VW Scirocco, Astra GTC or other suggestions

[Mo28]

I've gone through half of the finance approval for the Leon Cupra deal that was posted last night and have been sitting here for the last 2 hours trying to justify placing the order for one, but a couple of thoughts kept circling in my head.

The 14 weeks lead time for one with the likelihood of that increasing was very likely, how much of the 290 bhp can you even really use on the roads without losing you license and the muted sound of the car due to the GPF/OPF filter.

After doing a bit of man maths, the sensible thing to do is buy a car for £5k instead of spending a little under £6k to lease one for 2 years. Mileage wise, I am at the threshold for which I can justify going for a diesel, but I don't really have a preference.

I have narrowed down the search to either a Scirocco or Astra GTC (or other cars that people suggest). I have seen the cars below on autotrader that have stood out to me due to their specifications.
I am aware of the chocolate pistons the Scirocco's have as well as the timing chain issues in the 1.4/2.0 petrol's, but is there anything else that I should be looking out for either of these cars. Any current or previous owners out there that could shed some light on ownership of these two cars.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...


I would like to thank everyone in advance for taking their time out and helping.

[Don Roque]

The 1.7 CDTi in that GTC is a decent engine, being very tough and tractable. We have them in some of the Astras we have at work and they perform very well. That said, the 2.0 CDTi which is also available in the GTC is a better choice, being a little bit noisier but with more power.

I have a GTC 2.0 CDTi SRi which I love. I wasn't really a fan of Vauxhall until they brought out the Astra J, which was a massive step forward. Having done thousands of miles in J models, I had decided on the GTC for my own wheels. It's a great steer with that HiPer strut front suspension and little body roll.

I wouldn't rule out the Scirocco though you naturally get less bang for buck with the VW and I am not particularly a fan of DSG transmissions.

Aside from that, the Megane Coupe is worth a look. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those cars.

Edited by Don Roque on Tuesday 19th November 02:00

[Mo28]

Don Roque said:

The 1.7 CDTi in that GTC is a decent engine, being very tough and tractable. We have them in some of the Astras we have at work and they perform very well. That said, the 2.0 CDTi which is also available in the GTC is a better choice, being a little bit noisier but with more power.

I have a GTC 2.0 CDTi which I love. I wasn't really a fan of Vauxhall until they brought out the Astra J, which was a massive step forward. Having done thousands of miles in J models, I had decided on the GTC for my own wheels. It's a great steer with that HiPer strut front suspension and little body roll.

I wouldn't rule out the Scirocco though you naturally get less bang for buck with the VW and I am not particularly a fan of DSG transmissions.

Aside from that, the Megane Coupe is worth a look. I don't think you can go wrong with any of those cars.

Appreciate the help, do you have the turbine style alloys? Heard the tyres are pretty expensive to replace.

[ZX10R NIN]

The 2.0d Astra SRI would be my pick:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the 1.6T 180 petrol version:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the Alfa Giulietta Veloce 2.0d 170:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

1.4T 170

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

1.8T Coverleaf 235

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the Megane GT Line 180

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Don Roque]

Mo28 said:

Appreciate the help, do you have the turbine style alloys? Heard the tyres are pretty expensive to replace.

No, I don't have the turbine style alloys, I think they're really cool though. Mine is on 235/R18's, about £100 a corner for premium tyres. That said, mine had four new Nexen tyres fitted by the dealership when they supplied it, and they're actually pretty good despite my usual preference being for premium tyres. Certainly, I'm happy with them being on there whilst I wear them down.

Edited by Don Roque on Tuesday 19th November 02:26

[ED209]

The GTC is a very heavy car, wife had a 1.4 t 140hp and it was fairly crap on fuel and felt underpowered

[Mo28]

ED209 said:

The GTC is a very heavy car, wife had a 1.4 t 140hp and it was fairly crap on fuel and felt underpowered

I've heard this from other owners too, if I do go for a GTC it will be one of the diesel ones.

[culpz]

Honestly, I'd just stick with the Cupra. It's an outstanding deal that probably won't pop up again, not at that price anyway! I've got one on order currently on a cheap deal but not as cheap as these one that have suddenly appeared (sigh).

Apparently, they sound fairly quiet at the start but get louder and deeper with a few miles on them. From videos I've heard, they actually sound really good. 290 BHP is a lot but it's quite a decent all-round engine and can be frugal when not constantly on boost. Any modern, turbocharged petrol can get you into license-losing speeds fairly easily, in my experience, anyway.

If you're dead set on buying something for 5k, the Scirocco is a good bet (not biased at all). The 2.0 TSI is the best engine to go for and is actually quicker than the numbers suggest. Mine gets up to speed pretty fast, but that might be more to do with the DSG. Another consideration would be a Golf GTI.

[Mo28]

culpz said:

Honestly, I'd just stick with the Cupra. It's an outstanding deal that probably won't pop up again, not at that price anyway! I've got one on order currently on a cheap deal but not as cheap as these one that have suddenly appeared (sigh).

Apparently, they sound fairly quiet at the start but get louder and deeper with a few miles on them. From videos I've heard, they actually sound really good. 290 BHP is a lot but it's quite a decent all-round engine and can be frugal when not constantly on boost. Any modern, turbocharged petrol can get you into license-losing speeds fairly easily, in my experience, anyway.

If you're dead set on buying something for 5k, the Scirocco is a good bet (not biased at all). The 2.0 TSI is the best engine to go for and is actually quicker than the numbers suggest. Mine gets up to speed pretty fast, but that might be more to do with the DSG. Another consideration would be a Golf GTI.

The 14 weeks wait is a big deal for me and there's the possibility of that being longer. I am currently without a car and the latest I can go without a car is end of Jan.

What's it like on fuel and other consumables, I've just come out of a C200 coupe which would never get better than 25 mpg and paying £60 a week on fuel and not getting more than 230 miles out it started to get boring real quick.

[anonymous-user]

we had an Astra 2.0 GTC CDTi for 3 years and are taking delivery of a 2.0 GT Scirroco on friday

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 19th November 20:58

[Mo28]

catweasle said:

we had an Astra 2.0 GTC CDTi for 3 years and are taking delivery of a 2.0 GT Scirroco on friday

Edited by catweasle on Tuesday 19th November 20:58

What made you change?

[Danm1les]

I would strongly steer clear of the 1.4TSI engine in anything. We had it in a Scirocco thinking oh it'll be fine they can't all be that bad, 2 weeks of ownership it let go at 60,000 miles and then £2k later it was back with a full engine rebuild.

[anonymous-user]

Mo28 said:

What made you change?

No one big reason, wife drove it mainly and didn't want another. I never found a comfortable driving position, the electronic handbrake let itself off on numerous occasions so we always left it in gear, likewise the engine stop / start which was no fun if it cut out when pulling out of a junction and you had to turn ignition off and then restart! and local dealerships wasn't the most user friendly, in fact it has now closed I believe.

All in all we wouldn't have another.

[Mo28]

For the Scirocco I would be going for either the 2.0 TSI or 2.0 TDI, definitely be avoiding the 1.4 TSI.

I am currently favouring the Scirocco over the GTC at the moment, also helps that the Scirocco has better residuals.

[Jonesy1972]

Mo28 said:

The 14 weeks wait is a big deal for me and there's the possibility of that being longer. I am currently without a car and the latest I can go without a car is end of Jan.

What's it like on fuel and other consumables, I've just come out of a C200 coupe which would never get better than 25 mpg and paying £60 a week on fuel and not getting more than 230 miles out it started to get boring real quick.

Had a 2.0TSI SCIROCCO on PCH for 18mths. Average mpg (from MFD) with mixed driving, A/B roads and dual carriageway to and from work (64 mile round trip) is 42mpg (I’ve covered 24k miles). I think it’s a pretty good engine that, as said previously feels a little quicker than stated figures. I’ll miss it when it goes back next March.

Jonesy

[Mo28]

Jonesy1972 said:

Had a 2.0TSI SCIROCCO on PCH for 18mths. Average mpg (from MFD) with mixed driving, A/B roads and dual carriageway to and from work (64 mile round trip) is 42mpg (I’ve covered 24k miles). I think it’s a pretty good engine that, as said previously feels a little quicker than stated figures. I’ll miss it when it goes back next March.

Jonesy

So you've probably go the facelift one then, I'm looking at the pre facelift, so around 2010/2011 for my budget which is chain driven.

[drgoatboy]

I had a TDI 170 scirocco for a couple of years.
Generally I really liked the car. Plenty fast enough in most conditions and was a surprisingly fun steer. A had a red one and the paint match between the plastic and the metals panels was horrendous so i would steer clear of red ones. VW could never fix it although they resprayed them twice. I also didnt find the seats very comfortable but that's obviously a personal thing.
Adaptive dampers was a nice touch but hardly ever out of comfort mode.
Bluetooth wasnt standard on early cars and is expensive to add the official unit afterwards.
Mpg I recall being pretty good and the engine even sounded ok for a diesel (although I believe has a sound enhancer of some description that some dont like)

[Don Roque]

catweasle said:

likewise the engine stop / start which was no fun if it cut out when pulling out of a junction and you had to turn ignition off and then restart!

I've never had this issue in any of the Astra J's I've driven, but I have had the stop/start get confused by double de-clutching at lower speeds before, leading to it cutting the power. I usually just switch it off anyway - the 'ECO' button on the dash switches stop/start on and off and doesn't affect anything else. In my GTC I only use the stop/start for battery check, and often switch it off too. It makes so little difference to fuel economy that it might as well not exist. I spend very little time in traffic though, and I'm not bothered about tailpipe emissions.