New daily - VW content 3.0

DanJ

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May 25, 2007
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Sooo I have been toying with the idea of buying a MK7 GTI for awhile now but never really looked into it. I got my CPO MK6 GTI in February of 2014 and initially loved it. As time went on and whatever snake oil they rubbed on the car wore off I quickly realized the whole car pretty much had a half assed re spray job. The clear was too thin in multiple spots and it started peeling below the passenger side tail light. I'm also almost 100% certain Autobarn in Mt prospect swapped different wheels and seats on the car between my test drive and delivery as they were a little haggard as well. They also broke some of the bumper mounting tabs when they replaced the starter under warranty and epoxied it on in one corner.

Recently I had been getting a "check oil, engine off, check owners manual" alarm blaring at me almost every time I drove yet it wasn't storing a code and wouldn't do it for the dealership while their scan tool was connected. Being 3,000 miles out of warranty this made me nervous that the motor would blow and I'd be up shit creek without a paddle.

I went poking around my works perk spot page and saw they offered a new car buying experience powered by true car. I submitted my info and saw that Pugi was offering a certificate for $5,500 off a MK7 GTI SE without performance pack, and Bill Jacobs had $2,900 under MSRP on everything. I was taking my MK6 to Bill Jacobs last Friday anyways so I looked at their inventory. My must haves were SE trim (leather, panoramic sunroof) and performance pack (13.4" front rotors, 12.2" rears; electronically controlled limited slip diff, and an extra 10hp). They had a 2016 White 4 door manual autobahn edition with Performance pack and bi xenon lighting package listed for $6,100 under MSRP. The Autobahn package has everything the SE does with 12 way power driver seat, dual zone climate control and nav. I really didn't want any of those options but the numbers were right.

Long babbling story short, they claimed the price was a mistake, offered me $2900 under MSRP per the true car agreement, I politely sat and said no thanks for about 4 hours and eventually got the "mistake" price and a price on my trade that I consider way higher than it was actually worth. The over 100 spots of hail damage never came up in negotiations, and since they never washed it I'm not sure they noticed.

I've only put 40 some miles on the car so far but it's a blast. I can feel the 20hp difference and it makes a lot more turbo noise than the MK6 did. The Apple Car Play and other tech is a bit overwhelming but I'm slowly figuring it out. My spare tire in the hatch has a subwoofer in it so that's fun. Plans for now are to put my short shifter, weighted knob and summer wheels and tires from the MK6 on, 30% tint, and then in a little bit a VWR R600 intake and APR stage 1 tune on that should make around 290 at the wheels. A shop in Ohio went 12.87 on just a tune and tire with a six speed car so that should be plenty for a daily. The head of service was surprisingly cool about honoring warranty on a stage 1 tuned car. They said they wouldn't/couldn't deny warranty work on a stage 1 car since it's a VW endorsed tune installed by a VW dealer. Compared to the MK6 the car is much more refined, almost to a fault. It's so smooth I can't really feel the clutch start to grab. I have a BFI stage 1 poly torque arm insert in the mail to hopefully alleviate that.

Better pics by the weekend. I've only had it 2 days and got sprayed by a skunk on my way home from work yesterday. I thought something was burning but after rubbing one of the spots off the side with spit it's definitely skunk ass spray.

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GLIGTO

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Jun 3, 2012
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Nice deal! Surprised you did so well at Bill Jacobs, tho, to be honest. Let's just say my experience with them was pretty much atrocious. Anyways, excited to see how it runs with the tune but do you know if they need a clutch with a stage 1 reflash? I know that was a bit of a problem with the Mk6 which is why I ended up with a Mustang lol.
 

DanJ

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May 25, 2007
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Nice deal! Surprised you did so well at Bill Jacobs, tho, to be honest. Let's just say my experience with them was pretty much atrocious. Anyways, excited to see how it runs with the tune but do you know if they need a clutch with a stage 1 reflash? I know that was a bit of a problem with the Mk6 which is why I ended up with a Mustang lol.

Not sure on the clutch, need to do more research on that. I know th stage 2 mk6 needed a clutch for sure. From appearances I had the least douchey sales guy in the place so that was nice. I think them listing the price that low helped.
 

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