The problem really is caring what people think in the first place. If you want people to perceive you as driving a fast car, or driving a wealthy persons car, then buy a mercedes, or a bmw, or a mustang, or whatever. If you enjoy being in the "gti club" then drive your gti and be happy. I personally could have bought way faster, or considered more prestigious cars if I wanted to, but I didn't, because I like the GTI. Look how many people in these forums come from BMW's, Lexus, Mercedes, etc, they just love the GTI. Was looking at a Mercedes C350 or something on display at the mall today, and I thought it looked nice. I thought for a split second, maybe I should have bought one of those, it looks pretty comfortable, has nice lines, etc, but then I snapped back and realized there was no way I wanted to give up my GTI, it has a personality that car will just never have, and a community that it will never match either.