Might get rid of GTI

[ImAuthenticFTW]

So lately in my goal of paying off all my debt and trying to save up for a house ive been thinking of ways to cut down on cost and save money. One way that has been considered is to downgrade vehicles.

While i love my GTI and all it has, do i REALLY need heated leather seats and all the stuff it has? No not really, not at this point in my life.

I took a look at the Jeep Wranglers the other day and after crunching some numbers i could save 100-150 off my car payment if i do this.

Yes i know i'll be losing gas mileage by going to the Jeep, but they're not as bad as they once were. A close friend of mine is averaging 22mpgs and takes a very similar trip to and from work that i do. Not to mention i could go back to filling up with regular instead of premium. It'll also get me out of the "try to go fast in my car" scene thats around here.

The wrangler is a vehicle i've wanted since i was a kid and resale value is damn good on these.

Now i know i'll probably get some biased opinions here in a Mk6 forum, but what would you do in my situation?

 

[Gunkata]

your monthly payment savings will either be almost or completely offset by the mpg difference.

 

[ImAuthenticFTW]

your monthly payment savings will either be almost or completely offset by the mpg difference.

I'm only losing ~5mpg as I've only ever averaged 25-27 in the gti for some reason even though the dealer said everything is fine. I averaged in the 30s once or twice hypermiling a bit.

With price difference between regular and premium here it would only be $9 more to fill a tank from empty over the same mileage roughly.

 

[Brinkmen]

If you AT ALL like the GTI for the performance and MPG combo it presents, then you will absolutely HATE any Jeep. Why not get an older VW? Like a 04.5 GLI or something? Thats what I did when I wanted to reduce dept. I loved my GLI, but finances got better and I wanted a car my wife could easily drive but was still fun for me (DSG).

 

[Gunkata]

how many miles a week you drive?

 

[Tk_mkv1]

i personally wouldnt use a wrangler as my only car because of mpgs unless i have a very short commute about 4 miles roundtrip. id be so used to the gti when it comes to turning that i could easily roll the wrangler over. i would either just keep the car and probably sell some parts if modded to get $, or pull the wrangler plunge

 

[FlyByGti1]

your monthly payment savings will either be almost or completely offset by the mpg difference.

This.

What is your commute??

Are you in a situation where you need to haul stuff around all the time or have a bunch of kids that you need to cart around??

Not being biased in this, but also think of the money you invested in your car. I considered the sell route too to save some money, but unless you plan on selling it privately and can get a great deal, it really doesn't seem like it will be worth it in the end.

As for filling with premium, I crunched numbers on that a couple months ago. Honestly the difference is a couple dollars. 93 shoudl be about 50c more than regular so at 14 gallons it's an extra 7 dollars, but with 8 - 12 less mpg and a tank that is far larger than 14.5 gallons you'll probably wind up spending quite a bit more.

 

[Brinkmen]

Oh and you'll get like 14-15mpg around town if your LUCKY in a Jeep Wrangler. Note: http://www.fuelly.com/car/jeep/wrangler

If you want one of those, get it because you want to go off road a lot.

 

[SwiftGTI]

If you're serious about paying off your debt and saving for a house, don't waste time with a Wrangler. Sell your car and buy a Honda Fit (used or new even). Cheaper car payment, cheaper insurance, better fuel economy, 87 octane, better reliability, cheaper maintenance/upkeep, practical, etc.

 

[ImAuthenticFTW]

No kids and on average 30mile a day total. However due to my job I already have to occasionally borrow my dads truck for the 4wd to report to work which is a pain in the ass sometimes.

 

[troyguitar]

If you need AWD get a 10 year old Subaru for like $5k and pocket the $20k or so you get out of your car + mods. That is most of a down payment on a house right there.

 

[FlyByGti1]

No kids and on average 30mile a day total. However due to my job I already have to occasionally borrow my dads truck for the 4wd to report to work which is a pain in the ass sometimes.

If you don't have a bunch of kids why not look into a smaller SUV then. Used rav4 or something along that line perhaps. If you can swing it, and it's going to be just a beater why not just buy an old one cash (may hit your savings a bit now) but then you can have the car you need. If AWD is all you need, maybe trade in and get a used Golf R. Payments might not go down, but you would have the AWD that you need at that point without completely sacrificing fun and MPGs

 

[ImAuthenticFTW]

If you don't have a bunch of kids why not look into a smaller SUV then. Used rav4 or something along that line perhaps. If you can swing it, and it's going to be just a beater why not just buy an old one cash (may hit your savings a bit now) but then you can have the car you need. If AWD is all you need, maybe trade in and get a used Golf R. Payments might not go down, but you would have the AWD that you need at that point without completely sacrificing fun and MPGs

The wrangler is considered a compact suv already lol. And its not just the 4wd I also need the ground clearance as i have to go off road to get to jobs sometimes.

 

[iPanir123]

how much left do you owe on your GTI?

 

[2013R]

Wrangler you say?

I always want the softtop. But common sense always has me get the removable hard top. Freeway noise, etc.