In 2023, after it hit about 110,000 miles, my Passat started making repeated visits to the shop. It was never anything major, but the steady drip sure was annoying. My wife and I had fully recovered financially from our divorces, I was done with child-support payments, and there were no college tuition bills left to pay. Not only did I not have to nurse a car through its difficult years anymore, but I could buy a brand new car and get many, many years of good service from it.
I wasn’t looking for anything fancy — just a small sedan with a stick. I figured that this would be my last chance to get a car with a manual transmission. I researched small sedans and found that for a reasonable amount extra, I could get one with a hot engine in it.
Excited, I set out to drive the Honda Civic Si, the Hyundai Elantra N, the Kia Forte GT, the Subaru WRX, and the Volkswagen Jetta GLI. The GLI was the first car I drove, and ten minutes in I made up my mind to buy it. Maybe one of the other cars would have been better in some particular way. But the GLI had all the acceleration and handling I wanted. The Passat was such a good experience that I felt comfortable staying with VW. And just like the Passat, I liked the GLI’s grown-up styling.
It turns out that this was the GLI’s 40th year, and VW produced a special run of 1,984 40th Anniversary Edition cars at a special lower price. I had stumbled upon one of them.
The other trim level was the GLI Autobahn, which came with goodies the 40th Anniversary Edition lacked, such as leather seats, a heated steering wheel, a power sliding and tilting panoramic sunroof, and an upgraded audio system. I wasn’t going to miss any of those features, and they cost an extra $3,700. The 40th had plenty of nice features — heated seats, adaptive cruise, CarPlay, and more. And at either trim level the cars drive the same.
The GLI packs a 2.0-liter turbo four that generates 228 horsepower and 258 foot-pounds of torque. A skilled driver can bring it to 60 MPH in a hair over six seconds and run the quarter mile in 14½ seconds at 102 mph. Its top speed is governed to 126 MPH, probably because the car is not fitted with speed-rated tires.
The GLI also has a multilink rear suspension that lets the car corner well at speed. Thankfully, it also has strong brakes. Crucially, thanks to several driving modes I can choose one that moderates the power, suspension, and steering stiffness for pleasant everyday driving. That’s the thing I like most about the GLI: for routine driving, it’s just a competent little sedan, compliant and easy to handle. This isn’t a sports car, even in Sport mode. It’s a fine daily driver that has acceleration and grip when you want it. I’m sure that I’d enjoy a true sports car even more on twisty back highways, but it would be a handful to drive the rest of the time.
This is the first car I’ve owned with a screen. I’m hooked on Apple CarPlay. It’s so useful. I love being able to say, “Hey Siri, send a text to my wife,” and then dictate the text and listen to Siri read her response. I also love leaving Google Maps open on the screen when I’m on a road trip. I miss far fewer turns now because I can see them coming on the map.
Speaking of road trips, here’s my GLI on an early alignment of US 31 in southern Indiana. This road has a rich history of improvements and several 100-year-old original portions of it still serve as local roads.
Last year I began driving the Lincoln Highway across northern Indiana. I’ve wanted to follow this historic auto trail for many years, especially since I grew up in South Bend, a city through which the Lincoln Highway passes.
I also made a road trip in the GLI with my younger son. We explored the Madison State Road, formed in the 1830s to connect Indianapolis with Madison, then the state’s largest city, on the Ohio River. Here, the Madison State Road’s original alignment passes under a formation in Madison called Hanging Rock. If you’re ever in the area, this is on State Road 7 today.
I get fantastic gas mileage on all of these road trips. In the city I average 28 to 32 MPG. On the highway I get an incredible 40 to 45 MPG. The last car I drove with mileage that high was the 1983 Renault Alliance! That car achieved high mileage by using a tiny engine and being extremely slow. How far we’ve come in 40 years!
A few things about the GLI could be better. The clutch has a surprisingly long throw and the shifter could be more snicky. The car is extremely noisy on bumpy roads (although this was quieted some when I replaced the OEM tires). I positively hate the cup holders, which are too narrow and too shallow — whatever you put in them is in the way of your right arm as you shift. The haptic buttons on the steering wheel are fussy to use. The side mirrors are too small and have too narrow an angle of view. I set my mirrors wide to help avoid rear-corner blind spots. I haven’t been able to eliminate them on the GLI. Thank heavens for the blind-spot monitor light at the end of each mirror.
None of that is enough to rob me of the great feeling of sinking my foot into the gas and making the car go go go. Enjoying my car has felt like a reward for all we’ve been through, with so many crushing losses of loved ones and seeing a few of our kids challenged to become independent. Or maybe it’s a consolation prize. Either way, driving the GLI feels good and makes me happy.
The kid who had to earn his driver’s license in secret rebellion, who navigated his parents’ control with resentment, who spent decades prioritizing everyone else’s needs — that kid finally gets to have fun. This car represents something I didn’t know how to do for most of my life: choose joy for myself without guilt or justification. The road trips I’m taking aren’t escapes anymore. They’re explorations of something I love, done freely, on my own terms.
We’re still financially supporting one of Margaret’s sons, who still has a few hurdles to clear before reaching full independence. Otherwise, for Margaret and me, our lives are about us.
I plan to keep the GLI for a long time. My experience with the Passat I owned before, and the experience I read in the VW forums, is that after 100,000 miles it’s just a matter of time before a VW starts needing expensive repairs. I’m putting only about 12,000 miles on the GLI each year thanks to working from home. At this rate I’ll reach 100,000 miles after a little more than eight years. That’ll be a good, long run with this car. By then I’ll be 64, and my tricky left knee will probably be even trickier and will appreciate me buying an automatic again.
I started this series writing about cars I rode in as a child, constrained by my parents’ rules and limited resources. I’m ending it having just driven 230 miles round trip to photograph a 147-year-old iron bridge in southern Indiana that’s the last of its kind in the world, because I wanted to. My journey from passenger to driver, from obligation to choice, from survival to enjoyment, is what these cars have carried me through. The GLI isn’t the most expensive or the fastest car I could have bought. But it’s the right car for who I’ve become: someone who’s learned, finally, to balance responsibility with pleasure, and to take care of others while also taking care of myself. Every time I drop the hammer and feel that turbo kick in, I’m reminded that life, even after everything, can still delight you with moments of pure, uncomplicated joy.
Afterword
As I wrote these stories, what stood out wasn’t the machinery but the person I was becoming along the way. Each car marked a moment when life shifted — sometimes abruptly, sometimes quietly — and revisiting them showed me how much change I lived through without fully noticing it at the time.
I didn’t expect to confront so much of my own history: childhood wounds, a first marriage that nearly broke me, the long years of rebuilding, the profound losses of loved ones. Putting these experiences into words revealed a continuity between who I was then and who I am now, and how often I put myself last out of conditioning rather than choice.
If there’s a thread that runs through all of these stories, it’s that healing and change rarely look the way we imagine they will. They happen in many small decisions and the steady accumulation of experience. Writing this series reminded me that through persistence and determination I have built a satisfying life.
If you have enjoyed this series, you might also enjoy my personal blog. I write there six days a week. You can follow it here.
What does WMHD mean?
There’s something to be said for a good compact sedan – not everyone needs a 3 row SUV or a six figure pickup truck – and driving enjoyment should go so much further than infotainment or menutech. Great choice!
Those are the call letters of the campus radio station at my alma mater. I was on the air there, and ran the station for a couple of years.
@Jim: I really enjoyed reading your series of articles, and I appreciate your openness about your personal life in a way that I never could, which was a significant part of your healing/reinvention process. Congratulations on your new “toy” and wishing you many smiles and miles ahead!! 🙂
Thank you!
Jim:
As so often happens, you managed to write a fabulous story about a forceful and resilient guy, a very likeable and altruistic person. The cars, very interesting, are just the cherry on top. I truly hope you and Margaret have a smooth, quiet, healthy lives and get the happiness you deserve from it, including and beginning from your children.
Thank you Rafael – I really was trying to tell my life story, at least in thumbnail, through the cars.
I looked hard at possibly getting a new leftover 2024 Jetta S 6-speed after finding out that VW would be discontinuing the low-priced S model with manual transmission for 2025. I was reasonably impressed after taking a couple of extended test drives — they were peppy, comfortable, and quiet (side note — neither of the young VW salespeople that went on drives with me knew how to drive a manual transmission). One of our local VW dealers had a half-dozen 6-speed Jettas in inventory and was wheeling and dealing to get rid of them, with pricing well below published invoice price.
Ultimately, I procrastinated to the point where I missed out on the opportunity; in-part due to a couple of concerns. First, Consumer Reports rated the Jetta’s reliability as being very poor. I felt that the Jetta manual transmission was OK, but it seemed pretty clunky compared to the Hondas we’ve had in the past. Lastly, the dealer’s available color selection was limited to black or white, neither of which my wife or I was crazy about. I wound up delaying to the point when I decided to try to move forward (regardless of color) everything had been sold.
It’s too bad you missed out. No VW manual will ever be as satisfying as a Honda, I’m afraid. Honda is probably the finest normal-car manual transmission maker. The Jetta has had a very mixed bag of reliability records over the years, to be sure. The dudes in the forums seem to think that with on-time regular maintenance most Jettas can go 100k without drama. I’m banking on that.
I drive a 35th anniversary GLI — same basic generation, drive train, adaptive suspension. Can confirm, it’s a fabulous car — really hits a sweet spot at the price point. I work mostly from home and also put very few miles on it, so I expect to get a long run out of it. Perfect since 2019 with standard maintenance only.
Nice! Yes, it’s hard to get more bang for the buck than this.
Jim, thanks for rewriting your series with so much more depth and insight. I feel I know you quite a bit better now, and am happy to know you’ve come through these challenges so well. Enjoy your Jetta GLI and your improved life!
RLPlaut showed what could be done with this series. Ever since I read his, I’ve wanted to redo mine. I’m glad I waited the years though, as I’ve done the internal work necessary to see things with greater clarity.
RLPlaut’s series really stuck with me as well. It just went in such a different direction from much that I have ever read about cars on the internet.
I really enjoyed this revisit and the insight and reflection you provided on the relationship between life and cars and most particularly the road trips you took.
Nice Jetta, great choice with the manual and I think I will add your blog to my reading list
Nice car, Jim! What you wrote about your Jetta also applies to my 2018 Golf SportWagen, which is also based on the MQB platform. Mine has an APR performance tune, making 242 HP and 283 lb/ft of torque. In normal driving, it is all composed and competent. When I want to go fast, the EA888 really lets go!
I reaaaaaally wanted a SportWagen, but all of the ones I found used looked pretty heavily used. I’ve so far avoided tuning mine. I’m happy enough with it as it is!
I am kind of ambivalent about the performance tune. Yes, the gobs of torque is fun, but the opportunity to use it is very rare, as I mostly just tootle around town 95% of the time. That said, it is an absolute blast on a mountain road! The downside of the performance tune is the need for premium fuel. It doesn’t matter much because I have always used premium fuel anyway.
Would I do it again? For sure!
I was going to cite you, Canuck, as someone having the vehicle that I would probably most really like to have if I didn’t already have a very satisfying vehicle. Maybe someday when I want something as (or more) fun and 10 years newer than what I have.
First off, this is just a fabulous car. You were gracious enough to let me take a brief drive one day, and I can second that it is a complete hoot when you press that right pedal down! It is a real job to find a car that satisfies the adult urge for comfort with hardware that is sporting enough to occasionally scratch the itch for some enthusiasm. I think both you and I found something in that sweet spot, but with quite different approaches.
Also, while I have become really sick of white cars, this one looks fantastic in that color.
I have thoroughly enjoyed each installment in your COAL 2.0, and am happy to see you settling into the kind of life you deserve!
I’m not a fan of white cars, either. At all. I would have preferred red or blue. But the dealers were lousy with gray and silver ones, and I am SO done with those colors. The white at least looks good on this body so I went with it.
Thanks JP!
You ought to know, it’s your car, but is it really white? My 2017 Jetta was White Silver. A beautiful color neither white nor silver, but a soft dove grey.
Based on the picture of your fabulous car, I’d say it is the same color VW was using in 2017.
A zippy, practical 4-door car with a manual transmission? What’s not to like? Which may explain why there there are so few on the market to choose from. I’m glad you were able to snag one and hopefully you can keep it for many more years and old roads trips to come.
Thank you for the COAL revisited.
Here’s hoping it makes it to 100k without drama. That’s my goal.
My 2018 Golf has been flawless so far. Hopefully yours will be the same.
Interesting series. And it’s fascinating to me that your “Afterword” sounds a whole heckuva lot like the way I wrapped up my COAL series. As with the overall theme of this website, it’s not really about the cars themselves, but it’s actually about the stories they tell.
1,000%.
Totally, 100%, and then some. It’s my starting point with CC, and I am thankful for authors like Jim (and many others) who consistently demonstrate that point.
Nice to drive and nice looking, without question. However imo the Germans have never observed the very 1st principle of good engineering: KISS. My M-B and BMWs proved that beyond all doubt. As far as I can see nothing has changed with them, but there’s always those who can have good experiences, hope this is one.
My Passat was a great experience so I’m hopeful for the GLI.
Congrats on landing on this sharp looking car. Good on you for getting a manual as that is certainly a rarity these days. I am usually not a fan of white cars but this one looks good. The black door handles work surprisingly well.
Funny, the dudebros in r/GLI on Reddit don’t like the black handles. I dunno, I don’t care. It’s a giant amount of car for the money (about 31k when new).
I guess in the 80/90s the real low trim level cars often had dull black handles and trim vs body coloured. Could be where they are coming from. But the VW ones don’t look poverty spec.
A great ending to a super interesting series, well done Jim. Your candor and the way your personal stories weaved in with your vehicular choices made it a learning experience for all of us.
And a very nice car too, somehow I still can’t imagine buying a brand new car. That 16 year old part of my brain that hears the call of rough old classics is still there. Maybe I should treat this post as a learning experience for me too.
Thank you my friend. I never thought I’d buy another new car after the long-ago Beretta, but this one was right.
Jim, I’ve enjoyed this series tremendously. Thank so for taking the time to write all of these articles about both your vehicles and your life journey.
I’m glad you wound up with a car like this. It’s mighty sad to look across the automotive landscape and know that there’s virtually no “normal,” competent sedans left with manual transmissions. I really miss cars like my former Contour SVT, that could provide all the driving enjoyment I could hope for, but in the typical weekday world was just a good, comfortable car. I hope this one provides you as much, or more, trouble-free mileage as the Passat did.
Thanks Eric. I’m glad too.
Very nice car and write-up. I have a 2025 in baby blue (they call it gray), with the dsg tranny. I’m a bit older than you, and can’t handle a clutch now. The dsg hesitates from a stop and then kicks in with a vengence, so i keep it in sport mode around town and try to feather the gas. Like you, i’m no fan of the touch controls but like the screen. It’s just that the rest of the controls should be buttons or dials (hey, is that an article idea: “the Japanese perfected car hvac controls in the ’90’s, so why do we have this stuff?”)
The dimensions of the GLI are very close to those of my 1998 Passat, which amuses me. I hope the reliability of both of our cars is more like that of your Passat than mine, which lasted a whole 32,000 miles before the repairs started.
Wow, the current GLI is as big as a Passat used to be! My Passat was a large car, or at least that’s what it felt like.
The current Jetta is essentially the same as yours. He was comparing it to his 1998 Passat, which was significantly smaller and was imported from Germany. The Passat you had was significantly larger.
This has been a wonderful series, both for the cars and your life’s journey. I’m glad you’re now in a much better place. Here’s hoping the Jetta provides you many more years of enjoyment!
I’m holding on to my 1998 Nissan Frontier (just passed 110,000 miles earlier this month) with its 5-speed manual. It’s a simple machine with not much that can go wrong, so my bet is that it’ll be the last in a line of manual transmission vehicles we’ve had over the last 50 years.
Thank you! Way to go with your long-term Frontier. May it carry you for many years to come.
Manual transmission cars (not SUVs) and my driving years are nearing the off-ramp, so at age 77 I bought a GLI Autobahn in 2024, coming from a 2015 GTI.
At $34,000 this is a bargain although the black wheels make the car look like Dion & The Belmonts have made off with the wheel covers. (My dealer had no problem swapping the take-offs for a nice set from a major tire and wheel vendor we’ve all heard of and I ended up with a better looking car and the mirror caps and rear lip spoiler part of the Black Magic package, gratis.)
I bought my first new VW in 1970 and over the years had no difficulty whatever with any of their cars, so it’s hard to
understand why there are so many online comments that bitch at the brand. (One exception: A 2013 Jetta TDI wagon
caught in the Dieselgate scam. Prone to surging until warmed up.)
It appears Volkswagen is still going to offer the manual in 2027 and I hope the Trump tariff on Mexico (whatever it is this week) won’t price this car out-of-the money for many.
I’m no fan of the black wheels on my GLI. The inevitable curb scrapes really stand out. And yes, this car is a screaming bargain.
Thank you for sharing your stories through a whole great series!
Thank you for reading!