2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Edmunds.com

2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Long-Term Road Test - Wrap-Up

Our long-term test of the 2015 Volkswagen Golf GTI Autobahn is complete after one year and 20,600 miles.

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zman49

By my calculation, depreciation was 30% of MSRP. What am I missing?

desmolicious

Yup, my math also works it out to be 30.4 % depreciation which is way worse than 27%. Which is bad enough.

Debunker

I've got a 2015 with almost the same mileage. Your description pretty much coincides with my experience. It's a really nice car by almost any measure. I wonder whether the higher than expected depreciation might be due to the black eye VW got because of the diesel scandal. I guess it would give me pause if I were looking to buy one right now.

7driver

Waitasec. The wrap-up says you got the Performance Package but the introduction says you did not get it. which is it?

darthbimmer

I'm curious how the GTI stacked up against the Audi A3 in your editors' experiences. You spent a lot of time comparing the A3 against the CLA 250 as two entry-luxury cars, as I'm sure many shoppers will do. But some shoppers are also trying to decide whether an A3 offers enough better content and comfort over a GTI to justify spending an extra $3-5k for it.

jakek66

I'm 99.99% sure they didn't get the performance pack, doesn't have the correct badging (RED GTI letters). I also know it's not an Autobahn since it doesn't have a power drivers seat. It makes a big difference on what they are saying the depreciation is... An SE 4-Door w/out Lighting and Performance is like $27-28k out the door. Autobahn w/lighting and Performance is $31k after discount.

longtimelurker

Over to rewrite:

"For reference, our long-term and Mini Cooper depreciated 19 percent under similar circumstances." What this actually means, after some research, is that their 2014 MINI depreciated 35% and their 2011 Countryman depreciated 19%.

Of course, this is all based upon MSRP, since all three cars were provided by the mfg rather than purchased, and resale was calculated using the Edmunds TMV Calculator...not one of these cars was actually bought by anyone nor sold to anyone. Excuse my skepticism...

And yeah, this car does not have the PP.

ducky10

Loving my 2016 GTI S with performance pack (manual). Fast , fun and comfortable. Real world mpg is 28 to 40. Yes 40. And that's in the hilly northwest.

4wheelpilot

I've just looked into buying or leasing a 2016 GTI SE DSG w/PP, DCC and LED pkgs. Leasing #s given to me for 36 mo and 15k per year were 59% residual (41% depreciation) and a money factor equal to 4.2%. So VW gives this GTI a value of 18,290 after 3 years and 45,000 miles. The residual value is quite high in this case!

roadburner

The GTI is definitely the class of the field; that said, I'd have to go with a Golf R. I'm one and done with FWD cars; after 7.5 years with my mildly tweaked(300 hp) MS3, I'm ready for something that is actually fast.

ducky10

I get to compare my 16 GTI PERF PACK manual with my wife's 13 Golf R manual and find the cars surpringly similar to drive in a spirited manner on dry/ moist pavement. The R has the advantage on wet or snowy conditions. mark 7 Golf R is a better car by all accounts than the mark 6 per reviews and blogs. That said, our 13 R has the VAGCOM mod allowing full defeat of the the nannies. The 16 GTI PP pulls out of corners harder than the R perhaps because it is lighter. And the 16 GTI with PP HAS ZERO TORQUE STEER.

desmolicious

How come Edmunds editorial staff do not fix or address obvious errors in their articles that readers point out?