2003 GTI VR6 -- Outstanding Daily Commute and Road Trip Vehicle!

Update: one month, and 4,000 miles now. Still enjoying this car. Peaked at 30.1 MPG on a mostly highway road trip (overall average). I look for reasons to drive it, and it seems to respond best to (perhaps even encourage) spirited driving. I have let friends and family drive it and so far all are surprised at how much they like it (for those who aren't into the VW Golf, it's just another compact hatchback, right?) The map pockets and the way the front seats retract (one flick of the lever flips the seat bottom and seatback forward for easy access to the rear seat/cargo area) have come in handy, very convenient, seem to be well thought out. I have had 4-door cars and a pickup truck in the last several years, and do not miss either in terms of convenience of accessing rear seats/cargo. Loading a babyseat and the baby in the rear seat was a snap. This car is a best-kept secret.

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I have owned this about 2 weeks and have driven it 1,800 miles. This car is so fun to drive, and it's perfectly practical for my needs. The silver paint looks great, and personally I think the cloth in a GTI is a better interior than the leather (I checked out both--I usually prefer leather, but not in this case!). I was considering several types of cars, including convertibles, but rolling down the windows (2 door = bigger driver/passenger windows than the 4-door) and opening the moonroof gives me enough open-air driving experience without the hassle or concerns of a soft top. Even better, the windows and moonroof all have one-touch open close--very convenient. Ergonomically, I think everything is laid out well and you get plenty of personal space in the front seats (decent in the rear seats). I think the seats are comfortable and supportive. The cup holders work great, but when they are out you are not able to see the radio control display or remove/insert CD's--you do have access to the controls with no hassle. The motor revs smoothly, and has plenty of torque--meaning it's easy to drive and it's not overly picky about what gear you're in (can do most passing at highway speed while leaving it in 6th gear). The motor and car in general are very quiet, exception is you do get some road/tire noise starting at 65-70, over a 15-hour ride I thought it was noticeable but not a problem--I have the stock tires and I hear there are several choices in replacement tires that are quieter. The gauges are easy to read night and day (they are lit in blue with red needles at night, looks very cool). The optional Monsoon stereo sounds good--I've seen some descriptions that it could use more bass, I think it's balanced sounding. One thing to note, and I think most coupes are prone to this due to larger heavier doors, I thought my driver door needed some adjustment (no play in the hinge, just not an ideally aligned)--I had it adjusted by the dealer body shop and it's perfect now, I figure this will be a periodic thing to check. My around town MPG is low 20's, not high for this size car, but worth it to me! It's amazing how the fold-down seats open up a lot useful space which minimal loading hassle (exception is shuffling the rear seat headrests to a storage location while converting the seats up or down, the rear seat headrests stay home...problem solved). As far as cargo goes, I think the hatch is amazingly useful with the various tie-downs, bag hooks and square layout. Golf-wise, I can fit my bag in the hatch along with my pull cart with no problems (I do have to remove my drivers and lay them on top), all without needing to fold down the rear seats. I think for daily driving, this car is perfect and the pricing is right on. After looking at what seemed like everything in the sub $50K market, this is what I picked--(I wasn't cost-limited to the GTI, but I was cost-conscious)! I personally like my 2003 wheels better then the 2004 wheels. I was interested in checking out the R32 before it came out, but now think that's probably overkill for this car especially at $30K ; to me the VR6 is ideal (I don't think heavier, louder, and more stiffly sprung, despite higher horsepower, would improve anything--others who own/have-driven them may argue otherwise). I don't think the other engine choices would satisfy me either--close but no cigar, I wasn't a fan of the 1.8T's "peaky" turbo power, although I can completely understand that some folks may/do prefer it to the VR6--different strokes... If you're looking at this range of cars, make sure you give this a good look before you choose. I looked at these, moved on to looking at MB's, BMW's, Audi's, RX-8, SUV's, you name it, etc and came back to the GTI.