The GLI: 20,000 miles in review

"PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power" (petarvn)
01/09/2016 at 23:23 • Filed to: None

Wow, since August 16th 2014, I’ve put 20,000 miles on my baby. For someone whose round trip to school and back consists of 2.1 miles, that is pretty impressive. To commemorate this milestone of ownership, I want to go back, and give you guys a little run down of how I got this car, and talk a bit about how it has been for me since I bought it.

(the first picture I ever saw of my car to be, taken by dealer who was listing it)
The Purchase: Buying a first car is always a pressuring experience, and when your family gives you the option of spending a small fortune on it, the pressure is even greater. I will admit, for the money that I spent on the GLI ($23,034.56 after tax, registration, etc.) I could have had a plethora of other cars. E46 M3? yep! Fiesta ST? you betcha! maybe a 2-3 year old WRX? uh-huh!

So as you can see, I had many alternative options to the GLI, but I chose it because of two reasons.
1) It met the criteria my parents set forth (see below)
2) it made me smile.
Even now, after 20,000 miles; 2 accidents, countless roadtrips, and even a speeding ticket, I still love the car to death, and believe I made the right choice.

The Criteria: When buying my first car, my parents gave me 5 simple restrictions:
1) No V8
2) No more than 300hp
3) No modifications for the first 6 months
4) has to be stick
5)has to be less than 10 years old (so post-2004)

Now this put a real damper in my plans. What I truly wanted as my first car was a 4.6 GT mustang, that I’d then supercharge. The fact that my folks refused a V8 outright was disappointing, and even angering considering they were perfectly fine with me getting a brand new V6 mustang what made the same amount of power as the old V8.

(what I truly wanted for my first car. I still love this style stang.)
This, therefore brought my search in to the realm of hot hatches. If I couldn’t have displacement, then I would have boost! I test drove the Fast fords, and found the FiST to be too small, and found the FoST to be too common (as at the time literally everyone on here and their mother was buying one) After this I drove the 500 Abarth, which is still one of my all-time favorite cars, but I just couldn’t deal with no back seats, so I moved on to the Civic Si, and found that to just not have the character wanted. A new WRX was in the running, but wound up being too expensive, so off we went to Nissan and the Juke NISMO, which my mother loved, and I was liking a lot too. There were a few other cars in there that I drove (such as the V6 stang, a veloster turbo a BR-Z) but none were what I wanted. Finally, I decided that since both my parents drive VW’s, I was gonna see what I can get there.

When I went to the dealer, I originally intended to drive an MK7 GTI but guess what? no dealer in the area had any! because I was shopping in August of 2014, the GTI had just come out, and no local dealer would be getting any until early October. I had school starting, and I just couldn’t wait that long. As we were leaving the dealer, I noticed something red in the line-up at the side of the building. I walked over to it, and saw the three letters that I was reading about on VW’s website just days before “GLI” .

I was intrigued. “It isn’t the “30-Jahre” edition, so it has to be used, right? No wait! it’s Certified-pre-owned! Oh but it’ll be a DSG, a lease retur-oh my! It’s a manual!” At that point I checked the price. $22,500. bellow budget. yes.

we found the dealer, got in, and took a drive. about 4 minutes in, I was smitten. It didn’t pull like the FoST, and it didn’t sound like the stang, but it had spirit, and a pep in it’s step that I just liked. We got back to the dealer, and said we’d buy it on the spot. We haggled the price down to $21,000 before tax (admittedly we could have gone lower, but this was my mother’s first time buying a car alone) and put down a $3,000 down payment on it. 3 days later, she was paid off completely, and in my driveway at home.

Since that day, my GLI, affectionately named Lil’Red, has seen her fair share or roads in the PNW. I’ve taken her as far south as Cannon Beach, OR, and as far west as you can along the coast in WA state. I’ve gone hiking, biking, swimming and much more in the GLI, and it has never let me down. With a grand total of 1 CEL (due to a bad sensor the 1st day I bought it) it has also been very reliable.

Sadly, on 2 occasions, I’ve had run-ins with idiots who have damaged my pride and joy, and come as close as $200 from totaling her. Somehow, luck was on my side, and my beloved baby has gotten to spend 20,000 (hopefully) great miles with me.

Day of purchase odometer reading (8/16/2014): 23,035 miles

Current odometer reading (1/9/2016): 43,055 miles.

(the GLI, as she sits today. some light mods were done to make her a better all-around driver's car.)

DISCUSSION (12)

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/09/2016 at 23:35

has to be stick

When parenting goes horribly right

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
01/09/2016 at 23:40

it’s not like I wanted an automatic anyway! :)

they were just making sure though

Steve in Manhattan > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/10/2016 at 00:17

It has a warranty? Even better!

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Steve in Manhattan
01/10/2016 at 01:28

had* I tossed it out the window when I started modding, but the dealer loves our family (we’ve bought almost $80k in cars from them in the past 2 years) and keeps them running great at a discounted price

Steve in Manhattan > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/10/2016 at 01:39

Not that I’m going to buy a car at this point, given where I live, but if I did, give me all the airbags you can and bumper-to-bumper everything. Fix my shit!

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Steve in Manhattan
01/10/2016 at 01:43

hahah, that's the price you pay... mods or warranty, pick one

Casey Callaghan > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/10/2016 at 03:06

Your parents said no V8's, how about V10/V12/W8? Might be tough finding under budget with the other constraints, but other than that, nice GLI!

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/10/2016 at 03:24

So cool you found the car that spoke to you and are still enjoying it. Well done!

valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power
01/10/2016 at 03:26

Nice looking car and great that you’re really getting your money’s worth out of her!

Question, and pardon my ignorance: isn’t the GLI basically a kitted-up Jetta? A quick visit to VW’s website and I saw “selling points” such as painted brake calipers, darkened tail lights, unique front bumper, and of course ‘sport-tuned suspension’. In other words, a Jetta made to look cool without having the performance to match, although I did notice a modest HP bump in the 2016 models to 200. Since you said you chose this over other cars that would usually draw the enthusiast’s eye away from the GLI, do you ever say “damn, I wish I went with the RWD/AWD car with more power” or whatever? Clearly you are happy with this car which is what matters but do you ever get buyer’s remorse?

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > Casey Callaghan
01/10/2016 at 14:13

Actually I was considering a V10 TDI touareg. But the air suspension scared me off

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > valsidalv, reminding you that infiniti is an option
01/10/2016 at 14:19

The GLI is in a nutshell a GTI sedan, with GTI running gear, suspension (albeit with stiffer rear shocks) and brakes. It drives just like a GTI, but I will admit that stock it isn’t all that brisk. With some light mods though mine really woke up. As of today, it makes 260hp and 290ft-lbs.

And yes, I will admit, I’ve had buyers remorse. I know I overpaid, and I know that I could have had something better for the money. I learned to love it though, because the car matches my personality, and has been loyal to me since I bought it.

The other reason I picked the GLI was it’s uniqueness. You just don’t see them very often and I liked that

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny
01/10/2016 at 14:20

Thanks! It’s been a great car, but it’s also been a social boon for me, as people at school know me as the “guy with the GLI”

Love the car