Walked into VW dealer, and was surrounded by Vauxhalls

[P6GTD]

Let’s all be super positive and say that VW is distinguished primarily by its Performance Golfs and Polos.

Like a brand within a brand (and no, I don’t mean the R-Line labels either!!!!).

[JB GTI]

My OH is changing her Lupo which we've had from new for a Fiat 500. Oh the horror! Or so I thought. We had a look at them a couple of weeks ago and compared with VW offerings, they seemed really good. The interiors were very nice, stylish and of a decent quality. Was a bit of an eye opener tbh.

My wife has had 3 Fiat 500’s They are great little city cars. Never had an issue with any of them and would recommend one in a heartbeat! Ironically, we decided to move back to VW for her new car and bought a 3 month old Polo R Line. IMHO it looks great and has decent kit as standard but best of all it’s still completely ICE and mild hybrid free🥳 a rarity these days!!
our daughter has just bought her first house and the 500 is definitely not a regular motorway car so she wanted something a little bigger.
I can’t see me moving back to a Golf or VW anytime soon either for all the same reasons already posted. I’ve been in a Volvo XC40 Ultimate since last year and absolutely love it. So glad I didn’t get the Tiguan R Line. It just seemed a little too affected by cost cutting measures everywhere 🤷‍♂️
Strange times

[fredgroves]

Let’s all be super positive and say that VW is distinguished primarily by its Performance Golfs and Polos.

Like a brand within a brand (and no, I don’t mean the R-Line labels either!!!!).

It is, but for how much longer?

Unless the EU change their policy on fining car makers for not meeting BEV production target percentages, you will utlimately run into not being able to buy an ICE performance VW simply because VW won't be allowed to produce them above a certain number.... because the fines will be too much. In the UK the fine is £15,000 per vehicle sold over the limit...

This year's objective on the mandate is 22% of vehicle sales as BEV:

If you read this then you'll see VW are in a lot of trouble in 2024:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-13837315/ZEV-mandate-targets-manufacturers-clear-falling-behind.html

I would say, don't count on VW selling you an ICE car pretty soon...

[Watts]

OH's Lupo being replaced by a Fiat 500, never thought something like that would happen. Placed an order today, due mid December for one sat at the docks. Drove very well.

[Exonian]

What colour is the 500 Watts? They do some really nice colours.
My neighbour has a Hi-Viz yellow/green Abarth which looks amazing, sounds great too, although some of the other neighbours disagree!


As for the original post, aren’t all Vauxhalls now Stellantis clones? I happened to be passing the local(ish) VW dealer the other day, I saw a brand new Golf R black edition on its way off the forecourt, not sure whether it was a customer pickup or PDI test drive or whatever but it looked pretty distinctive, was running an Akra exhaust too so not something you’d see on a Vauxhall. The showroom itself had a few nice looking cars, new Tiguan and Passat both quite distinctive sitting in pride of place.
The fit and finish in my two mk8’s have been fine. Yeah, some of the plastics look a bit cheaper but mostly because they’re a dark grey and not black, a bit like comparing a mk4 and mk5 Golf interior.
I had one of the first F40 BMW 1 series, a late 2019 car which felt superior inside in almost every way than any of my mk7 and 7.5 Golfs. I’ve seen more recent examples of newer 1 series BMW’s and they too have slipped as regards to interior niceties. Cost cutting is everywhere in the industry alongside “more sustainable” car interior components. One either has to pick a car that’s not going to be subject to over the air updates and digital everything (and a mk7(.5) Golf is an ideal base for this, or just move with the times.
It’s the price of cars that’s the biggest hurdle now, not just huge inflationary hikes and high interest rates, but also the amount of legislated in “safety” gear which also comes at a cost.
A case of stick or twist.

[Watts]

What colour is the 500 Watts? They do some really nice colours.
My neighbour has a Hi-Viz yellow/green Abarth which looks amazing, sounds great too, although some of the other neighbours disagree!


As for the original post, aren’t all Vauxhalls now Stellantis clones? I happened to be passing the local(ish) VW dealer the other day, I saw a brand new Golf R black edition on its way off the forecourt, not sure whether it was a customer pickup or PDI test drive or whatever but it looked pretty distinctive, was running an Akra exhaust too so not something you’d see on a Vauxhall. The showroom itself had a few nice looking cars, new Tiguan and Passat both quite distinctive sitting in pride of place.
The fit and finish in my two mk8’s have been fine. Yeah, some of the plastics look a bit cheaper but mostly because they’re a dark grey and not black, a bit like comparing a mk4 and mk5 Golf interior.
I had one of the first F40 BMW 1 series, a late 2019 car which felt superior inside in almost every way than any of my mk7 and 7.5 Golfs. I’ve seen more recent examples of newer 1 series BMW’s and they too have slipped as regards to interior niceties. Cost cutting is everywhere in the industry alongside “more sustainable” car interior components. One either has to pick a car that’s not going to be subject to over the air updates and digital everything (and a mk7(.5) Golf is an ideal base for this, or just move with the times.
It’s the price of cars that’s the biggest hurdle now, not just huge inflationary hikes and high interest rates, but also the amount of legislated in “safety” gear which also comes at a cost.
A case of stick or twist.

She's gone for the basics including the inclusive colour, Sicilian Orange. It was what she wanted so not compromised. They had a blue and a yellow electric Abarth, both looked great but as you mentioned above, the prices are mad! £38k for the Abarth. They also had a big Jeep, quite smart looking but final price if financed was £103k!! It's just unbelievable, I feel like I'm stuck in a different world, just can't get to grips with the cost of what looks to me as fairly mundane stuff.

[Exonian]

Good to see she’s gone for one of the funky colours, it all adds to the character.
Whats happening to the Lupo?
I think the 500 is one of very few cars that are actually affordable to regular human beings now, especially on a finance package.

How easy is it to get a Golf R (as an example) to £60k now? Too easy! I dread to think what a PCP on a loaded one would cost, and if you can afford to throw £60k cash into one then I dread to think what the depreciation is like. Even regular GTI’s are easy to spec up to £45k+
Having and keeping a mk7 Golf would be a prudent move. The grass isn’t always greener.

[Watts]

Good to see she’s gone for one of the funky colours, it all adds to the character.
Whats happening to the Lupo?
I think the 500 is one of very few cars that are actually affordable to regular human beings now, especially on a finance package.

We need to find a new home for the Lupo, offered a silly amount for it given it's condition, 57k miles with a full service history and a cambelt and alternator this year. Having said that it might end up as a rushed webuyanycar job at the last minute...

[Exonian]

That would be snapped up as a private purchase in the classifieds.
If I had somewhere to park it and didn’t live a zillion miles from you…


Correction to my previous statement on mk8 interior being grey, it’s actually more black than grey having spent 10 minutes sat in mine in daylight outside the dentists. I think it’s because there’s an abundance of grey trim making it all feel grey. It’s black, just like a mk7 only in Vauxhall black not VW black 😁

[P6GTD]

Prompted by the last comment in Exonian’s post late last night, I took a look at the VW Approved Used website as I idly do from time to time.

Specifically looked at 7.5 Performance models.

Clearly others agree that a good used example is still very desirable judging by the prices being asked! I might be wrong thinking they are actually increasing but they are certainly not going down right now!