Oh boy, May have totalled my GTI. Whats next?

Well on my way to work this morning I was greeted by a car heading towards me at a rapid pace. Instead of hitting it (or getting hit) I thought hitting a large rock was a better option. So I hit the rock at about 30 ish mph? and wow is all I can say. 

Scraped the front bumper, the RF wheel took the brunt of the impact, as well as the suspension.  I popped the misshapen  wheel off to be greeted by copious amounts of axle grease, a bent and dented axle, a bent strut, bent aluminum knuckle, bent tie rod, bent sway bar, and a bent subframe. Also found a kinked front fender, dented rocker, and dents in my RR door.

I have a strong feeling its going to be totaled.

So, I am looking for a replacement.  I have a 4 year old son, and another *potentially* on the way. I would like to stay with a smaller, hot hatch, but the wife is requesting I get a truck, for various reasons and aproject car instead of buying a newer GTI/ Golf R

Budget is more than likelly $25k but may go up a bit if I find something I like.  I do like the Tundra the best but size and fuel mileage is a limiting factor.  I drive about 50k a year and it would hurt the wallet.  So maybe Tacoma double cab? Maybe a sequioa? Must be AWD/4x4, and if i go the truck/suv route, It will be a body on frame.

I dont know.

Pics?

20190626_062628 by tjbell88, on Flickr

20190626_064017 by tjbell88, on Flickr

20190626_062630 by tjbell88, on Flickr

20190626_062619 by tjbell88, on Flickr

20190626_062557 by tjbell88, on Flickr

50K/year?  ugh... no truck.  If AWD is of concern for some reason, sounds like a Golf R would be great.  

Sorry to hear about the GTI.  

What's the reason for a truck?  If it's perceived safety note that trucks don't stop or turn as well as cars.  Also more likely to end up on their roof.

Sorry about the rock meeting.  If you need any help on the claims side, just ask.

50K/year?  Damn man, you need a Prius.  If you want a truck, would a Ridgeline count?  That may fit the bill with that amout of driving.  For hot hatch, how about FoST?  Civic Si, though not a complete hatch.  Not super "hot", but Mazda3 long roof is an awesome car and relatively quick.  Even Sonic RS with Trifecta tune?

parker said:

What's the reason for a truck?  If it's perceived safety note that trucks don't stop or turn as well as cars.  Also more likely to end up on their roof.

Reason is, we have just moved into my mothers house to take care of her, and the house needs a lot of work, already rented some equipment and had to rent a truck to get plywood home, so theres that. 50k may be an exaggeration, probably closer to 35-40k

In reply to Klayfish :

I am not a fan of the Ridgeline for whatever reason, I know its a solid vehicle with proven reliability, but I just dont like it.

and thank you for your offer for help!

I mainly want something useful for home and child duty, with reliability, cost, utility being the big 3

I guess I can put my hopes and dreams of building another GTI on hold

My mind keeps going to VW Alltrack, room for all, space for stuff, AWD, proven reliability, and very tuneable, oh and DSG /4MO is amazing combo basically a wagon Golf R, with half the HP lol

If it's for trips to Home Depot, do the math and I suspect you'll find that it's cheaper to rent a truck when you need it unless you're going three or four times a week.  You could also look into a small trailer to tow behind a car for the plywood.

If you want space and fuel mileage what about a Prius V?  Rode in one in LA during a cab ride and it was pretty big inside.  Seats fold down so it'll provide plenty of space for small stuff.  Obv won't hold as much as a truck, but given your mileage that may be a decent trade off as I know Home Depot rents trucks by the hour.  

Normal sedan and a 5x12 trailer. 50k a year is their intended use (just bought a mazda6 for similar mileage), and your gonna have to go stupid to overload a 2500lb tow rating

I don't think it looks like a total, unless that's a much older GTI thank it looks like.

z31maniac said:

I don't think it looks like a total, unless that's a much older GTI thank it looks like.

Its a 2015 with 80k miles - judging by the damaged subframe and suspensions bits it could be, if they paint the front bumper and fender then will need to blend the door and hood, new wheel will be over 500, tire is 280, a lot adds up on these cars! 

That's the reason they say Don't swerve when a deer suddenly appears in front of you.

I'm also in the sensible car and a utility trailer. It will do most of the truck things you need unless you plan on towing something really large.

Family sedan + trailer hitch.  With the hitch, a cargo carrier, a cargo bag, and a Harbor Freight 4'X8' trailer I will have about $700 in accessories that will give me most of the utility of a crossover, but I'm averaging 30.5 MPG.  Oh, and it drives like a nice sedan.  Crossovers drive like a grocery-store check-out counter balanced on a water bed.

codrus said:

If it's for trips to Home Depot, do the math and I suspect you'll find that it's cheaper to rent a truck when you need it unless you're going three or four times a week.  You could also look into a small trailer to tow behind a car for the plywood.

yeah, a 6x8 utility trailer that can haul some playwood or HD stuff. A GTI (and most other cars like that) has a 2000lb tow rating, which would be more than enough to haul most of the stuff you'd want to haul. 

tjbell said:

My mind keeps going to VW Alltrack, room for all, space for stuff, AWD, proven reliability, and very tuneable, oh and DSG /4MO is amazing combo basically a wagon Golf R, with half the HP lol

Skip the Alltrack and get the Sportwagen.  4motion is an option.  Cheaper to start with which leaves money to be modded to hit GTI numbers.

From your photos I don't see that as being totaled.  Even a bent sub frame is an easy fix or replacement.  Suspend the motor and just unbolt it and bolt in a new one.  If your insurance called for for used parts then that will most certainly get fixed.  Value on that in my area said it is worth 15.5 - 16K so you would need to have around 11.5K damage.   I am not seeing that much damage. Everything I see is bolt off bolt on and a little paint.  

I'm not seeing a total either.

That said, I have owned pickup trucks for most of my life and I would also recommend a guy in your position buy a trailer. Trucks are not fun to drive. They are a bitch to park. They eat a lot of fuel no matter what engine you get. They are stupid expensive for what they are. Only upside is the resale on them is usually pretty good.

If you live in the rust belt they ALL will rust in nasty, expensive ways.

Get a decent not-Harbor-Freight trailer. With reasonable care it will always be worth at least half of what you pay for it.

2 kids in car seats + need for good fuel economy + ability to make trips to the hardware store = Pacifica PHEV?

Well the adjuster came this morning, just per the visual inspection which is completely laughable.  its $2,000 for the fender, front bumper, wheel and tire including paint. they havent looked at the suspension yet so they will be writing a supplement today, will keep you all updated

Tundra is a great truck and decent SUV with great big bed.  I liked mine.  Screw the Prius.  Mileage and gas prices are what they are.  Drive what you want/need and don’t sweat it.  Sequoia gives you the same front and middle seats with smaller cargo capacity in back.  Unless you need seating for 7 forget the Sequoia.  A Tacoma long bed isn’t a bad way to go but you will sacrifice seating capacity.  You don’t mention kids or whether you will will be the one hauling them around.  A double bed Tacoma ha s a pretty useless truck bed, but only you know which is more important, bed or seating capacity.

The dollar difference in the published mileage for Tundra and Tacoma @ 50,000 miles/year is $650.

My ex- bought an Alltrack last year, although hers is a 6 spd manual.  She  likes it well enough as a general beater/utility car.  With a roof rack it'll haul a few sheets of plywood.