How Much? Think we have bought our last VW.

[Watts]

I actually think cars are pretty reasonable price wise. When you think about all the parts involved, the manufacturing, cost of all the factories to run (bearing in mind parts will have been bought in from many different suppliers), painting, storage, transportation, shipping. Then all the various companies have to make a profit, the taxman takes a huge hit plus the German tax man. Then they have to cover the warranty and no doubt plenty of other costs I haven't thought of. To cover all of that and get such a well sorted car with excellent performance for £30ishK is a remarkable achievement! But would I pay £30k+ for a car? NO! 

[Jim_mk7.5]

I actually think cars are pretty reasonable price wise. When you think about all the parts involved, the manufacturing, cost of all the factories to run (bearing in mind parts will have been bought in from many different suppliers), painting, storage, transportation, shipping. Then all the various companies have to make a profit, the taxman takes a huge hit plus the German tax man. Then they have to cover the warranty and no doubt plenty of other costs I haven't thought of. To cover all of that and get such a well sorted car with excellent performance for £30ishK is a remarkable achievement! But would I pay £30k+ for a car? NO! 

I think when the fast Audi estates are circa £70k for the medium one and £85-90k for the larger one, a rapid, all wheel drive, up market hatch that cracks 60mph in nearly 4 secs is actually a bargain for £34k!

[trueblue_ips]

Appreciate in the US that GTI and R come in 3 options bundles I believe but the R is significantly more than the GTI over there despite lower prices overall. About $15,000 more I think. Both GTI and R are reasonable value I think given the standard spec and performance on offer.

[Jim_mk7.5]

Appreciate in the US that GTI and R come in 3 options bundles I believe but the R is significantly more than the GTI over there despite lower prices overall. About $15,000 more I think. Both GTI and R are reasonable value I think given the standard spec and performance on offer.

The OP is in Leeds not the US?! What's the price in the US got to do with anything or have I missed some posts?!

[golfgtiingillingeast]

We have had 10 to 12  new Golf GTI's / GTd's over the years from a mk1 1600 GTI to our mk 7.5 PP GTI. In all of those's years we never considered a VR6 or R32 as we thought they were very expensive. What as the best ?
1."R" for out and out performance, poor MPG.
2. mk 7.5 pp all round brilliance.
3. mk 1 1600 GTI nostalgia.
4. Off all the 5 GTD's all round good cars brilliant mpg good performance. Slightly boring compared to the R and the PP

[trueblue_ips]

Appreciate in the US that GTI and R come in 3 options bundles I believe but the R is significantly more than the GTI over there despite lower prices overall. About $15,000 more I think. Both GTI and R are reasonable value I think given the standard spec and performance on offer.

The OP is in Leeds not the US?! What's the price in the US got to do with anything or have I missed some posts?!

The OP is stating that R is now too expensive. My point is that the premium paid here for an R over a GTI and other golfs is low relative to other territories like the US.

[trueblue_ips]

We have had 10 to 12  new Golf GTI's / GTd's over the years from a mk1 1600 GTI to our mk 7.5 PP GTI. In all of those's years we never considered a VR6 or R32 as we thought they were very expensive. What as the best ?
1."R" for out and out performance, poor MPG.
2. mk 7.5 pp all round brilliance.
3. mk 1 1600 GTI nostalgia.
4. Off all the 5 GTD's all round good cars brilliant mpg good performance. Slightly boring compared to the R and the PP

Is the R mpg much worse than the GTI? I thought it was around just 1 mpg worse when driven "sensibly"?
I would be interested to hear otherwise as I am now trying to choose between an R and loaded GTI. Mpg not a massive factor as I only do about 3K a year mostly in stop start traffic but it would be something to consider if there is a bigger gap. Currently leaning towards GTI PP.

[Jim_mk7.5]

Appreciate in the US that GTI and R come in 3 options bundles I believe but the R is significantly more than the GTI over there despite lower prices overall. About $15,000 more I think. Both GTI and R are reasonable value I think given the standard spec and performance on offer.

The OP is in Leeds not the US?! What's the price in the US got to do with anything or have I missed some posts?!

The OP is stating that R is now too expensive. My point is that the premium paid here for an R over a GTI and other golfs is low relative to other territories like the US.

See what your saying 

[golfgtiingillingeast]

We  bought the "R" as our main car, with an advertised mpg of 40 mpg. We drove it quite lightly and got approx 30 mpg. It's too soon to compare the GTI pp, as it's our second car but I hope the GTI pp will do mid to high 30's mpg. I realise you do not buy a "R" for mpg. but getting 28 - 30 seemed a bit severe.

[monkeyhanger]

We have had 10 to 12  new Golf GTI's / GTd's over the years from a mk1 1600 GTI to our mk 7.5 PP GTI. In all of those's years we never considered a VR6 or R32 as we thought they were very expensive. What as the best ?
1."R" for out and out performance, poor MPG.
2. mk 7.5 pp all round brilliance.
3. mk 1 1600 GTI nostalgia.
4. Off all the 5 GTD's all round good cars brilliant mpg good performance. Slightly boring compared to the R and the PP

Is the R mpg much worse than the GTI? I thought it was around just 1 mpg worse when driven "sensibly"?
I would be interested to hear otherwise as I am now trying to choose between an R and loaded GTI. Mpg not a massive factor as I only do about 3K a year mostly in stop start traffic but it would be something to consider if there is a bigger gap. Currently leaning towards GTI PP.

MPG would not be a factor at all if I did 3k miles a year. If you are in perpetual gridlock, you might just scrape 20mpg in either car. On my relatively clear 20mile commute, my R  did 33-36mpg without being careful and using the full acceleration at a few places. Its 13 miles now (new job), and more like 30-32mpg. My Polo GTI+ does 34-36mpg on the same 13 mile commute. Not much penalty for an extra 100 horses and 4wd. Do remember that in real world driving, lack of real engine braking, heavier use of brakes and other factors make DSG about 10% thirstier than manual in same car.