRP and it will go faster than anything we have". Then said Marc the car is still on the lot. Tomorrow will be Jan 3rd and thats the end of month for you guys. I then told him Ive never paid or based my leases on MSRP but understand that because of the pandemic dealers are trying to make as much as they can as well banks raising their money factors on leases. I told him if you give me the the car for MSRP Ill swing back around and take the car. He said there is no way his manager will allow that. I said Ill come in and lets see what happens. After going back and forth for 30 mins. They gave me the car for $1000 above MSRP. I call that a win since they wanted $5k above MSRP. The other 2 Long Island dealers wanted $4k to $5K above MSRP (and only 1 other I spoke to had the Autobahn). In addition my Audi S5 Sportback rental ran out that my insurance company was paying for. The insurance rental ran out 2 weeks ago but I kept it because I needed a car. Didnt realize how much I was going to be charged. When I returned it this past Monday I was billed $1315 for 2 weeks.
Yes I wrote an entire thesis. I apologize for that. However Im excited about this car and never realized how much fun VW's were. The only other VW I drove was a 1964 VW Bug down in Florida when I went to military school. And wound up taking my road test in a brown bug with light beige interior in a 4spd. I had to learn how drive a manual 2 days before my road test. My only gripes are about the infotainment system and the keyless entry. I like how the infotainment system looks without any knobs and how its supposed to work. But sometimes when a song plays, and the car hears certain words. Its jumps to Android Google Maps. I also found that the area that runs right at the edge of the 10 inch screen is a bit sensitive. When I was going to change something on the screen and my finger got to close to that area. Those touch buttons were activated. Im also not the biggest fan of the keyless entry. Getting into the car it works perfectly. But when its time to lock the doors. sometimes I can lock the door with one swipe. Yet other times I have to swipe 2 to 3 times. If the doors dong lock after 3 swipes I use my key fob. I checked and I have the new software and hardware in the car. But it still has a few hiccups. Maybe the more I use the car, those issues could go away.
One other thing Im not a fan off. And this is because I live in Long Island and have to travel to Brooklyn for work everyday. I dont like the 19 inch wheels with the 235/35/19 summer tires. The summer tires will suck in the snow. And the fact that they have a 35 aspect ratio with a 19 inch wheel, Im afraid I will bend these rims and blow tires. I got my Jaguar December 2019. From that time until 2 weeks before the car was totaled. I went through 2 wheels and 13 tires. Yes 13 tires. Each of the original OEM tires were replaced with a used all season tire due to nails and pot holes. Then Feb 2021 I drove through a construction area and ran over 2 nails. The front right tire needed replacing. But since the other tires were used they needed replacing too. I bought 4 Michelin Crossclimate tires 225/45/18 tires in Feb. June I hit a pothole and bubble appeared on the front left driver side. Two weeks before the car was totaled I hit a pothole and blew out the the tire with the bubble in in LOL. It took me 45 mins to get home. I got a used tire to replace the Michelin. So now Im looking at 18 inch wheels to buy. Most likely Ill go with a set of 18x8.5 inch wheels and get the Michelin Crossclimate 2 tires along with 4 tpms sensors. Im figuring out what tire sizes to get. And I already ordered the Deutsch Auto Parts short shifter which should be arriving either tomorrow or Friday. Im also looking at 034 MQB adjustable rear sway bar, 034 MQB rear sway bar end links and the 034 MQB adjustable front sway bar end links. After that I will look and see what others have done to their cars and get some advice other mods. Again sorry for the long winded thesis.
For the last month I went to different dealerships and looked at different cars. Every car was being sold $5k to $12K above MSRP. I was looking at a 2021 Ford Bronco with a 7spd and soft top. The model was the Big Bend. No options in it. The dealer was selling it to me for $500 below MSRP and was going to add Katzkin heated leather seats for another $2000. I wound up passing on the deal because I found out when the Bronco was being removed from the truck, another car wound up driving into the rear right side. There was body damage, electric damage and he said the wheel and some other structural part needed to be replaced. So I was like no thanks. I looked at a 2021 Subaru WRX, BMW 240 series awd coupe, BMW 235 series 4 door awd, BMW 335 awd, Infinit Q50 awd, Audi A5 sportback awd in the 40 and 45 series, Audi A4 awd in the 40 and 45 series as well as the Genesis 70 3.3 awd (ridiculous lease price. dealer wanted $780 a month plus tax, $1500 down and fees for a $41,000 car). All the lease prices on the cars I listed were $725 a month and higher plus down payment, taxes and fees ( I also needed 15k miles a year) except for the 2021 Subaru WRX Premium. The 2021 Subaru WRX Premium was $3500 out of pocket total and $540 a month with 15K miles a year. The premium doesnt come with leather.
I went to 3 VW dealers here on Long Island. All 3 were selling the 2022 VW GTI's at $4k to $5k above MSRP. My local VW is Sunrise VW in Lynbrook. Sunrise VW only had 1 GTI Autobahn in Pomelo Yellow. I went there 3 times but they only dropped the price by $1500. My dealer is a young 21 year old guy. He kept saying that VW will only make 700 Pomelo Yellow GTI's for the US this year. And that its the most popular color. I love the color. But lets be real, Atlantic Blue Metallic and Moonstone Gray are hot colors as well. Pomelo Yellow is a color that really has to jump at you because it stands out. My wife thinks it looks like an unripe banana. My younger daughter loves it and my older daughter hates the color. I called the dealer and told him l just saw the car in the lot as I drove by. Then proceeded to tell him " you told me the car has been there since the beginning of the 3rd week of November. And said that color is the hottest color around. We are selling it at $5k above MSRP and it will go faster than anything we have". Then said Marc the car is still on the lot. Tomorrow will be Jan 3rd and thats the end of month for you guys. I then told him Ive never paid or based my leases on MSRP but understand that because of the pandemic dealers are trying to make as much as they can as well banks raising their money factors on leases. I told him if you give me the the car for MSRP Ill swing back around and take the car. He said there is no way his manager will allow that. I said Ill come in and lets see what happens. After going back and forth for 30 mins. They gave me the car for $1000 above MSRP. I call that a win since they wanted $5k above MSRP. The other 2 Long Island dealers wanted $4k to $5K above MSRP (and only 1 other I spoke to had the Autobahn). In addition my Audi S5 Sportback rental ran out that my insurance company was paying for. The insurance rental ran out 2 weeks ago but I kept it because I needed a car. Didnt realize how much I was going to be charged. When I returned it this past Monday I was billed $1315 for 2 weeks.
Yes I wrote an entire thesis. I apologize for that. However Im excited about this car and never realized how much fun VW's were. The only other VW I drove was a 1964 VW Bug down in Florida when I went to military school. And wound up taking my road test in a brown bug with light beige interior in a 4spd. I had to learn how drive a manual 2 days before my road test. My only gripes are about the infotainment system and the keyless entry. I like how the infotainment system looks without any knobs and how its supposed to work. But sometimes when a song plays, and the car hears certain words. Its jumps to Android Google Maps. I also found that the area that runs right at the edge of the 10 inch screen is a bit sensitive. When I was going to change something on the screen and my finger got to close to that area. Those touch buttons were activated. Im also not the biggest fan of the keyless entry. Getting into the car it works perfectly. But when its time to lock the doors. sometimes I can lock the door with one swipe. Yet other times I have to swipe 2 to 3 times. If the doors dong lock after 3 swipes I use my key fob. I checked and I have the new software and hardware in the car. But it still has a few hiccups. Maybe the more I use the car, those issues could go away.
One other thing Im not a fan off. And this is because I live in Long Island and have to travel to Brooklyn for work everyday. I dont like the 19 inch wheels with the 235/35/19 summer tires. The summer tires will suck in the snow. And the fact that they have a 35 aspect ratio with a 19 inch wheel, Im afraid I will bend these rims and blow tires. I got my Jaguar December 2019. From that time until 2 weeks before the car was totaled. I went through 2 wheels and 13 tires. Yes 13 tires. Each of the original OEM tires were replaced with a used all season tire due to nails and pot holes. Then Feb 2021 I drove through a construction area and ran over 2 nails. The front right tire needed replacing. But since the other tires were used they needed replacing too. I bought 4 Michelin Crossclimate tires 225/45/18 tires in Feb. June I hit a pothole and bubble appeared on the front left driver side. Two weeks before the car was totaled I hit a pothole and blew out the the tire with the bubble in in LOL. It took me 45 mins to get home. I got a used tire to replace the Michelin. So now Im looking at 18 inch wheels to buy. Most likely Ill go with a set of 18x8.5 inch wheels and get the Michelin Crossclimate 2 tires along with 4 tpms sensors. Im figuring out what tire sizes to get. And I already ordered the Deutsch Auto Parts short shifter which should be arriving either tomorrow or Friday. Im also looking at 034 MQB adjustable rear sway bar, 034 MQB rear sway bar end links and the 034 MQB adjustable front sway bar end links. After that I will look and see what others have done to their cars and get some advice other mods. Again sorry for the long winded thesis.
