Replacement for Golf R

[Towilluk]

I took a Golf R 5dr Hatch on a short term lease that I am due to hand back soon. I am looking for a replacement, but cannot seem to see past the R. Basically I need a 4/5dr quick car, petrol/diesel not front wheel drive with a decent level of trim such as sat nav etc. I will be leasing the car so budget is flexible (the R cost me £300 PCM on a 12 month deal). Do I just go for another R or is there something else?

[tankplanker]

Merc A45 if funds allow, otherwise does the new Leon Cupra come in cheaper than a Golf R via lease offers? I've discounted the Focus RS and Audi RS3 as I doubt you'll get one quickly (or cheaply) via a lease right now.

[Crafty_]

M140i

[Jim AK]

Crafty_ said:

M140i

^^This^^

Despite my possibly irrational loathing of BMW products!

[Towilluk]

Crafty_ said:

M140i

Yes the BMW is tempting. I worked for BMW for 12yrs and was given a new car every 3 months, so have had them all, and the BMW is hard to fault. Since leaving the MT I have had an Audi (disappointing) and the Golf which has exceeded my expectations although they were low going into the purchase. I just figured that there is more to life than BMW but when I need/want a non front wheel drive car he options are limited.

[Jonno02]

If I was leasing, it would have to be a stellar deal to get me back into the same metal. There's so many cars to try and at 2 years a pop, you can't really go wrong.

[Crafty_]

Towilluk said:

Yes the BMW is tempting. I worked for BMW for 12yrs and was given a new car every 3 months, so have had them all, and the BMW is hard to fault. Since leaving the MT I have had an Audi (disappointing) and the Golf which has exceeded my expectations although they were low going into the purchase. I just figured that there is more to life than BMW but when I need/want a non front wheel drive car he options are limited.

Personally I found it better than the golf, which was a bit cheap on the inside and poorly thought out. the BMW seems much more involving.

You're far more experienced in BMWs than me, so you have a pretty good idea of what you're getting.

Chances are that if you don't do it now in 2 years time it'll be fwd or haldex 4wd, so if you fancy a rwd hatch best do it with the current model..

[damiank250]

Evening , I'm in exactly the same predicament, my pcp ends sept 17 had the golf r over 36 months . Current values indicate I will be handing the car back due to the depreciation leaving no equity as a deposit on my next car and therefore need to start looking for my next one. Currently pay £243 a month ideally want to be paying no more than £300.

Mrs has a leased qashqai for her work and dog transport so don't need a nig car but occasionally dogs will be in mine

Ideally I want a hatchback for boot access

Brief thoughts and ideas are

1) Audi A5 sport back sline
2) scirocco r line (had a diesel before the golf for 3 years when I was doing 20k mileage a year )
3) golf Gtd

Annual mileage is 12k so siding towards going back towards diesel.

Advice welcome

[Towilluk]

damiank250 said:

Evening , I'm in exactly the same predicament, my pcp ends sept 17 had the golf r over 36 months . Current values indicate I will be handing the car back due to the depreciation leaving no equity as a deposit on my next car and therefore need to start looking for my next one. Currently pay £243 a month ideally want to be paying no more than £300.

Mrs has a leased qashqai for her work and dog transport so don't need a nig car but occasionally dogs will be in mine

Ideally I want a hatchback for boot access

Brief thoughts and ideas are

1) Audi A5 sport back sline
2) scirocco r line (had a diesel before the golf for 3 years when I was doing 20k mileage a year )
3) golf Gtd

Annual mileage is 12k so siding towards going back towards diesel.

Advice welcome

There are some cheap lease quotes about on BMW 3 series GT and 4 series GC at the moment, both 2.0l petrol and 2.0l diesel, with low amount in and circa £300 PCM that look pretty good at the moment

[Crafty_]

For BMW call Park Lane and speak to Mo Qadeer, tell him I sent you.

Or try TRL over on BabyBMW.

[GTID]

In the very same predicament myself. Been such a good all rounder without ever excelling at anything in particular. Will be missed but looking forward to something else all the same.

I'm looking at 182/197 Clio's for a cheap hot hatch fix and to free up some money each month, love Renaultsports and the fact you can get decent examples of those for £3-4k is tempting.

But, the deals on the M140i by the said dealers above look very tempting. Even a decent spec on 10k miles a year isn't too much more than what I've been paying on the golf.

Decisions decisions...

[Tonsko]

There is going to be a stack of ex-lease Golf Rs hitting the market soon eh?

[exelero]

Tonsko said:

There is going to be a stack of ex-lease Golf Rs hitting the market soon eh?

Yes, red ones

[Crafty_]

There was some suggestion a little while back that it would even be enough to hit residuals.

Either way, there are likely to be a lot of basic spec cars that have been used and abused out there soon. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[Tonsko]

When I was chatting to the salesman when I bought the Scirocco, he was saying something about one or two leasing companies are trying to charge more for the Golf Rs mid agreement or near the end because the deals were too cheap. I kind of dismissed this as hearsay, but could it happen?

[spookly]

Tonsko said:

When I was chatting to the salesman when I bought the Scirocco, he was saying something about one or two leasing companies are trying to charge more for the Golf Rs mid agreement or near the end because the deals were too cheap. I kind of dismissed this as hearsay, but could it happen?

No, he is talking b0llocks. The lease contract price is fixed up front when you sign it, and the terms cannot be varied.
The only way they *could* try and scrape more money out of you is by being extremely pedantic on return condition.

[PixelpeepS3]

Was in the same position a few months back, had a 5 door DSG R that i was paying £303 a month for inc maintenance.

I chose the S3 s-tronic - i don't think i got a particularly good deal (5 door sportback 3x23 6000mpa maintenance and met paint £343) but i was running out of options.

The S3 is better equipped in some areas, sounds better and feels a bit nicer but..

standard seats (heated leather) are too plastic and far far too wide with little side bolster support, i find myself sliding around in the seat when being enthusiastic.

Plus, coming from the R which as it turns out is quite well spec'd i noticed with the S3;

- no parking sensors as standard
- no folding mirrors as standard
- no dimming rear view mirror as standard
- no auto hold as standard
- no adaptive cruise as standard

But it does have Nav and heated leather... go figure.

If it was noticeably quicker than the R i would forgive everything else, but it isn't. (not a shock when they both have the same engine lol)

Basically - if the R sounded like the S3, and it had Nav as standard it would be a much better car.

I wouldn't get an S3 if i had the choice again, i would either go for another R (yes, they are that good) or try and stretch to an RS3

[Towilluk]

exelero said:

Yes, red ones

Yep mine is red, I think it looks quite well in red.

Notice the comments on the S3, which is interesting as that would have been one of the obvious routes from the R, and as the R is standard with Nav the spec is good.

[exelero]

I only said red because I think most of these cars I see are either red or white, but the red dominates . It looks quite good in red, but there are way too many