My name is Mateo, and I’m the proud owner of a 2019 MK7 Volkswagen Jetta GLI S. Before the GLI, I drove a 2014 Chevy Cruze LS with the 1.8L naturally aspirated engine. It definitely wasn’t anything crazy, but it was my first car, so of course I had to lower it and make it my own. The Cruze treated me alright for a while, but reliability was never really its strong point. Eventually, the overheating problems became constant, and after dealing with it over and over again, I knew it was finally time to move on.
While all of that was happening, I had already been looking at GLIs online for a while. In January 2026, I finally came across the one I ended up buying—a black 2019 GLI S that already had a set of Prismas on it. I loved how the car looked, but I can’t lie, it was rough around the edges. There was duct tape around the fuel line, a missing radar sensor, a bad headlight, issues with the backup camera, and a bunch of other small things that started adding up. Not long after buying it, the car also started showing signs of a much bigger electrical problem. What was supposed to be my exciting new car quickly turned into me wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into.
I ended up bringing the GLI to Volkswagen, where they went through the car and came back with a ridiculous repair quote for all the hidden problems that had been left behind. Thankfully, I was able to bring it back to the dealer I bought it from, and they agreed to take care of the major issues at no cost to me. The downside was that I basically bought my new car and then didn’t get to drive it for almost a month. I finally got it back in February, and since then I’ve been slowly turning it into the car I originally pictured in my head. Intake, exhaust work, suspension, wheels, exterior changes—you name it. The beginning with this car was a complete headache, but after everything I went through to get it sorted out, it honestly makes building and driving it now that much more satisfying.
