Purchasing a new GTI was off the table from the start. The amount of depreciation that automobiles experience over the first couple of years had me leaning toward a two-year old model.
I had done some research on the typical depreciation rates for various vehicles and also looked into the VW GTI estimated market value that was generated at the website Edmunds.com.
The drop in value of these cars was made clear to me since I had been taking my time deciding what I was specifically looking for. During the 12 months I had been investigating the VW GTI and R the typical price that one could be found for on sites like Autotrader and Cargurus had noticeably dropped.
I decided that a 2016 GTI Autobahn should be available for around $20,000 in mid-2018. Of course other considerations like condition of the vehicle and mileage would factor into the price, but there were examples of the car being sold around this price.
At this point I was just waiting for the right car, in the right location, to come up for sale.