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Modifying: Why would anyone do that to a VW?

McQueen77

Banned
I'll tell you what makes me cringe.
The GTI can be had for around $26K for arguments sake.
At that price, it's a little more expensive than its most direct competitors - but given it's level of refinement, build quality, and just overall niceness it's worth it.
That's why many of us choose it.
Option the car up with the Autobahn package and a bit more, and the car is nipping uncomfortably close to $30K. :yikes:
That's cringe level one for me.
Still, a damn nice car, but it's getting up there.

Take that car, and mod it out with a tune, wheels/tires, shocks/springs, exhaust etc., and now we are talking about what may be a
35K GTI. :yikes::yikes:
That's cringe level two for me.

Obviously a persons car, is a persons car, and their money and how they choose to spend it is up to them.
Some people gamble, some go out to eat, some do endless home improvements as others have noted.

I'm not about status, but I still feel uncomfortable bringing a GTI up to A4, 3 Series BMW, or Infiniti G territory.
For me part of the appeal of this car is in it's performance - qualty - price ratio.
Skew that ratio north of 30 Thousand and I grow glassy eyed.

This is all very well said and I agree completely. I paid around $25k, out the door w/tax and warranty for a cpo 2010 MK6 with 9k miles on it w/Sunroof, 6mt, all weather mats and detroits and I felt that was a fair deal. If I thought the car needed a lot of upgrades or work, I wouldn't have bought it. $30k + another $5k for mods and yes, I'm cringing too. I love my GTI, but I wouldn't drop $35k on it. Its just not a $35k car IMO. Sometimes I think it feels and drives like one, but come on. If modding is your passion, thats cool and I don't fault anyone for how they want to spend their extra and sometimes, hard earned money. For me personally, I have other financial priorities and obligations than dropping money on mods. Engine mods, well if I had a lot more disposable income, I wouldn't mind going Stage 2, slapping a new intake, intercooler on there etc. because I wouldn't be afraid of warranty voids and if you don't think you run that risk w/Stage 2, or even 1, then you're crazy. As for lowering it and all of that, its just not my style. I was never part of that 'scene' or whatever you want to call it.

That being said, the OP's post is kind of silly considering its a forum where more than 50% of the threads are about mods...
 

Hilfloskind

Go Kart Champion
With mods, I've spent 36k on this car...my only regret is that I didn't know the R was coming a year after I bought this...I could've bought a fully loaded R for what I spent on this GTI + modifications/upgrades. At the same time, I'm sure I'd still have wanted some of these upgrades even with the R. Things like a subwoofer, window tint, possibly stage 1 would've been worth getting. Just stage 1 on an R turns it into a complete monster. I wouldn't change the exhaust on an R though and would even hesitate to slap a DP on it for fear of losing the famous R tone. By the time I did SOME of the comparable work to an R, it would end up a 40k car...
 

Fordson

Ready to race!
I don't see a problem with a $30k GTI - and really, I bought mine for like $28.6k anyway. The GTI is a refined car and dresses up very well. As I said earlier in the thread, I look at mods as options - options that I install.

The Autobahn options - Dynaudio, KESSY, leather, bi-xenon...I like them and was not about to do them myself. The paint protection and headlight protection and the tune - VW was not going to sell them to me, so I did them myself. They have brought the car up to a true $30k now, and I think maybe the Carbonio intake will be it for me - so say $30,500 and done.

I see all kinds of base-model or sunroof-only cars on here that somebody gave R tails and some kind of 3-hp-gain TBE and spent god knows how much doing it. That's their gig, I guess - from the driver's seat I can't feel 3 hp or see the LED tails doing their thing.

Besides - don't kid yourself by saying you could have gotten a 3 series or Infiniti G35 or something - you would be modding those, too - and for the most part, spending way more doing it. Want more horsepower with those cars? You ain't gonna do it with $600.
 

Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
and those cars are boring as fuck to drive. I've driven an older G35 coupe (350z basically) and it was seriously like, "really? that's it?" boring, boring, boring.. GTI is almost like driving an Elise every day. Except it has an AC that works and seating for 4.
 

Cackalacka

Ready to race!
I've got no interest in modifying my car at present.

That said, I'm very interested in what others are doing to their cars. Folks run into very interesting problems before/during/after modifying their cars, and there is a lot to be learned in their experiences.

When I put another 60-80k on my odometer, I may get bored and have a very different attitude, and may very likely be interested in going stage 2 with an intercooler. Or a short-shifter. Or revamp the air-flow. Or tints. Or, etc. Alternatively, I may have problems with my clutch or transmission that someone with a keener interest (or harder-driving drive train) has already encountered because they strapped a larger turbo. Reading and learning about this shit is fun, but it can pay off.

Remember, reading is FUNdamental. If I go into a shop or under my hood with a wrench and have a clue, I'm better off.

Plus cars are personal extensions of people's psyche. I will never lower my car or put 19" rims on it. That doesn't mean I don't think that most of them aren't bad as hell.

So yeah, if you're interested as a hatchback as an appliance, allow me to introduce you to the Honda Fit. Otherwise, you're on the wrong forum.
 

McQueen77

Banned
Besides - don't kid yourself by saying you could have gotten a 3 series or Infiniti G35 or something - you would be modding those, too - and for the most part, spending way more doing it. Want more horsepower with those cars? You ain't gonna do it with $600.

I can find a CPO 335i for low 30s with less than 40k miles and more than enough power where I would never have the need to mod it. Maybe thats just me, but the 335i has more than enough power for any public road I can think of. New though, yeah, you're looking at closer to $50k, so I see your point that, for about $35k you can have a fully loaded GTI with 300+ hp etc. so in that way, if its worth it to you, and you have the disposable income, then its worth it.

Like the poster before me said, I plan on Stage 1 later down the road. Gonna put some miles on it first and for now, I'm fine with the power. I'm still almost always effortlessly pulling ahead of highway traffic and it has enough torque down low to dart around the laggers in city traffic. Its not like I get to open it up often enough in L.A. anyway. I've alreay been pulled over once for doing 65 in a 35 and was let off with a warning so at this point, Stage 1 etc will just get me into more trouble. But I also feel myself getting used to the power it has and wanting more sometimes, so I'll prob do Stage 1 when I hit 30k or so. Like a 'part 2' to an already awesome car
 
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Gunkata

Drag Race Newbie
I've said, "It has more than enough power" or " I wont need to mod" - NEVER happens :lol:

Also, I wouldn't consider them "mods", I like to call them "improvements"....
 

wh85

Passed Driver's Ed
Asking stupid questions: Why would anyone do that on a forum?

1) its makes a good conversation 2) why would anyone take a pic of there own golf n leave the reg plate uneditted as there avatar pic?
 

Fordson

Ready to race!
I've got no interest in modifying my car at present.

That said, I'm very interested in what others are doing to their cars. Folks run into very interesting problems before/during/after modifying their cars, and there is a lot to be learned in their experiences.

When I put another 60-80k on my odometer, I may get bored and have a very different attitude, and may very likely be interested in going stage 2 with an intercooler. Or a short-shifter. Or revamp the air-flow. Or tints. Or, etc. Alternatively, I may have problems with my clutch or transmission that someone with a keener interest (or harder-driving drive train) has already encountered because they strapped a larger turbo. Reading and learning about this shit is fun, but it can pay off.

Remember, reading is FUNdamental. If I go into a shop or under my hood with a wrench and have a clue, I'm better off.

Plus cars are personal extensions of people's psyche. I will never lower my car or put 19" rims on it. That doesn't mean I don't think that most of them aren't bad as hell.

So yeah, if you're interested as a hatchback as an appliance, allow me to introduce you to the Honda Fit. Otherwise, you're on the wrong forum.

This is well-said - READ before modding. We are all Jonesing on the OP, but people who mod without doing their homework get ragged on worse.

As for buying a GTI used, I don't know if I would do that. Not like buying a used Ninja, where you are positive it's been beaten on, but still a HP car and probably well-used. For a 2010 Autobahn with maybe 10k miles on it, that car cost about a grand more new than my car did, and with the great resale GTIs have I would not have saved more than maybe $2k or maybe $2.5k. And then there are the wind noise, first-gen Bluetooth, rattles, drippy rear washer, etc. to deal with. And all that's assuming I could find such a car for sale.

Not worth it to me, but if you find one, great.
 

ElectricEye

Autocross Newbie
I can find a CPO 335i for low 30s with less than 40k miles and more than enough power where I would never have the need to mod it. Maybe thats just me, but the 335i has more than enough power for any public road I can think of. New though, yeah, you're looking at closer to $50k, so I see your point that, for about $35k you can have a fully loaded GTI with 300+ hp etc. so in that way, if its worth it to you, and you have the disposable income, then its worth it.

Like the poster before me said, I plan on Stage 1 later down the road. Gonna put some miles on it first and for now, I'm fine with the power. I'm still almost always effortlessly pulling ahead of highway traffic and it has enough torque down low to dart around the laggers in city traffic. Its not like I get to open it up often enough in L.A. anyway. I've alreay been pulled over once for doing 65 in a 35 and was let off with a warning so at this point, Stage 1 etc will just get me into more trouble. But I also feel myself getting used to the power it has and wanting more sometimes, so I'll prob do Stage 1 when I hit 30k or so. Like a 'part 2' to an already awesome car

Yeah, it just makes me uncomfortable to purchase and mod a "C" segment car to the point of brushing up to "D" segment entry level luxury car price segments.
Granted we may be talking CPO prices but still... :yikes:

But that's why there's different strokes for different folks, no? ;)
 
If your not responsible, dont mod. Just like why i advise some people to get a 600CC instead of the 1000CC's. Itll b a donor bike real quick.
 
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