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Crossroads - Opinions wanted

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big_nebrowski

Ready to race!
Location
Baltimore, MD
Hey all, I've been doing a lot of thinking about selling my GTI vs keeping it for the long haul. I'm basically at a crossroads now. The car has ~140k and desperately needs some new suspension/bushings to bring the fun factor back to what it used to be. My guess is it'll cost around $1000 to get everything back in order. However, I drive about 20k miles a year, so I have a feeling there will be a lot of big service items in my near future.

What are your thoughts? Keep it and drive it til it stops? Or sell it before I end up sinking money into a depreciating asset. I still love the car, and have no idea what i'd replace it with...

Sorry for the rant, just curious what everyone thinks.
 
zrickety

zrickety

The Fixer
Location
Unknown
Car(s)
VW GTI
$1000 to get the car up to spec is not bad. At 140k, it's already depreciated quite a bit. I would keep it and save up for the next car. The only big service would be DSG fluid or timing belt, and that is probably with a newer car too. I don't know what cars you're looking at, but to sell and buy another will be at least $10k.
 
Ich_Will

Ich_Will

Ready to race!
Location
Land of 10,000 lakes
Car(s)
'08 GTI
Just rolled over 145k yesterday and I still love my GTI. Any car that sees 20k a year will need money thrown at it. I do about 25k a year right now but my GTI has been pretty solid for a while. I'm only anticipating little things like cam followers, oil, tires...the usual stuff, and except for tires, all stuff I do myself. I've had 2 other cars I 'loved' but sold because I thought the miles were getting up there....should have kept both of them.

If your car is paid off, and assuming the replacement won't be, that $1000 will be a like 3 or 4 payments on the new one. That still leaves you with 8 or 9 months a year of no payments.

You have to do what makes you ultimately happy and I can try to sell you on the virtues of keeping the GTI. Go to a dealership and they will sell you on the virtues of trading it.
 
B

big_nebrowski

Ready to race!
Location
Baltimore, MD
You have to do what makes you ultimately happy and I can try to sell you on the virtues of keeping the GTI. Go to a dealership and they will sell you on the virtues of trading it.
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Amen brotha. Thanks for the responses! I'm pretty much feeling the same way you both are. The other big service coming my way is brakes all around. Still on the original pads/rotors in the front which is incredible. The obviously dsg.

Newer cars that pique my interest are all more than I would want to spend at this time (BMW 228, 335, audi a3). Otherwise I'd lean towards something like a cheap reliable mazda3 to rack up the miles with. So i think i need to wait for replacement cars I'd be happy with to drop in price lol.

Time to start looking up suspension diy guides.
 
SuperSkyline89

SuperSkyline89

Das Schiesse
Location
Earth
Car(s)
2008 CW GTI
The unfortunate truth about 99.99% of cars is that no matter what you do you can only lose money. Your GTI has already lost a ton of value so relative to when it was newer you're not losing anything by keeping it, aside from the cost of maintenance. A brand new car wouldn't be a good choice for that kind of mileage because it'll basically be worthless in a year or two. Won't be long until it also reaches the point your GTI is at. A used car would be a gamble, you can't fully know what's wrong with it whereas you know exactly what's wrong with your GTI and what it costs.

Personally if the GTI is good mechanically (engine, transmission, etc) and electrically I'd keep it. The stuff it needs replacing are universal to all cars so no matter what you own you'll have to pay for it at some point. It's cheaper in the long run to keep a car running as long as you can within reason.
 
B

big_nebrowski

Ready to race!
Location
Baltimore, MD
Car runs great mechanically. Finally got most of the weird fuel/pcv issues sorted out. Get's better gas mileage now and the engine runs more smoothly than it did at 40k miles. However, a couple of track days and the rough streets of Baltimore have done their best on the suspension bushings and strut mounts.

With regards to it not costing anything to keep, I am still paying depreciation and around $2500/yr in maintenance. Most sensible/boring thing to do would be swap it for a car of equal value ($7k? maybe?) with a much lower yearly maintenance cost. But then i'd probably lose my mind on my daily commute haha.

Thanks again everyone!
 
SuperSkyline89

SuperSkyline89

Das Schiesse
Location
Earth
Car(s)
2008 CW GTI
$2500/year in maintenance, that sounds way to high, is that normal?

I'm very aggressive about maintenance and I don't spend anywhere near that much. Looking back at my records, in 2013 I spent $1800 on maintenance. $1320 of that was the timing belt, OEM HIDs, and rust proofing. In 2014 I spent $1000 but $250 of that was early maintenance before a track day. That's all in Canadian dollars too so those numbers are higher than the equivalent work in the States would cost.
 
B

big_nebrowski

Ready to race!
Location
Baltimore, MD
I track my maintenance religiously in a spreadsheet. You'd be surprised how quickly all this adds up, especially when you are putting this many miles on a car. Tires, oil changes, etc add up.

 
Das Gespenst

Das Gespenst

Go Kart Champion
Location
Glen Ellyn
I knew I planned on keeping this car till the day I die and then hopefully my kids will get it and do the same. But what I did may be your answer, the GTI is not my daily anymore, it's my fun weekend/track car. Refresh it for now and put money away as if you were making a car payment and in a year go out and buy a second car that is economical. That way when your going crazy on your daily commute you can come home and jump in the GTI and go have fun. It keeps the miles off it but let's you enjoy it when the time comes. Just my $.02, but I would hold on to it. At this point what you would get for it in trade in doesn't make getting rid of it worth it.
 
B

big_nebrowski

Ready to race!
Location
Baltimore, MD
I knew I planned on keeping this car till the day I die and then hopefully my kids will get it and do the same. But what I did may be your answer, the GTI is not my daily anymore, it's my fun weekend/track car. Refresh it for now and put money away as if you were making a car payment and in a year go out and buy a second car that is economical. That way when your going crazy on your daily commute you can come home and jump in the GTI and go have fun. It keeps the miles off it but let's you enjoy it when the time comes. Just my $.02, but I would hold on to it. At this point what you would get for it in trade in doesn't make getting rid of it worth it.
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Great advice, thanks! I've been thinking about driving my wifes 02 accord beater more often to keep the miles off my car. Her commute is much shorter than mine. Biggest problem right now in my life, is I only have street parking since I live in the city. But in a year or so, I will hopefully have offstreet parking and room for fun toys & boring commuters.
 
golfballer78

golfballer78

Ready to race!
Location
southbay CA.
Car(s)
08' R32 dsg
yep, my GLI loan is almost paid off, totally keeping it, already sold my salvaged mk3 GTI VR6 that was track set-up. but I'm at 170k now and seems to be ok, chipped even. if i have serious issues with this motor down the road, wonder how big a deal it is to swap the TSI with ecu into it? i assume wiring is alittle different?
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
golfballer78 said:
yep, my GLI loan is almost paid off, totally keeping it, already sold my salvaged mk3 GTI VR6 that was track set-up. but I'm at 170k now and seems to be ok, chipped even. if i have serious issues with this motor down the road, wonder how big a deal it is to swap the TSI with ecu into it? i assume wiring is alittle different?
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More trouble than it's worth. You would need the wiring harness, fuse boxes, and ECM. Even then, you may never get it right.
 
G

GIACUser

Master Wallet Mechanic
Location
USA
Car(s)
MK 6 GolfR
Tolerating the downside....
At this point I would ask yourself if you "really" want to keep this particular car. While the car is still running well and you have gotten all the best miles out of it, perhaps selling it and getting a newer low mileage GTI will in the long run save you headaches. You are entering the zone of very expensive repairs and reliability issues. Having said that I am keeping my 2008 and am prepared to replace motors, trans, interior etc etc to keep the car fresh and fast. It is however, time consuming and not economical.
 
Das Gespenst

Das Gespenst

Go Kart Champion
Location
Glen Ellyn
GIACUser said:
Tolerating the downside....
At this point I would ask yourself if you "really" want to keep this particular car. While the car is still running well and you have gotten all the best miles out of it, perhaps selling it and getting a newer low mileage GTI will in the long run save you headaches. You are entering the zone of very expensive repairs and reliability issues. Having said that I am keeping my 2008 and am prepared to replace motors, trans, interior etc etc to keep the car fresh and fast. It is however, time consuming and not economical.
Click to expand...

One of the many reasons I love you. We are truly cut from the same cloth lol.
 
zrickety

zrickety

The Fixer
Location
Unknown
Car(s)
VW GTI
I would argue that keeping the car and making repairs is more economical than buying another car.
 
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