rickms63

Please accept this post as it is. My intention is not to bait for an argument and I’m not a troll. I’m a car enthusiast that loves many types of cars and enjoys discussing them.

I currently own a 2002 WRX Seda (red) with about 65,000 Miles on the odometer. I’ve just finished my last payment and while the car still has a decent residual value, I’m considering replacing it.

Things I like with the WRX; sharp handling, power (above 3000RPM), seats, stock stereo is decent and AWD is great. Things I do not like; excessive wind noise, turbo lag, 5th gear (there just too quite the engine down and save gas), paint (sucked from the first day, chips galore), center console is flimsy, AC sucks the life out of the powerplant, notchy stick and five speed.

All this being said, this car, after five years, still brings a smile to my face!

What I’m looking for; power (torque throughout with little or no lag), upscale interior (leather, automatic and dual ac, nav/satallite radio, fully adjustable seating), good solid paint job. Reliability and resale are also of interest.

Lastly, I know this is blasphemous, but I’m also considering an automatic (triptonic). After eight years of dating my girlfriend I would like to provide something she can drive. A stick shift is not her and I’m tired of always being the designated driver.

I’ve been looking carefully at the new VW GTI MKV, the DSG transmission is absolutely amazing, I never thought I would consider an automatic but DSG is something else. The interior is definitly upscale and max torque comes on at about 1800RPMS and does not stop. On the other hand it is no where as fast as my current WRX nor does it handles as well. The GTI feels heavier and is less “flickable” then the WRX, but this heaviness in the GTI gives the ride a more “solid” feel, hard to describe.

From a reliability issue, my Subaru has had two issues, clutch chatter (replaced under warranty) and a fuel hose issue that results in gas fumes in the cabin after the weather gets below 15 degrees. The latter issue has not been resolved and will cost around $600 to repair. So overall the WRX has been reliable for a first year car. The only other thing of note is that I’ve had to fight my local Subaru service department to get things like the clutch fixed; it was not a pleasant experience.

I am hoping there are folks that have had older WRXs and the new 2006 WRX and can tell me if the changes address the issues I have with my 2002 WRX.

Also, if there are folks that either considered a GTI or have gone from a GTI to a new WRX, I would love to hear the drivers for your decision.

Any GTI to WRX comparison would help.

Thanks for the consideration,

Rick

-j-

iTrader: (2)

I'll give you my take on this one. I had a WRX. I now have the A3 2.0T with DSG. I can't say enough. The car is ablsolutely fun to drive. With the right stuff, the car will be awesome. $500 chip and nice Neuspeed springs and Koni-FSD and you are done.

By the way, this is suppose to be my wife's car. We are waiting for the BMW 1 to come hopefully and get that or the A2 if at all.

-j-

iTrader: (2)

Oh yeah, I do miss my WRX, but the inside of the A3 or GTI just is so much better. I went with the A3 after checking the price on the Passat wagon. The price was too close so I went this route.

rickms63

I thought about an A3 because the 5 door GTI will not ship for a couple of months, but the A3 gets pricey very quickly as options are added.

-j-

iTrader: (2)

Tell me about it. The only thing I didn't like about the GTI 5 door is the rear section. It has one less glass section which I think could be an aweful blindspot. I was able to get the car below invoice when I found it and it made the deal. The 07 are not very flattering at the moment from what I hear they are reducing the options or standard stuff. No more Premium vs. Sport, just A3 and choose your poison. Still a nice car. Oh and no more Free service for 4 years for Audi after 06's are gone.

sachilles

for what its worth.
I'm going from a vag (vw audi group) product to a wrx wagon.
In the household, we currently have to A4 1.8t quattros. One is a 97 with 141k and the 98 has 171k on the clock.
We are getting rid of the 98 in favor of a wrx wagon.
Granted our audi's aren't spring chickens, but Audi has kind of let us down. I had vw's prior to these cars with great experiences.
The A4 was somewhat of a dream car for me. I autocross and do other automotive events and I'm generally pretty hard on my cars, but my wife is not. Yet both cars exhibit the same failures. The parts prices are fairly high. Labor isn't a real issue as I do much of my own work.
So we are looking at wrx wagons.....we wanted something a bit more reliable, and something that when it does break, it doesn't absolutely break the bank....some of you might be giggling about that.....but trust me the audi's are on the $$$ side when it comes to repairs. In the last 3 months, we've put more than 3 grand in to the two cars in parts alone.
Yes they are old....that being said the problems aren't such that they strand you.....but as a car guy, you know there is something wrong, so you fix it.
On the positive side, the body work/paint/ rust prevention is very good with the vw/audi products...if you are in a road salt intensive state, you'll understand the value of that.
the downside for us, is the interior is small and a touch less refined. All of those little touches will be missed. However, we are banking on the better reliability ultimately saving us money.

MVWRX

iTrader: (1)

Check out the reliability ratings of newer VWs and Audis in Consumer Reports. If reliability means anything to you, you'll stear clear of them...

-j-

iTrader: (2)

I thought the same way too and was headed to a Legacy, but I decide I'll take my chance on this. So far, 2500 troble free miles.

My WRX had loose radiator hoses. Yup, both of them when I picked it up. And yes, both my new Honda vehicles had issues too.

2000 Civic Si - loose rear clips from factory
2000 Odyssey - Electric door would not close properly - went back to dealer 3 times

1992 Camry - tranny down at 80K - Toyota sevice sucks in the Bay Area too. If I can avoid it, I will not own a Toyota in the Bay Area.

I figure though with all the parts in the car one thing going wrong is OK as long as it's not the motor or tranny

geenyus

In November, I returned my 02 VW GTI 1.8T at the end of the smart buy period, after having daily driven it for 4 yrs. It was chipped with light engine and suspension mods, and was generally a lot of fun, however, I've loved VW's for years. The GTI interiors are dark, utilitarian and in my opinion, fairly stylish. As far as reliability, the only problems I've had with the car were the coilpacks - which were recalled by VW, thus replaced for free. I never had any warranty issues with the dealerships regarding my mods, but it was only in for service 3 or 4 times. Maybe I was lucky, because the various VW forums had just as many horror stories as really any other auto forums.

I've been driving a beater for the past few months while I decided which car I wanted. I was considering the 05 GTI, the 06 STI and an 05 elise. I think the new GTI is great looking, it has the FSI 2.0T which is stronger than the 1.8T, and I personally loved the 1.8T. The DSG is icing on the cake. Plus . . . and this is what's important here, you can get a Fast if you buy it. Hatchbacks have quite a bit of utility, too. I regularily bought wood at Home Depot, and brought it home in my GTI, hatch closed. Really, the only downsides to the VW is the no lsd and the fwd . . . the torque steer was pretty bad in my old car.

My .02.

I ended up getting a new STI, fwiw. Blue.

-j-

iTrader: (2)

I would not have bought the car without the DSG. It was one of the deal breakers if I were not to find out available. The wifey was not about to learn to drive a 6 speed. Torque steer was also a worry, but so far I have not had any issues with it. My Accord has it worse. We'll see though after the Giac flash.

subie OCD

iTrader: (11)

I say mod your wrx 5speed! Is it stock? If so, with minimal mods you can have that thing feel like a whole different animal. Uppipe, turboback exhaust and accessport will solve the lag issues. This way the wifey still cant drive it! lol

I understand the noise issue with subarus, as the wrx has no sound deadening. Also, imo the interior is very nice, but there are other cars that outshine in the interior dept.

The new 2006 wrx is worlds better than the older models. Here are the features that matter:

-2.5L motor
-4pot brakes
-17" wheels standard
-double cone 1st gear syncro (smoother first gear engagement)

Galli916

iTrader: (1)

Crack the consumers reports open. That alone made my decision of not getting an A4.

chickenrice

i'm in the same situation as you are. I have a slightly modified 02 wrx wagon with almost 80k miles on it. The wrx never gave me much problem at all and i love it.. but it's really annoying after awhile with the wind noise and all...

i was doing some research on the mk5, it seems to have alittle oil leak issue and there's always the saying of never buying a first year production car etc etc... i'm actually thinking of getting a EVO MR. Mitsubishi has like 100,000 power train warranty something like that. I am going to test drive both the EVO and MK5 sometime next week. Hopefully, that would help make a decision.

bani

i drove a wrx wagon and a gti back to back (same roads, same speeds, only about 30 min apart in the afternoon) and to be honest the gti was only barely noticeably quieter than the wrx. i was really disappointed because the gti interior is so nice it sort of implies the car should be quieter -- but it isnt.

the wrx was 10x more enjoyable to drive. it was just more responsive, much better road feel (the stock gti steering is super light), way more planted, and cornered hard without squealing the wheels unlike the gti which was squeal city. the gti has torque everywhere and no boost lag, but that kind of takes the excitement out of driving the car. the dsg is awesome though, subaru should ditch slushboxes and go dsg for sure.

the gti is nice, but the wrx is nicer even despite the spartan wrx interior. also keep in mind vw is removing a bunch of features in the '07 gtis (headlight washers and xenons iirc, and some other bits) so the 07 gti are less attractive than the 06.