Earlier this week, Volkswagen released a statement confirming that the company would end production of the Golf in North America. We thought that we should bring this topic back up in case some people missed it as we didn’t see the expected chatter on the forum.
“But what about the GTI?” you might now be screaming at your monitor. Worry not, as …
I'm guessing this means no more Golf Sportwagen either?
The depreciation on the plain Golf was so much faster than the GTI that the upgrade was more or less free. They got the same gas mileage; until 2018 they shared an EA888 engine, with the GTI getting a stroker crank. I'm not surprised the plain Golf is gone. Now they need to bring over the Seat Ibiza to come in below the GTI.
But the USA does not like cars anymore. *sigh* If it's not a SUV it isn't selling.
In reply to chaparral :
Or bring over the Polo GTI.
Man... Pour one out for a legend. 
Just one more reminder that all used cars were once new cars.
Weird, but what isn't these days? I've had three GTIs, but no standard Golfs. Nevertheless, the VW was always more appealing than a Civic (bought a new Civic in 2012 anyway, but whatever--hated it). What will replace the Golf? Will the price of the GTI go to stupidville as a result?
I had an A2-Golf GL for a while--four-door hatch. I sold it for an SE-R.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
That's gross, but what's grosser than gross is that I once traded a '68 Bronco for a late-90's Sentra. The Bronco was from Utah, however, and it was literally so cancerous with rust that pieces (like shock mounts) regularly broke off. I won . . . by taking a Sentra (which I immediately sold off). Ah, the good old days . . .
The peak GTI was the Mark II with the 2.0 16-valve. I had one, and it was damn good (after I replaced the clutch post-first day of ownership). Don't ever buy a manual transmission car from someone in the Bay Area.
In reply to rustomatic :
Oh, the SE-R was definiately a step up. :)
Looking back, the Golf was a little unconventional. Like, it had shoulder belts up front but no lap belts. Welcome to early passive restraints.
In reply to rustomatic :
What will replace it? ID.4 is US, we won't even get the ID.3 which is closer.
rslifkin said:I'm guessing this means no more Golf Sportwagen either?
This always confused me. There is a Jetta and a Golf Sportwagen. What is the difference?
rustomatic said:Weird, but what isn't these days? I've had three GTIs, but no standard Golfs. Nevertheless, the VW was always more appealing than a Civic (bought a new Civic in 2012 anyway, but whatever--hated it). What will replace the Golf? Will the price of the GTI go to stupidville as a result?
The Golf that I used to have was a GL model. The previous owner upgraded it to GTI suspension spec by getting vented rotors (same calipers, just different pad thickness) and the thicker sway bar. GTIs in those days still could be had with the regular old 8v engine and drum brakes.
It didn't have a GTI trans, but really, the long 3.67 geared economy trans worked just fine. The ratios were close enough to be fun and it's not like there wasn't enough power to make 1st gear mostly useless anyway, even with the tall gearing.
Jetta Sportwagen was up until 2013 or 14ish. 15 and up I believe it switched over to Golf Wagon.
Shame they are stopping production of the Golf. Having the sunroof standard on the final year production is a no deal for me. At least the GTI lives on (even if it's a little expensive for my blood..).
I've seen this play out before. Cars not profitable. SUV's only. Housing prices high. Hmmmm. Soon cars will be profitable I gather.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:This always confused me. There is a Jetta and a Golf Sportwagen. What is the difference?
Just a name change. Mk6 was called the Jetta Sportwagen. For the Mk7 ones, they got smart and called it the Golf Sportwagen, as it's just a stretched Golf and had nothing in common with the Mk6 and newer Jetta sedan chassis.
Damn - I've had an Mk3, 2 Mk4's and I am currently driving a Mk5.
Hopefully we'll still get them in Canada! We like hatchbacks up here.
DeadSkunk (Warren) said:In reply to chaparral :
Or bring over the Polo GTI.
This!
Makes me feel even older. I worked at VW dealerships when air cooled stuff was new. The Rabbit and Dashers came out and they were considered not real VWs. Now they have gone by the wayside for the Atlas, sigh.
I'm just glad they're still selling the GTI. It's too bad that only the Jetta will have the EA211 engine over here, and that they have no product here with the new 1.0 liter turbo 3.
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