akoza
Senior Member
I'm pretty much echoing what everyone else said - definitely don't go for the 27 A-spec. Either keep your current car or go with the Type S. While I never had the A-spec and went straight for the Type S, I'll add my 2 cents here.
Never look at monthly payment as the sole factor of whether buying a car is financially smart. If you go to the dealer and tell you what you want your monthly payment to be, they'll find ways to make that happen that may ultimately not be favorable for you in the long run (longer term, higher interest rate, higher down payment, etc). That said, if you're good with the overall cost and can get a lower rate with terms you're happy with, then go for the Type S.
I daily my Type S year round here in Chicago and think it's a great all-around car. I swap my tires to Blizzaks for the winter and keep the stock tires for summer and track use. I don't get out on the track enough but still prefer the feel of performance summer tires over all seasons, even for daily driving. If you're already planning to keep two sets of tires, might as well make good use out of the stock ones in summer rather than getting a more mediocre experience with all-seasons for those months. And since you're in Dallas you can probably get away with all-seasons for winter rather than snow tires.
Most of the features you mentioned are nice to have in my opinion, but weren't deal breakers for me.
- I never had auto start-stop on any car so I didn't care for it. But long-term not having it is probably better on the engine and starter.
- This is the first car I've owned without a sunroof and I'm happy they didn't include it. 3 of my previous 4 cars have had issues with the sunroof, and I found that I never used it anyway. I do find myself regularly driving with all the windows down on a nice somewhat cool day.
- The gas mileage made me a little sad, coming from a GTI that averaged 28-34mpg. But I've since gotten used to it.
- I agree the seating for 5 would be nice, but in the 2 years I've had the car, I've never had more than 3 people in the car at once, including myself. If we need more interior space or 5 seats, we take my wife's car. Can't speak for others, obviously. I've seen some people swap the rear seats (along with seat belt and all supporting hardware) with the ones from the A-spec, but keep in mind the Type S has a lower load weight capacity than the A-spec, and also if you were to get into a crash you'd probably run into some kind of issue with insurance since the car is supposed to only have 4 seats.
- I thought I'd hate not having fog lights, but I haven't missed them. The headlights and high beams are plenty bright. I actually enjoy not having an extra switch to manually toggle (also the GTI was dumb and wouldn't allow the fog lights to be on without the headlights).
- I pay insurance twice a year so it's not constantly on my mind. But I guess higher rate is expected with a performance car. It is what it is.
- Rear USB-C ports can be added aftermarket, along with vents. I did this a few months ago.
Never look at monthly payment as the sole factor of whether buying a car is financially smart. If you go to the dealer and tell you what you want your monthly payment to be, they'll find ways to make that happen that may ultimately not be favorable for you in the long run (longer term, higher interest rate, higher down payment, etc). That said, if you're good with the overall cost and can get a lower rate with terms you're happy with, then go for the Type S.
I daily my Type S year round here in Chicago and think it's a great all-around car. I swap my tires to Blizzaks for the winter and keep the stock tires for summer and track use. I don't get out on the track enough but still prefer the feel of performance summer tires over all seasons, even for daily driving. If you're already planning to keep two sets of tires, might as well make good use out of the stock ones in summer rather than getting a more mediocre experience with all-seasons for those months. And since you're in Dallas you can probably get away with all-seasons for winter rather than snow tires.
Most of the features you mentioned are nice to have in my opinion, but weren't deal breakers for me.
- I never had auto start-stop on any car so I didn't care for it. But long-term not having it is probably better on the engine and starter.
- This is the first car I've owned without a sunroof and I'm happy they didn't include it. 3 of my previous 4 cars have had issues with the sunroof, and I found that I never used it anyway. I do find myself regularly driving with all the windows down on a nice somewhat cool day.
- The gas mileage made me a little sad, coming from a GTI that averaged 28-34mpg. But I've since gotten used to it.
- I agree the seating for 5 would be nice, but in the 2 years I've had the car, I've never had more than 3 people in the car at once, including myself. If we need more interior space or 5 seats, we take my wife's car. Can't speak for others, obviously. I've seen some people swap the rear seats (along with seat belt and all supporting hardware) with the ones from the A-spec, but keep in mind the Type S has a lower load weight capacity than the A-spec, and also if you were to get into a crash you'd probably run into some kind of issue with insurance since the car is supposed to only have 4 seats.
- I thought I'd hate not having fog lights, but I haven't missed them. The headlights and high beams are plenty bright. I actually enjoy not having an extra switch to manually toggle (also the GTI was dumb and wouldn't allow the fog lights to be on without the headlights).
- I pay insurance twice a year so it's not constantly on my mind. But I guess higher rate is expected with a performance car. It is what it is.
- Rear USB-C ports can be added aftermarket, along with vents. I did this a few months ago.
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