I cover a few cities for work and travel upwards of 700km/ week my GM pickup was killing me for gas. So in the search for a commuter I came across The Mugen. Could have done with a little less rice but the price was right and after driving big cars/trucks for a long time it looked intriguing.

Issues out of the gate...

My friends are either jealous or think I am going through an early mid life crisis. They can believe I bought it... practicality led to it but it looks anything but practical. My kids call it the go-kart.

I drove 400km home from picking it up and had some serious hesitation issues. I figured bad gas with the mileage is so low (65,000km) that i assume it hasn't gotten out much. I put in some octane up and a tank of premium which got me home. Issues persisted but no codes were tossed. After reading the threads i figured coil packs but a 5 weeks later no hesitation issues for the past week... thinking injectors or gas?

I want an extra inch... on the clearance as the hwy's in my area aren't great and I have bottomed out the suspension a few times. Also wear is heavy on the inside edge of the tires. The coilovers are seized so currently marinating them in PB Blaster and doing some arm curls in prep for next weekend.

I had serious "...sell and buy a tdi..." going through my head but I think I am finally committed to keeping it. Unless someone makes me an offer I can't refuse

 

I'd say keep it, so long as you don't need the cargo space of a pickup. I traded my WRX in my fit, and it has been great the last year. Very practical and fuel efficient. I got a job really close to my house, so I'm about to part with mine, but for commuting I wouldn't have another car. I'm not a big fan of VW. Had a GTI a while back, and maintenance was very expensive, even just for parts, in the 60k mile range.

 

Oh I kept the Truck

Hesitation hit me twice while sitting in traffic with AC on today... damn. Going to attack the coilovers tonight, I borrowed a set of spanner wrenches from a buddy hopefully they fit.

The maintenance is what scares me away from VW. There are great ones and bad ones and you never really know which one you are going to get.

 

What year is this The Mugen and where in BC are you from :P Nice to see you are going to keep the car.

 

It's a 2007 and I live in the Thompson/Okanagan... picked it up in Richmond. Shocker!

 

I have a 2007 Fit and my husband has a 2014 Passat TDI. Both a great cars for different reasons.
You are right on the Passat upkeep. It's super expensive but look at the car. It's a sweet ride.