Actually...this is the right answer.

I considered writing that taking a VW past 100k was like taking a post-2000 Chevy truck past 200k. VW just don’t hold up well, past 100k, particularly in NC where I live. Something about the humidity just turns the interior to mush.  

IS300 was definitely on my shortlist. Maybe it will be again, once this thing finally kicks. The Toyotas my wife has had since 1998 (one wrecked running perfect after 13 years, the second still running perfectly) have made me question my VW love. But then I drove a GTI and my Toyota plans, at least for myself…

It’s a two-door, so it passes a little more among youngish pizza-delivery single-type people who are less inclined to have children and/or make their children climb into the back seat.

I think climbing out of the back of dad’s hatchback at the school drop-off line builds character in my 6'1" eight grader.

$22k is sure a lot of money; that could get you into a lot of newer, younger, lighter, and only slightly-slower GTI.

Either way, I’ve taken seven VWs past 100k, six of them post 2006-models; it’s kind of like taking your own body past 40. Even with maintenance and gentle care from a professional, the age definitely…

Yeah. That’s all it ever is.

I’ve sold a van that said that. But I’ve added the words, “Yes, that means it’s broken, though you might get some meager cooling out of it”.

Oh, that’s even worse! I spent thousands on this car. I’m broke. But don’t worry...I’ve done everything right and cut no corners, to date. Riiiight.

And, yes, this is coming from a man who keeps a mouse-wrist cushion under his arm where his armrest has worn through.

Then again, I’m not trying to sell my GTI for 17,000.

I’ll go so far as to say maybe...without the oil and cooling system leaks.  That takes it from custom awesomeness to “I’m so DONE with this stupid car!”  I wouldn’t pay 3000 for this, knowing there are leaks the loving creator could not fix.

This is amazing. So glad you documented it all so well.

Though, when you described various “bodges”, I thought with shame on the black gel keyboard wrist pad I set on my GTI’s armrest in lieu of reupholstering it.

I adore your work; we should all be like you. You could only possibly despise me as a car owner; may the…

I must object. The joy of a convertible is 90% the top coming off. Jalops all drool all over themselves over an Alfa Romeo spider. But not for the hardtop. Ever driven a 4-cyl Alfetta? It have, actually, and it’s pretty cool. But not convertible. And maybe I once refered to it as a EuroPinto. But only because it was…

I’m glad you like the soft headliner.  But be aware: anyone in my car ever touches the headliner, they get stabbed.  No exceptions.  

I like it, but $13,000 for less than 200 horsepower and cloth seats...just no.  At least, not me.  It’s not a question of how Jalopniky the car is, it’s could you get something better for the same price.  I think yes.

Mr. Rand:
Thank you for your attention to this pressing matter.

You claim to have driven spiritedly, but not to have burnt tires beyond such burning as was necessary to calibrate your mods.

First, ATLien has presented fairly damning evidence, that your brakes have been transformed by track-day-level heat. See the photo…

When this goes to trial, I’m bringing you in as my expert.  

All lawyers (ALL lawyers) fantasize about opening a trial with “Everything that guy said is bullshit”.

Let me drop a little lawyer on you:

Q: You’re 70 now?

A: That’s correct

Q: So, we’re to believe you’re a gentle-driving retiree, is that it?

A: Why, yes, sonny, that’s right.

Ever since I saw that the latest Honda Accord EX-L goes zero to sixty in 5.4 seconds, I’ve seriously lost interest in this kind of thing.

Not that I want an Accord...but if I drive something this interesting, this purportedly-sporty, at any price, I don’t expect to eat the dust of some 22-year-old first year…

I propose the Jalopnik community crowdfund the most obnoxious possible wrap.

I don’t know. As a man presentdly driving an MK5 GTI all the way into the ground, I think I can say with some authority that nothing expensive is getting done if he’s running around with broken replaceable turn signal lenses.

How far into the ground? The fabric finally sloughed off the armrest of the driver’s…

The most recent owner allowed this to happen and left it that way. On their Ferrari.

But I’m sure the expensive and complex bits that make the car move slower than a Camry have been meticulously...no, no they haven’t.