The Itty Bitty NOVA VW Committee

[Senor_Taylor]

Hey folks, time to bring the mood back down from Joey's nice things!

I really like this car. Only manual I've driven that 1) Doesn't make my back hurt a lot in stop and go traffic and 2) Doesn't make my knee hurt very much. I chalk this up to the good seats and position that allow me to sit close to the pedal, but have room for my legs to get under the steering wheel. My back pain has been worse than usual lately, but I don't think it's related.

There are lots of amazing things about this car, but I'll share the negatives so we don't forget this car isn't the greatest thing ever made.

1) My Soundaktor (engine sound speaker) already rattles
2) The non "premium" audio speakers are good, but if you turn the bass up from zero, my door panels rattle
3) Lumbar is not very good unless you have Joey's fancy power seats that you have to get the Autobahn package to get
4) When the engine is cold, there's a very noticeable rattle as the clutch makes contact with the flywheel. You can feel it very noticeably in the pedal. It goes away when it's warm for the most part
5) The headunit has settings for things you don't get in the US without VagCom coding. The passenger mirror doesn't event tilt down in reverse without coding. Can't roll the windows down with the fob without coding


Other than that, this car is really really cool, and a great value for the money. Otherwise, I'm not going to write this car into my will or anything. It's a really nice DD, but I equate it to an iPhone. It does what it should and does it well (the best), doesn't allow modification without penalty, lacks a bit of personality, and will be quickly replaced by the new model that is 4% better and everyone will rush to get it, making the current model irrelevant. Don't take it the wrong way, I'm very happy with my purchase, it's just interesting to have this perspective now. This car certainly is the best in the segment for the price point (possibly across all price points).

Edit: Android Auto is cool, but it completely locks you out of your phone. You have to do everything through the headunit, so it's impossible to send a text or use any other app without using voice or unplugging your phone.