Hello,
Many, many years ago, I bought a MK1 1.8 GTI cabriolet in Mars red for my wife to drive (I had to make do with a company Sierra at the time). It was a lovely car, but not a patch on my friend's GTI with a tin roof. Since then I have owned a succession of german marques including Audi, BMW and Mercedes, but have always felt most comfortable with Volkswagens. I had a sensible Mk7 Golf 1.4TSI DSG until earlier this week, and am now the very happy owner of a late pre-facelift GTI Performance DSG in Limestone Grey with 90% tints and keyless entry.
I should explain that I am the wrong side of 65 and I like nice analogue dials and real buttons. I was therefore gutted with the facelift Mk7.5. Parker wheels, shiny black plastic and glass, and the poorly-developed active information display that can no longer be deleted ruled out a new one for me. I was so fed up that I even considered an Audi S3 where their Virtual Pilot display remains an option on new ones, and there are a lot of recent cars with standard clocks available. A test drive confirmed that the ride was not a patch on the GTI's on standard suspension, and two hours at the Audi dealership was enough to put me off owning one in any case.
After much searching on Autocar and the VW approved sites, I finally tracked down my new car at Parkway Volkswagen in Kettering. The deal was done over the phone, and I drove 134 miles to do the changeover. My main criteria were to find a pre-facelift car that was newer and had fewer miles than my "old" Golf which was only registered in 2016. Mad I know, but if I had waited until my existing car ran out of warranty, I would have missed this one, which is the exact specification I would have ordered new if the facelift had not happened.
Needless to say I am very, very happy with my new GTI which has more than met my expectations. It just feels so right in every department, and is so wieldy after my last stodgy Golf. OK so I have had to wave goodbye to the incredible fuel economy of my 1.4 TSI, but I didn't buy this to save the planet. I respected my last Golf but I absolutely love my GTI. Enough said!