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...