2019 Golf R

[Sijray21]

Welp, the GroupMe chat knows, but i replaced the Ridgeline with a vehicle i've been lusting over since I first read about and set eyes on. I first fell in love with the 2004 MKIV R32. I obviously couldn't afford one, but loved watching videos on the AWD VR6. Then came the MKV R32. I won a raffle while i was at an R32 Club event on Shenandoah in 2007. I was tracking the Integra there at the time, but the raffle ticket allowed me to take the MK5 R32 on the track for one of my sessions! The german rep who brought the car (only one in the US at the time) was pretty frightened saying multiple times (in a heavy german accent), "Please, i need to drive this back to Detroit in one piece" as i hauled it over the crowns of shenandoah. That one felt heavy and sluggish, but fast. I still enjoyed it very much despite only being DSG, a complaint i mentioned to the rep when he asked for feedback. The MK6 Golf R was what it was. I liked the tail lights the most, so i eventually got that for my MK6 GTI. I loved the design of the MK6 R nonetheless.

The MK7 was also pretty hot and i lusted over the Lapiz Blue ones i saw for quite a while. Bringing the MK7.5 with the facelifted headlights and subtle exterior accents, making DCC standard, and making limited options was a real nice touch. The one thing i loved on top of all that was the standard 6yr/72k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty offered for the MY18 and MY19 VWs, thanks Dieselgate.

I have been shopping around casually since about November just monitoring prices and seeing what they've been listed for and what kind of mileage they've been seeing. One of my larger concerns was prior hoonage because it's an R. Modifications, DSG, and higher mileage signaled for a higher percentage of prior hoonage/abuse.

Since i knew i would lose money on the Ridgeline sale i was looking for as minimal of a financial hit as I could while obtaining most of that standard B2B warranty and less miles; i wanted to know most of its history. I talked with the wife about the transmission and she mentioned she wouldn't drive it much if at all even if i got the DSG. She basically said, "it's more of a performance car. it should be a stick"  [emoji813] (giggity) So i shopped around casually for a 6-spd in good condition. I found this one with ~6900 miles, 2019 Model Year, one previous Owner, and priced aggressively. 

It feels so good to drive; I am in love. It has the similarities and familiarity that i loved about the MK6, but it's quicker, grips more, newer, and has more safety and tech. Ideally a cool funky Spektrum color of some kind would've been the top choice, but i wasn't willing to pay that premium new or used. From the standard colors i would've chosen the Lapiz Blue, Tornado Red, and Indium Grey, in that order. I nixed the Black and White ones unless it was a screaming deal. I am obviously a huge fan of the Tornado Red since i chose that for the MK6 GTI when i bought that in 2010. I'm warming up to the wheels (not a fan of black wheels), so they may be swapped with 19" Silver Pretorias or the Englishtown/Speilberg wheels that came standard on the MK7.5s.

Current Plans: already ordered the euro spare tire kit since US versions came with a fix-a-flat kit. Fix my android auto issue with my phone/cable as i have the same issue with my wife's sportwagen; it didn't happen with the Honda for some reason. a proper wash, clay, and wax when it gets warmer.

Future Plans: Vag Com quality of life tweaks, wheel swap, winter wheel set over the summer sometime, APR Plus Stage 0 Tune (warranties the powertrain for the OEM manufacturer period), likely a clutch sometime after said tune (if i tune)

[Apoc]

Boy reads on MM that boys need trucks. Boy buys truck, is sad. Boy buys a newer, faster version of his hatchback, is happy again. The end.

Why are there no pictures of the seats or gearshift? Fake news.

[Sijray21]

Boy reads on MM that boys need trucks. Boy buys truck, is sad. Boy buys a newer, faster version of his hatchback, is happy again. The end.

Why are there no pictures of the seats or gearshift? Fake news.

ask and you shall receive :-P

if i could do it all over again i would've just kept the MK6.

[davej]

I have nothing to add but an approving thumbs up and giant smile. Grab a Westfalia euro hitch and a small utility trailer, you'll never miss the truck.

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm WFH today. You should bring this to get your MM Shirt

[RawrImAMonster]

TUNE TUNE TUNE!

[Sijray21]

I'm WFH today. You should bring this to get your MM Shirt

DM-ed via GroupMe

[Sijray21]

I have nothing to add but an approving thumbs up and giant smile. Grab a Westfalia euro hitch and a small utility trailer, you'll never miss the truck.

Next truck i'll buy (if i buy) will be cheap. If i have to drive a daily i don't like it's going to be cheap.

you know what i'm always kind of looking for?

something like this:
https://bringatrailer.com/2019/05/02/cle...-golf-gti/

[Apoc]

"Have to drive a daily I don't like" is when you know you're just waiting to die.

[ScottyB]

YES

love it Jay. those R's are amazing performers...i think long-term, you're going to get a lot of fun and practicality out of it. there's so much room for more speed too if you ever go down that route. my neighbor has a GTI 6spd with the R turbo and its just nuts, and thats not even the complete package compared to the R.

already mentioned it, but so glad you grabbed a red one. that's definitely your signature VW thing at this point, you have to uphold it forever.

[.RJ]

ooooh tornado read want to touch

[Apoc]

It has more miles than my GTI. I'm lame.

[Sijray21]

It has more miles than my GTI. I'm lame.

at that rate you may breach 30k miles before your son gets to High School.

ooooh tornado read want to touch

i love red and it's the best kind of red 

Small Update:

• meeting up later in the week with a local guy to buy a set of lightly used Spielberg wheels (came standard on the MK7.5 Golf R). Likely going to sell the current 19" Black Pretoria wheels. They're looking better as i see them more on the R as i usually don't like black wheels, but these 19" black Pretoria wheels should also fetch a few hundred more used than what i'm paying for the Spielberg set.
  
• installed the aukey dr02 dash cam i had and added an OBD2 motion sensor cable for a cleaner install and adds sentry-like mode for the front.
  
• configured the digi dash to be more audi-like in that the Nav map is in the center with smaller gauges.
  
• Tint appointment tomorrow
  
• the android auto issues seem to be tied to my phone and occur randomly. i'm still troubleshooting this, but i had no issues today.
  
• learned about the auto-hold feature that engages the electric parking brake when stopped while the engine is running. good for lights and b2b traffic. kind of nice, actually.
  
• ordered a few euro oem items so far (aspherical mirror lenses and spare tire kit).
  

[JPolen01]

Do you have an Android watch? Lots of problems in the new Accords with people who have Android watches. The fix seems to be too put the watch in airplane mode when entering the car. Sounds extremely annoying.

[Sijray21]

Do you have an Android watch? Lots of problems in the new Accords with people who have Android watches. The fix seems to be too put the watch in airplane mode when entering the car. Sounds extremely annoying.

no android watch, but it seems that the issue is widespread and either involves problems with the cable being used or needing to leave the USB debugger on (developer mode). I've read about people having issues in certain areas, too. I have an older pixel 2 xl, so maybe it's a hardware issue? my wife with a regular pixel 2 has had no issues after she switched away from an older cable following a system update sometime last year.

I had fewer issues with the android auto in the Ridgeline, but i still had some issues related to the google assistant not being responsive; that happened a lot in the Ridgeline. I figured out i needed to pause the music for it to listen to my instructions. Right now i'm getting a lot of random disconnects and then AA will reconnect on its own, yet days like today where it worked flawlessly   

I'll keep monitoring the issues and try to isolate features on the phone to try and determine exact situations that cause frequent disconnects.

[JPolen01]

Seems to be a lot of bugs between AA and Carplay. I got the iPhone 11 and all of the sudden Siri wouldn't work in carplay. Turns out the American Siri voice just didn't work for me and a few other people I found on the Apple forums. The fix? Download the Siri Australian voice. It works now, with a sweet accent.

[Apoc]

What do you use android auto for? I tried it for about three days and couldn't take it. So annoying.

Have you done a hardware reset on your phone? The pixel backs up most settings, so a factory reset isn't the inconvenience it used to be.

[.RJ]

What do you use android auto for? I tried it for about three days and couldn't take it. So annoying.

Have you done a hardware reset on your phone? The pixel backs up most settings, so a factory reset isn't the inconvenience it used to be.

insert snarky iphone comment

[Senor_Taylor]

Android Auto is great and works really well, especially with recent updates.

[Sijray21]

What do you use android auto for? I tried it for about three days and couldn't take it. So annoying.

Have you done a hardware reset on your phone? The pixel backs up most settings, so a factory reset isn't the inconvenience it used to be.

i really enjoy clean integration (nav/audio/phone that use the vehicles' controls) and i tend to use Google Play Music and Google Maps quite a bit. I find the google assistant is extremely helpful for selecting addresses or POIs for maps and for selecting music. Usually i don't need to switch screens as much and the inputs are reduced when i use AA...when it works. The VW navigation system is more appealing to use, so i may adjust my behavior if AA keeps acting up for me.

I haven't done a hardware reset on the phone yet as i am hoping it doesn't come to that, but i may since it's not that difficult to get my settings back. I'm restarting the phone more frequently now to see if it's a cache issue of some kind or other sort of temp storage issue that's not obvious. I've cleared and uninstalled AA a few times with mixed results, so a hardware reset would be next.