2008 Volkswagen GTI

Rating from Carbon

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

""For those poeple who complain on the power: Take it to the freeway or somewhere safe and PRESS on the pedal!!! then come back and talk to me! When utilized Turbo adds 1/3 of your listed HP which means that you can smoke a 2012 Porche Boxter with your GTI (first hand experience). I have 49k on the DSG transmission with no issues and the car flies. Change the oil on time. 5k for me (including transmission oil every 40k or less). You can fit anything and everything in the back. I brought home a Queen size bed (in pieces but still). Love the lights because when you hit the turbo people need to know you're coming! Not that the engine won't let them know!! The car is a perfect combination of fun and convinient. I am not planning on selling this baby ever. Hopefully will never have to.""

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Redster1

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		4 out of 5

"I've owned a number of VW Golf's and I keep going back to them. I'm partial to the GTI due to the performance and interior design, although a TDI would also be attractive. For the price you are driving a true high performance car, the car that repeatedly sets the standard for fun and looks. If you're fairly conservative and don't need rear airfoils and scoops, but want to lay low and out drive most sports cars, this is the car to own. I have always followed the VW manual for service and rarely had a problem. Most issues are covered by VW. Keep your eye on it and you should have few if any issues. Too many buy these cars and don't realize that cost of ownership is higher as it's a VW and these cars are far m ore complex that an econobox."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from 08 GTI

(5)
Comfort:		4 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		4 out of 5
Interior Design:		4 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I have owned two '08 GTI's. The first fell victim to a winter car accident. The second I purchased late last year. I love this car! I believe the manual transmission is a must! The driving experience is like no other. The handling is superb. If you drive smart and don't push the limits all the time you can achieve excellent fuel mileage. I have a family of four and there is plenty of room for us. Kids fit no problem and adult passengers always marvel at the unexpected headroom in the back seats. I do have the 4-door version. This car is my primary car and is great for the daily commute. I average 28-30mpg every day. It is also comfortable enough for any long drive. The '08 GTI is great on the straightaways, but I must say that the most fun is in finding a curvy stretch of open road!"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from CWC

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"This car begs you to kick it around a bit. Excellent handling, plenty of power,one of the nicest engines I've experienced. Six speed manual is very smooth."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Having fun

Rating from Pat

(3)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		3 out of 5
Reliability:		1 out of 5

"I owned this car for a year and a half now. I bought it with 22K on the odometer and it still had the remainder of the factory 4 year 50k warranty, plus I bought an extended warranty for an extra $650. At about 24k, the mechatronic unit in the transmission failed and had to be replaced. Took a week to get it back from the dealer. At about 35K miles, one HID headlamp blew. Covered under warranty, but it would have cost $170 for ONE BULB! Then I was getting a Service Engine light, which turned out to be some PCV valve thing or something. Now at 55k miles, the left rear wheel bearing has failed (was making a heck of a whining noise). So in a year and a half I've had the car in the shop to be repaired 4 times. The car I had before the GTI (Japanese) never needed any type of major service other than routine maintenance in 10 years. I sold it with 214k miles on the odometer and it still ran great. My last car with snow tires was actually better (even as a rear wheel drive) in the snow than the GTI with snow tires as well. I would spin quite a bit going up hills in the PA snow, whereas my old one would cruise right up. Other things I didn't like were the fact that it used full synthetic oil ($8/qt) and the paper oil filter is a pain to change. Does not just screw on and off like a normal one and the filter costs $28 from the dealer. It also uses Premium fuel only, which gets expensive when it only gets 28mpg highway, 24mpg in the city. The GTI is a fun car to drive, it looks great and it has nice interior features, especially the leather seats, but the reliability is just not there in VWs. Save yourself a lot of frustration and repair bills by buying something more reliable like a Japanese car. If you do buy a VW, buy an extended warranty with it and dump the car before the warranty runs out."

I would recommend this car to a friend: No

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Transporting family

Rating from redreen

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"5 stars in every category. I've owned it for 3 1/2 years and it still amazes me every time I climb in the cockpit."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Having fun

Rating from Levique

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"Just short and sweet: I'm getting over 30mpg in city, when driving nicely...and when I'm not so nice, I've got 200HP"

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Just getting around

Rating from Pat the Rat

(3)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Handling:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Features:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		5 out of 5
Reliability:		3 out of 5

"This car is great to drive. Looks super, and really performs, but it comes with a price. Know that you will be paying for premium gas, so compare the prices at the pump over regular before buying. Also, it takes a special synthetic oil which runs around $8/bottle for oil changes and a $16 filter at NAPA (dealer wants $28). Oil change is not very straightforward either. It's a paper filter that you have to drain the filter housing for before removing. Look up the procedure on a VW GTI forum before buying if you do your own oil changes. I had a xenon headlight bulb burn out and it costs $176 just for the bulb!!! Luckily it was covered under warranty. Speaking of which, I've had it in 3 times in the past 5 months that I've owned it for warranty work. The rear wiper/washer quit working, the tranny had a mechatronic unit replaced (google that) for rough shifting from a start, and the headlight. I normally get around 26-28 mpg on my commute to work and back (mostly highway), so mileage isn't as good as say a Mini Cooper for the same performance. It's probably a nicer car by far inside than the Cooper, though, and a lot roomier. 4 door model that I have seats 5 people comfortably. Seems bigger inside than it looks outside. Leather interior is great. Very nice on the highway to drive. The stock tires aren't very good in snow, so figure on getting an extra set of wheels (they say 16" are good) to put a set of 4 good snow tires on it. I gave it an overall rating of 3 stars because I don't think I'd want to own this car once it's out of warranty. I'm afraid any type of repair would be ridiculously expensive."

I would recommend this car to a friend: No

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from Pat the Rat

(4)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Handling:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Features:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		3 out of 5

"I recently purchased a 2008 VW GTI with about 21k on the odometer. It's pretty much loaded except for the nav system, which I think is a waste of money anyway when you can get a portable one for $150. Anyway, I decided to hold out for the leather interior, which meant getting the Autobahn package, giving me the electronic sunroof, heated seats, and premium sound system. I also wanted a 4 door with the DSG tranny since my 2 sons and my wife would probably drive it sometimes and they don't like to drive a stick. Thanks to Cars.com, I located one that was about an hour away, but luckily the dealer had a sister dealership locally and they shipped the car up for me to look at. It was perfect for what I was looking for. When I bought it, the dealership gave me a 3 yr bumper to bumper GM warranty for what it cost the dealer, so it was kinda like getting a new car for much less than the original sticker price. The car has tons of little things that are well thought-out that make driving it much nicer than other hatchbacks. Things like steering wheel controls for stereo and a computer display that gives you a running idea of what your gas mileage is. I normally get around 27.5 mpg in my daily commute of 56 miles round trip to work. It has heated outside mirrors and heated washer nozzles. It has turn signals on the outside mirrors. Hitting the turn signal lever briefly to change lanes makes it blink 3 times without holding the lever. The stereo is outstanding. The back seats fold down, although not flat or you can just fold one of the 60/40 seats down, or there is a pass thru where the arm rest is to carry long things like skis without putting the seats down. The back seats have plenty of room, too. Probably more so than the two door model. My only complaints - the DSG tranny seems to have a bad mechatronic unit, which causes it to jerk into gear from a dead stop at times. But this will supposedly be covered under the car's original factory warranty and VW has increased the warranty on these transmissions till 10 years/100k miles, so that's a good thing! I also had trouble with the rear windshield washer not working during that past month of winter. Took it to the dealer and they said it needs a new nozzle, but the next day it started working again on its own. Not sure why yet and they never called me back to replace the nozzle they had on order either. Okay, my other problem with the car is gas and maintenance, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars for everything. It takes premium gas only, which is a lot more expensive, oil changes must use synthetic oil and a special VW oil filter and the process is kind of ridiculous for the do-it-yourselfer like me. Luckily there are GTI websites online that show you how to do it. Also, they recommend changing the tranny fluid every 20k miles. I'll get this done for free when I get my mechatronic unit replaced, but the 40k service is said to cost anywhere from $500-$700! That would include new plugs and wires, a brake fluid flush, tranny oil change, and maybe some other stuff too. Not cheap to upkeep. Also, the tires that come with it are not very good in snow. I'll have to find an extra set of rims and get real snow tires for the winters in PA. Overall, though, I really like driving the car. It takes off like a shot when the turbo kicks in and I don't even bother with the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. It does a better job than I could. Very comfortable and I feel like I got a lot of car for the money."

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: Used

Primary use for this car: Commuting

Rating from mswizenheimer

(5)
Comfort:		5 out of 5
Performance:		5 out of 5
Handling:		5 out of 5
Exterior Styling:		5 out of 5
Interior Design:		5 out of 5
Features:		5 out of 5
Value for the Money:		4 out of 5
Reliability:		5 out of 5

"I've owned 7 VWs over a period of 30 years, including 3 GTIs. After driving a '99 Jetta for a few years, I'd have taken a bet from anyone that I was through forever with VW -- and have lost, happily! I didn't think VW could improve on the '83-'84 GTI, but they have -- by far. In short, my little Spike is a joy to drive. In spite of its size I feel safe -- its quick handling, speedy acceleration and great braking don't get in the way of what so far (4000 miles) has been good gas mileage (28-30 mpg, combining freeway and city). It's everything my original two were, and so much more. Love the satellite radio, and it's perfect for a petite woman like myself who enjoys a "sports car"without sacrificing comfort. A bit snug for folks getting into the back seats, but I didn't get it to haul people, and when the back seats are down I have plenty of room to take camping equipment, etc. Spike is my new "first love!""

I would recommend this car to a friend: Yes

This vehicle was purchased: New

Primary use for this car: Commuting