RE: PH Fleet: VW Golf GTI Edition 35

[davidcharles]

Reardy Mister said:

toppstuff said:

In PH journalist land it is easy to think how nice a loan car given to them is. But what i would like to know, is that if the writer had £34,000 in his bank account right now, how differently would he feel about it ?

Absolutely this. ^^

..yeah agreed...if we were all given £34k i am not sure THAT many would buy this golf. Does seem to be the price of "limited edition" hatches these days so you can't blame VW really....gone are the days of buying a decent, cheap car.

[toppstuff]

Someone spooling around in a Skoda Octavia VRS, ex-demo with all the toys for perhaps £16000, is not exactly much worse off in the driving experience are they?

They would also be infinitely wiser than the fool who spends £34k on a Golf which provides an all too-similar driving experience.

You look at this and you think, what could I do with the money saved ???

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3553006.htm

Edited by toppstuff on Wednesday 18th January 13:37

[aka_kerrly]

davidcharles said:

..yeah agreed...if we were all given £34k i am not sure THAT many would buy this golf. Does seem to be the price of "limited edition" hatches these days so you can't blame VW really....gone are the days of buying a decent, cheap car.

So you need a car that you can use for work, weekend jollies, family/friend activities and you have £34k to spend on a BRAND NEW car so none of this rubbish about buying a 5 year old M3 or 10 year old Porsche you are left with:

Audi S3 £31k
BMW 135 £34k
Ford RS Focus £35k new yet ones that are 6months old are £25k - OUCH
Renault Sport Megane £28k

So yes you are paying a premium for the Golf but it isn't the £10K+ that some people seem to think it is.

[Cotic]

Cassius81 said:

Good write up. Don't like the colour (a personal taste thing) but otherwise am a fan of these. Will stick with the Mk V for the moment though.

Interested in that economy figure - I get circa 32-34mpg out of mine in mixed use, and I thought the newer cars were meant to be more efficient? Heavy right foot on the autoroute perhaps?

I'm guessing it's more to do with the fact he was four-up, with luggage, on draggy winter tyres...

...and I'm guessing that the Autoroute stretches weren't taken at a steady 110kph...

[Riggers]

Cotic said:

I'm guessing it's more to do with the fact he was four-up, with luggage, on draggy winter tyres...

...and I'm guessing that the Autoroute stretches weren't taken at a steady 110kph...

Not telling...

[miniandy]

toppstuff said:

Someone spooling around in a Skoda Octavia VRS, ex-demo with all the toys for perhaps £16000, is not exactly much worse off in the driving experience are they?

They would also be infinitely wiser than the fool who spends £34k on a Golf which provides an all too-similar driving experience.

You look at this and you think, what could I do with the money saved ???

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3553006.htm

Edited by toppstuff on Wednesday 18th January 13:37

Spent it on a Golf? An Octavia isn't in the same league as a Golf, and the only similarities are that both get you from A to B. I wouldn't call the Golf buyer a fool, I'd probably congratulate him on doing what he wants with his own money. Foolish? His choice. As is yours.

[Deranged Granny]

toppstuff said:

Its nice.

But it is nearly THIRTY FOUR THOUSAND POUNDS !!!

Err yes, that notoriously round figure..

If it helps, the list price new was £31,030, as it says in the article.

[leghorn]

Riggers said:

That, although manifestly capable, and possessed of no notable flaws, it's somehow not daring or edgy enough to be appropriate for a true petrolhead.

+1
Had an GTi ED30 for a year - nice car, just didn't bond with it. No real vices, just a competent all-rounder. Got bored and went back to old school S3. In some ways not as good, but better!

[toppstuff]

miniandy said:

Spent it on a Golf? An Octavia isn't in the same league as a Golf, and the only similarities are that both get you from A to B.

What, apart from having essentially the same engine, same transmission and no doubt other assorted oily bits you mean?

[PhantomPH]

I've had a MkV DSG GTI and now have a MkVI DSG GTI and I agree with those that say the DSG is better in the MkVI. It's not a huge bound forwards, but there is definite evidence of the engineers tweaking and honing the same system as fitted to the MkV.

As for price, I bought a used absolute bargain - right place at the right time sort of thing - from a VW dealer and was able to save a lot of money on the 'new' cost. The only downside being the car had the standard option 17" alloys on, so I'm going to have to stump out for new ones...but that's personal choice.

The GTI is a genuine Jack of all trades...except the one where it goes easy on juice...it doesn't. Your right foot is definitely the master of the consumption and if you give it the beans a lot, you will think you've got a hole in your fuel tank.

[threespires]

How much ?
Phew.

[frosted]

Dave Hedgehog said:

generally more toys a big jump in material quality but the biggest gain is in emissions and fuel economy, i got 31mpg from a petrol 2.0 turbo A5 in heavy london traffic!!! and that does mid 6's my R32 only managed 15mpg in the same traffic

the mkVI also handles vastly better than the MKIV gti which is pretty well accepted as the worst golf platform

I get 26-30 mpg in London in passat tdi, at night it rises to 38-45 mpg . It all depends on the traffic

[miniandy]

toppstuff said:

essentially

That's it - essentially, not exactly. You're paying a premium for a premium product. Both of these cars will perform completely differently and each have their own positives and negatives, but they're not the same. It's like saying that a Nissan X-Trail is 'essentially' the same as a Megane because they use 'essentially' the same diesel engine.

[CDP]

Deranged Granny said:

Err yes, that notoriously round figure..

If it helps, the list price new was £31,030, as it says in the article.

It's still up against the Jaguar XF and I know which I would chose.

Should really be under £20K for the entry model, thirty grand is a joke. The Octavia shares an awful lot more than just engine and transmission with the Golf so I know what I'd pick. Skoda really are occupying the place VW should be in these days.

Pity really that JLR don't resurect Rover for an Evoke platform based Golf rival to increase their volume without hurting Jaguar's image.

[aka_kerrly]

CDP said:

It's still up against the Jaguar XF and I know which I would chose.

Should really be under £20K for the entry model, thirty grand is a joke. The Octavia shares an awful lot more than just engine and transmission with the Golf so I know what I'd pick. Skoda really are occupying the place VW should be in these days.

Pity really that JLR don't resurect Rover for an Evoke platform based Golf rival to increase their volume without hurting Jaguar's image.

Interesting point about the use of the Evoke platform.

The rest however, you seem to have forgotten about inflation/exchange rates, and that you can now spend over £20k on a Corsa or a Fiesta.

[toppstuff]

miniandy said:

That's it - essentially, not exactly. You're paying a premium for a premium product. Both of these cars will perform completely differently and each have their own positives and negatives, but they're not the same. It's like saying that a Nissan X-Trail is 'essentially' the same as a Megane because they use 'essentially' the same diesel engine.

When it comes to sharing of components and tech across multiple brands, I think you are kind of kidding yourself there, fella.

Make no mistake, VAG pay maximum effort to ensuring that when cars can share parts, they do. It is why the Golf is so profitable and why VAG is successful.

Do not get me wrong, I am not bashing the Golf - it is a very fine car.

But I think there is no doubt that the perception of increased "quality" and "prestige" of VW and Audi over other VAG brands is based more on marketing than substance. In fact, it is worth remembering that the best performing brand inside the whole VAG group in terms of reliability and customer satisfaction is Skoda.

The Golf is a very, very nice car. But the extra "quality" you paid for the brand is largely paying for an illusion. The Golf is no doubt better than an Octavia, but it sure is'nt 2x better.

[BBS-LM]

Change them bloody wheels for fk sake. Nice car but as most people are saying £35K is just ridiculous for a GTI, and there is mush better competition out there for the money, Focus RS is a BIG one of them.

Edited by BBS-LM on Wednesday 18th January 14:41

[nickfrog]

miniandy said:

toppstuff said:

essentially

That's it - essentially, not exactly. You're paying a premium for a premium product. Both of these cars will perform completely differently and each have their own positives and negatives, but they're not the same. It's like saying that a Nissan X-Trail is 'essentially' the same as a Megane because they use 'essentially' the same diesel engine.

Didn't realise that the Megane and X-trail shared the same platform ?

I have no problems with people paying a lot of money for what they perceive as a "premium" product but it drives literaly like the Octavia, unsurprisingly.

[mooseracer]

CDP said:

Should really be under £20K for the entry model, thirty grand is a joke. The Octavia shares an awful lot more than just engine and transmission with the Golf so I know what I'd pick. Skoda really are occupying the place VW should be in these days.

Why would VW want to place their products at the same price as Skoda, a brand they own?

[rllmuk]

aka_kerrly said:

So you need a car that you can use for work, weekend jollies, family/friend activities and you have £34k to spend on a BRAND NEW car so none of this rubbish about buying a 5 year old M3 or 10 year old Porsche you are left with:

Audi S3 £31k
BMW 135 £34k
Ford RS Focus £35k new yet ones that are 6months old are £25k - OUCH
Renault Sport Megane £28k

So yes you are paying a premium for the Golf but it isn't the £10K+ that some people seem to think it is.

Seat Leon Cupra R - £25k (which is all but identical, minus the DSG)

That's the VW premium.