Reader Review of the Week: 2010 Volkswagen GTI
“Alex” from Springfield, Ill., recently bought a 2010 Volkswagen GTI, and while he’s not 100% down on the car, his list of complaints is long. After driving in the GTI for a while, Alex kept finding small things about the car that failed to live up to his expectations for a $30,000 car.
Read Alex’s full review to find out where the GTI let him down and why he ultimately found it a disappointing purchase. Afterward, write your own review here.
“I'll start off by saying that the interior of my GTI is very nice and it handles reasonably. This about sums up the good side of the GTI.
“When I purchased my GTI it cost near $30k and came with everything except GPS. During the winter I tried out the heated seats, which were a nice feature. Unfortunately, the heat did not want to shut off. The seat eventually got hot enough that I had to stop the car on the side of the road. The problem was fixed under warranty.
“The plastic materials look nice but they make annoying squeaking sounds whenever I hit a bump. The worst of it came when my DSG transmission kept throwing me out of gear! I later found out that VW recalled all cars for faulty wiring in the DSG system.
“To top things off, the GTI requires premium fuel since it's turbocharged, but the GTI is not even close to being a performance car. In fact, for the money, the GTI falls way behind just about every competitor on the market.
“I would've given it three stars but the GTI's lack of reliability force me to rate it as a poor car.”
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If "the GTI falls way behind just about every competitor," then why did you buy it? Mist of your gripes are things that should be determined in a test drive, unless you were irrisppnsible and didn't take one. in fact, it sounds like youndont even own a VW by the way you are talking about it, because if you really didn't think it was a performance car or one that is that far behind it's competitors, you wouldn't have bought it.
@ JM,
The GTI is often spoken of as a compromise between refinement and sportiness. I think Alex simply became dissatisfied with the good -- as opposed to great -- performance and was really disappointed with the reliability. People's perceptions change, especially the "honeymoon" period is over.
In terms of being "way behind" its competitors, cars like the Mazdaspeed3 are faster and less expensive. But if you wanted refinement, the GTI is better. I can see why he bought the car. Power is like money, the more you get the more you want. No surprise he's not satisfied with the "mere" 200 ponies.
“The plastic materials look nice but they make annoying squeaking sounds whenever I hit a bump."
I had same problems during test drive of Oddysey. So I didn't buy one.
Generally, one must be crazy to pay $30K for this VW.
Another example of someone who didn't test drive the car and just blindly bought it.Did you look at and test drive other vehicles (of course not), research reviews of the GTI (of course not), or even sit in the GTI before you bought it (of course not).
I'd like to see reader reviews of people who took the time to research vehicles before selecting the one they bought, not idiots who commit to paying $30K+ for a car they didn't even scrutinize.
I own a Mazdaspeed3 and I feel it's equally as refined. The GTI was first on my list until I drove a slightly used one (what better way to see long-term fit/finish/performance) and determined it had too many rattles and was under-powered.
Seems to me that his frustration is from the amount of unexpected warranty work. If I had paid $30k for a car and had multiple problems I'd probably nitpick as well.
After test driving 4 from 2 dealers, I took delivery of a 5 door manual in March with every option except nav and I can say the build quality is better than every American & Japanese car I've owned (10 & counting). Yes, 50 more hp, full power seats & dual climate controls would be nice but I knew this going in. The only complaint I have is the serious lack of storage in the console. The best car in the 30-34k price range.
Wait till you have to buy tires! I bought an '07 GTI with very low miles this year and can understand your concerns and complaints. It DOES NOT come close to being as fun as my '09 Mini Cooper S was; I just wish the city I moved to had a Mini service facility or dealer. The VW is expensive to maintain and after just 4k miles was low on oil; dealer told me "these are high performance engines and they burn oil". That is unacceptable to me. I can't wait till I can sell this car and buy something else... The car can be fun at times; mtn roads are best- driving around town, not so much
My GTI have now a bad steering wheel vibration at 60mph and over. The tires have been balanced 4 times and the wheels too. Tires are Michelin and the wheels are Momo! I have no idea what else to do :(
My 2010 GTI Pre-own certificated car has the same problem. Drive over than 60 and over. All car vibrates crazily. I went to the dealership and balanced the tires. better but still. I saw the service history. the first owner balanced the tires like a month ago. rattle sound from the trunk when hitting the bump or driving in high speed. wind noise from driver window.
I bought a 2010 GTI brand-new two years ago. I have 45,000 miles on it with virtually no problems. I researched this carefully after reading reports of reliability problems. The GTIs are built in Wolfsburg, Germany. This is the most fun car I have ever owned and has been absolutely reliable. The Hondas and Toyotas I have owned drive much differently and are noisy compared to the GTI. Research, test-drive and compare.....