[Relentless]

So I'm in the market for a new car, I currently drive a 2000 Toyota Camry 4cylinder, 5 speed maual. I've narrowed the cars down to a 2006 Volkswagen GLI and a 2007 Honda Civic Si Sedan. Personally I'm torn, the GLI is a blast to drive and seems to be more drivable than the Honda. The power down low is tremendous and I don't find having to wind the Honda to 6000rpms to be very usable. I have located a 2006 GLI, package 0, which is all I need, regularly listed at $24,900 or so. Keep in mind it is a 2006, yet only has 56 miles on it and is still on the dealers lot. I told the dealership that I've looked into the Honda and the price has been dropped to $20,700 for the Si. The dealership offered the GLI at 20,500. I have a feeling how people will respond to this, however just give me your two cents. Also can the DRLs be turned off on the GLI and if so, does anyone in the Albany NY area have a VagCom?? Thanks guys!

 

[BlueFrogPosse]

You asked for our two cents so here's mine. Before comparing the two cars you're looking at, I must start by saying that $20,500 for a new (even an '06) GLI is a steal and you should hop on that while you can. Now, I am willing to admit that the Si is a good deal as well as far as vehicle and performance for the price, though I haven't driven one myself. I don't like the styling of Hondas and likely never will. I absolutely love the engine in my GTI; with all that torque at low speeds, it's a very driveable piece of engineering. I don't think I could handle the 5000+ RPM Civic engine; would just give me a headache and eliminate the fun of driving to work in the morning. That's about all I have to say about that.

 

[strangs_fast]

i have to agree with the above in that having the power down low you can have fun driving it without having to push it all out. And for that price on a gli it is a steal. Another nice thing with the gli ant the gti is that you dont see a whole lot of them around so its not like everyone is driving your car. thats just my opinion though

 

[mofo529]

another thing to consider is warranty. Honda is 3years/36000miles. VW is 4years/50000miles.

 

[10bv01]

You're getting an AMAZING deal on that GLI, mine cost quite a bit more, and I got it with 10k miles on it. If you sat in both and drove both, I'm sure you noticed that the VW simply feels like a higher quality car. Everybody and their brother drives a Civic, hardly anyone drives GLIs. Plus if you buy one, I won't be alone here anymore.

You also have a great resource here in case you ever want to mod your car, or if you ever have a small problem. Over 2,000 dedicated members ready to help.

 

[Dragon]

That GLI is a steal...

IMHO: I drove the Honda... it was nice and well built. But the VW feels so much better. Honda doesn't have DSG

 

[FastAddict]

I remember when I was looking at the GTI versus the Si, the Honda dealer was a complete ass to me. He told me that I couldn't test drive the Si because it was too "special" of a car and that the only people who get them special order them and just know they want to buy them. So, I got into a big argument w/ him about how I wanted to drive it because of all the complaints I've heard about no low-end torque, crappy gauge cluster, etc. etc. Needless to say he got very defensive (and still wouldn't let me test drive). So I went and ordered my GTI, which is what I wanted more anyways (I just wanted to test drive all my options before dropping $30k...oh well). Moral of the story: "a person who is nice, but mean to a waiter, is NOT A NICE PERSON!"

 

[Thalo]

Wow... what a prick. The dealership should fire him because he is purposefully losing sales. I'd say the GTI is a lot more of a special car in relation to the rest of the VW lineup than the Si to the Honda lineup.

I can understand an Audi salesperson recommending to testdrive the A4 before testing the S4... that is a special car.

 

[BlueFrogPosse]

Mazda tried the same thing when I wanted to drive a MazdaSpeed 3. I think they say those things to filter out people who aren't seriously in the market to buy a car. The Mazda salesman said he 'had to talk to the manager' before he let me drive the car. I wasn't impressed with the car or the sales staff.

 

[Thalo]

In that situation you just gotta say "I'm deciding between a GTI, an Si or a Mazdaspeed3. Volkswagen let me test drive the GTI. It would really help in the decision making process if you let me test drive your car." If they still don't let you drive the car, fuck em.

 

[FastAddict]

Amen.

 

[BlueFrogPosse]

I had told VW that I was deciding between the GTI and MS3, and the guy just let me take test drives in a couple different GTI's, told me "good luck at Mazda, see you tomorrow." When I told the other salesman the same thing he just started quoting horsepower numbers and 0-60 times. It was like he expected the stats alone to sell the car. If I hadn't been there so late, I would have bought my GTI that night instead of the next day.