ID.3 - looks promising.

[Lucas Ayde]

Quite a comprehensive Autogefühl review up:

https://youtu.be/XZxAeMBtoSg

... didn't realise it was RWD/rear 'engine'.

Definitely a promising start into 'pure' EVs for VW.

[Burwood]

Lucas Ayde said:

Quite a comprehensive Autogefühl review up:

https://youtu.be/XZxAeMBtoSg

... didn't realise it was RWD/rear 'engine'.

Definitely a promising start into 'pure' EVs for VW.

The car looks good but the software is a shower, allegedly

[Burwood]

DDg said:

Watched this yesterday. Apart from the nice drive, he seemed to be very critical of the cheap plastics, the poor UI.

In a few years (5) they'll be decent cars but at £40K, meh. The ID.3 has been rushed to market (we know why) and it shows. The bigger battery version with a good spec will be over 45k. And i'd also worry about residuals on this early sub par variant. Do you trust that VW will solve the software issues quickly?

[Burwood]

DDg said:

Burwood said:

In a few years (5) they'll be decent cars but at £40K, meh. The ID.3 has been rushed to market (we know why) and it shows. The bigger battery version with a good spec will be over 45k. And i'd also worry about residuals on this early sub par variant. Do you trust that VW will solve the software issues quickly?

Agree to all that.

I'm really surprised a company with the resources of VW have seemingly screwed things up. When just north of £40k buys a Model 3, and nearing £50k buys the Volvo, why would you want the VW if they end up in that region? I eventually ditched the idea and got my deposit back.

i had my name down too but when i read the UK was not getting the better spec i cancelled.

We have had VAG cars for ever, well, 2006 when I had a bad run on BMWs and for the first time i'm wondering if we should stick with them for a number of reasons.

Reviewer said:
From launch, British buyers will only be offered the 1st Edition Plus version of the ID.3 - set to be priced from around £39,000 before any government incentives, but with one or two features missing from day one. Software updates for features such as the head-up-display parking assistance and smartphone app connectivity will be available to download not long after the first cars hit the road. Cheap interior materials, missing functions from launch and the continued absence of the cheaper 45kWh version mean that the ID.3 has some areas to address in order to deliver its promises in full.

Edited by Burwood on Monday 27th July 14:16

[Dr G]

I would rather own a VW than a Volvo or Tesla and I don't think I'm alone in that. The market accepts that a VW is more expensive than a Nissan and even a Leaf new is well over 30k. I don't find the pricing objectionable, all things considered (it was never going to be the price of a basic Golf).

If you want to be an early adopter of any product there's risk associated with that (as well as reward) and virtually all cars are updated, improved, and facelifted through their lifespan. This won't be that much different to an ICE car (say the "MK1" suffers head gasket issues) that is both facelifted and improved for reliability. The newer the tech the greater the risk.

As I say, this launch isn't so far departed from the launch of any other product but it's more public and viewed as more important so will get more media coverage and more naysayers in the comments.

My two penneth

[legless]

Dr G said:

As I say, this launch isn't so far departed from the launch of any other product but it's more public and viewed as more important so will get more media coverage and more naysayers in the comments.

I've been involved with at least 2 cars that were delayed at the last minute by >12 months because they failed crash testing. A bit of software with reduced functionality for a few weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Having also seen the first few weeks and months of a new model build from multiple manufacturers, there's also no way I'd put my own money towards a car that was in the first 12 months of its production cycle. You see issues on the assembly lines as basic as wiring harnesses being too short to reach the socket they're supposed to connect into, bad tolerance stacking causing trim pieces not to fit properly and many parts being received from suppliers 'out of spec'. Give it 12 months to iron the gremlins out and most cars are fine after that.

[Burwood]

legless said:

Dr G said:

As I say, this launch isn't so far departed from the launch of any other product but it's more public and viewed as more important so will get more media coverage and more naysayers in the comments.

I've been involved with at least 2 cars that were delayed at the last minute by >12 months because they failed crash testing. A bit of software with reduced functionality for a few weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Having also seen the first few weeks and months of a new model build from multiple manufacturers, there's also no way I'd put my own money towards a car that was in the first 12 months of its production cycle. You see issues on the assembly lines as basic as wiring harnesses being too short to reach the socket they're supposed to connect into, bad tolerance stacking causing trim pieces not to fit properly and many parts being received from suppliers 'out of spec'. Give it 12 months to iron the gremlins out and most cars are fine after that.

I’ve been in that boat several times. Tiny trim issues which ‘they’ have always gone out of their way to Not fix for no charge. And that’s the issue.