New Car GTI, STI, EVO....

eloplayspolo

I thought about getting the WRX, but i feel like im SOOOOOO close to that dream car that whenever a STI flys by me i think "shoulda spent the extra cash".

Ive owned 2 cars - 2003 civic and then the 2007 civic i have now. I payed about 8500 for my 2003 with 53k on it in 2007, totaled it the night i installed all the gear listed in my sig. Insurance gave me 12500 for the car so i went and got the LX for 16000 before taxes. I have always been able to get a car for nearly dealer cost - my dad has been in the business for 25+ years, hes just never sold a Subaru or Mitsu, Usually Toyota, Nissan, Infinity, Lexus, Jag, BMW.

Im thinking ill be able to get the STI for around 32k i know it wont be more than 33.

For now, to hold me over, i just gotta figure out if im gonna go 3 way or 2 way, what im going to get of each.

Anyone have any suggestions from something they have heard recently?

Jstas

Advice?

Keep the Civic and get rid of all of your debt. Save some money and get a house. Then get the car.

Ricardo

Party pooper

eloplayspolo

Jstas wrote: »

Advice?

Keep the Civic and get rid of all of your debt. Save some money and get a house. Then get the car.

#1 i live in socal - buying a house here isnt happening for about 5 or 6 years.
#2 in a relationship with the same girl for 4 years now, i will marry her, but thats a few more years off, so i dont want to buy a house now.
#3 im luckily debt free.

nooshinjohn

Buy a Condo... then when you do get married, you will have a place to start from, and then you can hold on to it as a rental property when you do buy a house.

heiney9

Jstas wrote: »

Advice?

Keep the Civic and get rid of all of your debt. Save some money and get a house. Then get the car.

John, you are so unAmerican.......bah!





















Good advice though

eloplayspolo

Ricardo wrote: »

Party pooper

pretty much

PrazVT

I'm kind of in the same boat. I paid off my 2008 Mazda 3 in about 2.5 years (~$18k) and though I have a much higher paying job now, it's been nice to own something and not have car payments. But I've been looking at the next GTI R20, Audi A3, WRX, or perhaps even a Gen Coupe and can't make up my mind if I want to spend the $$ or not. My dad offered let me take over the payments on his 09 335i, but $960 / mo is a bit much.

Plus I'd like to move into a bigger place (paying $2100/mo for a 900 sqft apt). Gotta love California.

eloplayspolo

haha i get what you guys are saying and normally i would agree. but i live 1 mile away from work and pay pretty much no rent. im 23, go to school full time (online) and work 40 hours a week.

I live with my parents, which a lot of times sucks... but as of now, its not worth moving out.


im close to everything. would rather not move!

eloplayspolo

PrazVT wrote: »

I'm kind of in the same boat. I paid off my 2008 Mazda 3 in about 2.5 years (~$18k) and though I have a much higher paying job now, it's been nice to own something and not have car payments. But I've been looking at the next GTI R20, Audi A3, WRX, or perhaps even a Gen Coupe and can't make up my mind if I want to spend the $$ or not. My dad offered let me take over the payments on his 09 335i, but $960 / mo is a bit much.

Plus I'd like to move into a bigger place (paying $2100/mo for a 900 sqft apt). Gotta love California.

haha yeah, thats intense.

eloplayspolo

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-7066-slc-365-rainbow-slc-3-way-component-system.aspx


Anyone heard these?

Ricardo

Internet is as dangerous if you are a car enthusiast as if you're an audio enthusiast...just found out that you can very easily perform an ECU modification that will boost HP and torque for the GTI...and with some hardware changes it will bring it over 400 HP. He he he......


<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GLu0ub44c-8&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

JimAckley

PrazVT wrote: »

I'm kind of in the same boat. I paid off my 2008 Mazda 3 in about 2.5 years (~$18k) and though I have a much higher paying job now, it's been nice to own something and not have car payments. But I've been looking at the next GTI R20, Audi A3, WRX, or perhaps even a Gen Coupe and can't make up my mind if I want to spend the $$ or not. My dad offered let me take over the payments on his 09 335i, but $960 / mo is a bit much.

Plus I'd like to move into a bigger place (paying $2100/mo for a 900 sqft apt). Gotta love California.

960/mo for a 335i?? I think I was paying 950/mo for my 2010 LS460...

And your rent... GAH! That's craziness!

I'm quote content with my low-rate Silverado now :biggrin:

tk421

1. keep civic. save $$. USA is in for a tough 2 yrs
2. evo - more of a driver's car. more comfy inside.
3. sti - nice agressive nature. poor handling. cheap interior
4. vw - nice inside. great gearbox. but it's a euro.

if your civic has the R18 motor, you should read the hondatuning magazine article on that motor and a simple 2-day, 3000$ mod that doubles the power and torque ;-)

nooshinjohn

tk421 wrote: »

3. sti - nice agressive nature. poor handling. cheap interior...

Have you ever driven one?:rolleyes: I have driven all the cars being discussed here and the STI is by far the best of the bunch. The AWD and being able to bias the car's power distribution to the rears is a tremendous advantage over the other cars. Agressive, yes... smoothest of the bunch, no. But if you are going for a race-proven, go anywhere and through any weather, reliable machine that will be worth it's weight come trade-in/resale time, nothing will top the Subi. Except a Z-06 at 2 times the price.


BTW Tk.. are you a Star Wars geek too?

heiney9

tk421 wrote: »

4. vw - nice inside. great gearbox. but it's a euro.

Precisely why it should be at the top of the list.

H9

audiocr381ve

Jstas wrote: »

Advice?

Keep the Civic and get rid of all of your debt. Save some money and get a house. Then get the car.

Couldn't agree more.

tk421

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Have you ever driven one?:rolleyes: I have driven all the cars being discussed here and the STI is by far the best of the bunch. The AWD and being able to bias the car's power distribution to the rears is a tremendous advantage over the other cars. Agressive, yes... smoothest of the bunch, no. But if you are going for a race-proven, go anywhere and through any weather, reliable machine that will be worth it's weight come trade-in/resale time, nothing will top the Subi. Except a Z-06 at 2 times the price.


BTW Tk.. are you a Star Wars geek too?

lol.. yes, bigtime star wars fan. but loosing faith in the jedi. i dont trust yoda.

the sti is a great car, dont get me wrong. the few i've driven (GC8, GDA) have poor interiors but perform well. the handling is not as good as the evo's (see any top gear comparison to validate my thoughts).

evo's seem smoother in response and handling IMHO. there is less understeer. where i live, subaru parts are also easier and cheaper to get.

it all about the driver. what he wants and how he drives. most honda drivers coming off the NA civics are better satisfied with the evo's here. for those who like the kick of an agressive turbo coupled with that fantasic exhaust note from the boxer motor, i would recommend the subaru.

neiher are good on gas.. hehe.. but then again, which 2.0 turbo car is?!.. lol

tk421

heiney9 wrote: »

Precisely why it should be at the top of the list.

H9

haha, wellll.... it's a bit more expensive to maintain.
the new DSG gearoxes re fantastic. havent had the opportunity to actually drive one but the review with ace driver/drift king keiichi tsuchiya tells the story well. youtube

mole'

out f the 3 cars

EVO love this car and have worked on a few of them
STi depends on which year but still a nice car
GTi never really liked them. PITA to work on

JBD99ERIDE

My .02....

Have owned 2 modded turbo eclipses, one FWD the latter AWD.
AWD owns.

While a 400+ AWD daily driver is a blast, it has gotten tiresome over the years, with it being loud, stiff suspention all the time, etc. I supose its all about goals for the car.

If you are gonna keep it stock, all are good choises but I'm biased after having AWD. Ive gotten through s*it in that car that SUV's have had trouble with and I also woulda been screwed on several occasions last winter here in MD without it.

All that being said I think the sti and evo both would be really fun cars, even if left stock. If you start modding, at least for me anyway, I got tired of the droning exhaust on a turbo car all the time, Ive been continually trying to quiet it down without losing too much power. Not to mention It overpowers the stereo, which blows when you've invested in a good one. Maybe you won't care.

I dont have any experience with the VW, so cant comment.

A friend has an Audi a-3 and I love that car.
I have driven several of them and they really are superb in every way. Still fun to drive but is def more refined than sti/evo.

I don't know your location but winter may be a concern on the sti/evo choice. I know the evo comes with super sticky summer advan tires and in inclement weather, they are bad. period. An investment in cheap rims and dedicated winter tires would be a huge advantage, I know from first hand experience.

All the advice here has been pretty good, you really need to figure out what you want out of tthe car and get the one that meets 80% of those needs. Something will be sacrificed somewhere in any car you get.
I also think, at this point after driving the cars I have for as long as I have, 4 doors over 2 doors. I really wish I had 4 doors and an actual trunk.

Someone else mentioned a wrx as a cheaper alternative to the sti, I agree in some ways.
You will lose some of the handling and performance of the sti but can make up for both fairly easily. The sti turbo, injectors , a few other parts and an eu reflash will give you near sti performance in a semi sleeper package. I'm relatively positve the suspention is a bolt on affair also. If thats a route you want to take. I'm not sure if this holds true for the most recent versions but is true for the 08', (I believe) back.

How about a BMW 1 series? pricy, but great car...

Ricardo

Well, if I ever have to decide between the WRX and any other car, it will be an easy decision. It seems that Subaru won't have my business.

We were having lunch just by a Subaru dealer and I had some time to spare so I thught what the heck, I'll go give it a try. But to my surprise, you CANNOT TEST DRIVE A WRX!!! WTF??

I could test drive it if I go through all the paperwork to buy it, and leave a deposit. Then, if I decide I don't like the car, I can walk away....without the deposit.

I laughed in their face. I've taken for test drives cars worth more than twice these POS.

I would understand if they won't give the car to a 17 years old punk...but come on. It's a $25K car...not a Porsche....

heiney9

Yeah, but Ricardo you have those shifty eyes.......you do look young for your age, but I don't think you could pass for 17 :biggrin:, so I'd say yeah, WTF :eek:.

H9

JBD99ERIDE

I had s imilar experience some years ago when looking for a car. I had my eye on a minty fresh 93 RX-7 twin turbo (always wanted one).

Small used car lot and they wouldnt let me drive it. Their loss. I bought elsewhere. Even givin a second chance I wouldn't have bought it on principal. May have driven it though just because.

Agreed, its a stupid policy, especially on a car like the wrx.

praedet

That is a specific dealership policy, not Subaru...

One problem for the WRX/STi or Evo right now is inventory. Due to the earthquake, almost every one of these cars is already spoken for...

heiney9

praedet wrote: »

One problem for the WRX/STi or Evo right now is inventory. Due to the earthquake, almost every one of these cars is already spoken for...

What does that have to do with a test drive? Obviously the car was physically at the dealership. I agree it's more than likely a dealer rule, but Subaru should be made aware of it, because it does reflect poorly on their brand. I'd be pissed too and probably not consider it, but then again I wouldn't consider it to begin with since I'd be at the Volks dealer :biggrin:

H9

EBAN44

heiney9 wrote: »

What does that have to do with a test drive? Obviously the car was physically at the dealership. I agree it's more than likely a dealer rule, but Subaru should be made aware of it, because it does reflect poorly on their brand. I'd be pissed too and probably not consider it, but then again I wouldn't consider it to begin with since I'd be at the Volks dealer :biggrin:

H9

You'll be at the volks dealer picking up your car after all the fixes you will have to deal with after you pass 60K miles. Everyone I know from teens to last 40s adults all end up having problems with their VW/Audis after the dreaded 60K miles.
Also to make it worse VWs are a pita to work on. They all have specialized bolts on a lot of the items. My friends GTI coil pack just melted the other day bc it was made out of cheap plastic. They are nice cars to drive but I would never buy one, maybe lease one for 3 years but that would be it.

Just my 2 cents. I would go fro the Subaru, I like the evo but still afraid of any mits after their dreaded electrical problems they had in the past. Plus resale value would be a lot higher on the WRX/sti.

heiney9

EBAN44 wrote: »

You'll be at the volks dealer picking up your car after all the fixes you will have to deal with after you pass 60K miles. Everyone I know from teens to last 40s adults all end up having problems with their VW/Audis after the dreaded 60K miles.
Also to make it worse VWs are a pita to work on. They all have specialized bolts on a lot of the items. My friends GTI coil pack just melted the other day bc it was made out of cheap plastic. They are nice cars to drive but I would never buy one, maybe lease one for 3 years but that would be it.

Just my 2 cents. I would go fro the Subaru, I like the evo but still afraid of any mits after their dreaded electrical problems they had in the past. Plus resale value would be a lot higher on the WRX/sti.

I've owned VW/Audi my entire life (I'm 45) and they have a little bit higher repair record than some Japanese (read boring) cars, but my last GTi had 200K on the odo and it never left me stranded nor did it have any major issues.

My current VR6-GTi has 112K and I did have the dreaded headgasket failure at about 90K, but then I knew about this issue for these cars when I bought the car with 60K on it.

My brother had a Miata and he had to sell it because he had some serious transmission issues with it, but my Dad has had a Miata going on 6 years without an issue. So you can't really generalize against a brand, but I don't discount the issues you've seen first hand with your friends.

I have had almost none of the issues with any of my Volkswagens that some people claim make them POS's.

H9

P.s. Coil packs are supposed to be a HUGE issue with the VR6 motors. I have replaced one ,with a used one no less, and not a single problem in 9 years and about 70K miles. But I read where people have replaced up to 6 of them in that time. There are some really shoddy aftermarket parts out there, so anyone using those is bound to have issues, I suspect the people who have multiple issues are using cheap aftermarket stuff vs. the genuine thing. Why do you think a coil pack at the dealer cost $399 and one from an aftermarket company cost $150. I know the dealer has mark-up but the knock off is a piece of junk.

heiney9

I also have to add my parents have a VW Passat 1.8T with 110K on the odo, bought it new maintained it and other than the ABS control unit going out (Bosch has serious failure for all these units in all car brands even American cars, IIRC, there is a class action lawsuit) they have had almost not trouble with it beyond normal wear and tear.

There are always 2 sides to the coin.

H9

Ricardo

I sent an email to Subaru. We'll see what they say, if they respond at all.

The GTI has been at the top of my list since I have the Jetta. I just love to drive that car, although it could use a bit more power.

Sometimes though, I feel the Jetta is just perfect for my needs...I can push it and feel the thrill of driving a manual without getting in trouble....

In any case, I plan to continue leasing, so I never have a car with more than 35K miles.