2007 Volkswagen GTI consumer reviews

I have automatic & its the fasting shifting ever. It drives smooth with great handling. There is a lot of zip & power. Its a perfect size car with plenty of room.

Great high speed handling and quick , strong,refined 2.0 performance..flexible DSG Trans. Race the thing or just relax. 23,000 miles with no xxxxxxbut lots of compliments.

My wife and I love our new Black Magic GTI "fun jet"! It is loaded with everything (package 2) , DSG transmission, 18" wheels, sun roof, etc. I love the blue and red dash lights at night. Seats are very comfortable. This car is so much fun to drive if you are a spirited driver. I am over 40 yrs old and over 6'5" tall so I got the 2-door model for easier access. I have ample leg room and head room. The wheels and suspension keep the car very tight in cornering but might be a little stiff for soft luxury riders on uneven pavement. The 200 HP turbo responds very well with very little lag from a standstill and extremely well from there. This motor performs very well in our high altitude air. Paddle shift in the passing lane and enjoy the launch! The transmission glides into gear with very smooth crisp shifts. Exhaust sound is just right. It's quite a techy car!

Pros: Amazing interior, solid feel, great room for passengers, peppy direct injection 2.0L, smooth 6MT, performance when you want it, great fuel economy when you want it, plaid seats. Cons: Stereo could be better, Euro springs should have been fitted standard, climate control and heated seats bundled w/ leather interior. This car is simply an amazing daily driver. The car has a split personality. The 2.0L pulls from way down at 1800 rpm added to the tall 6th gear means that you get excellent gas mileage. Twisty roads beg you to drop a gear and mash on the accelorator. I regularly see 30mpg + in mixed driving but the car still pulls like a freight train for highway passes and interstate onramps. The standard interior w/ the plaid seats is the most attractive interior you can buy for under $30k. The seats themselves hug the driver and live up to the Recaro seats found in the MKII GTI/GLI. All the interior materials are top notch. The small, flat bottom steering wheels has amazing feel w/ a quick ratio. The extra small features (Multi-function display, for example) really separate the GTI as value/$ from competitors such as the Subaru WRX. In the end, it was the little extras that turned this Subaru diehard to the dark side. The 18" BBS made wheels ride great and the stock all-season rubber (if equipped instead of summer rubber) are very high quality. The bright red disk brakes feel and look great. They react perfectly to driver input. The factory aero kit really makes the car stand out without being obnoxious. The car gives up a little performance to some of the competition (WRX, MS3), but the great interior design, practical hatchback, and unparalleled economy make it a great choice for those who want a true jack of all trades. If all out performance is your requirement, I'd look elsewhere. If you want a car that is fun to drive through the twisties or on a 6 hr roadtrip, the GTI will not let you down. You get entry luxury car amenities and hot hatch performance for a great price. *note: reliability was set at 3 stars because I only have 2800 miles. No issues to date.

Go fast, look good, save gas. All in one? sign me up. There not that many cars as solid as the GTI MK5 for this price. Interior and exterior. Buy one and enjoy it.

I have owned a lot of Japanese branded cars. Most of them made in the U.S. I have also longed for the return of the Hot Hatch to these shores. Buying SUV's and 'Crossovers' to fill my appetite. This is by far the BEST car I have owned. Little details like rubber or felt lined compartments to limit rattle, and a headlight washer system that is really cool just put it over the top. I have the 4 door, so entry/exit is not a problem. The DSG automatic is nothing short of amazing. The car can adapt any number of personalities depending on the driver. The quality construction makes it feels like a bigger and heavier car, but you will know you are driving a true performance machine when you zooming in and out of 'non fast' traffic. Don't second guess. Get this car!

I saw the new GTI at the LA Auto Show and was really impressed. After test driving several cars at various dealerships I bought a 5-Door 2007 GTI loaded with every available option. This car is so much fun to drive that I hardly drive my BMW 530i anymore. The interior is great and has a level of quality pretty close to my BMW. My only issue is that you can't get power seats, you have to settle for the manual adjustments which are actually pretty easy to use and have a lot of adjustability. The leather seats are first rate with tons of side bolster support. These seats hold you firmly in place as you fly around curves. The audio system is pretty decent, it's only lacking a little in low-end punch. The NAV system is extremely easy to use and very intuitive, I never looked at the manual. I was able to easily figure out all the features. The only annoying thing about the NAV system is the legal discalimer on the screen that you have to accept every time you start the car. The 2.0L turbo FSI engine with DSG is an awesome combination. The low-end grunt of this engine is pretty astounding, once the tach hits two grand the motor pulls like a freight train. The car is still in the break-in period so I haven't gone above 4000 RPM, but even up to to level the car is fast. Scary fast if you're not careful. The paddle shifters are really cool and it is amazing how fast and imperceptibly the shifts are executed by the DSG. Handling is excellent but the ride is on the stiff side. Make sure the tires are properly inflated, when I brought the car home from the dealer a check of the tire pressure revealed they were all 10 PSI over the recommended max value. Once I got them to the right value the ride was acceptable. My final comment is this car has a level of features and technology only available on cars costing thousands more. It is a great value for the money and will leave you smiling every time you drive this hot hatch.

This car is very fun to drive. I love the fact that there is power all over the RPM range, it just takes off whatever gear you're in. It makes going through tedious traffic fun. It looks great too, inside and out. I've recieved a lot of compliments on the way the car looks and rides. It is incredibly smooth. There are some issues though that a new buyer should be aware of. If you opt for the ipod adapter, the display will only show "Track 1, Track 2... ". It will also show your playlists as CD1 CD2... It gets incredibly tedious if you have more than 5 playlists and hundreds of songs. Searching for songs is very hard too, because the counter only goes up to 99, so you have to keep track of each hundred songs in order to get to the one you want. If you live in colder weather, the optional 18" wheels are not a good investment because you will have to opt for another set of winter tires. The 17" all seasons are a much better bet and much cheaper too. In the GTi, when a light is on, that means that something is turned off. Very counter-intuative. Yet not all lights that turn on mean that they are off, it actually means that it is on. I received my GTi with a scratch on the radio and dash and a scratch on the door. There was also left over glue on the ceiling where the sunroof is. Shows poor workmanship. There is this very irritating buzzing sound inside the cabin of the car which comes and goes. But it happens rarely. Bass on the radio seems to jump to the max and distort anything I am listening to, this happens at random intervals at random lengths of time. Finally, one LED light in the center console does not turn on, it never has. All the problems above (with the exception of the scratches and light) were not fixed by the dealership because I need to prove that it is happening. So I have a camera in my car waiting to record these problems. Great customer service. The LED light has no part number and hence it's been 1 month since I've had my car and still no light. Owning this car is a love/hate relationship. I now have to say that I didn't buy a VW for the reliability, I bought it because it is a riot to drive. Therefore I won't own it for more than 2 years.

This is one of the most practical, versatile, spacious, peppy and FUN small cars I've ever owned. I had two MINI Cooper S's before going to the GTI, and there's no comparison. The MINI may be cute, but the GTI has so much more power, interior room, and safety features, and for about the same price. There's room for 3 adults in the back (or 2 adults and my dog in a car seat on the middle armrest!). Fit and finish are top-notch. The auto DSG is the way to go. Nav system is great. Leather seats are more comfortable than the cloth. Wish the moonroof were bigger. The turbo engine is very peppy. Car is great on road trips:comfortable, and much safer than the MINI. VW has done it right with this GTI.