Just picked up a 2011 VW Golf, 2.5l.

[jigen]

I just made a crazy impulse decision on Tuesday morning and went ahead and traded in my 2011 Nissan Versa for a 2011 Golf. I had a originally had a 2002 Z28 6-speed. Loved that car to death but considering 85% of my driving consisted of work, errands, and daycare it just wasn't making sense.

I did a complete 180 and bought the Versa. Roomy, good on gas, but just not that enjoyable to drive. It wasn't bad but I needed something that was fun to drive around town, even if it was just for taking my daughter to daycare.

Either way my Versa trade was way better than I thought, 200 less than what I paid for it out the door. I only had the car for 7 months and it had 6k on it.

Looking forward to changing the oil on the new car! I am already thinking about it, it has 78 miles on it lol. VW gives you free maintenance for 3 years now, but with VW's 10k/12 month oil change interval I'll probably change it once myself at 6 months and have them do it at 12.

Still unsure about what oil to use, M1 0w-40 seems like the best bang for the buck.

Pics couldve been better, took them with my iphone.

 

[Eddie]

Is a 40w the recomended oil weight for thsi engine? I'd stick with what the Manuf recomendes

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: jigen
I did a complete 180 and bought the Versa. Roomy, good on gas, but just not that enjoyable to drive. It wasn't bad but I needed something that was fun to drive around town, even if it was just for taking my daughter to daycare.

Hehe... been there, done that.

But I'm surprised you did not go for the 4-door version, considering car seat ease of access.

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: Eddie
Is a 40w the recomended oil weight for thsi engine? I'd stick with what the Manuf recomendes


Comes with 5w-40 as factory fill. 5w-40, 0w-40, or 5w-30 all recommended as long as it has the VW oil spec.

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: jigen
I did a complete 180 and bought the Versa. Roomy, good on gas, but just not that enjoyable to drive. It wasn't bad but I needed something that was fun to drive around town, even if it was just for taking my daughter to daycare.

Hehe... been there, done that.

But I'm surprised you did not go for the 4-door version, considering car seat ease of access.


I know.... So far so good but I hope I don't regret it too much down the road. It was the only manual on the lot and the color I wanted so I did it. Yikes!

 

[beast3300]

Very nice car, but you may want to blurt out the plate in the one picture.

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: beast3300
Very nice car, but you may want to blurt out the plate in the one picture.


Whoops! Thanks I had that blurred, picked the wrong pic. lol thanks.

 

[needsducktape]

I didn't think the Versa was that awful to drive- Typical Asian practical -but not a total snooze.

I'm surprised you didn't take a bigger loss on the trade in- Everyone says the drop off is within the first 2 years?!!

Have fun in the new VW you made the right decision going with manual tranny -there is no substitute.

By the way, a few years ago when I was shopping for a BMW I met an automotive engineer. He used to endurance test individual parts, shocks -bushings etc etc. His personal BMW would get an oil change at the half way point of the recommended 15,000. So you would likely be in good shape if you were to change at the halfway point as well.

I was actually kind of [censored] VW did away with the 50K warranty and went to the "Free maintenance" for 36K / 3 years- That translates to 14,000 miles less of warranty in exchange for 3 oil changes.
But its all in marketing I guess...

 

[jigen]

Originally Posted By: needsducktape
I didn't think the Versa was that awful to drive- Typical Asian practical -but not a total snooze.

I'm surprised you didn't take a bigger loss on the trade in- Everyone says the drop off is within the first 2 years?!!

Have fun in the new VW you made the right decision going with manual tranny -there is no substitute.


That's the only reason I made the decision. People were telling me the tsunami in Japan is pushing some Japanese trades since production is behind.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: jigen
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: jigen
I did a complete 180 and bought the Versa. Roomy, good on gas, but just not that enjoyable to drive. It wasn't bad but I needed something that was fun to drive around town, even if it was just for taking my daughter to daycare.

Hehe... been there, done that.

But I'm surprised you did not go for the 4-door version, considering car seat ease of access.


I know.... So far so good but I hope I don't regret it too much down the road. It was the only manual on the lot and the color I wanted so I did it. Yikes!

So how is loading the kid into the rear seat? I've just assumed that a 2 door car would be a gymnastics nightmare and not practical.

 

[addyguy]

GC 0W-30 would be another good option for that 2.5L engine.

 

[odie]

They are a sharp lookin' hatch .

 

[jigen]

- Loading the kid in the back is obviously a little more involved than it was on the versa but this will be the third coupe I've had with her (including her mothers car) so I'm used to it I suppose.

- definitely a thumbs up for the GC 0w-30. I still need to read through some UOA's and decide what I'll use. It comes factory filled with syntec 5w-40 I believe. So even though I wanna change the oil right away, I'll probably stick with that for a little while.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: jigen
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
[
But I'm surprised you did not go for the 4-door version, considering car seat ease of access.


I know.... So far so good but I hope I don't regret it too much down the road. It was the only manual on the lot and the color I wanted so I did it. Yikes!


Who knows, your next deal might be even better than this one! Instead of losing $200, you might make $500 on your next car purchase. Who would have thought one would NOT take a bath on selling late model car? Yours is the second documented case where somebody got all or almost all the money back at the trade-in time.

There was a time when you could make money flipping the house. Now houses depreciate but cars appreciate

- Vikas

 

[IndyIan]

Well I'll have to try putting his car seat into a 2 door sometime. It makes the list of possible fun cars much bigger!
Congrats on the car too, I'll have to try a 5 cyl VW sometime, I hear good things about them.

 

[Scum_Frog]

For VW 502 00 spec oil, check out the Euro forum...lots of discussions.

Nice choice on the swap to the Golf.....I had a rental Versa and

 

[Patman]

Congrats on the new car! Time to update your sig line though, it still lists the Versa on there!

 

[MrCritical]

Really nice car!

I've always been tempted by VW. Next time, who knows?

 

[SLCraig]

Originally Posted By: beast3300
Very nice car, but you may want to blurt out the plate in the one picture.


Yeah, and for that matter, make sure you park it inside, and never drive it anywhere. Not sure why people always think this is a problem... Jussayin'. People see your plate everywhere you go.

 

[odie]

Keep us updated with gas mileage and other experiences . Thanks and enjoy .