GTI MK7 en route and new car dilemmas

Meet the new boss

Well, I'd been looking for some time for a car to replace our 2007 GTI MK5. While our current GTI has been amazing fun to drive and own, it's now 10 years old and perhaps it's time to move on to something different.

The $64,000 question was "what?"

When I began the search, I had several criteria for the new car:

• comparable size to the MK5 GTI
• four doors
• manual transmission
• all-wheel drive 
• no more than 2 model years old with CPO warranty available
• price under $30K

So what does that leave to choose from?

• Subaru WRX

Seriously!!! Audi A4 can be had with manual transmission but might be a bit too dear and is a skosh too big. Ditto BMW 3-series, I would have wanted an E90 (up to MY 2011) not a turbo 4-cylinder... but that's too old for warranty. Focus RS is too mental and too pricey. A Golf R would be perfect but is just too expensive as well. Mini Clubman or whatever it's called is just plain ugly. BMW 1- and 2-series only come in two-door or crossover-y configurations.

I really wanted to love the Audi A3 but it is not available with a manual transmission. I looked at a few and drove one. The A3 Quattro model that fit closest to the list criteria is the low-line Komfort model - 2015 examples can be had with low miles for around $30K. But the Komfort model lacks a ton of the convenience and luxury features that should come standard at this price point - no push-button start, paddle shift, backup camera, or navigation, just to name four. 

I could have lived with that, though, if the car had come with a manual. I must be one of the few people left who is not an enthusiast of VAG's dual-clutch DSG transmission. I find it sluggish and uninvolving around town and I don't like how it hunts around either. I'd considered modding the car with an S-Line flat bottom wheel and flappy paddles, but that could load up to $1K onto the price and it's still a DSG. Backup camera can be retrofitted as well but while you're doing that, why not upgrade to the $35K Progressiv or even pricier Technik models? That's a slippery slope to go down, AND STILL NO 6MT.   

WRX interior - the rolling Pachinko parlour

Abandoning the A3 idea, I drove a '15 WRX and other than the explosive power and performance, I was underwhelmed. The interior was simultaneously plain and tacky - drab upholstery (no leather), no sunroof... but a multitude of shouty screens. Do I really need to know at any given moment what percentage of throttle I am applying? It felt like sitting in a rolling Pachinko parlour... very Japanese, but not to my taste.

So criteria started dropping off the list. First was all-wheel drive. Once that was dropped the answer was clear... another GTI. I know, I know, the Focus ST is a strong competitor. But again, I don't like the flashy interior:

Focus ST spaceship control console

Compare to this:

Teutonic efficiency

You can read all over the Internet about how good the MK7 GTI is; I don't have to repeat it for you. My test drive of a local car bore it out - it was niiiiice. 

So the search was on for a MK7 GTI, 4-door 6MT with Technology package. I'd considered searching out a "Performance Pack" car (that includes 10 more horsepower, bigger brakes and trick front differential) but those seem to be harder to find in a 4-door, non-black non-red car. I decided I wanted the Clark cloth upholstery as well, as I'd seen more than one leather car with notable and premature wear-through on the driver's bolster and I didn't want to deal with that. Plus tartan is cool!!

After exhausting local searches (shout out to Jesse of St. James VW who kept in touch with me and tried hard to find me a car), I found a Carbon Steel Grey car in Newmarket, Ontario at Pfaff Volkswagen. Initial contact and conversation was followed by a price drop on the Pfaff website and I thought it was time to move. We negotiated a bit more over the CPO warranty and arrived at a deal; the car is now en route by truck and train and should arrive in about two weeks.   

I'll post more driving impressions MK7 vs MK5 after the new boss arrives. Now the focus will be on getting the MK5 ready for sale. It will certainly make someone a good car at a great price.