Feeling a little left behind.....

[Ceefeesh]

Yours is a great example. TBH I see no reason to change at that sort of age / condition / mileage with prices and lead times being as they are at the moment.

My GTD is 3.5 years old now. But it's got extended warranty and service plan and in many ways still feels like a new car.

Thanks, I have one service (oil change/inspection) left on a plan and I bought an extended 1yr warranty last week, which starts at the end of the month. It’s really about taking the opportunity to limit depreciation, maybe! Also perhaps feeling a little left behind, too.

[willni]

My questions would be do you actually want to change your car or is it a bit of herd mentality, because everyone else is? What did the Tiguan have that your current GTI doesn't?

Give it to the end of summer to think about it, there's always demand for a very high specification car like yours it took me 3 years to find my GTI and it doesn't have all your toys! Besides there's a Tiguan R now, if you give it 2 years you might be able to pick up an ex-demo on a great deal

Also have you considered going for a cheap but nice daily and little weekend project eg a used Tiguan and a Honda S2000 to have the best of both worlds?

[Guzzle]

Yours is a great example. TBH I see no reason to change at that sort of age / condition / mileage with prices and lead times being as they are at the moment.

My GTD is 3.5 years old now. But it's got extended warranty and service plan and in many ways still feels like a new car.

Thanks, I have one service (oil change/inspection) left on a plan and I bought an extended 1yr warranty last week, which starts at the end of the month. It’s really about taking the opportunity to limit depreciation, maybe! Also perhaps feeling a little left behind, too.

When I look at the problems people are having in the Mk8 forum, I don't feel left behind at all. Happy to bide my time, until things work properly.

A new car will depreciate faster than your current one.

[Yusee]

The 2 questions I would ask are
1. Do you still enjoy driving it?
2. Does it still do what you need it to do?

It wouldn’t bother me in the least that others have moved on.

The drive to work is still a highlight of my day. It’s a very enjoyable car to drive.

I don’t think the mk8 is a better car- all things considered- but maybe owners who have had both would take a different view.

[Splashalot]

I don’t think the mk8 is a better car- all things considered- but maybe owners who have had both would take a different view.

[/quote]

When I look at the problems people are having in the Mk8 forum, I don't feel left behind at all. Happy to bide my time, until things work properly.

A new car will depreciate faster than your current one.
[/quote]



May I suggest these two gentlemen(?) have nailed it?

Edit: Apologies for the clumsy quoting - hopefully you get my drift.

[Crockers]

I have a Mk7 PP. coming up to 5 years old with 21k on the clock. As my old stepfather used to say….the best car is a paid for car. In the last year just under a 1000 miles. So I intend to take out the VW care package and keep it. Why buy another one to see the money pouring down the drain. 🤣

[Hertsman]

My lease runs out Oct 2022 and have to choose its replacement March >April 2022 but have decided going to keep the TCR if the price is acceptable (from research, no reason it should not be)

Reasons are this:

BIK: It used to be acceptable, always thought of as the whole of what you pay for pleasure of a fully inclusively managed car and given the company lease price itself has always been quite competitive, BIK was accepted, but it was more reluctantly this go around and think its tipped into being too onerous a cost and going solo in taxing, insurance etc will be a decent saving

Next Car: The cars would want to replace the TCR to make them feel a little more special and match the feeling of the TCR would be a pretty significant uplift, well into mid 40's, to either a CS or an R with performance pack, or an S3 or A35 AMG, or something similar.

Will say that love the CS with extras and the performance pack and Akra MK 8 R and really like the ED 45 but they are way way above what paid for the TCR,

Thats the cost aspect, there is more so, would any of these cars give me the feeling of being in something a little bit different, which has the styling just as would draw it up if selecting a car? The pure grey, reifnitz, Akrapovic (which got as a freebie), 90% tints and TCR bits and pieces in trim make it a decent car to walk up to, and then you add in the near 300 BHP and the evolved state of the MK 7.5 then its a good question as why change?

With Covid, miles have dropped, so instead of the usual 28-30k that rack up in 3 years, its looking like 29-21k at 3 years, so thats more in the reason to stick pile.

So in all ways look at it, no reason to change this time around, something not done for 15 years, have always changed.

When sum it up, think its more to do with having the TCR, and might think differently if had an R as getting another R would be seen as an evolution, where moving from TCR feels like letting something go for something that has less feeling and costs more.

[Adam T7]

Mines 30 months old, 10700 miles - all done by me - I’ll be keeping it for a considerable time yet.
Still brings a smile to my face every time I drive it.

[Exonian]

Andrew, there are plenty of good sound opinions posted here.
I’ve known you since the Mk5 days, different user names and forums back then, but I do have a good idea of the type of car you purchase (not quite the very top end model of each generation but one loaded with optional toys). Plus I know you’re not a boy racer, choosing luxury items above outright performance.

I think maybe you should sprout a third ear for another option but alas I don’t think you’re really programmed that way.

Ear #1
Ever since the dawn of civilisation Golf GTIs have been bought by a huge range of people. Many of those people are totally disinterested in big turbos and crackling exhausts but instead take much pride in their totally standard car. That’s part of the great thing about owning sporty Golfs, that array of differing owners and their view on how they want their own car to be. It’s great that these cars are filtering down to younger people who have their own demands and who ultimately keep the demand for the cars going through the years and making sure the heritage doesn’t suddenly fizzle out.
But you don’t have to have a stage 15 remap, full decat and an air filter the size of a last century British Gas storage tank.
A quick look at GE90’s car (he’s now selling it and the parts) shows how a tastefully modified GTI can be done with a mix of OEM and attractive aftermarket bits the nice way.
The 7.5 GTI is in my experience the pinnacle of modern looks versus heritage.

Ear #2
What does a mk8 GTI offer you that the mk7 doesn’t? Dynamically you’re not the type to ever really appreciate the minor chassis improvements, they’re subtle as the 7.5 was already very well honed.
You like gadgets but I’d imagine you’d like them to work properly though.
You like the idea of a sporty looking SUV though so…

How about becoming a pioneer of sorts and grabbing the future by the nadgers?
In your shoes I’d be looking at one of these, or better still keeping the 7 until the ID.3 equivalent hits the road.

https://youtu.be/Eqqh7gQ9qWY

You have heaps of disposable income, nobody to leave your millions to and won’t live forever (probably) so why the hell not?
Besides, how cool would your username look on an EV forum? 

Ear #3
I seriously think you’re far too ultra-conservative, but I’d be cashing in the company pension, heading out the office door with my gold watch saying “ciao, adios, I’m done” and living a little bit.
Balls to over complicated next generation cars, balls to work and all the crap and idiots that come with it, balls to people on the Internet with big turbos that I have nothing in common with, and hello great outdoors, camera in hand, fresh air in lungs and making the best of every moment of every day before the reaper comes looking.




Anyway, see you in the mk8 section soon… 

[Sootchucker]

I have to say Exonian - that gave me a real chuckle.

So I'm an ultra conservative boring old fart that like to sit on his fortune (if only) 

Don't get me wrong I love performance (at the right time and in the right place), but to me (and just to me), it's not the be all and end all. Yes I like my toys and luxury, and that's mainly because out of the 17,500 miles on the GTI, about 16,000 of them have been done on my regular commute to and from work sat in traffic or on slow moving motorways, so whether the cars' got 230ps, 320ps (or even 150ps for that matter), most of the time doesn't actually mean anything. Couple that with speed cameras, average speed controlled motorways etc. and the opportunities for really pushing the performance of something like a MK8 Clubsport or R would be minimal at best. I'm not usually the sort to take off on a Sunday morning for a blast around Wales for instance. But like i say, for overtaking, and where it's safe and legal to do so, performance can be addictive (just for a very small proportion of the time)

Reason I've tended to go for GTD's, GTIs', Scirocco's etc, isn't really anything to do with ultimate performance but rather looks and equipment. I I always wanted VW to do a sort of GTI lite - the Looks and handling of a GTI but with a smaller less powerful engine. Unfortunately as we have seen getting something like a Golf R-Line then spec'ing it to the same levels of equipment as a GTI is usually a lesson in futility and often costs more money than just buying the performance model in the first place.   

As I'm an old fart (as Exonian kindly pointed out), I've had my fair share of nice cars from 80's hot hatches, to Saab Turbos, to Jags, a Lexus, Toyota MR2, Celica and Gen 2 Supra, then to my current run with VW (now at 16 years). I started a thread (last year I believe) on the ages of the members on here, as I felt at the time, that i may start to look a bit ridiculous at nearly 60 driving a GTI, and that perhaps I should now be in something more suitable to my age. What that thread taught me there were more "mature" drivers of GTD's, GTI's and R's on the forum that I could have ever imagined, so I feel more secure now driving whatever i want.

I know that within the next 3-5 years I'll have no choice but to go EV if I want a new car, but my personal opinion is we are not there yet. Range needs to get better, charging speeds better and prices lowered for EV's to become mainstream. Also (where I live at least) the charging infrastructure needs to get much better. VW's first efforts with the ID.3 and ID.4 are decent enough first attempts but not really for me (yet), but who knows, maybe the 2nd Gen models will be much more appealing. It would afterall be nice as pointed out to be a member on an EV forum with a user name "Sootchucker"