In Short - New on here.. Just bought a new 2018 VW GTI SE/6-Speed Manual/Leather Interior/Deep Black Pearl body color
About myself - Currently an active duty Naval Officer (Ensign, O-1). I commissioned a few weeks back out of Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI. Currently at home in Minneapolis until the end of January before I head down to flight school in Pensacola, FL. Went to school at the University of North Dakota and graduated with a B.S in Aeronautics back in August 2017. Flight instructed for about 7 months waiting on the Navy to accept my application. Had enough total hours to go airlines but... not nearly as tempting as Navy for me.
About the car - Sold my 2011 Golf right before leaving for OCS. Ran that thing from December 2011 up to 99k miles when I sold it in August. Didn't think I'd need a vehicle for a while because I'd live on base.. Well, circumstances changed, and my Commanding Officer here said I needed to get an "Ensign mobile". I've actually always wanted a GTI since I was a kid... but I also was looking at the Golf R. Being a somewhat responsible young man, I decided to weigh all my options before just going straight for the Golf R. Biggest issue I kept running into was pricing with the R. I researched for weeks trying to find a good deal, even on a used model, but the stars just weren't lining up. I ended up doing some more research on the GTI. What particularly caught my eye was the SE because of the Performance Package. The Autobahn had a few more bells and whistles but a lot of folks were saying that it wasn't worth the extra few grand for that (especially since none of the bells and whistles were performance based). I looked at used models on that but, once again, stars just weren't lining up. These things are holding their value too well. I ended up walking into a dealership and was able to get a great deal based on my credit/discounts I was offered on a new one. Ended up falling in love after the first test drive. With insurance and all, ended up being quite reasonable with what i'm making in the Navy right now.

I don't regret the purchase for a moment. Even stock, this thing pulls for me. I don't know how those crafty gremlins over at VW did it, but the throttle is very responsive for a turbo. I've gotten High 5's for 0-60, that being said, definitely think this car is built more for corners. Compared to my 2011 Golf base, this thing is glued to the freaking road.