Is the 2019 GTI still the BEST EVERYDAY HOT HATCH?! 

I'm in my 40's and no way my teenager is driving mine.

I have a teenage daughter who'll be driving next year. The major reason I replaced my 2013 GTI with a 2018 version last summer was the wealth of convenience and safety features that I wanted when she gets to drive it. We're now engaged in serious negotiations regarding the grade point average she will have to maintain to get the key fob.

@@shipmate3577 We bought our two daughters used cars when they turned sixteen so they would not drive ours, a BMW 320i and a Jetta.

Learn Brazilian jui Jitsu and you will be able to drive it all the time..

@@stephenhendricks103 Brave lad!

Ya, lol. I'm 40 and going to get one soon. It is a strange car with features that appeal to all age groups.

I just bought one of these ‘things’ and am 76…….

I prefer the older VAG cars myself and the early 2000 cars are easier to fix than the current cars, plus they are much more basic, which is a good thing. I just sold my 84 Audi with over 300k on it and that thing was super basic and easy to fix. I dont miss it yet, I had that car for 11 years and really just got tired of it.

Psychopath ِI just picked one up today. Have you had any issues?

Jason Abadie until now, not a single issue. You'll feel the car bogging when your car downshifts so early, that'll happen when the weather is 39°/102°F and higher.

Do you use regular 87 octane or premium grade fuel? Are you having any issues so far? Like stalling or anything else? Which trim level did you buy? And what did you compare it to before choosing this?

@@t.k.morris I used Premium until 1000 miles and switched to regular for the last two fillups, haven't really seen a difference in mileage or performance. I just got the S, I didnt want leather.

T.K. Morris I use 95 ron which is the least I can run on my car. I have sensors issue which is super annoying, not a single thing around me yet it beeps. I bought the SE trim (Alcantara, Blindspot, Sunroof and 9.2 inch screen) I honestly compared it to other AWD cars like Subaru wrx sti and the Arteon R-line since I hated fwd drivetrain but then the GTI was the only one in my budget list so then bought it and I loved it ever since.

To some, it does matter because there’s this thing called a race track.

To others doesn`t matter, because we live in Germany, where there are not speed limits :)

Still running okay?

what’re the odds you still got it ?

What did you order that it is going to take so long? I'm genuinely curious, because I test drove one yesterday and my dealer said they could get any color/trim/package for me within a week... (assuming they aren't completely full of it). I'm in Dallas Texas FYI.

how does the R engine work with FWD?

NeloDiavolo which tires did you get Kind Sir?

What do you think of the new gli?

It’s growing on me. I’m still not sure if I like the new body style compared to my 2013 Autobahn, but it looks nice. I can’t wait to see one in person.

Auto climate on all in Canada.

Auto climate is worse than the simple regular climate

@@jasonschwartz8507 I do like the air conditioning in my 1995 Toyota Tacoma 2.4 litre better than the auto climate in my 2016 GTI (apart from it's near perfect)

*Very **_ordinary looking_** car, have a job to get anywhere near excited with it, dated technology - the future is **_Electric or PLUG IN HYBRID._** I would not buy one, not worth a 'carrot' in 10 Years.* *Note the UK has a commitment that by 2040 all sales of ALL ICE Vehicles will be banned, how this works out we will see.*

@@GrrMeister Our new one is a lot of fun to drive, like an "anti Prius" In 10 years we will have this one and the next generation which will likely be a hybrid. Fun to drive and decent fuel economy are what motivates us in choosing vehicles. We seem to be getting 41 mpg on the highway.

Would not agree with you. I was excited too until I actually bought the car. Cheaply made, hood has no sound proof material as these cars used to have, all kinds of noises, wind noise is really bad, blown fuses, etc. Too many issues for a brand new car. DSG is laggy, comparing to the Audi A4 2017. Love transmission on A4, assumed that GTI would be the same- sadly no. To be fair, A3 transmission is the same as GTI. It is a nice car, drives OK, but not as great as 2010 GTI I used to drive and that was the reason I went for GTI again.

@@russella5296 How long have you had the car?

@@davesearle2766 since Dec 2018, it has just reached over 5k km (approx 3000 miles). The other reason I went for VW, as I never had any issues with VW's.

@@russella5296 Hopefully things will sort themselves out, I have had only a heater issue with my 2016 which has 14,000k on it (we have 4 cars). I bought a new Audi 4000 in 1982, five cylinder 5 speed. The thing just about put me in the nut house, everything went wrong so I traded it on a brand new Silverado pickup which was even worse. A year or two along I saw the car with the new owners and they said it was a great car and they had no issues.....

GrrMeister I tend to agree but we don’t get the GTE in N America. As it is the R is amazing and will be my next.

super wiseman have you had any issues?

@@jasonabadie3340 I am at about 1400 miles and have zero issues. If you like the GTI, I would buy it knowing that there is a 6 year bumper to bumper. Also, word on the street is that Volkswagen is outright buying back the 100-200 stalling cars. So I wouldn't worry, IMO...

super wiseman I bought one yesterday, I got the DSG though. Yeah I wasn’t concerned saying the warranty is so long.

@@jasonabadie3340 Congrats. Its a fantastic car, especially for the money. I just finished replacing all the OEM speakers with Focal 165AS and 165AC, with a pioneer GM-D9705 in the back under the hatch cover. On top of the hatch I put a 10" kicker sub. Sounds amazing. It was a pretty tricky job getting all the wires run, and the panels can be tricky getting off. I don't recommend doing it yourself unless you know what you are doing.

@@jasonabadie3340 PS I have the 7 speed DSG too. It's a great transmission, and sure at times I'd rather have the manual, but most of the time, especially in traffic, I definitely don't want to be shifting. Also, the paddles work great on the wheel for dropping gears when needed. Also, you can try pulling backwards on the shifter when in Drive mode and it will switch to S mode very quickly. Do it again to go back into Drive. It's really handy. Curious - what kind of mileage are you getting? First tank was only around 22, but slowing getting up to 23 or so. Is suspect is will get better with more break in. Speaking of which, I took it to the VW dealer to do an early oil change - definitely a good idea if you want to keep it for a long time.

2019 GTI and the 2019 Audi A3/S3 all get the new 7 speed DSG transmission in place of the old 6 speed unit.

Our new GLI 6 speed doesn't feel as fast as my 2016 GTI base 6 speed but the speedometer says different....

Toyota's are boring and reliable but the thing is someone like Scotty Kilmer loves to tell you Toyota's are the only cars that are reliable. Vw isn't unreliable for example just not as reliable as Toyota a lot of mechanics like working on Gti's and they will 200k miles without major issieus in most cases i'd say 150K is guaranteed if you find that enough don't even consider a Toyota cause this is better in every way except reliability

@@timmiekat6072 I would add that with GTIs you need to stick with the maintenance service listed in the manual. Change those fluids on time and keep the car stock...tunes are great but they rapidly decrease the life of the car.

Veloster is so much different from your GTI with the "boy racer" look.

Same here 😂

But it’s just the reliability I’m iffy on with the Volkswagen

If there are any better cars in a similar price range, please tell me what they might be. Seriously so I can consider buying one but it has to be under $40k

Exploding headgaskets are not worth the extra bit of power.

@Lukas Gröndahl If you're in North America you can't buy one anymore.

Unstable in the corners doesn't equal more fun.

what did I make a typo or something? Yes unstable.

Clearly I have, and also a golf. That's how I know it's an unstable car by comparison.

wildwest1 it’s 2019 mate ain’t nobody got time for manual. Plus the new dsg and too gooodddd

Joshua Penny Yes, I had a 2011 with a DSG, it was fun.

@Joseph McAuley The take rate for the DSG version of the GTI is about 50%.

@@joshuapenny6053 automatic cars are so boring

you cannot change the color

Allen Moon I don’t think they are the same. The material on the 2019 R looks very different than previous years (appears to be perforated as well, think next year will finally get ventilated seats on the R). Pretty sure the seats on the R are more “upscale”. For the price point, they should be. I also have back and knee problems so it’s something I’m conscious of as well.

I, too, have a 2018 Autobahn with the 6 speed DSG. I read/seen a few complaints about the new transmission (as I suspect you have), mainly in terms of "hunting" for the appropriate gear in some particular combinations of a gear change and throttle position. That's not unusual with new transmissions as the number of gears continues to grow year after year. Most manufacturers apparently rely on consumers to "beta test" their new transmissions. And since transmission behavior can be modified via a software change in the ECU, I wouldn't be surprised to see some minor modifications here and there, likely without a formal announcement by VW. It's also worth noting that like the delightfully "turnable" VW engine, the transmission behavior can be electronically tuned, as well if you want to change the transmission's behavior, (See APR products.) Frankly, I think the change was a case of VW "keeping up with the Joneses" ,an effort to improve fuel economy (very slightly) with a 7th gear, and simplifying production issues by sharing the DCT with Audi. The VW DSG is the gold standard of dual clutch "automated manual" transmissions and I don't think there was a crying need for the additional gear. And for me, it isn't an advantage in any event since I often drive my GTI in manual mode and the additional gear simply adds unnecessary complication to selection of an appropriate gear.

How much are you spending on insurance?

#maintenance

That's one of its primary strengths. Consider that a GTI is designed and built to be driven safely and securely at well over 100 mph for extended stretches on the Autobahn. The Mazda3 is a good car but it faces no such challenges. Ask yourself which is likely to be a better "everyday car on highways".

Both great cars, GTI is comfortable at speed all day.

@@stephenhendricks103 cheers man

@@davesearle2766 thanks buddy

@@iamnotinarush If you have or can find the November 2016 issue of "Car and Driver" they have a review of their long term (40,000 mile) test of the GTI Mk7 and it is pretty good reading if one considers how rough these press/test cars get treated. Zero repairs except a bad wheel bearing which was repaired under warranty. I believe that in the states you get a 7 year, 72,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty, we only get 4 in Canada......