Who likes this car?

Good suggestion. Yes I've considered both a GTI and a GLI. But with VW's reliability record I'd be hard pressed to buy one. I suspect I'd really like either one otherwise. Strangely enough, according to Consumer's Reports, overall Jetta has a much worse reliability record than Golf for reasons I don't understand.

We rented a Golf with a manual transmission in Ireland a few years ago and really liked it. But buying one as a long term keeper - that may be dangerous. Lots of stuff going wrong even under warranty would be unwelcome.

We've owned European cars, Japanese cars and American cars. Our European cars (Volvo, BMW) have been lovely but also much more needy than our Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota). We haven't had an American car in some time, though in my experience they were generally good cars (Chevrolet, Buick, Mercury, Dodge).
 
Good suggestion. Yes I've considered both a GTI and a GLI. But with VW's reliability record I'd be hard pressed to buy one. I suspect I'd really like either one otherwise. Strangely enough, according to Consumer's Reports, overall Jetta has a much worse reliability record than Golf for reasons I don't understand.

We rented a Golf with a manual transmission in Ireland a few years ago and really liked it. But buying one as a long term keeper - that may be dangerous. Lots of stuff going wrong even under warranty would be unwelcome.

We've owned European cars, Japanese cars and American cars. Our European cars (Volvo, BMW) have been lovely but also much more needy than our Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota). We haven't had an American car in some time, though in my experience they were generally good cars (Chevrolet, Buick, Mercury, Dodge).
We had a 2017 GTI before the Mazda 6. In 50,000 miles, it had two visits to the dealership. One was for the radio malfunctioning, and the other was the 40,000 mile DSG fluid service.

By far and away, the GTI was more fun to drive. But the Mazda rides better and is overall more comfortable for long trips. For our use, the Mazda 6 is better right now but I do miss the GTI. I never felt it was unreliable or maintenance needy, if that makes sense. It also held up very well in side impact accident.
 
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Good suggestion. Yes I've considered both a GTI and a GLI. But with VW's reliability record I'd be hard pressed to buy one. I suspect I'd really like either one otherwise. Strangely enough, according to Consumer's Reports, overall Jetta has a much worse reliability record than Golf for reasons I don't understand.

We rented a Golf with a manual transmission in Ireland a few years ago and really liked it. But buying one as a long term keeper - that may be dangerous. Lots of stuff going wrong even under warranty would be unwelcome.

We've owned European cars, Japanese cars and American cars. Our European cars (Volvo, BMW) have been lovely but also much more needy than our Japanese cars (Honda, Toyota). We haven't had an American car in some time, though in my experience they were generally good cars (Chevrolet, Buick, Mercury, Dodge).
One other thing to think about is that to my way of thinking VW does a very good job with rustproofing, and I think body durability is good too, paintwork, sheet metal gauge, and definitely galvanizing. I know you don't get particularly bad weather where you live though...

I don't know why, but in North America VW never went to dual injection (I think except for the Type R) despite clearly having an intake valve coking issue. Others like Mazda, Honda seem to have somehow not run into this issue despite being single system DI. VW not so much.

I'm sure I would like the drive quality of a GTI or a GLI. Like you, the long term prospects (especially the electrical, the electronics) scare me, have always given me pause.
 
Yawn. I find most modern sedans souless and boring and incompetent.
I read the Mazda is better than some, but I have never driven one.
Like PimTAC said, they are being disco'd . Don't know how that will affect value
 
My ideal next car would be mid-sized, sporty, attractive, have reasonable fuel economy, comfortable for 2 adults on a long drive, roomy enough for 4 adults on a short trip, reliable when new and not likely to be crazy expensive to maintain when it gets old. As you can see I keep my cars for a very long time. I'd prefer a manual transmission but they've become quite rare. And I would like a spare tire and an engine oil dip stick. I don't really want run flat tires, a flat repair kit, a CVT or DSG transmission and I'd prefer to avoid unnecessary complexity like engines with cylinder deactivation.

I helped my ex pick out a new car on very, very similar criteria this past winter. I steered her towards, and she got and loves, a 4th-generation Lexus GS350 awd.

It meets all these criteria except mt, but it's honestly good enough with the 6-speed auto I would not miss it too much. The awd has a 6spd most of the generation, 2wd and l think later awd got an 8spd. It's also very suitable for your climate where I am imagining your "long" drives may cross the coastal mountains and into interior BC in winter possibly. No unusual technology, just standard technology done very, very well.

You would likely have to get used (we/she did) to get it lower than the 6. But what she got for the relative small amount of money was a phenomenal car and these Lexus don't require absurd maintenance like the BMW as the miles accrue.
 
I helped my ex pick out a new car on very, very similar criteria this past winter. I steered her towards, and she got and loves, a 4th-generation Lexus GS350 awd.

It meets all these criteria except mt, but it's honestly good enough with the 6-speed auto I would not miss it too much. The awd has a 6spd most of the generation, 2wd and l think later awd got an 8spd. It's also very suitable for your climate where I am imagining your "long" drives may cross the coastal mountains and into interior BC in winter possibly. No unusual technology, just standard technology done very, very well.

You would likely have to get used (we/she did) to get it lower than the 6. But what she got for the relative small amount of money was a phenomenal car and these Lexus don't require absurd maintenance like the BMW as the miles accrue.
You've described our situation very well except that we don't venture into the mountains in the winter any more. The roads are always bad somewhere along the way and there is sand and grit on the roads in the winter - so rock chips and windshield cracks.

We've been considering a used GS with AWD. I don't mind buying a used car if it's in good enough condition. Not especially good on fuel but should be very reliable. Do you have an estimate of real world mileage?
 
It looks kind of like a Mustang. Mazdas had horrible reliability issues, I know of a dealer that stopped selling them because they had so many problems. Maybe they have gotten better.
 
We rented a Golf with a manual transmission in Ireland a few years ago and really liked it. But buying one as a long term keeper - that may be dangerous.

I'll never get why Volkswagen has such a poor reputation in America. I use to own Golfs for decades, there's at least one in our fleet, most of the time two, and never had any major issues. If owning a VW is "dangerous", vers most VW owners would likely have noticed this, but I and almost all others I know in person didn't.

In general, while I can imagine asking for experiences and potential issues on forums, I'd never ask what other people like. Get what you like most. If you don't like black wheels (I don't too), get them painted silver.
 
I'll never get why Volkswagen has such a poor reputation in America. I use to own Golfs for decades, there's at least one in our fleet, most of the time two, and never had any major issues. If owning a VW is "dangerous", vers most VW owners would likely have noticed this, but I and almost all others I know in person didn't.

In general, while I can imagine asking for experiences and potential issues on forums, I'd never ask what other people like. Get what you like most. If you don't like black wheels (I don't too), get them painted silver.
VW earned its reputation for reliability in europe during the 70s and 80s. compared to GM, ford, japanese imports and most french cars they were simply better.

the negative view of vw in america comes from the “hold my bier” era in the early 2000s with all the ridiculous cars they were pushing out
 
I know, and I'm also critical of that 'José Ignacio López de Arriortúa era' in which a Golf Mk4 falls into. However we used to have a Mk4 TDI running strong for 230,000 km and others in the family did more than 400,000 km without major issues. Only maintainance and wear items. What I appreciated most next to its timeless looks it's been the first generation that didn't suffer from rust at all. Granted, this experience may not be representative, but published statistics in Europe at that time as well as today doesn't support any Volkswagen inferiority at all.
 
We've been considering a used GS with AWD. I don't mind buying a used car if it's in good enough condition. Not especially good on fuel but should be very reliable. Do you have an estimate of real world mileage?

I will ask her if she's monitored it. She used to do that consistently when I maintained her older ES (phenomenally reliable car- now has 326k on it and drives great - it took it out on a nice spring day last week instead of one of my cars and went up and down the Hood Canal - great drive). She probably has been tracking mpg.

My experiences driving it would not be indicative. I have only driven it a few times and each saw excursions to 100, 120mph so the mileage would be misleading. ;) They are phenomenal cars. I have been a long time BMW 3,5,6 fan, had several, Audi V8 awd's. I looked last year for a cherry E39 or E60 5 for myself so I am well aware of what mileage/maintenance they run into over 100k. And that if you love those, this could be a possible replacement. I'll ask her this afternoon if she's tracked mileage.

EDIT: no, she has not tracked it. Here's some data at fuelly in us miles/gallons:


My instinct is that it's gong to deliver (us) low 20s around town/mixed use, near 30 conservative higway. That's what her older ES does and I've followed Toyota/lexus V6 engines that less several generations. Since around 2000, they haven't made any real changes in efficiency in that engine niche, but have made HUGE gains in power both HP and also broad, flat-ish torque curves.
 
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I know, and I'm also critical of that 'José Ignacio López de Arriortúa era' in which a Golf Mk4 falls into.
more of the transition into the piech era. the guy was incredibly bold and it paid off eventually.

takes balls of steel to tell the emperor of japan his sword is a fake
 
Black wheels won't look new for long. They will also show every bit of dirt / water spotting what will happen. If you got a good deal it wouldn't be a deal breaker. You can always change out the wheels.
I mean you could seal the paint up
 
Other than the black rims, that is a gorgeous car! I've never liked black rims on anything, so that's not a knock against the Mazda, just personal preference. I like chrome and raised white letters, so there you go, I probably just aged myself.
That is a proven powertrain and a gorgeous car, maybe even a great price since it's being discontinued, what's not to like? Mazda is at the top of the heap when it comes to reliability because they haven't gotten out of control with trying to make things that work better. (If it's not broke, don't fix it.) (y)
 
Other than the black rims, that is a gorgeous car! I've never liked black rims on anything, so that's not a knock against the Mazda, just personal preference. I like chrome and raised white letters, so there you go, I probably just aged myself.
That is a proven powertrain and a gorgeous car, maybe even a great price since it's being discontinued, what's not to like? Mazda is at the top of the heap when it comes to reliability because they haven't gotten out of control with trying to make things that work better. (If it's not broke, don't fix it.) (y)
"Haven't gotten out of control with trying to make things that work better"? Talk to those folks who have Cylinder De-activation... from 4 cyl. to 2... causing enormous drivetrain vibrations. Caveats: i) NOT on the turbo's; and ii) NOT in every last car (a sizable number, but maybe a lot less than 50%,).

Sometimes Mazda is bleeding edge.
 
"Haven't gotten out of control with trying to make things that work better"? Talk to those folks who have Cylinder De-activation... from 4 cyl. to 2... causing enormous drivetrain vibrations. Caveats: i) NOT on the turbo's; and ii) NOT in every last car (a sizable number, but maybe a lot less than 50%,).

Sometimes Mazda is bleeding edge.
Well forgive my ignorance, but were not most of these issues resolved with updates to the software when that all started? They have technology that has not been "tinkered" with or completely "overhauled" as much as other manufacturers.
I still stand by the statement that Mazda is still at the top when it comes to reliability and I don't even own one, so it's not biased opinion. I would love to see real world numbers of people that actually have these drivetrain problems compared to those who do not.
Anyway, I gave my opinion. Other than the black rims, it's a gorgeous car that, in my opinion, will last a long time with good maintenance and care.
 
When was that?
About 2007, I guess the years fly by. Maybe I'm guilty of letting old experiences hang with me. the warranty claims were costing the dealership so much and the complaints were numerous. Mazda was considered inferior to other Japanese cars then. Now I am not so sure. I guess talking to the warranty claims clerk quietly would steer you to the reliable models. My sister did warranty claims for years, she was my source for this back then.
 
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