Trade in GTI for MS3?

[PureDrive]

Hi. I've been thinking about the MS3 for a long time now, almost bought once or twice. I currently drive an 08 VW GTI and I just find the car a little boring, and always wanting more performance. I don't want to mod the car as I have had horrible experiences with modified cars and dealerships before and don't want to go through that crap again. The MS3 seems to offer the power, LSD, tight suspension, great steering response, good brakes, and a 6-speed that I am looking for. I am a little hesistant with the engine mount and smoking turbo issues, and the tranny seems a little less than smooth from the posts I have read. I am just asking for thoughts around my situation/scenario. If I change cars, this is it for at least 5 years........I would have to keep this one for a while. The only reason I can think about this option is that a dealership or two not too far of a drive (about an hour) has a couple of 08's and one 09 on the lot with a price down to about $20,400. This would help me offset the hit from trading the GTI in so early. My payments would probably go up by about $20 a month.

So, what do you guys think..........

 

[fastdreams]

Hi. I've been thinking about the MS3 for a long time now, almost bought once or twice. I currently drive an 08 VW GTI and I just find the car a little boring, and always wanting more performance. I don't want to mod the car as I have had horrible experiences with modified cars and dealerships before and don't want to go through that crap again. The MS3 seems to offer the power, LSD, tight suspension, great steering response, good brakes, and a 6-speed that I am looking for. I am a little hesistant with the engine mount and smoking turbo issues, and the tranny seems a little less than smooth from the posts I have read. I am just asking for thoughts around my situation/scenario. If I change cars, this is it for at least 5 years........I would have to keep this one for a while. The only reason I can think about this option is that a dealership or two not too far of a drive (about an hour) has a couple of 08's and one 09 on the lot with a price down to about $20,400. This would help me offset the hit from trading the GTI in so early. My payments would probably go up by about $20 a month.

So, what do you guys think..........

I wanted to buy a GTI (coming from owning several Audi's in the past) as I am enamored with the 2.0T. But the reasons you listed swayed me to the Mazdaspeed3.

If you're a VAG fan, you will miss it when the GTI is gone. If you're just a car guy, then you will appreciate the little beast that Mazda put together. I don't expect it will blow your mind by being a million times better than the GTI, (depends on your perception I suppose) but the car is a better performer.

Go drive one and see what you think. Better yet spend a weekend in one and find some twisty roads. That began my little love affair with the MS3.

The GTI is a very good car however. I still crave the VAG experience at times. But not at the track...

 

[ElGaspo]

FWIW, i considered the GTI and Cobalt SS before i bought the ms3, but after exhaustive research and test-driving the mazda, there really was no guess. yeah, the transmission has a tendency to be sluggish & crunchy from 1-2, but the motor mounts have been resolved. you're bound to do a wee bit of modding to really make the car even better, but nothing conspicuous or dealer deterring.

when i was in the market, the thing i loved about the GTI was the DSG tranny, but the mazda offers 263 hp and 280 lbs torque. just too many plusses and not enough minuses not to go w/ the MS3.

good luck to you & your search for a long-lasting daily driver. watch out for the stealerships, though. they sure looove playing head games when you have a trade in...

 

[PureDrive]

The GTI is my first VW after only owning Japanese vehicles all my life (not counting the crap-tastic Ford Mustang I had as my first car......).

Oh, and I have the regular manual 6-speed - no DSG for me.

 

[fastdreams]

The GTI is my first VW after only owning Japanese vehicles all my life (not counting the crap-tastic Ford Mustang I had as my first car......).

Oh, and I have the regular manual 6-speed - no DSG for me.

While I like the idea of the DSG, I'm still in favor of the 6speed!

Well doesn't sound like you are a VAG addict like me, so you won't miss her too bad.

FWIW - I've had my MS3 since new for 25k miles now. At 700 miles I started driving it like I stole it.

I have been to 7 track days (4 session per day x 25 minutes per session of hard driving). Lots of backroads punishment as well. I am on my second set of front rotors, and halfway through my second set of pads.

I have lightly modded - intake, catted downpipe, cobb AP, coilovers, shifter bushings, rear mount...I think that's it.

No smoking for me. No issues at all. I change the oil, buy new tires, buy new brake parts, flush the brake fluid.

With the way I treat it, I expect the car to break something sooner than later but for now it has been flawless.

I have never liked the shifting feel, nor the clutch feel. But these are things I can live with. There are other quirks with the power delivery and throttle position behavior that can be annoying, but also livable for me. With my latest cobb tune I am much happier with the throttle position and power delivery.

 

[clos561]

Hi. I've been thinking about the MS3 for a long time now, almost bought once or twice. I currently drive an 08 VW GTI and I just find the car a little boring, and always wanting more performance. I don't want to mod the car as I have had horrible experiences with modified cars and dealerships before and don't want to go through that crap again. The MS3 seems to offer the power, LSD, tight suspension, great steering response, good brakes, and a 6-speed that I am looking for. I am a little hesistant with the engine mount and smoking turbo issues, and the tranny seems a little less than smooth from the posts I have read. I am just asking for thoughts around my situation/scenario. If I change cars, this is it for at least 5 years........I would have to keep this one for a while. The only reason I can think about this option is that a dealership or two not too far of a drive (about an hour) has a couple of 08's and one 09 on the lot with a price down to about $20,400. This would help me offset the hit from trading the GTI in so early. My payments would probably go up by about $20 a month.

So, what do you guys think..........

i didnt even read your post, but yes do it

 

[chief_wiggum]

When I was in the market I was going to test drive a GTI along with the MS3 - I drove the MS3 first and didn't even bother going to the VW dealer. If you're going to leave the car stock, I wouldn't worry about the 'smoking turbo' issue. I would recommend at least a new rear motor mount -- it alone helps the less than great transmission.

I say go drive one if you haven't already -- it will help you make up your mind.

Good luck on your decision.

 

[clos561]

When I was in the market I was going to test drive a GTI along with the MS3 - I drove the MS3 first and didn't even bother going to the VW dealer. If you're going to leave the car stock, I wouldn't worry about the 'smoking turbo' issue. I would recommend at least a new rear motor mount -- it alone helps the less than great transmission.

I say go drive one if you haven't already -- it will help you make up your mind.

Good luck on your decision.

+1, basic bolt ons and your dealer wont give you any problems. intake, motor mounts bov and intercooler upgrades.

 

[Peter B]

The GTI is my first VW after only owning Japanese vehicles all my life (not counting the crap-tastic Ford Mustang I had as my first car......).

Oh, and I have the regular manual 6-speed - no DSG for me.

Crap-tastic ford mustang! hahahaha! (cryhard)(rofl2)(lol) Yeah that about covers it.

I liked the GTI. It was a late 90s early 2000s GTI that turned me on to the sport compact (or is it compact sport) world. It looked like my grandmother's old VW. I thought how fast could it be? Well I learned they are pretty quick.

Anyhow when it came time to buy I didn't even test drive the GTI sadly. When I started my search it was second on my list to the WRX. when I did my reseach it was quickly bumped off the list all together. My friends who own VWs say they are great cars but when they break, they break HARD! Parts are $$$ and can take a while to get I was told by a couple of mechanics too. The best review I heard someone said "You will love the car and love owning it until it breaks. Then you will HATE EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE until it is fixed again" At that point i put it on the bottom of the list. On top of that the WRX and MS3 were/are faster, and that was my main goal.

The other thing to watch with VW is those interference engines. I don't know if the GTI uses one, but they have had some issues with it.


BTW when you got it did you get a Fast?

 

[UHATEIT]

Do it. My friend has an 07 GTI, its pretty nice, looks like every other VW interior, it falls short of Audi wuality interior.

MS3 looks great inside and hauls balls. Get one and you'll enjoy it.

 

[MS3MB]

Ya i drove my friends 08 GTI and i didn't really like it, didn't impress me. I love driving my car and I was disappointment by the huge difference in preformance, also killed him in a race lol. I would say that you should get the MS3.

 

[MaikuMS3]

get it!
before I bought MS3, I test drove GTi and Si. MS3 by far has more power and feels great. and the price you paid offers more horsepower.

i havent modded my car yet but rear motor mount sounds like a MUST mod for smooth gear shifting...

Any other MUST mod options?

 

[jred321]

i wouldn't bother. if you were cross shopping the two then maybe but to trade from one to the other doesn't seem worth it. they are two very similar cars and the loss you take on the GTI won't be worth it. it's like in the MSP days when people were trading in for SRT4s. sure the SRT4 is a better car but is it that much better to justify the loss you take on trading in a car after a year? no.

if you were looking to trade from 1 type of car to another then again maybe but to go from 1 $20k hatch to another $20k hatch isn't worth it for me.

i say hold onto the GTI for another 2 years then shop around.

 

[mr_mazda329]

it's like in the MSP days when people were trading in for SRT4s. sure the SRT4 is a better car

When you say better, you mean faster correct? LoL


OP...get the MS3 and don't look back. The car is very worthwhile.

 

[Super Unique]

God help anyone who trades a speed3 in on a caliber srt4, man talk about double whammy, you loose a ton on the speed3, then another 60% on the dodge after you drive it off the lot. They are lowballing the s*** out of the book values on anything chrysler now.

 

[jred321]

When you say better, you mean faster correct? LoL

right. faster. which is what seems to drive this market segment. so i would say since it fits the market segment better then it's a better car, as reflected by relative resale values of the MSP vs SRT4

God help anyone who trades a speed3 in on a caliber srt4, man talk about double whammy, you loose a ton on the speed3, then another 60% on the dodge after you drive it off the lot. They are lowballing the s*** out of the book values on anything chrysler now.

luckily nobody is talking about trading in an MS3 for a caliber

 

[PureDrive]

Thanks for the posts guys. I am going to trying to get to dealership some time over the next few days. There is a used 08 MS3 at a local dealership like 15 minutes from my house, so I might go check out and drive that one tonight just for the heck of it, just to drive the car again (last time was last July).


And I posted a similar thread on the VW forum I am on and they are all telling me to keep the GTI......who would have thought .........

 

[PureDrive]

i wouldn't bother. if you were cross shopping the two then maybe but to trade from one to the other doesn't seem worth it. they are two very similar cars and the loss you take on the GTI won't be worth it. it's like in the MSP days when people were trading in for SRT4s. sure the SRT4 is a better car but is it that much better to justify the loss you take on trading in a car after a year? no.

if you were looking to trade from 1 type of car to another then again maybe but to go from 1 $20k hatch to another $20k hatch isn't worth it for me.

i say hold onto the GTI for another 2 years then shop around.

Thanks for the post. As far as trading one hatch in for another, I am really only looking at 4 or 5 door cars, as that is what I really need for my job. I love hatchbacks/wagons, another big reason why I am only really looking at the MS3 right now.

Performance wise, they are really not as similar as I wish they were. The MS3 is just about a FWD Mitsu EVO, where the GTI is a nice smooth jack-of-all-trades, that is sporty and comfortable, with a lot of features, but lacks any edge to the driving experience, imo. That is what I miss most, coming from the raw-ish feeling of my old WRX's. And I like the new 09 WRX's, but with all the engine problems they are having and the fact that the price is much higher than the MS3, it is out.

 

[Hank3]

I also came from a pretty well-modded WRX (MY02). And driving the Speed3 has been a great experience thus far (nine months and 6K miles later). Versatility is wonderful. It drives smoothly and the stock suspension is way better than my modded Subie ever was. It just feels a lot more refined. The interior is nicer, too. You won't go wrong with it.

 

[240ka]

God help anyone who trades a speed3 in on a caliber srt4, man talk about double whammy, you loose a ton on the speed3, then another 60% on the dodge after you drive it off the lot. They are lowballing the s*** out of the book values on anything chrysler now.

theres a guy that did on M S 3 forums ha