New car purchase (VW or Subaru) - where to start?

I have Tiguan since 2013 that I got it with 36k. I only had ventilation resistor failure, which was $5 part.
The intake manifold was changed before buying car (cheap), and the water pump was changed under recall.
Water pump might be an issue regardless of generation. EA888 has several generations, and now it is in its 3rd.
If you have water pump failure (it will start to slowly leak, it won't suddenly die) long term solution is all aluminum GRAF water pump.
Other than that, change the fluid in DSG every 40k, and enjoy the car.
Comparing VW and Subaru is like comparing F16 to Cessna.
Good insight and info.
 
I came close to buying a GLI before my first sportwagen. They were and are nice. As a die hard stick shift person i am in love with the DSG. It’s like hiring out your clutch and shifter work to the best driver in the world every start and shift. A VW well cared for can be reliable. I also owned a Regal Tourx with aisin slushbox and found that to be decent. So you cant go wrong, some VW models come Aisin and some DSG. The downside is a VW needs specific care, but if your on this forum you should be able to do that!
 
I came close to buying a GLI before my first sportwagen. They were and are nice. As a die hard stick shift person i am in love with the DSG. It’s like hiring out your clutch and shifter work to the best driver in the world every start and shift. A VW well cared for can be reliable. I also owned a Regal Tourx with aisin slushbox and found that to be decent. So you cant go wrong, some VW models come Aisin and some DSG. The downside is a VW needs specific care, but if your on this forum you should be able to do that!

Thanks for the input. I was a die hard stick shift person till I got my first motorcycle around 5 years ago, now I have something that I can enjoy / play around and I don't have to suffer with my daily driver. Also, my wife can't drive stick shift so I should not really buy a manual car unless it's a dedicated track toy, which I have no budget/parking space for that, at this point of my life.

After deciding which type of car we're going to get in my original post, one of the reasons why I chose Jetta GLI over slightly used A4 is GLI is more capable of occasional track days/open lappings and features you get for the price under $40k CAD. It's more well-rounded not only as a daily driver, but also for more occasional spirited driving. It's not great at anything, but good enough in every category (performance, practicality, daily drivability) for my needs.

This is the first direct injection (non PFI), non torque converted automatic and even non Japanese car purchase of my life (first brand new car purchase with my own money), so I kinda hesitated at first. But as I do my own maintenance and am on top of my cars maintenance all the time, I think I can handle it going forward. Time will tell.

By the way, the GLI is at "Port Stock" status, meaning that it's in Halifax, NS. It should be ready in the next few weeks.
 
It's arrived to the dealer today, not PDI'd yet. Hoping to take the delivery by next week.

Thanks again everyone for all the input!

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That looks pretty good! It may not move like the new RS3 but you can leave the dealership with all your organs intact. Affordable sport sedans for the win (and wagons if you can get em)
 
That looks pretty good! It may not move like the new RS3 but you can leave the dealership with all your organs intact. Affordable sport sedans for the win (and wagons if you can get em)

Thanks and you're right about the affordable sports sedans! I would've bought a sporty wagon if it was available.

I already have a bike that can smoke the RS3 half throttle, so going fast is not my priority in a car. But I don't mind the extra roll-on power :)
 
Thanks and you're right about the affordable sports sedans! I would've bought a sporty wagon if it was available.

I already have a bike that can smoke the RS3 half throttle, so going fast is not my priority in a car. But I don't mind the extra roll-on power :)
That will be a nice driving car. If you don't need AWD then I don't think Subaru wins in too many categories. We got ours primarily because its the only midsize AWD wagon with decent mileage, some cargo space, can tow something, and is a good quiet hwy car for winter trips. The VW awd wagon was going to be too small and had no tow rating at all so that knocked it out. Ours is sort of a japanese buick and I don't have too many complaints really other than the throttle tip in being too sensitive. The Crosstrek with the same 2.5 as ours would probably be comparatively quick and you could probably daily daily drive it without getting above 2400rpm if you aren't in a hurry. With our $4/gal gas prices I'm more into shooting for 40mpg that thrashing my car around going nowhere fast.
 
That will be a nice driving car. If you don't need AWD then I don't think Subaru wins in too many categories. We got ours primarily because its the only midsize AWD wagon with decent mileage, some cargo space, can tow something, and is a good quiet hwy car for winter trips. The VW awd wagon was going to be too small and had no tow rating at all so that knocked it out. Ours is sort of a japanese buick and I don't have too many complaints really other than the throttle tip in being too sensitive. The Crosstrek with the same 2.5 as ours would probably be comparatively quick and you could probably daily daily drive it without getting above 2400rpm if you aren't in a hurry. With our $4/gal gas prices I'm more into shooting for 40mpg that thrashing my car around going nowhere fast.
To GLI? Not a chance.
 
It is my understanding that Subaru has such a tight tolerance on the tire circumference that if you have to replace a tire you have to either buy four or have the new one shaved.
That was correct for me, I had a 15 WRX and had the optional tire/wheel insurance, got a non repairable flat around 5k miles and they had to order me a new tire that was shaved to match the original by tirerack.com and shipped direct to the dealership for them to install under the warranty requirements.
 
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