GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: Rolfe on 03 July 2009, 22:37
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Owner of Peugeot GTi-6 here, had it from new, 11 and a half years and
18,000 118,000 miles, sad to see it go but all good things come to an end and it's time to take the £2000 bribe. (Thanks to the poster below for spotting my typo!)
Looks like it's going to be a Golf GTi for the next decade's wheels. Originally I was going to go for a Focus ST, but the more I hear about both cars the better the VW stacks up. So, I have my elderly mother staying with me, so the Jekyll-and-Hyde personality will come in handy. Need 5 doors, and space for a fold-up wheelchair without folding down the back seat (goes in the 306 just fine). I'm prepared to pony up for the ACC if it actually does something, because £705 is cheap to stop the complaints about bumpy roads (and suspension that has allegedly seen better days). But does it really make a difference? Anybody know?
Why won't VW do heated windscreens? Had one on a Ford 15 years ago, miss it on the Peugeot, and it looks as if I'm going to have to go on missing it. What's their problem?
What are the tips for getting a good deal? I have a test drive booked for tomorrow, but the dealer didn't seem terribly keen to talk discounts. I've never paid list price for a car yet and I don't fancy starting now, but how to I budge him? There are a couple of other dealers not a million miles away, but is it worth shopping around? Will waving Focus brochures around concentrate his mind? The idea of Internet purchase scared the willies out of me, I have to say.
And finally. Am I the only person in the world who likes the blue graphite? Even the dealer said he didn't like it. I think it combines subtlety with colour. (Black, white and grey are not my scene, which kills 6 of the 9 options. The red is attractive, but too in-your-face for my taste. The shadow blue is quite nice, but again a tad in-your-face.) It's reminiscent of the Caspian Blue my very first Fiesta came in, in 1985.
So, want to talk me out of it?
Rolfe.
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AFAIK the ford heated windscreen system is patented by them which is why you only get that system with fords.
Is it just me or does it seem complete lunacy to crush a perfectly good car with only 18k miles? Don't get me wrong, I dont blame you - its the govt who are retarded as usual.
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Ooooh, horrible typo! I didn't notice.
118,000 miles. If it was low-mileage there's no way I'd be getting rid of it. (Can you edit posts on this forum?)
The aircon is shot and would cost £600 to fix.
It's starting to slip out of 3rd gear while driving.
The sunroof is leaking.
The passenger seat has slipped out of its ratchets since it was new and is now sliding about like a fairground ride.
I love the car to bits, but it's getting to the good-money-after-bad stage. I hadn't intended to scrap it nonetheless because I'm sure there's a boy racer somewhere who'd like it, but there's no way I'd get £2000 for it with that mileage and those problems.
I just took a step back and looked at it sensibly, and decided that painful though it was, I had to make the break.
Rolfe.
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Now, back to the subject. I thought I'd seen heated windscreens specified on other cars than Fords, but maybe I was mistaken.
Does the Golf's heated washer jet make up for no heated windscreen? (Mind you, the more I see of the Golf the less I'm likely to buy the Focus even if it de-iced the road in front of me....)
Rolfe.
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I'm fairly sure that Ford had the patent for the heated screen too. Though I read somewhere that it was running out and that other marques could soon be in on the action (don't quote me on that though!).
I like the blue-graphite too. Different and subtle and a tiny bit quirky, so thumbs up from me and very likely the colour I would go for if I lost the bottle and didn't order a (cheaper) white one.
Mind you the more I think about it the more I'm tempted by a Speed Blue SEAT Leon Cupra, but that's another story (and massively cheaper than the Golf GTI!!!)
What colour is the 306 GTI? Just out of being nosey!
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"Blaze Yellow" technically, but everyone who sees it calls it gold. It certainly looks gold to me.
My previous two cars were relatively subtle metallic blues though. I had a lot of people admire the "Caspian Blue" of my first Fiesta when it was new.
Rolfe.
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Is the boot in the new Focus quite shallow?
I hired a Focus last month and it seemed a lot less deep than the VW boot (for a wheelchair).
I've seen reports that the ACC in comfort gives a good ride. Might be worth the cash.
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Get the Golf, it will be worth more than a Foocass in years to come, so you will see some dosh back, although the G'ment may have a say in what cars we will be driving then??????????
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Get the Golf, it will be worth more than a Foocass in years to come, so you will see some dosh back, although the G'ment may have a say in what cars we will be driving then??????????
Although I would always be biased to a VAG car, I think the huge difference in purchase price new would not be recouped when selling the car in years to come. Unless VW are on to something here I reckon mk6 GTIs are going to lose a LOT of money in their first few years of depreciation. However the Focarse has a big engine and as you say, who knows what the govt have in store for us assuming the OP keeps the car for 10 years or so.
"Blaze Yellow" technically, but everyone who sees it calls it gold. It certainly looks gold to me.
My previous two cars were relatively subtle metallic blues though. I had a lot of people admire the "Caspian Blue" of my first Fiesta when it was new.
Rolfe.
Ah a popular and brave choice of colour. I remember when that was all the rage with Pug owners. I bet it hides the dirt well though.
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Hmmm reasons to buy the golf??
Focus is very thirsty for a start. Good friend of mine often says that he gets the same mpg as my R32 as well as getting his a$$ handed to him on a plate. Dont quote me on this but doesnt the ST only come in a 3dr guise?? If it doesnt then I dont think I have ever seen a 5dr.
According to sources the MK6 can give over 480miles to one tank.. now that I would like to see as thats twice as many miles as i get in the R, but it is possible in theory.
The blue is a lovelly colour! iirc someone on here had a mk5 gti in blue and it looked very subtle, yet stylish and not so in your face such as other colours, so a good safe choice of colour i would say. :wink:
As for discounts.. forget it. Spoke to my dealer earlier this week and was told that they (leeds elland road) were only getting 4 per month and that they had sold their demostrator on the 1st on July. So cars are hard to come by and dealers will be very hesitant to give money off especially if the next customer is willing to pay the full price.
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Is the boot in the new Focus quite shallow?
I hired a Focus last month and it seemed a lot less deep than the VW boot (for a wheelchair).
I've seen reports that the ACC in comfort gives a good ride. Might be worth the cash.
I had my test drive this afternoon, and I took both mother (93 next birthday, i.e. by the time a new car will be delivered) and the wheelchair. Although the boot of the Golf measured an inch shorter than the Peugeot, the wheelchair fitted fine.
I haven't had the chance to try the Focus's boot, though a guy at work has a new one and I should probably ask him if I can measure it. We have an older Focus as a pool car too, but it's an estate so it's not really comparable.
I'm pretty smitten with the Golf. It's faster than the Peugeot for sure, and very comfortable. Mother was also pretty smitten, which is good. I wouldn't bother with the ACC myself, but for 93-year-old bones I suspect it would be worth it. The demo car didn't have it though so I'm left guessing.
Rolfe.
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Get the Golf, it will be worth more than a Foocass in years to come, so you will see some dosh back, although the G'ment may have a say in what cars we will be driving then??????????
Well, you might like to take that up with the Top Gear team. Clarkson is such a Golf fan I wonder if VW are paying him, but they rate it badly on running costs - only 8 out ot 20.
http://www.topgear.com/uk/volkswagen/golf-gti (http://www.topgear.com/uk/volkswagen/golf-gti)
In contrast, the Focus gets 10 out of 20, with the comment "Against the Golf GTI, the Focus ST looks cheap."
http://www.topgear.com/uk/ford/focus-st (http://www.topgear.com/uk/ford/focus-st)
Now I have to say I don't entirely understand this. The Golf has better fuel economy, and lower road tax. Insurance bands are the same. So how come the Golf has higher running costs? Is it massively more expensive to service? I doubt it. I think they're docking it points on depreciation.
Nevertheless, check my OP. I fell in love with my brand new Peugeot 306 GTi-6, and drove it for 11 and a half years and 118,000 miles. I practically had to be slapped to realise that I had an old, clapped-out car that should be fed to the scrappage bribe. I plan on falling in love with my next car too, and doing exactly the same thing. Depreciation? Not an issue.
Rolfe.
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Although I would always be biased to a VAG car, I think the huge difference in purchase price new would not be recouped when selling the car in years to come. Unless VW are on to something here I reckon mk6 GTIs are going to lose a LOT of money in their first few years of depreciation. However the Focarse has a big engine and as you say, who knows what the govt have in store for us assuming the OP keeps the car for 10 years or so.
I'm inclined to agree with you here. Though I make the difference about 2 grand when you correct for what's standard and what's an extra. Do you think it's more than that?
You have a point about the engine size. I'm not at all sure I want a 2.5 litre.
Ah a popular and brave choice of colour. I remember when that was all the rage with Pug owners. I bet it hides the dirt well though.
Is that "brave", as in "Yes Minister"? I like metallics, and as far as I remember it was that or red. I'm not a fan of red cars really, just a personal thing, so when it came down to it, although I wanted a light-ish metallic blue they didn't do the GTi-6 in that so I had the "Blaze Yellow". Good for spotting where you've parked it, comes up nice when washed, but I have to agree, a real peach for not really showing the dirt when not washed.
The car is hard to tell from an ordinary 306 at a distance, and I have never been stopped by the cops while driving it. Unlike my previous car, an XR2. I got so fed up with being stopped in that either for going no faster than anybody else, but hey, let's ticket the XR2, or for no reason at all. Once I was hazed and carved up by a couple of unmarked police cars while driving it. I had no idea they were cops, I thought they were complete lunatics, but fortunately I didn't do anything they could have nicked me for - so they stopped me and gave me a general telling-off for nothing, then let me drive on.
I'm quite keen on the idea that the Golf GTi looks quite tame - not that different from a tame Golf. Just as the ST looks much the same as a tame Focus. I wouldn't be seen dead in the RS, frankly. Or in that positively offensive orange paint job they're touting for the ST.
I'm a bit disappointed by the colour options on the Mk 6 to be honest. I like colour, which rules out 6 of the 9 choices. As I said, I'm not really a red car person either, and I like metallic. So now we're down to the two shades of blue. Both of these are very very dark - when I saw the paint samples in the showroom I realised they were darker than I had thought. But that's a pretty minor point really. It'll probably be the Blue Graphite in the end. I like the way the red detailing shows up.
Rolfe.
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Hmmm reasons to buy the golf??
Focus is very thirsty for a start. Good friend of mine often says that he gets the same mpg as my R32 as well as getting his a$$ handed to him on a plate. Dont quote me on this but doesnt the ST only come in a 3dr guise?? If it doesnt then I dont think I have ever seen a 5dr.
According to sources the MK6 can give over 480miles to one tank.. now that I would like to see as thats twice as many miles as i get in the R, but it is possible in theory.
The blue is a lovelly colour! iirc someone on here had a mk5 gti in blue and it looked very subtle, yet stylish and not so in your face such as other colours, so a good safe choice of colour i would say. :wink:
As for discounts.. forget it. Spoke to my dealer earlier this week and was told that they (leeds elland road) were only getting 4 per month and that they had sold their demostrator on the 1st on July. So cars are hard to come by and dealers will be very hesitant to give money off especially if the next customer is willing to pay the full price.
I have to say that the better fuel consumption was the first thing that jumped out for me with the Mk 6. Then the more I looked, the better it got.... The ST does come in a 5 door though, check the listings. I've never had a 5 door before but I'm having my arm twisted, and in fact it makes sense. I'm now in a car pool (for choir practice) and have 3 passengers once every 3 weeks. I'm the only one with a 3 door and it's a pain in the neck.
I used to average 400 miles on a tank with the Peugeot, that was putting in about 63 litres every time. However I've now moved house and job, and I'm doing a lot better because I'm driving a more economical route. 450 miles is commonplace and 480 not unheard-of. How does the Mk 6's tank compare, size-wise? (I've seen petrol station attendants' eyes literally pop when they've seen me fill the 306 up from empty.)
As I said, both blues look very dark to me. My preferred colour is a rather lighter metallic blue, or even gold or champagne, or I could consider the light metallic green route except you hardly ever see these nowadays. I'm a bit unsure what the Blue Graphite will look like as a whole car (never seen one, just the pic in the brochure and the dealer's paint sample), but it'll probably be that.
Discounts? I've just been offered a £500 discount on top the the £2,000 scrappage deal. I guess I could get more off if I went through dealdrivers, but I lack the bottle to take a risk on an Internet purchase. Call me a coward, but I have a crawling suspicion that if the car shows up with any problem, I'm more likely to get action if I actually bought it from the dealer I need to fix it.
Still, there is another dealer a bit further away, which I have to drive past anyway the day after tomorrow. My mother bought a Polo there about 100 years ago. I might just call in and see what they have to say.
Rolfe.
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By the way, thanks everyone for your replies.
My big issue at the moment is the DSG question. I hadn't even thought about it. I've always had a manual. But.
Last year I was in Spain, and had a hire car with a dud clutch. Stalled it every 5 minutes. Dangerous as hell on the mountain roads. And I was groping the wrong side for the gear stick, as often as not. (Try this with a 91-year-old who hates heights in the passernger seat and see how you like it. In my defence, I'd never driven a left-hand-drive before - always took my own car over the channel.) Then a month later I was in Michigan visiting a friend. Another 90-year-old by the way, but you should have seen the cars she has. I didn't get to drive the sports Cadillac, but I did get to drive the ordinary wheels, very nice car. And the difference from Spain was chalk and cheese, because it was an automatic. No possibility of a stall, and no problem with it being a left-hand-drive. I really liked it. But I came home and forgot all about it.
Then today, I cycled into the village for some basic provisions, as one does, and met a neighbour outside the chemist shop. A neighbour whose husband (now retired) owned the garage in the village for donkey's years. I told her I was hurrying off as I had a test drive booked. She remarked that people often used to ask her husband's advice on what car to drive, and he found it impossible as it is such a personal choice. But she remembered one lady, and he'd said to her, whatever you get, get power steering and automatic. She did, and later said that every time she drove the car she mentally thanked him for the advice. I told the story about the Michigan car, but said I wasn't that bothered. Always had a manual, wasn't really thinking of changing.
Then I got the the dealer for the test drive - and the car was a DSG! Well, I fumbled and made an idiot of myself for a few minutes (including stamping on the brake with my left foot because my instincts told me to depress the clutch, now that was one helluva good test of the emergency stop and it did just fine thankyouverymuch). But then, you know, the drive in Michigan came back to me. And I asked the sales guy the price. Same price as the leathers, which I was planning on having. I said, no thanks, I'm not that bothered.
But then I drove the 306 away, and started to critique my own driving. I run in too high a gear quite a lot of the time. I'm bad about changing down to overtake - I just assume the car will pull away in 6th (which it more or less does). I reviewed what the salesman said about city driving, and recalled evenings of aching shins after inching through London traffic. I never really thought about it.
I don't do much city driving now. But I'm seriously reconsidering my commitment to manual gear-shifts. I suspect I could so get used to the DSG.
Opinions, anyone?
Rolfe.
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the tank is 55 litres in the gti, i have acheived 485 miles from a full tank link:http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=120333.0 (http://link:http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=120333.0)
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DSG?? no thank you!!
with all the associated problems, and known faults I wouldnt bother.... thought you wanted a fun car??
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i test drove a dsg and it was really dull, i just didn't feel conected to the car at all, when i got my manual it felt like a different car all together, i surpose dsg is good if you are unlucky and have lost a leg, otherwise manual 100%
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Rolfe, I would prefer a lighter blue myself. VW did a nice Laser Blue when they launched the mk5 but it got discontinued not long after and it's a shame they don't have a similar colour available now. SEAT do a lovely Speed Blue for their sporty Leons and if you look on VWs German website they do a whole raft of colours for the
mk5.5 mk6. So the colours are there, just not imported by VW UK.
DSG is a fantastic gearbox. It has features such a launch control and with several different modes including manual it has an awful lot going for it. However if you are planning on keeping the car for another 10 plus years I would be more than a little concerned about long term costs with it. Fine for the first 3 years but after that you're going to have to be prepared to shell out a lot of money if it needs fixing. I think it would suit your more mature driving style though.
Most of the stuff underneath the 'new' GTI is the same as the last GTI so all well proved and has had 5 years of development underneath its belt.
On another note, glad your mother approves of the GTI. A woman of taste and obviously a good attitude too which must be the secret to her rather impressive innings. :smiley:
As for the Focus, I'm a quiet admirer of the car, you've got to take your hat off to a 2.5 litre turbo mated up to the legendary Focus chassis and you would certainly get much bigger discounts from a Ford dealer than a VW if you shopped around well but I reckon the VW would make a better long term companion despite the ST offering an awful lot as a package. They do the Focus in some nice blues though..... :grin:
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Have you seen the amazing number of colours the GTI is offered in Germany. Maybe if you really aren't keen on the colours for UK buyers you should pop over to Germany and see if you can place an order there.
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Thinking about it, I'm sure you could get the GTI Pirelli in Blue Graphite. There's bound to be a photo of one of those knocking around to see how they would look in the flesh. The mk5 and mk6 look almost identical so it will give you a very good idea of what the car looks like. Apologies if someone has already suggested that.
Incidentally one of the very first mk5 GTIs I ever saw was in that colour way back in 2005.....may be a very slightly different shade now but I doubt it'd be much different.
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Thank you for all the comments about the DSG. The trouble is, I've not driven an automatic often enough to have a real feel for how it is. I was quite impressed by the way it changes down if you stamp on the accelerator. So I'm not quite clear how it's less engaging and less fun.
But point taken about the maintenance and faults though. I'm mulling it all over, excellent food for thought.
Rolfe.
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Have you seen the amazing number of colours the GTI is offered in Germany. Maybe if you really aren't keen on the colours for UK buyers you should pop over to Germany and see if you can place an order there.
Yes, well, and have you seen the prices? I had a look on their web site after reading your comment, and I note that while the colour options we have are about the same price, the extra spectrum ones are massively more expensive - most of them are 2,020 euros!
http://cc5.volkswagen.de/cc5/configurator/fs_base.aspx?context=default&app=ICC-DE&template=golf_gti&process=motorselect (http://cc5.volkswagen.de/cc5/configurator/fs_base.aspx?context=default&app=ICC-DE&template=golf_gti&process=motorselect)
There is no way on God's green earth I am going to pay that sort of money just to have a car in a pretty colour. You'd have to be certifiable.
Rolfe.
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Rolfe, I would prefer a lighter blue myself. VW did a nice Laser Blue when they launched the mk5 but it got discontinued not long after and it's a shame they don't have a similar colour available now. SEAT do a lovely Speed Blue for their sporty Leons and if you look on VWs German website they do a whole raft of colours for the mk5.5 mk6. So the colours are there, just not imported by VW UK.
Yes, well, see comment above re prices. Does anybody pay these? It's ridiculous!
DSG is a fantastic gearbox. It has features such a launch control and with several different modes including manual it has an awful lot going for it. However if you are planning on keeping the car for another 10 plus years I would be more than a little concerned about long term costs with it. Fine for the first 3 years but after that you're going to have to be prepared to shell out a lot of money if it needs fixing. I think it would suit your more mature driving style though.
Most of the stuff underneath the 'new' GTI is the same as the last GTI so all well proved and has had 5 years of development underneath its belt.
Thank you for that different perspective on the DSG. I'm still pondering. I was able to talk to the retired garage owner himself after church this morning but he was quite difficult to draw out on the subject. I might be best to go talk to the new owner of the garage, who has been maintaining the 306 since I moved here, and who will be maintaining the new car once any requirement to have a dealer do work has expired.
You're right about the driving style - I'm not a boy racer, and I don't run around showing off. (Some of the conversation in this forum just cracks me up as terminal testosterone poisoning, but each to his own.) I like to have the power when I need and/or want it. I just don't have enough experience with automatic gearboxes to be able to make a really informed decision. Someone on another forum said he had to have a manual gearbox for mountain driving and I don't know what he meant. Why might a manual be better on mountain roads? (The manual hire car I had in the Serra de Tramuntana in Majorca frankly scared me witless. I'd have given a year's salary to have had my 306 there, but it did occur to me that at least an automatic couldn't have stalled.)
You're all getting me fairly concerned about the maintenance of the DSG though, so maybe I should just forget I had the idea in the first place.
On another note, glad your mother approves of the GTI. A woman of taste and obviously a good attitude too which must be the secret to her rather impressive innings. :smiley:
Oh yes, she's a fan. Mind you, considering the age of the Peugeot and its lack of passenger comfort, I suspect she'd have been a fan of a brand new basic Polo if I'd shown her one!
As for the Focus, I'm a quiet admirer of the car, you've got to take your hat off to a 2.5 litre turbo mated up to the legendary Focus chassis and you would certainly get much bigger discounts from a Ford dealer than a VW if you shopped around well but I reckon the VW would make a better long term companion despite the ST offering an awful lot as a package. They do the Focus in some nice blues though..... :grin:
Yes, the Ford dealer was apparently talking decent discounts - though as he was trying to sell me a 1.6 litre Zetec at the time I can't be sure! The Zetec, in the showroom, was a very pretty metallic blue I have to say. But I haven't even managed to get a brochure for the ST out of him yet. 2.5 litres is impressive but I'm not sure I need that, and the petrol consumption is a bit depressing. And if the Ford dealer doesn't wake up his ideas, and maybe show me a car or something, I'll have a Golf ordered before he gets off the starting blocks. The Focus is certainly an amazing package at a very reasonable price, and I haven't entirely written it off, but I'm getting the impression that there's a reason VW don't have to discount this car. Maybe.
I saw someone in another thread saying he'd got a decent discount from a Verve branch in Glasgow. I have to drive past another Verve branch on Tuesday, so I may go in and see what they have to say for themselves.
Thanks again to everyone for such great input and food for thought.
Rolfe.
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I've been playing around on a couple of web sites.
On VW's own site, now I can get the flash player to work (my office computer isn't configured to play it), I see it "paints" the car the colour you choose. I think I could live with the Blue Graphite if it's anything like the on-screen appearance.
If I spec a car for every extra I'm even thinking about (including the ACC, the DSG and the leather upholstery) it comes to £28,015 (not sure where the extra £15 came from). If I spec the exact same thing from DealDrivers, I get £26,575. Difference of £1,440.
The VW dealer I went to was talking a total discount of £2,500 with the scrappage on my Peugeot. I'm assuming that if I asked for a quote from DealDrivers I'd get the statutory £2,000 (though as I haven't actually asked, I can't be sure). That is, if I've got my sums right, an extra £940 discount through DealDrivers.
Does anybody know whether there's a catch with DealDrivers? TANSTAAFL and all that? Might be a useful lever to prise out a slightly better deal from someone the whites of whose eyes I'm able to see....
Rolfe.
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The usual way of these internet companies who discount new cars is that they take a £500 or so deposit off you then put you in touch with a dealer who will then take over the rest of the ordering process. The internet company gets their cut out of you directly and the dealer takes your nice fat cheque on delivery. There aren't many of these internet brokers around now so the ones that are still going tend to have been there for a few years so should be fairly okay. You pays yer money.....
As for the local garage, as long as they are VAT registered and use genuine VW parts I'm pretty certain they can do all non warranty work on the car from the word go. BUT with a new car VW will often have technical bulletins and further changes and re-calls which your friendly and much cheaper local garage won't have access to.
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After owning a new DSG GTI for 15 months I think the DSG gear box is the bees knees.
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With DealDrivers, apparently you don't give them any money - you give their partner dealer the deposit, and then the balance in due course. They must get their cut from the dealer. They have been reasonably well recommended in this forum.
I'm looking at about £800 to £900 saving if I go that route, compared to what my dealer is offering. However, I might try waving the DealDrivers quote at the dealer and see if that brings him down a bit more. Or maybe the Verve dealer will better the Western VW quote.
My friendly local garage is pretty damn good. I'd had the Peugeot serviced by the dealer I bought it from, almost exclusively. Then I moved to Scotland, and it gave a bit of trouble. I was at a temporary address as I was househunting at the time, and again I went to the nearest Peugeot garage. They did sort it out, but they were a bit of a pain to deal with and not very efficient.
However, when I finally found the house, I shifted to the local garage in the village, and asked them to do a pre-MOT check and repair anything that needed doing, that would have been February last year. When I picked the car up he treated me to a spiel about several things that hadn't been properly adjusted, and said he'd sorted these out while he was working on it. I can't remember now what it was all about, but the Peugeot was like a different car when I drove away. I'd just put a helluva mileage on it, having spent 7 months doing an 80-mile round trip to work every day, on roads 1,000 feet up through a Scottish winter, and it had been driving like an old, clapped-out car. After that session though, I stopped worrying about it and just went on driving. It took several friends to kick me quite hard and point out that at 11 years plus and 118,000 miles I really needed to look at replacing it.
Even so, I just had a neighbour going on about what a damn shame it would be to crush that car, in its condition and so on. But I can't see a boy racer giving me £2000 for it, and the scrappage deal makes financial sense.
Still swithering about automatic gearboxes. I ought to slope away from work early and go talk to said friendly local magician.
Rolfe.
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After owning a new DSG GTI for 15 months I think the DSG gear box is the bees knees.
Thanks for that. I really can't make up my mind!
Rolfe.
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If you are keeping it 10 years then go for the colour you like. Personally I think the blue is nice and as you say, quite subtle.
If i was keeping it for 10 years I would go for a manual and make sure you tick the option box for all the toys you want as adding some of them later can be tricky (convenience pack, lux pack etc).
I think you are making the right choice with the Golf instead of the Focus. The Ford's economy is appalling and it makes you look like a chav.
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Thanks for that! Looking like a chav is so not on my list of priorities!
The ordinary-coloured STs don't look too bad but the orange is just offensive, and anybody who pays actual money to have those tacky white stripes put on must be seriously demented.
The funny thing is that although there's not a lot between the two cars on measurements, the Focus looks bigger. I think this is a plus for the Golf actually.
The convenience pack is standard. I know I want the winter pack, hey, Scotland here, and still driving on 1,000 feet-plus roads to get to work. I've seen minus 10 some winter mornings where I live. I really need the lux pack too, for the folding door mirrors. Although my garage is big, the doors are really a bit too narrow for comfort. Other stuff - well, I'm torn between saving my money for a rainy day and just splurging. Splurging is coming out on top.
The economy thing is a bit weird, as I think I said earlier. The Golf has much better fuel economy than the ST, even in the DSG version. And it has a cheaper road tax. And the insurance band is the same. So it would seem a no-brainer that the Golf has the lower running costs. But on the Top Gear reviews, the Golf is rated at only 8/20, while the ST is rated at 10/20, and explicitly stated to be cheaper than the Golf.
I can't see that general maintenance is going to be massively more expensive on the Golf - if so, why? I think they're penalising the Golf on depreciation.
Which hardly matters if I'm going to run it into the ground....
Rolfe.
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Hi mate
If I were you I'd go for the manual you get to feel more involved in the drive imho!!!
Autoexpress magazine totally rates the new gti, according to them it is the best hot hatch available!!
I think the Focus looks like an old mans car (apologies but it's true) even in ST or RS form.
You go for the blue graphite if thats what you fancy after all it is your car :laugh: I'd definitely go for the winter pack having lived in the highlands of Scotland for 10 years I know how b----y cold it can get.
Anyway mate whatever you choose I'm sure you will love it.
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Saw one of these the other day and thought it looked alright, VERY VERY loud (visually, not acoustically)though . . . . :lipsrsealed:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2294257301_8054808c64.jpg)
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I'm sorry, but that orange is offensive. Srsly. Not to mention being an absolute cop magnet I shouldn't wonder. I wouldn't be seen dead.
Maybe I'm just reading so much about the Golf that it's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. But I've gone right off the idea of a Focus, and as the Ford dealer I spoke to hasn't even given me a brochure to drool over never mind a sniff of the actual car, there isn't much competition.
Someone at work has just bought a new Focus Zetec, and he's an old man. (In fact an old woman, figuratively speaking!) Now I ain't no spring chicken, and I ain't a guy either, but the Golf is pressing all the right buttons here.
My mind's getting quite made up. I just can't decide about the DSG. Several schools of thought:
- It's less involving as a driving experience
- It's the bee's knees
- It's going to go wrong one day and cost you a fortune
I suspect that the first one is testosterone talking, and I may be more in the second category of driver. But the third point isn't really disputed by anyone and is a bit of a disincentive really, especially as 30 hours ago the idea of an automatic hadn't even entered my head.
Sigh. I actually do have the money. It's just, well, I wasn't intending to spend so much on a car. And I like to feel I've got a nice cushion of savings sitting there.
On the other hand you only live once, this car is a peach, and interest rates are complete crap.
Rolfe.
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Over the years I've owned all sorts of cars, from American V8's to a Ford Ka. A mix of manual and automatic gearboxes. I have always prefered the manual cars over the torque convertor automatics.
But the GTI DSG is the best gearbox I have ever owned, and the main reason I bought a Volkswagen. I would never go back to either a manual or normal auto as the DSG gives the best driving experience, as simple as that.
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Saw one of these the other day and thought it looked alright, VERY VERY loud (visually, not acoustically)though . . . . :lipsrsealed:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2192/2294257301_8054808c64.jpg)
I like the S3, the colour is actually quite smart I think. :embarassed:
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The one I saw was running black RS4s, looked nice imo.
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Okay, we're getting somewhere but we're not at the signing on the dotted line stage yet.
I don't think anyone realised you weren't a geezer so apologies there (Rolfe does sound like a blokey name you know). You don't sound like the average lady either, moving from Laandon to ruralish Scotland with an elderly Mother in tow, so my hat is taken off to you ma'am!!! :grin:
The Golf is going to be far more socially acceptable than a Focus. The DSG is pretty reliable, long term who knows(?) but having said that you can get extended warranty on the car until about 5 years or so anyway and after that depreciation will have shrunk from the initially astranomical to better than average ('cos it's a Golf) so you can live with a few repair bills by then as your savings may have recovered a bit. In short go for the DSG 'cos it's not a real automatic and would be good on steep slopes owing to the hill hold facility.
Don't go too mad on the extras you don't actually need. I would say ditch the leather (you are living in Scotland so tartan is acceptable so long as it's from the right clan) as it can be a bit cold on the skin in sub-zero temps, heated seats or not, and it's not fully leathered either, some of it is plastic stuff. That should help the savings. 18'' wheels look better but going from what happened on mk5 Golfs the finish goes on them after a couple of harsh salty road winters so the 17s should keep their appearance better and the ride will be a little bit comfier.
And if you drive over a lot of dirty rural roads in all weathers (I get the impression you do) then silver will probably be a lot more forgiving paint colour as it hides the dirt far better than a darker colour ever will.
Okay, that is my final slightly re-adjusted opinion with all testosterone removed from my 'advice'.
Now go sign on a dotted line somewhere and don't forget pictures are obligatory on the forum once you've taken delivery ('cos it's a new car and not many people have seen them yet).
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:cool:
Rolfe is my name on another forum (the name of a much-loved now-deceased cat). When I tried to sign up here with my real Christian name (Morag), it was already taken.
[derail]
Actually, I was living in rural Sussex, but I had to drive in London fairly regularly. Now that, I don't miss at all! When I changed jobs to move back to Scotland, my mother was just turning 90, and my new job was just 40 miles from where she lived. Initially, I just moved back "home" while I looked for a place to live, and drove the 40 miles there and back. That put a good few miles on the Peugeot, which was over 70,000 before I even started that game!
It seemed like sense to look for a house for both of us, and for her to move in with me, and it's worked out fine. It's far easier to keep an eye on her and do all the little things like give her breakfast and so on, all without having to be constantly driving that 40 miles like a bloody yo-yo. But it has changed my car needs a bit. Passenger comfort becomes an issue it just wasn't before.
[/derail]
I'll be getting the ACC because of mother, and she's part of the reason I want any bling to be understated.
She's insisting on a 5-door, and although my heart wants another 3-door, my head knows she's right.
I just LOVE the dual aircon. When we did the test drive it was a hot day, and I just set her side to 22 and mine to 19 and I wasn't getting any complaints at all. Then when I helped her out, she commented that my arm felt cold. Yes, that's because I wasn't sweating in her idea of a nice temperature.
The seat adjust is great too. Mother is small, and being able to jack the seat up made it so much easier for her to get in and out.
And being back near home means I'm near relations who might need transported, so the roomy back seat is another big plus. And if said relations think my car is real cool, well, so much the better....
Well, my head knows I should ditch the leather. The cloth is good quality, I know. And the pony, whose hair and general scurf where what really killed the cloth on my Fiesta, went to the great paddock in the sky 10 years ago. But.... WANT!
I need to get on with my work so I can shoot off and talk to Andrew-at-the-garage about maintenance of DSG gearboxes. I think paying over £400 for these marginally cooler wheels is insane, and the dealer said they would be less comfortable. And I still like the Blue Graphite best. It's not that dissimilar from the Caspian Blue of my first Fiesta (a bit darker though), and that turned heads. I just wish there was a car wash in the wilds of the Pentland Hills, no such luck, just once a year the Fire Brigade runs a car wash for fundraising. Great to get your car washed with a fire hose though!
And as for depreciation, well, you know the bit about "one lady owner"? Sometimes it's actually true.
I'm going to wave the DealDriver prices at Verve tomorrow afternoon and see if they can do better than Western. Then wave both estimates back at Western....
Rolfe.
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Rolfe, I just came from a Scirocco with DSG but I've gone for a manual Golf. However, having read your posts, go for the DSG as it is an amazing smooth and capable gearbox and it doesn't sound like you're going to be 'caning it' to the limits. The DSG makes an already grown up and quality ride, luxurious. I wouldn't bother with the leather at all but that's your call. do you need the ACC if you're going for more supple 17" wheels and tyres? Not sure, I hardly ever used it in my Scirocco.
BTW, I have a 5 door and it still looks sporty.
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Heh exonian that was a really nice post to Rolfe. I didn't realise she wasn't a bloke (You know what I mean). I hope with everyones help she is able to make a well informed decision after all man or woman as long as the moneys right anyone is entitled to purchase a gti!!
By the way I was holidaying in Brixham last week in the sweltering med like temperatures. What's it like down there now? :cool:
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Oh Rolfe if you're still struggling with colour choice, here's a pic of mine, remember that less red cars are involved in accidents than any other colour and it's a free colour!
(http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd42/clivegossa/DSC01935.jpg)
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Heh exonian that was a really nice post to Rolfe. I didn't realise she wasn't a bloke (You know what I mean). I hope with everyones help she is able to make a well informed decision after all man or woman as long as the moneys right anyone is entitled to purchase a gti!!
By the way I was holidaying in Brixham last week in the sweltering med like temperatures. What's it like down there now? :cool:
Thank you (takes bow)
It's hot and sunny one minute and the next a dirty great grey cloud keeps going over, chucking a few large drops of rain over my washing, then clearing off again. Typical British summer's day I guess.
And gossa: That's because red cars are driven by nutters and everyone gives 'em a wide birth!!! :evil:
I don't normally like red cars but the mk5.5 mk6 looks ace in that colour.
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Gossa
Every time I see a pic of your stunning car I love the gti even more. I love that red!! beginning to wonder if I did the right thing going for black. Oh well can't change it now apparently its in its build week.
Anyway red or black or whatever colour we will all love the car.
Are you finding it a great ride is yours manual or dsg can't remember?
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Gossa
Every time I see a pic of your stunning car I love the gti even more. I love that red!! beginning to wonder if I did the right thing going for black. Oh well can't change it now apparently its in its build week.
Anyway red or black or whatever colour we will all love the car.
Are you finding it a great ride is yours manual or dsg can't remember?
Mines a manual and loving it, very slick box. My Rocco was DSG and even though I appreciate the benefits I did find myself just bimbling along in it in drive so decided to go back to the more involved experience of a manual. Even using the paddles I found the DSG a bit 'uninvolving' if you know what I mean, almost robotic.
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Heh exonian that was a really nice post to Rolfe. I didn't realise she wasn't a bloke (You know what I mean). I hope with everyones help she is able to make a well informed decision after all man or woman as long as the moneys right anyone is entitled to purchase a gti!!
Thanks everyone for some really friendly and helpful posts. You better bet I'm entitled to purchase a GTi - had one for 11 years plus, gimme a break. If you lot even concede that the Peugeot counts....
Rolfe.
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Sorry Rolfe me old love, only a VW can truly wear the GTI badge, you'll find out why! :grin:
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Heh exonian that was a really nice post to Rolfe. I didn't realise she wasn't a bloke (You know what I mean). I hope with everyones help she is able to make a well informed decision after all man or woman as long as the moneys right anyone is entitled to purchase a gti!!
Thanks everyone for some really friendly and helpful posts. You better bet I'm entitled to purchase a GTi - had one for 11 years plus, gimme a break. If you lot even concede that the Peugeot counts....
Rolfe.
Not really. You will realize soon
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I'll ask what every one of us guys are thinking, are you hot ? And get some pics up ! :grin:
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I'll ask what every one of us guys are thinking, are you hot ? And get some pics up ! :grin:
I'm not thinking that at all mate and some women will find that very offensive. :sad:
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I'll ask what every one of us guys are thinking, are you hot ? And get some pics up ! :grin:
I'm not thinking that at all mate and some women will find that very offensive. :sad:
Hey being gay is fine by me, I've no qualms about your sexuality at all.
Now, back to those pics. :grin:
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I've only been on this forum a week or so mate and I don't know you from Adam, vice versa. However it is easy to see why people think you are a c0ck.
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:rolleyes:
Not as hot as I was this time yesterday, it's really clouded over here today....
Rolfe.
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Rolfe, I just came from a Scirocco with DSG but I've gone for a manual Golf. However, having read your posts, go for the DSG as it is an amazing smooth and capable gearbox and it doesn't sound like you're going to be 'caning it' to the limits. The DSG makes an already grown up and quality ride, luxurious. I wouldn't bother with the leather at all but that's your call. do you need the ACC if you're going for more supple 17" wheels and tyres? Not sure, I hardly ever used it in my Scirocco.
BTW, I have a 5 door and it still looks sporty.
Me, I don't need the ACC at all. But for carrying around a 93-year-old, who can be extremely demanding about exactly how comfortable she likes her ride, yes, it's worth it.
No, I'm not likely to be caning it to the limit. I doubt if the Peugeot has ever been red-lined on the engine revs in its life. Never needed to. It can leave practically anything standing, and if I want to overtake a lorry or a caravan, well, I do it. Never needed to thrash it. OK, I won't leave a boy racer standing, but then I don't want to. I want the boy racer to be as far away from me as possible as quickly as possible, and letting him disappear into the sunset is fine by me.
I'm getting the feeling that "involving" might be code for "I like to rev the thing to death all round town." Whatever floats your boat....
The showroom model I've been looking at is red, and I agree it looks very nice indeed. I did think about it when I realised how dark both the blues are, but I'm just not a red car person. Also, the red detailing is quite cool, but it doesn't show up at all on the solid red model. The simulation of the Blue Graphite on the VW web site looks quite stylish really. And I don't think there's anything will show the dirt as little as the gold Peugeot.
Rolfe.
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Rolfe, test drive the DSG if you can to see if it's for you, it is a lovely gearbox. If it was a no cost option then I might have had it but at the extra (significant) cost I think it's something I can do without but it makes the car luxurious to drive, very smooth, the hill hold control is also great on it.
Point taken on the ACC! The ride in 'comfort' on the 17" wheels should be a lovely ride for your mum.
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Well, DSG.
I called into the local garage on the way home, and found Andrew killing time before he closed up. Had a good chat. Main reason for going in was to check that he thought it was OK not to do the now-due service on the Peugeot if the car is going into the scrappage scheme in 3 months, and he said fine, it's not got any life-threatening problems and it's MOTed till March, so basically just keep driving it.
The only negative thing he had to say about the Golf was that it's expensive. Yeah, right, I can add up. It's a bit telling that plenty of people are prepared to buy the thing at the price they're asking, and I think I might just join those ranks. When I mentioned the non-responsive Ford dealer he just laughed and said never to darken their door again, go to the one in Peebles. And he said I'd get more gimmicks on the Focus but the Golf had class. I wasn't really asking him what he thought about that though, that's my decision.
He said he didn't have anything in particular against the DSG gearbox. He said it was definitely the way forward, certainly for automatic transmission, and that he thought basically the engineers had nailed it. He apparently has a friend who drives for a racing team, and all their cars for racing have DSG. I said what did he think about the reliability of the things and he remarked that any gearbox can fail, as I knew very well (nodding to the Peugeot, which as we both know has a gearbox on the way out).
Well, doesn't really say whether the DSGs are more likely to fail early than the manuals (118,000 miles before failing and the manual 6-speed doesn't owe me anything), and obviously a repair to such a complex system would be pricier. But at least he didn't make the sign against the Evil Eye and tell me not to touch it with a barge pole.
I think I like the sound of all this. I'm reconsidering the leather option in the light of all the comments, and the cost, and seeing that the cloth probably looks good with the Blue Graphite. And I'm not convinced I need the storage pack (any opinions on that?). Speccing the car on the VW web site like that comes to £26,445. Which would be just shy of £24,000 (let's say £23,995, it sounds better) with the deal that Western VW were offering me for the Peugeot as scrappage.
Doesn't sound too bad when you put it like that....
I think I'll ask Verve to quote me on that spec, and see if I can get a DealDrivers figure for that too. And take it from there. DealDrivers isn't a stupid idea if they're reputable, as they seem to be, as even if they give me a dealer down south, I can take a day off, drive the Peugeot there and drive the Golf back. I'm just worried about whether I'd get service from Western or Verve here if it then turned out that the new car had a rattle or something subjective like that.
I need to move reasonably fast, as I heard on the radio just as I was pulling up in Andrew's car park that the smart money is on the scrappage deal being discontinued in October. I presume that cars already ordered with the scrappage deal won't have that pulled if they're still being built when the announcement comes, but I don't think it's good to hang about.
Getting close here guys....
Rolfe.
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I've only been on this forum a week or so mate and I don't know you from Adam, vice versa. However it is easy to see why people think you are a c0ck.
Ah ok, so I'm supposed to take it when people have a little banter with me, yet when I have some harmless banter with people back I'm a c0ck for it ?. I see how it is now. People can give it out but not take it. Sorry but those kind are the w-ankers, not me.
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:rolleyes:
Not as hot as I was this time yesterday, it's really clouded over here today....
Rolfe.
Good reply, at least you can take it with a bit of humour. :smiley:
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Rolfe if you get the car through a dealer far away the local guys will want your servicing business and will be obligated to do any warranty (which they get paid for).
Good luck with it all, exciting stuff eh!?
Oh and the cloth seats are a tad 'scratchey' on the arm rest and bolsters over the leather I had in the Scirocco but i'll get used to it and they won't end up sagging like a donkeys ar$e!
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Rolfe if you get the car through a dealer far away the local guys will want your servicing business and will be obligated to do any warranty (which they get paid for).
Good luck with it all, exciting stuff eh!?
Oh and the cloth seats are a tad 'scratchey' on the arm rest and bolsters over the leather I had in the Scirocco but i'll get used to it and they won't end up sagging like a donkeys ar$e!
Is the leather that bad ?
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Rolfe, test drive the DSG if you can to see if it's for you, it is a lovely gearbox. If it was a no cost option then I might have had it but at the extra (significant) cost I think it's something I can do without but it makes the car luxurious to drive, very smooth, the hill hold control is also great on it.
Point taken on the ACC! The ride in 'comfort' on the 17" wheels should be a lovely ride for your mum.
I did test-drive the DSG!!! That's what this is all about! I had no thought in my mind of an automatic. Then, vide supra, just before I left for the test drive a neighbour happened to mention an automatic gearbox as something that was worth considering. I laughed it off, and thought no more about it. Until I showed up at the dealer for the test drive, and the test car was a DSG. I fumbled and hit the brake by mistake for the (nonexistent) clutch, but soon got the hang of it. I still wasn't really thinking about it, though I did ask the price.
Well, sometimes I can be really slow on the uptake, and it wasn't till I was driving back in my 306 that the penny began, very very slowly, to drop. I analysed my driving style, and it was lazy. I move up to 6th as soon as I can and tend to stay there even when I should change down. Half way through an overtaking manoeuvre is really no time to be fumbling with a gearstick, but it has happened.
Even still, it took a while. I was playing around with different specs and figuring out how I was going to pay for it, and it was late evening before my subconscious came up and smacked me and said, you liked that automatic gearbox, didn't you? So only then did I start reading up about what it was and how it worked. I didn't really put it through its paces at the time, or even ask the dealer about it, but it definitely made an impression on me.
I think it's more worth the money than the leather seats, quite frankly.
You guys are all really great, and you're being a fantastic help making up my mind.
Rolfe.
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I've only been on this forum a week or so mate and I don't know you from Adam, vice versa. However it is easy to see why people think you are a c0ck.
Ah ok, so I'm supposed to take it when people have a little banter with me, yet when I have some harmless banter with people back I'm a c0ck for it ?. I see how it is now. People can give it out but not take it. Sorry but those kind are the w-ankers, not me.
Well I've been nothing but polite to you fella and you start calling me gay? Lecherous and homophobic, nice combo. I see that many people have had a pop at you on here though and i've only been on here a week so maybe you need to go and have a word with yourself in the corner and let the lady get on with her thread eh?
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I've only been on this forum a week or so mate and I don't know you from Adam, vice versa. However it is easy to see why people think you are a c0ck.
Ah ok, so I'm supposed to take it when people have a little banter with me, yet when I have some harmless banter with people back I'm a c0ck for it ?. I see how it is now. People can give it out but not take it. Sorry but those kind are the w-ankers, not me.
Well I've been nothing but polite to you fella and you start calling me gay? Lecherous and homophobic, nice combo. I see that many people have had a pop at you on here though and i've only been on here a week so maybe you need to go and have a word with yourself in the corner and let the lady get on with her thread eh?
Oh listen, I've explained, so get a f**kin grip of yourself. I aint here to make f**kin friends and I couldnt give a sh!t if you're polite to me or not. Join my fan club or f**kin dry your eyes. It was a joke !
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Good reply, at least you can take it with a bit of humour. :smiley:
Kev, sweetheart, I'm not impugning your manners, but maybe you're a wee bit dim?
I've said about four times that my mother is coming up 93. Now actually, I'm not quite as old as you might imagine from that, because she wasn't exactly a child bride, but I'm definitely old enough to be flattered if the occasional wolf-whistle comes my way.
:wink:
Rolfe.
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I've only been on this forum a week or so mate and I don't know you from Adam, vice versa. However it is easy to see why people think you are a c0ck.
Ah ok, so I'm supposed to take it when people have a little banter with me, yet when I have some harmless banter with people back I'm a c0ck for it ?. I see how it is now. People can give it out but not take it. Sorry but those kind are the w-ankers, not me.
Well I've been nothing but polite to you fella and you start calling me gay? Lecherous and homophobic, nice combo. I see that many people have had a pop at you on here though and i've only been on here a week so maybe you need to go and have a word with yourself in the corner and let the lady get on with her thread eh?
Oh listen, I've explained, so get a f**kin grip of yourself. I aint here to make f**kin friends and I couldnt give a sh!t if you're polite to me or not. Join my fan club or f**kin dry your eyes. It was a joke !
You really do need to calm yourself down there petal. I am here to make friends and be polite and helpful to others so I suggest we steer clear of each other then. If you want to carry this on then I suggest you PM me so people don't get tired of your ranting.
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Good reply, at least you can take it with a bit of humour. :smiley:
Kev, sweetheart, I'm not impugning your manners, but maybe you're a wee bit dim?
I've said about four times that my mother is coming up 93. Now actually, I'm not quite as old as you might imagine from that, because she wasn't exactly a child bride, but I'm definitely old enough to be flattered if the occasional wolf-whistle comes my way.
:wink:
Rolfe.
Dim ? Not quite, being male is my downfall. :grin: I find it cool that shall we say 'mature' woman ? Is driving a GTI. :kiss:
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Rolfe if you get the car through a dealer far away the local guys will want your servicing business and will be obligated to do any warranty (which they get paid for).
Good luck with it all, exciting stuff eh!?
Oh and the cloth seats are a tad 'scratchey' on the arm rest and bolsters over the leather I had in the Scirocco but i'll get used to it and they won't end up sagging like a donkeys ar$e!
But they're not going to get my servicing business now, are they. :evil: After what Andrew pulled with the Peugeot (that and the sheer convenience), he has it guaranteed. Still, the dealers aren't going to know that. Cut-and-dried warranty work is one thing, but what I'm worried about is the little niggle stuff. The rattle, whatever. If you have a relationship with the dealer, forged when you bought the thing, my feeling is that you're less likely to have a smokescreen thrown up when you pester them about that kind of thing.
And I mean, if you were prepping a car, and you knew it was going some distance away and you'd probably never see it again, would you be quite so careful than with the one belonging to the customer down the road who's likely to show up in a paddy if there's something not quite right?
Just a thought.
Look, I've had leather upholstery in the Peugeot for 11 1/2 years and it still looks great. Are you telling me that VW do things worse?
Mind you, I don't weigh 20 stone.... :grin:
Rolfe.
Oh, get a room, you two. Or give it up, I don't much care which.
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Oh, we've kissed and made up.
The leather on the Scirocco was pretty nice but part leather and part vinyl and i'm led to believe the Golf is the same. After time I think all leather shows it's age more than cloth and the bolsters are pretty big to get scuffed but it depends on your build and weight and I know better than to ask!!!
I doubt the guys that PDI the cars know where they are headed and the build quality seems rock solid. I think as long as your man uses VW approved parts for servicing your warranty should still be intact and dealers get paid for warranty so even a rattle could be a nice invoice for them to veedub. Some dealers won't react to matching an internet deal so see what you can get by asking nicely first but get what you are comfortable with.
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Oh, we've kissed and made up.
The leather on the Scirocco was pretty nice but part leather and part vinyl and i'm led to believe the Golf is the same. After time I think all leather shows it's age more than cloth and the bolsters are pretty big to get scuffed but it depends on your build and weight and I know better than to ask!!!
I doubt the guys that PDI the cars know where they are headed and the build quality seems rock solid. I think as long as your man uses VW approved parts for servicing your warranty should still be intact and dealers get paid for warranty so even a rattle could be a nice invoice for them to veedub. Some dealers won't react to matching an internet deal so see what you can get by asking nicely first but get what you are comfortable with.
Slightly too wet for my liking but I can't complain. :embarassed: :grin:
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Shhh or i'll tell them about the blowie Kev......and he called me gay!
Now come on Kev and Rolfe, get these flippin' cars ordered!!!
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Shhh or i'll tell them about the blowie Kev......and he called me gay!
Now come on Kev and Rolfe, get these flippin' cars ordered!!!
Tomorrow for me, will be on the blower first thing to my client to see what deal he can give me. I'm sure it will be a good one as good or better than the internet prices I've got quotes for. After all, we save them a fortune every year :wink:
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Shhh or i'll tell them about the blowie Kev......and he called me gay!
Now come on Kev and Rolfe, get these flippin' cars ordered!!!
Oops, I think I slipped a cog last night when I was doing the sums. It's not £800 to £900 I save from DealDrivers, it's between £1,846 (no DSG or leather) and £1,966 (DSG, but still no leather). I don't know what I did but just now I put the numbers into a spreadsheet instead of playing with a calculator, and unless I've lost £1,000 this time which I can't find, I must have lost £1,000 last time. I blush for shame.
Now that puts an entirely different complexion on it all. I could get quite comfortable with the idea of DealDrivers for a saving of almost 2 grand, that is over and above the £500 discount the dealer in Edinburgh offered me. It's possible they might shift a bit yet, and I wouldn't require them to go the whole nine yards, but to get the absolute top spec I was looking at for £23,470 and only £21,979 if I lose the leather (and the storage pack which I'm not sure I want), has a lot going for it.
I may be going to have an interesting conversation with Verve tomorrow, followed by a positively fascinating one with Western VW later in the week. I've emailed DealDrivers to see what sort of wait times they offer, because that could be the snag - I'm not waiting 6 months and losing the scrappage deal.
Rolfe.
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Good luck with it. I spoke to three local VW dealers that all said categorically not a penny off a GTI. I made my position politely clear but they were all adamant. I settled for an over allowance on my PX and a £500 discount which ended up a reasonable deal but even when I mentioned brokers they just looked right through me.
The scrappage scheme has been good to them lately and they are becoming complacent again so good luck on your deal. With price increases and VAT shenanigans on the horizon the quicker the better. Good luck with it Rolfe.
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Well, I can live with the £500 reduction I've been offered, but where are DealDrivers getting their prices from?
I just noticed this post, and the one below it.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=118819.msg1043752#msg1043752 (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=118819.msg1043752#msg1043752)
Neilgcal called Dealdrivers and they never got back to him. Kev was going to investigate them a month ago. Well, Kev, did you find out if they were the real deal? If nobody's managed to get an actual car from them at the advertised prices, it strikes me the whole thing probably stinks.
It was a nice dream while it lasted.
[Note, added later. After talking to DealDrivers I got the firm impression that they're on the level. No criticism at all. The only reason I didn't go with them was that Verve offered me nearly as good a deal without my having to travel to England for it.]
Rolfe.
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Well, I can live with the £500 reduction I've been offered, but where are DealDrivers getting their prices from?
I just noticed this post, and the one below it.
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=118819.msg1043752#msg1043752 (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=118819.msg1043752#msg1043752)
Neilgcal called Dealdrivers and they never got back to him. Kev was going to investigate them a month ago. Well, Kev, did you find out if they were the real deal? If nobody's managed to get an actual car from them at the advertised prices, it strikes me the whole thing probably stinks.
It was a nice dream while it lasted.
Rolfe.
As far as I know Rolfe they are, only downside to dealdrivers is that they don't have a dealer in Scotland. If you look at broadspeed they have a dealer in North and South Scotland and are basically the same price, I would choose them.
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As far as I know Rolfe they are, only downside to dealdrivers is that they don't have a dealer in Scotland. If you look at broadspeed they have a dealer in North and South Scotland and are basically the same price, I would choose them.
Thanks, I'll investigate that. However, I'm not that fussed about where I go for the sort of deal DealDrivers are offering. I used to live in the south of England, and I've practically worn a groove in the M6 in that time. The Peugeot is running well, and I don't mind at all driving to England, picking up a bargain new car and leaving the Peugeot behind. So long as the deal is on the level.
I just feel it's way too good to be true, given that it's just over £2,000 cheaper than the offer I've had from my local dealer, which itself sounds better than a lot of people have managed. So, TANSTAAFL? Where's the catch?
BTW, I discovered where I went wrong with my original sums. I managed to add the DSG in twice. The right answer both makes it worth going out of my way to get the deal, and makes it all seem a bit too good to be true.
Also, if DealDrivers (or Broadspeed even) are really offering these deals, and there's no catch, how come nobody on this forum seems to have taken advantage of them?
Rolfe.
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Update.
Just phoned Broadspeed, and they aresn't offering any discount on the list price with the scrappage deal. This is £500 worse that the offer from Western VW.
They did offer me a fair deal without the scrappage (DSG, but no leather or storage pack was what I asked for), £24,218 which is £2227 off list price, plus whatever I'd get for the Peugeot selling it privately (maybe £500?). This is an improvement on the Western offer, which is £24,445 with the scrappage, so I'd maybe be as much as £700 up on the overall deal. Not bad, but then Western might talk the same sort of figures if I asked them about a no-scrappage price.
I also phoned DealDrivers, and the guy was very very nice to talk to and for what it's worth seemed very genuine. However he told me that they had just (overnight) put a note on the web site saying that the dealer giving these prices on the GTi had filled his production quota. This is true, I reloaded the web page and got the following:
PRODUCTION NOTE -
7/7/09: GTI production allocation for our VW dealers whose pricing is shown below is now full, we do have another dealer still with some allocation but at a slightly lower discount, ask for details
He's going to get back to me with a revised quote. I still can't find a catch here, other than that the deals are so good you have to get up early in the morning to secure them.
Rolfe.
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A MKV blue-graphite owner here !
I've posted some pics of mine on here a couple of times.... it's a classy colour that looks very very smart when polished up on a sunny day. It does need to be clean, otherwise it can look quite drab, but I think you can say that about any dark metallic. It also compliments the red detailing very well I think... here's a couple of pics
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/joeA3/GTI/DSC00088.jpg)
(http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/joeA3/GTI/IMG_0014_2.jpg)
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Thank you very much! Me likee! Me likee lots!
I know what you mean about the sunny day. It was the same with the Caspian Blue Fiesta I had - the sunlight really brings up the colour and that's when I collected the admiring remarks.
I'm lazy about washing cars. Men do that. (One of my neighbours came to my door on Boxing Day and offered to wash the Peugeot - I think he thought I was letting the street down!) I have enough to do cleaning the house. I need to find an automatic car wash within easy driving distance - I used to go through one every 1 or 2 weeks where I used to live.
Oh, now I know I like the colour, my mind is made up on that one. Thanks again.
BTW, where was that first picture taken? Looks very familiar, west coast of Scotland somewhere.
Rolfe.
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NO NO NO ! Rolfe, dont use the car wash. That is the doorway to swirl heaven. Whoever had my MK5 before me needs putting in prison for the way they treated the paintwork (ironically it was a woman owner from new before me :D), swirls all over the place when the sun comes out :(
You will find most cars over a few years old have swirls though, in the words of Morpheus, it is inevitable. :(
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Arghh, all set to order and my man at Arnold Clark is off on holiday since Monday till the 21st July. :cry:
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And I've seen hand car washes where people have dropped wet sponges on a gritty surface, then picked them up and gone right on washing.
Yeah, I know, do it yourself. Who said I was that careful either?
Rolfe.
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Some GTI's are too polished. It looks as though the owner never uses the car.
The old model badged as ED30 often suffers this fate.
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Arghh, all set to order and my man at Arnold Clark is off on holiday since Monday till the 21st July. :cry:
and there's no one else available to take your order?? :huh: :undecided:
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My thoughts to. Someone else in the dealer must be able to sort your order out Kev? ? ?
21st is weeks away :sad:
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Arghh, all set to order and my man at Arnold Clark is off on holiday since Monday till the 21st July. :cry:
and there's no one else available to take your order?? :huh: :undecided:
I didn't think to ask, It was either his secretary, p.a. or whatever that answered the call. I know when I got his details to ring that he was the main man to talk to, so it didn't even cross my mind to ask for anyone else as I was given his name specifically. He is the person that deals with our company directly and as far as the dealer I was talking to last night was conceared too, was that he is the decision maker. I do have a little patience, 2 weeks is not long to wait when I have been waiting since the mk6 accouncement basically. I can put up with the you don't have a car, have you ordered yet comments for while longer yet. :wink:
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My thoughts to. Someone else in the dealer must be able to sort your order out Kev? ? ?
21st is weeks away :sad:
See above for longer explaination. Although, I don't know if people are asking out of genuine interest, or out of disbelief. Makes no odds to me.
But 2 weeks, not long, I'm upgrading my PC at the moment, and have a couple of events happening before then so should have enough to take my mind off the wait.
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Genuine interest mate, I've been losing sleep :kiss:
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Just had a thought as to why the 21st too, most people come back Monday. I've just been informed that its Glasgows fair weekend so its a holiday for the 'office' blokes on Monday.
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Genuine interest mate, I've been losing sleep :kiss:
yeah yeah :grin:
I'm just really curious as to what kind of deal I'll get. Dealer said to me last night that his deal and even the deals they offer in the garages work differently. He was also very surprised that I knew his name and showed him his number. No matter how many times I said 'You are our client' it didnt seem to register, felt like I had stolen the info :grin:
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My thoughts to. Someone else in the dealer must be able to sort your order out Kev? ? ?
21st is weeks away :sad:
See above for longer explaination. Although, I don't know if people are asking out of genuine interest, or out of disbelief. Makes no odds to me.
interest and slight disbelief that it appears that this dealer only has one salesman who can take your order :laugh:
fair enough if he happens to be head honcho and ulitamtely who the others go to for authorisation but even then surely someone can make a deicsion there :undecided:
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This is a VW dealer your talking about here Rhys :D
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This is a VW dealer your talking about here Rhys :D
ah yeah right - my bad :embarassed: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
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So Rolfe have you decided and taken the plunge yet then? What's it to be Blue Graphite with the DSG box or something different? Let us know what deal you strike with whoever and good luck!! :wink:
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My thoughts to. Someone else in the dealer must be able to sort your order out Kev? ? ?
21st is weeks away :sad:
See above for longer explaination. Although, I don't know if people are asking out of genuine interest, or out of disbelief. Makes no odds to me.
interest and slight disbelief that it appears that this dealer only has one salesman who can take your order :laugh:
fair enough if he happens to be head honcho and ulitamtely who the others go to for authorisation but even then surely someone can make a deicsion there :undecided:
They are not dealers directly, I cant really give out client info, but without being too specific, this guy deals with all the lease cars in the fleet and is based at a head office, so not at any dealership garage or anything liek that and not a salesman either. He does however, have the authorisation to do any deal he wishes wither it be lease or purchase. Hence why I'd really like to talk to him to see what he can offer as were his clients too, so hoping for a good deal. As I said, never thought to ask for anyone else as I only have his name and number and was fine with the p.a's info.
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So Rolfe have you decided and taken the plunge yet then? What's it to be Blue Graphite with the DSG box or something different? Let us know what deal you strike with whoever and good luck!! :wink:
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
I think I have a result.
As I said, the DealDriver person on the phone sounded very genuine, and I have no reason to doubt that the deal on the web site was snapped up just before I contacted him. He was going to get back to me with another deal that was still available, and I don't doubt his sincerity. Indeed, I think this route is well worth going if you don't mind travelling to pick up your car. However, I have just emailed him with my thanks, but to tell him I'm fixed up.
As I said, I knew I would be passing a Verve dealership on my way back from taking my Mum for her regular eye clinic checkup. The premises are only about 25 miles from my home, not really much further than Western VW - I only went to Western first because they were near work and I could sneak out at lunchtime. The Verve is the dealer Mum bought her Polo from way back when, before her eyesight forced her to give up driving. Indeed, my late father knew the previous owners of the franchise. However, although I did remark that mother had bought her Polo there, namedropping did not appear to be necessary. Unless you count dropping DealDrivers' name!
I got hold of a salesman and told him I'd already has a test drive and was looking for a deal. He started off about how new the car was and how few deals were available, but when he saw I already had my specs more or less picked out, he cut to the chase very quickly.
He said he had a 5-door DSG in Blue Graphite available right now, but it was a base model without any extras. I said no, I really wanted some extras. He said OK, it will have to be a factory order, let's see what we can do. I had a piece of paper with the list price typed up, and the deal I was offered by WesternVW, and the DealDrivers' price. I told them straight up that I had contacted DealDrivers because I couldn't really believe it, and that in fact that vehicle had gone, but I was waiting for them to contact me again. I said plainly that I didn't see how such a deal was possible and that I wasn't expecting him to match it.
Nevertheless, he asked if he could copy my notes, and I said yes, sure. He was away a bit longer that I would have expected for a one-page copy, and another guy came over to the desk just after that. They discussed the DealDrivers' price, and the original salesman said that's what we're up against. The second guy said something which I took to mean that at the DealDrivers' price, there was only £100 profit left. I repeated that I didn't really expect them to match that price, I just wanted to see what they could do for me. I indicated I'd prefer to deal with someone local, all else being reasonably equal.
He took all my details and said he'd get back to me with a price. I said fine, expecting him to phone me tomorrow. I'd only gone about 10 miles when my mobile rang. I had to cut the call short as the level crossing lights changed and the traffic began to move, but I thought I heard a good number! When I got home, I called him.
Here is the deal.
5-door DSG, Blue Graphite, with ACC, sunroof, winter pack, luxury pack and flat tyre indicator. (Right. No boys' toys - if I can plug my iPod into the standard system I'm happy, and I can park a car, thankyouverymuch.) With scrappage deal for R-reg Peugeot 306.
£22,500.
That is just just under £4,000 below list, and a discount of £1,995 on top of the scrappage £2,000.
I am a happy camper.
I intend to call Western tomorrow morning to tell then they've been gazumped. The salesman there was very nice indeed and gave me a good test drive, but I really don't see them matching that price. They're in the middle of Edinburgh, and even with the banking crisis they probably have enough yuppies willing to pay higher prices that they won't need to discount too keenly. Verve, on the other hand, are geographically speaking on the other side of the tracks.
I'm half-scared to type this in case I wake up in the morning and the pot of gold has turned to dry leaves! But the message is that there are deals if you go to the right place (didn't another member get a good deal from Verve in Glasgow?). Also, that DealDrivers are taken seriously. Oh yes, and my impression is that DealDrivers themselves are genuine, and I didn't encounter anything that would dissuade me from dealing with them.
My only remaining hesitation is the leather seats. I only saw the cloth seats for the first time this afternoon - the Verve showroom model had cloth, while the Western VW one had leather. They are very nice, and have a lighter appearance than the leather. The little red stripe sets off the other red detailing nicely too. I still like the leather. I'm just not sure I like it £1,600 worth.
I wonder what the black leather would look like with the sunroof.... :undecided:
I'm never going to sleep tonight!
And there will be pictures - eventually. And will I choose a name?
Rolfe.
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So Rolfe have you decided and taken the plunge yet then? What's it to be Blue Graphite with the DSG box or something different? Let us know what deal you strike with whoever and good luck!! :wink:
:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
I think I have a result.
As I said, the DealDriver person on the phone sounded very genuine, and I have no reason to doubt that the deal on the web site was snapped up just before I contacted him. He was going to get back to me with another deal that was still available, and I don't doubt his sincerity. Indeed, I think this route is well worth going if you don't mind travelling to pick up your car. However, I have just emailed him with my thanks, but to tell him I'm fixed up.
As I said, I knew I would be passing a Verve dealership on my way back from taking my Mum for her regular eye clinic checkup. The premises are only about 25 miles from my home, not really much further than Western VW - I only went to Western first because they were near work and I could sneak out at lunchtime. The Verve is the dealer Mum bought her Polo from way back when, before her eyesight forced her to give up driving. Indeed, my late father knew the previous owners of the franchise. However, although I did remark that mother had bought her Polo there, namedropping did not appear to be necessary. Unless you count dropping DealDrivers' name!
I got hold of a salesman and told him I'd already has a test drive and was looking for a deal. He started off about how new the car was and how few deals were available, but when he saw I already had my specs more or less picked out, he cut to the chase very quickly.
He said he had a 5-door DSG in Blue Graphite available right now, but it was a base model without any extras. I said no, I really wanted some extras. He said OK, it will have to be a factory order, let's see what we can do. I had a piece of paper with the list price typed up, and the deal I was offered by WesternVW, and the DealDrivers' price. I told them straight up that I had contacted DealDrivers because I couldn't really believe it, and that in fact that vehicle had gone, but I was waiting for them to contact me again. I said plainly that I didn't see how such a deal was possible and that I wasn't expecting him to match it.
Nevertheless, he asked if he could copy my notes, and I said yes, sure. He was away a bit longer that I would have expected for a one-page copy, and another guy came over to the desk just after that. They discussed the DealDrivers' price, and the original salesman said that's what we're up against. The second guy said something which I took to mean that at the DealDrivers' price, there was only £100 profit left. I repeated that I didn't really expect them to match that price, I just wanted to see what they could do for me. I indicated I'd prefer to deal with someone local, all else being reasonably equal.
He took all my details and said he'd get back to me with a price. I said fine, expecting him to phone me tomorrow. I'd only gone about 10 miles when my mobile rang. I had to cut the call short as the level crossing lights changed and the traffic began to move, but I thought I heard a good number! When I got home, I called him.
Here is the deal.
5-door DSG, Blue Graphite, with ACC, sunroof, winter pack, luxury pack and flat tyre indicator. (Right. No boys' toys - if I can plug my iPod into the standard system I'm happy, and I can park a car, thankyouverymuch.) With scrappage deal for R-reg Peugeot 306.
£22,500.
That is just just under £4,000 below list, and a discount of £1,995 on top of the scrappage £2,000.
I am a happy camper.
I intend to call Western tomorrow morning to tell then they've been gazumped. The salesman there was very nice indeed and gave me a good test drive, but I really don't see them matching that price. They're in the middle of Edinburgh, and even with the banking crisis they probably have enough yuppies willing to pay higher prices that they won't need to discount too keenly. Verve, on the other hand, are geographically speaking on the other side of the tracks.
I'm half-scared to type this in case I wake up in the morning and the pot of gold has turned to dry leaves! But the message is that there are deals if you go to the right place (didn't another member get a good deal from Verve in Glasgow?). Also, that DealDrivers are taken seriously. Oh yes, and my impression is that DealDrivers themselves are genuine, and I didn't encounter anything that would dissuade me from dealing with them.
My only remaining hesitation is the leather seats. I only saw the cloth seats for the first time this afternoon - the Verve showroom model had cloth, while the Western VW one had leather. They are very nice, and have a lighter appearance than the leather. The little red stripe sets off the other red detailing nicely too. I still like the leather. I'm just not sure I like it £1,600 worth.
I wonder what the black leather would look like with the sunroof.... :undecided:
I'm never going to sleep tonight!
And there will be pictures - eventually. And will I choose a name?
Rolfe.
Great read Rolfe, and I'm glad you're now all sorted and ordered. Almost £2k outright saving from list price (excluding scrappage) is the best deal I've seen so far I believe.
For info, and of course this is just my opinion from people I've been talking to, is that the dealers we visit may think dealdrivers garages work on profits like £100, but I don't think they do. I think dealdrivers garages deal on the amount of cars sold and with the bonues that VW provides for that, can work out a lot better than pure sales profits. I'm sure it's a bit like fleet buying.
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I think you're probably right. I didn't pick up 100% of what the sales guys were saying, but they could well have been indicating that that price would leave them with only £100 profit. And very possibly that was profit after allowing for their own overheads, which must be considerable.
The salesman at Verve was obviously keen to sell the car. I indicated that I was buying, and just looking for the best deal, and also that there was a fair chance I'd go to DealDrivers if nobody local could at least get in spitting distance.
He managed the spitting distance very nicely.
Rolfe.
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nice one, congrats!
:smiley:
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Excellent, well done Morag, you did your homework and you got a result! And you've got a few fans on here now!!! :grin:
Makes you wonder; Dealdrivers and the other brokers get their cars from UK dealerships, but obviously these dealers are tied into keeping quiet about their links. However if an unsuspecting customer walked into the showroom there's nothing stopping a broker-tied dealer to do a similar deal, as on top of their broker introduced sales they will still want to shift as much metal as possible to keep the VW bonuses flowing which would be their bread and butter. I do hope that paragraph made sense, it's 5 AM and I'm tired. I'm sure you get my drift though, or am I just too cynical?
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Indeed not, I don't think you're over-cynical. It was exactly what I was thinking myself.
No garage is going to take out a full-page ad in the local paper pushing its rock-bottom lowest price! You walk in and begin haggling with the list price as a starting point. You don't know how far they can be driven down. You pretty much have to play one against the other - I remember doing it with my first Fiesta, way back when. Who knows if I got the rock-bottom deal?
Now a lot of people will only go to their local dealer. If there are two reasonably close, then they might visit both, but most people who are near a particular dealer will see that garage as the inevitable source of their car. Also, Brits are uncomfortable haggling, and playing sellers off against each other. The Western VW dealership were very very nice to us when we went for the test drive. My mother repeatedly said what a nice young man that was, and was I going to place the order, she wouldn't really like not to when they'd been so nice. I said nice was all very well, but £2,000 was a lot of money. But I still feel bad about deserting them after getting the test drive there.
I think there are a lot of people who are reasonably satisfied with maybe a £500 discount, and don't really push it beyond that. Maybe they'd even be embarrassed. Of course the dealers don't want to telegraph to these people that they'd go lower.
DealDrivers are probably very good for dealers prepared to do a sweet deal. The anonymity of the web site allows them to advertise their best prices and draw in buyers from far afield who wouldn't otherwise go near them. But at the same time it allows them to continue getting the routine small-discount business from the relatively unpushy buyers, with no real danger that their "best deal" prices will become common knowledge in the neighbourhood.
It was obvious to me that the Verve salesman backed down very very rapidly when he realised I was shopping round seriously. And I think I had another advantage. I'm not a 25-year-old bloke flashing his money around. Maybe it's not fair, but I think some salesmen don't always see younger men looking at high-performance, relatively expensive cars as serious buyers. Just as many people make a hobby of visiting show houses in building developments, some guys make a hobby of going round car showrooms. No dealer is going to take the trouble to put his best deal on the table for someone like that.
I think if you've definitely made up your mind exactly which car you want and that you're definitely going to buy it, and the salesman realises that, you're going to get a much more serious offer than if you give the impression you're just casually shopping around. Someone like me, with an 11-year-old car ready for the scrappage scheme and an exact list of options already selelcted, is obviously buying. Someone with a relatively new car already, who is being a bit vague, might be a lot harder to call and might just be dismissed as a tourist.
I think, anyway.
Rolfe.
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OK, deal done! Been on the blower to Verve, paid the deposit by debit card, and we're on the move.
VW Golf GTi Mk VI
5-door
Blue graphite
DSG
ACC
Sun roof
Winter pack
Luxury pack
Flat tyre indicator
£22,500 on the road, including scrappage on R-reg Peugeot 306 GTi-6.
I've probably got a couple of weeks to change my mind on the specifications, but I don't think I will. The cloth upholstery is actually quite classy, and £1,675 is a lot of money.
Rolfe.
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Congrats on the purchase Rolfe :cool:
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that does sound sweet and a cracking deal by the sounds of it - good work!! :afro:
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Congrats on ordering :smiley:
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Goood work!! :grin:
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Goood work!! :grin:
I think I have you guys to thank - maybe Kev, actually. It was the DealDrivers figures that really concentrated the minds, and I didn't know about DealDrivers till I came on this forum. I think it was Kev who pointed DealDrivers out, in another thread.
So lay of the guy already, he's not all bad! :kiss:
Thank you, one and all.
Rolfe.
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Goood work!! :grin:
I think I have you guys to thank - maybe Kev, actually. It was the DealDrivers figures that really concentrated the minds, and I didn't know about DealDrivers till I came on this forum. I think it was Kev who pointed DealDrivers out, in another thread.
So lay of the guy already, he's not all bad! :kiss:
Thank you, one and all.
Rolfe.
Well if my little bit of info helped then thats what were all here for :smiley:
Gonna take more than that for the guys to change their minds though, but thanks :laugh: :laugh:
Enjoy your car when it comes.
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:rolleyes:
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Listen Rolfe I'm not being picky but what you have there sounds a great specced car, are you not going for the 18" monza shadows? They look the bees knees on the gti and fill the gap much better than the 17". Seriously I would think about that option!!! Other than that congrats on your order.. :laugh:
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No way! £415 for marginally cooler wheels? I didn't come up the Clyde in a banana boat.
No criticism of people who like that sort of thing, but it's just not something I'm at all concerned about. And once there's some mud on them, well, how much different will they look?
Actually, there's a more practical reason. I'm told that the bigger wheels give a slightly less smooth ride, and I'm very keen on smooth ride. I'm even paying for the ACC to get as smooth a ride as possible. And so would you if you had to put up with my Mum wincing audibly (one might almsot say theatrically) at every bump, and comparing your car adversely to your cousin's Astra, based entirely on ride comfort.
Not having the Xenon headlights either. They give me the creeps when I see them coming towards me on the road at night!
Rolfe.
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No way! £415 for marginally cooler wheels? I didn't come up the Clyde in a banana boat.
No criticism of people who like that sort of thing, but it's just not something I'm at all concerned about. And once there's some mud on them, well, how much different will they look?
Actually, there's a more practical reason. I'm told that the bigger wheels give a slightly less smooth ride, and I'm very keen on smooth ride. I'm even paying for the ACC to get as smooth a ride as possible. And so would you if you had to put up with my Mum wincing audibly (one might almsot say theatrically) at every bump, and comparing your car adversely to your cousin's Astra, based entirely on ride comfort.
Not having the Xenon headlights either. They give me the creeps when I see them coming towards me on the road at night!
Rolfe.
How about you get the 18" wheels and I swap you them for my lovelly 17"?? :evil: + some cash of course :wink:
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Gizzy, don't think the 17's will not fill the arches as much as the 18's? They overall diameter will be the same as the 17's will have a deeper profile sidewall.
They'll probably LOOK they'll fill the arches better though. I wouldn't have a GTI without the 18's, especially seeing how cool they looked on the tele the other night! Not for everyone though, especially those with elderly passengers!
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No deal I'm afraid. :smiley:
To be fair, the demo car had the 18s, and no ACC, and my mother was perfectly happy. But the test-drive route wasn't rough. I want her to shut up about the bumps even when we go through Carnwath on the A721. That is simply shocking.
The 18s are pretty, I agree. Just not £415 pretty.
Rolfe.
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Thin rubber on big wheels is so 90s.
Evo tested the Mk5 GTI with 17" and 18" wheels.
The 17" were two seconds faster around their track.
I'd pay extra for the 17's.
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Thin rubber on big wheels is so 90s.
Evo tested the Mk5 GTI with 17" and 18" wheels.
The 17" were two seconds faster around their track.
I'd pay extra for the 17's.
Some truth there. Look at the mclaren f1, pretty unsexy wheels by today's standards as very larg sidewalls. But, if its good enough for gordon murray...
(Personally I grew up in the 90s so 18s for me pls!)
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17's look gay - saw a demo GTI the other day at my local dealer
:sick: :sick: :sick:
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Saw a blue graphite mk6 golf (non gti) this morning and it did look pretty good.
Very subtle but classy. Dark, shiny but not as obvious as black. Would look great as a contrast against the red detailling and callipers.
There are pics of a show car online of a very shiny blue graphite one.
Test driving a black one this weekend so will commpare.
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The salesman I first spoke to said he didn't think that colour was right for the GTi, but I beg to differ. (I think, not having actually seen it in the flesh!) The pics I have seen do look subtle and classy, and the red detailing looks good. In fact, the red detailing on the cloth seats toning in with this is one of the reasons I went for cloth in the end.
The Tornado red is certainly an eyeful, but then you lose the effect of the red detailing.
Rolfe.
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But then I drove the 306 away, and started to critique my own driving. I run in too high a gear quite a lot of the time. I'm bad about changing down to overtake - I just assume the car will pull away in 6th (which it more or less does). I reviewed what the salesman said about city driving, and recalled evenings of aching shins after inching through London traffic. I never really thought about it.
I don't do much city driving now. But I'm seriously reconsidering my commitment to manual gear-shifts. I suspect I could so get used to the DSG.
Opinions, anyone?
Rolfe.
I used to do exactly the same with my old car - just assume you would be able to pull away without shifting down - which is silly when you sit and think about it! lol
Im glad I went for DSG. I sometimes use the paddles to have a little fun, but when in D or S, you can keep both hands on the steering wheel etc, which I much prefer in a spirited drive. Also the kickdown feature is brilliant!
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Meeeh still an automatic in my eyes.
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Yes, but such a nice automatic.... :cool:
Rolfe.
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Silly story, with regard to picking up new cars. I was reminded of this when I was thinking I might have to go to England to pick up a car.
When I ordered my Peugeot 306 GTi-6 I was given a build time of about 3 months, but only 3 or 4 weeks later the dealer phoned to say it was ready, pick it up Friday. (It came with the CD autochanger in the boot, which I hadn’t ordered, so I imagine they just found they had a ready-built car close enough to my specs to do it.) I had booked to spend that weekend at an SF con in Leicester, and was driving up on the Friday evening. I said, fine, I’ll pick it up after work then drive straight to Leicester.
My then business partner (Vauxhall Omega) told me I was mad to drive off in a brand new car like that. What can go wrong, I said blithely. He then launched into a story about how he’d once picked up a new car, only to find very soon afterwards that it was impossible to get it to reverse. I just laughed it off.
I showed up at the dealer Friday evening, and they had the car parked prominently in the front window of the showroom. It took a bit of manoeuvring to get it out, and I also remember a 5-point turn in the car park. The salesman then took me on a fifteen-minute familiarisation trip round the Sussex lanes. When I dropped him back at the dealership, there was another 5-point turn. (Did I mention this car has a turning circle about the diameter of the moons of Jupiter?) No problems at all.
I drove to Leicester and found the hotel. As I was turning into the car park I made a scary discovery. It was impossible to engage reverse gear! I managed to drive nose-first into a free parking space and park only slightly squinty. I’m afraid I then took myself off into the hotel and forgot all about it until I was ready to leave, two days later. (Well, I think I had an inkling what was wrong, and that I could probably fix it.)
The problem was the cuff on the gear stick that you have to pull up to engage reverse. It was loose, and not pulling on anything. Well, I used to drive a motorbike and I know how these cables work. I could tell by the feel of it that a cable had slipped out of place, so I worked the leather gaiter down until I could get hold of the cable, and managed to hook it back into place and pulling on the proper lever. That got me into reverse, out of the car park and back on the main road heading home.
It kept happening however, and I went back to the dealer with it. They had the car in for a day to fix it, and to their credit it has never come loose again. Well, what were the odds of my partner telling me that tale about his new car that wouldn’t go backwards (apparently that was some strange problem with the actual gearbox), then my new car promptly shows up and – won’t go backwards?
The salesman collected the car from my office for that repair, and when he delivered it back, he was visibly white and shaking. He said, that ABS system works really well, doesn’t it? I said pointedly that I had Absolutely No Idea, as I hadn’t needed to try it. Apparently the village where I worked was on one of the dealer’s regular test-drive routes, but he hadn’t been round it for some months. In that time, the council had installed some pretty stupid “traffic calming†measures, which included a new traffic island right in the middle of the road just after a corner. The salesman must have been having a bit of fun in my brand new GTi, and come tearing round that corner to find himself almost on top of the traffic island.
If he had pranged my one-week-old pride and joy, I swear I would have murdered him on the spot.
Rolfe.
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Vauxhalls and Peugeots both share that same sleeve thingy.
About 20 odd years ago a guy I worked with bought a brand new, just released, 205 1.9 GTI. He loved that car, he drove it everywhere. Dropped it into the main dealer for a bit of work when it was just a few months old and a mechanic (weren't called techies back then) put it on its roof taking it for a bit of an extended test run. No ABS or ESP back then. Boy did they have some apologising to do.
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Great story :grin:
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Sigh. Two weeks since I ordered, and I just checked. No build week yet. Apparently build weeks 33 and 34 are showing on the computer for some other cars, but Prospero (he has a name! he's magic!) doesn't have one yet.
Call back Friday, they say. Oh well.
Rolfe.
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Prospero? :rolleyes:
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First ever car, Fiesta 1.1L, was dubbed "Miranda" soon after acquisition, having tanked up the M6/M74 at up to 90mph for Christmas 1985. I was well chuffed, and the name came to me as it means "she who is worthy to be admired".
Her successor, an XR2, was obviously a boy, and was christened "Ferdinand" to match.
Car no. 3, the Peugeot 306 GTi, is "Ariel", carrying on in the same theme.
So there is a certain inevitability to "Prospero". Who was, after all, a powerful magician.
I'm going to have to keep this one forever, because "Caliban" is almost all that's left!
Rolfe.
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In a way I guess Prospero is quite apt for a mk6 as you need to be pretty prosperous to buy one!!! :laugh:
But Morag, really, horses and dogs have names, fish and cars don't!!!!!
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O rly? :cool:
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=123332.0 (http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=123332.0)
Rolfe.
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There are pics of a show car online of a very shiny blue graphite one.
Do you have a link for that?
This is the best I found so far.
http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27678 (http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27678)
The colour seems to vary a lot with the light. Hmmm. Pity about the 55oN part....
ETA: This one?
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/04/custom_1239223861391_3424191097_6fe08bcd9a_b.jpg (http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/2009/04/custom_1239223861391_3424191097_6fe08bcd9a_b.jpg)
Rolfe.
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yup, the latter one is the one i saw. i challenge you to keep it looking like that every day! lol
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yup, the latter one is the one i saw. i challenge you to keep it looking like that every day! lol
Not the proverbial snowball's chance.
It's a shame the photography is so precious - it's difficult to see the real car behind the dazzling reflections. Still, it shows what it can look like "in the right light".
I'm pleased enough with the colour really.
Rolfe.
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That second one is the american spec show car and its carbon gray not blue graphite :wink:
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That second one is the american spec show car and its carbon gray not blue graphite :wink:
You reckon? I can see it's not the same, and it's the first one that matches the colour in the brochure. I thought it was more to do with the colour reproduction though, because the second one still looks blue-ish - maybe reflection of blue panels nearby? It's the brochure colour and the first (Bahrain) pics that I like, though - it's just hard to imagine it on a whole car from the little bit of sample in the dealer's, which looks very dark.
Damn. I'm going to have to change the wallpaper on my computer again.
Or maybe not, the very shiny one is actually quite an eyeful....
Rolfe.
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I spend alot of time on the american forums so i have seen those pics many times.
The guys at the press launch of that car were told it was carbon, one of a restricted colour range available in America.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/flogitg/AudioNetPhoto/2009-Volkswagen-GTI-vwvortex-009.jpg)
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Is the car itself significantly different? The front seems more aggressive or something, but I can't quite put my finger on it and I though it was just the absence of a number plate.
It does look sort of blue, but as I said, that could be reflection. Is it different from the "Carbon Grey" in the British brochure then?
Rolfe.
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I don't have any mk6 blue graphites only mk5s :sad:
But i do have a 'normal' mk6 in blue graphite photo.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/flogitg/AudioNetPhoto/bluegraphite78c0264d.jpg)
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/flogitg/AudioNetPhoto/bluegraphite11b94173.jpg)
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Yeah, I think I like it best of the colours on offer. (I better - it's on order!)
Is the US spec car significantly different to look at compared to our specs?
Rolfel
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Not really. Orange side markers, number plate are the main thing, the equipment spec is slightly different and theres is 200PS not 210PS due to emmisions and fuel octane ratings.
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So, I've got pics of a GTi Mk V in Blue Graphite, pics of an tame Golf Mk VI in Blue Graphite, and pics of a GTi Mk VI in something blue-ish that isn't actually Blue Graphite.
Sigh. Given how little of any colour that isn't red is shown in the brochure, and how the only cars they seem to let the journalists play with are red or white, and how the colours don't show up terribly well on the configurator, and how hard it is to visualise what anything will look like from those squares of paint they have in the dealers - can't they just put some actual photos of some actual cars in the actual paint job on the net?
Rolfe.
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http://www.worldcarfans.com/209060819831/vw-golf-gtd
Not sure what colour that GTD is? It maybe shadowblue it maybe graphite blue it maybe a greenblue it seems to change colour depending on the photo. But the gray tint to the colour makes me thing its Graphite blue. There maybe more than one car on there of cause :grin:
and
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/tarmacterrorist_2006/IMGP1067.jpg)
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Re: aggressive front end, perhaps its the xenons? Many have said already that it makes a big difference.
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I think it's the size of that - ?air intake? - ?radiator grille? - at the angle the picture is taken from, without any softening by the number plate which would normally cover it a little bit.
Oh and Snoopy, I'd have said that was Shadow Blue, though you'd know that better than I would.
Rolfe.
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Amazing that that show car is carbon grey, looks very blue to me. Just goes to show what a special colour carbon grey is... though too special for me, I'll stick to black :)
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There's a Carbon Grey car in another thread that looks quite greenish, and if you look more carefully at the pictures, there are trees reflected in the windows. I think the greenish tinge is caused by the leaves reflecting in the polished paintwork.
If you look at the American picture, I think there's blue in the exhibition set, and this could be reflecting in the paintwork the same way.
Still looks quite blue to me though.... :grin:
Rolfe.
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Some of the american GTI spec pics can be seen at
http://www.vwvortex.com/gallery/gallery2.php?mode=album&album=/Volkswagen/Golf%20-%20GTI%20-%20Rabbit/Golf%20VI/GTI%20(U.S.%20Model)#
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If that's all the same car (which I think it is), it certainly looks more grey in several of these shots.
My illusions are shattered! :sad:
Rolfe.
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sorry rolfe - my bad :(
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Having looked at those American pics I'm really not sure that is the blue graphite. To me it looks very grey, could it be carbon grey??
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yesh, i believe we have established that it is carbon grey. the grey that can look green, blue and grey!
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Having looked at those American pics I'm really not sure that is the blue graphite. To me it looks very grey, could it be carbon grey??
Get with the programme! That's what we've just decided!
Rolfe.
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lol :evil: :laugh: :laugh:
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sorry rolfe - my bad :(
Never mind, the illusion isn't bad. I'm keeping the pic as computer wallpaper for now anyway - it's impressing the hell out of casual passers-by. :cool:
rolfe.
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Yippeedee doo dah..... I got a build week!
Week 35. Week beginning 24th August. It might show up soon after I start 2 weeks holiday on 7th September. (Or even earlier - the dealer told me he'd just waved one off today that was released by another dealer and turned out to be exactly what one of his customers had ordered, no more no less. He said, a black one. I was assuming a GTi, though he didn't actually say. And he said somethimes they complete their quota and get ahead of themselves. Damn German efficiency!)
So, I was going to take the Peugeot to Knockhill sometime during that fortnight, for some performance car driving tuition. Might have to rethink that timing....
Rolfe.
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Nothing to do with the topic but i though a few still waiting might appreciate the pic :grin:
cant get the img to work so here is the link... :wink:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/Smci6pAFfNI/AAAAAAAB7Fc/iePhhsgf3KA/s1600-h/VW-Golf-GT-Sportec-4.JPG
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FoXyvaPSnVk/SmcjHLnHqlI/AAAAAAAB7F0/7p2q-Z-QHwo/s1600-h/VW-Golf-GT-Sportec-7.jpg
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cant see the pic :cry:
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Yippeedee doo dah..... I got a build week!
Week 35. Week beginning 24th August. It might show up soon after I start 2 weeks holiday on 7th September. (Or even earlier - the dealer told me he'd just waved one off today that was released by another dealer and turned out to be exactly what one of his customers had ordered, no more no less. He said, a black one. I was assuming a GTi, though he didn't actually say. And he said somethimes they complete their quota and get ahead of themselves. Damn German efficiency!)
So, I was going to take the Peugeot to Knockhill sometime during that fortnight, for some performance car driving tuition. Might have to rethink that timing....
Rolfe.
Bet you are excited now. I can't believe you got a build week so quickly, i had to wait 10 weeks just to get that far. Someone on here ordered 3 months ago and still does not have a build week!!!
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cant see the pic :cry:
patience lad :grin:
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oooh, me likes!! :smiley:
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cant see the pic :cry:
patience lad :grin:
yeah i admit i have no patience. I blame that on my mum as she has none either. Thats why im not good in traffic, need to vertake everything!! :laugh: Will become an easy task when my new GTI arrives!!! :smiley:
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oooh, me likes!! :smiley:
the white one is a sportec upgrade of a 1.4tsi and makes 200bhp. Look out Gti's :lipsrsealed:
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Bet you are excited now. I can't believe you got a build week so quickly, i had to wait 10 weeks just to get that far. Someone on here ordered 3 months ago and still does not have a build week!!!
So what's going on? When I ordered (3 weeks ago) my dealer said "maybe September", and so far he's been proven right. The other dealer I spoke to, about a week before that, said "three months irrespective of the specification". Although that one seems to have been a bit pessimistic, it's the same ball-park, maybe just a more conservative estimate.
I understand how some people have managed quicker, by being able to latch on to vehicles already in the system, but I seriously don't understand how it's proving so much slower for some people.
Rolfe.
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^^ Chances are that a dealer spots another dealer looking for a car of similar or exact spec. 1 dealer then supplies another and is given a small cut :wink:
Slimey barstewards these dealers.. you have been warned :grin:
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Hmmm, sounds exactly like what my dealer told me this afternoon, but from the other side. He said he'd just handed over a new black one (GTi?) to its new owner this afternoon. It so happened that another dealer had a car exactly the specs his customer wanted, and the other dealer released it to him. This was told to me in the spirit of "you never know your luck". Exactly why the car was "going spare" was not explained. :grin:
So I reckon my dealer is on the receiving end of that sort of deal! :cool:
Rolfe.
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AFAIK the ford heated windscreen system is patented by them which is why you only get that system with fords.
Is it just me or does it seem complete lunacy to crush a perfectly good car with only 18k miles? Don't get me wrong, I dont blame you - its the govt who are retarded as usual.
I thought that was the case too, but my mum's Mini has a heated windscreen with te same system (tiny wires in the glass) so how do they get away with it?
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I've heard of it in other makes too. I wonder if Ford licensed the product to some other manufacturers.
Rolfe.
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I used to think it ws just Ford's that you could get it on and then my mate bought a mini and got a heated windscreen.
you can get a heated windscreen for the Passat CC so god knows why you can't get it on a GTI .. i would have paid extra for it if i could get it!!
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you can get a heated windscreen for the Passat CC so god knows why you can't get it on a GTI .. i would have paid extra for it if i could get it!!
Did ask about this with my order - dealer told me that the Ford patent on this expired in 2005. Even allowing for the 5/6 year design cycles you'd have thought it would be on the mk6 given the new found semi-premium status/pricing. Perhaps they have an agreement that says the option list has to be shorter than Audi! :smiley:
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Why have a heated windscreen! Doesn't it mean funny rainbow coloured lines when you wear polarised sunglasses?
And if you need to clear your windscreen, a quick blast of air con (even with heat on) will sort that out.
Maybe the growth or air con has made the front heated windscreen redundant. You still need it at the rear since no direct air vents there.
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Maybe you dont need it in London but i live way out in the scottish glens and it sometimes stays below 0 for 2 weeks at a time in mid winter and your car is constantly frozen solid. Sometimes if you are not carful your fuel will freeze too!!! thats usually at -20C for a prolonged period of time. I remember it being -22C in the garage with the door closed last winter!!! God only a few months to go before we will be down to 6 hours daylight and the woollies will all have to be taken out of the wardrobe. The Joys!!
A heated windscreen would be a god send!!!!!!!! and come to think of it if they do heated windscreens why not have an option to have all your side windows heated too?
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Why have a heated windscreen! Doesn't it mean funny rainbow coloured lines when you wear polarised sunglasses?
I agree entirely, anyone been in a Ford with polarised sunglasses?? :sick: (Constant blurr for the rest of the time too, you'll spend all weekend trying to polish the glass....)
Best going for the winter pack with heated washer jets.
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Why have a heated windscreen! Doesn't it mean funny rainbow coloured lines when you wear polarised sunglasses?
Have seen it on a Skoda Octavia (weirdly enough) and you couldn't tell the difference...
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I had it on my XR2 back in the early 1990s. There was a slight rainbow effect in certain lights, but it wasn't intrusive at all.
And even in Sussex, it was extremely handy indeed. I'm not as far north as neilgcal, but we still get minus 10 and the frost can stay for days in some places.
I've ordered the winter pack, obviously, so we'll see how the heated washer jets do.
Rolfe.
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Rolfe, you still looking for a pic of a blue graphite GTI. I found this at my local dealer this afternoon. Looks good I think. Excuse the poor phone pics:
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/mac7/Image108.jpg)
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y47/mac7/Image107-1.jpg)
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Is that a 59 plate GTI I see in the background ?
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That looks a lot nicer than Shadow Blue.
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I really hope when my car finally makes it to the dealer, they park it somewhere without all that gravel ffs :angry:
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Thank you, thank you, Mac7 :cool:
Rolfe.
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Thank you, thank you, Mac7 :cool:
Rolfe.
its the 18s that really set it off :p
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Wow a graphite blue mk6 GTI i thought they were just a myth :grin: I have been looking everywere.
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its the 18s that really set it off :p
:tongue:
Rolfe.
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At least in two years time you won't have to get your wheels refurbed due to the corrosion known as white worm like most Monza shadow owners will. :wink: :grin: :drool:
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Yippe-de-doo-dah...! :grin:
Got a phone call from my dealer this afternoon, car built and left the factory. Apparently it's sitting in Hamburg or somewhere waiting for a boat.
I'm off for a cruise on the Med on Tuesday 8th, so we've arranged that I'll pick it up after I get back, probably the 17th assuming all goes to plan and it actually catches that boat. :cool: :cool:
Dealer doesn't think that door protectors look good on a GTi, funny 'cos the Mk V has them, and the GTi I'm currently driving around has them - the black looks quite cool against the gold paint job. Mmmm. My main thought is that my old Fiesta, which was a very similar colour to the Blue Graphite, looked absolutely terrible with the row of paint chips it soon acquired down each side.
Rolfe.
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At least in two years time you won't have to get your wheels refurbed due to the corrosion known as white worm like most Monza shadow owners will. :wink: :grin: :drool:
You mean in 2 years time you would be getting brand new ones on the warranty, not refurbs
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Got a phone call from my dealer this afternoon, car built and left the factory. Apparently it's sitting in Hamburg or somewhere waiting for a boat.
Got my phone call today, car is waiting in Emden to go on the ship!!! So hopefully this is the same shipment.
Can't wait!!!
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Got my phone call today, car is waiting in Emden to go on the ship!!! So hopefully this is the same shipment.
Can't wait!!!
Paling do you know what build week you had?
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Got a phone call from my dealer this afternoon, car built and left the factory. Apparently it's sitting in Hamburg or somewhere waiting for a boat.
Got my phone call today, car is waiting in Emden to go on the ship!!! So hopefully this is the same shipment.
Can't wait!!!
If you're in Germany already, how come your car is waiting for a ship? :huh:
Rolfe.
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Took delivery this afternoon. Sad to say goodbye to the Peugeot, but it did rather blot its copybook by refusing to start this morning - battery discharged, but might have been my fault.
The GTi is a cracker. Goes like a bat out of hell. Liking the DSG a lot at the moment, though still not used to it.
Was told, 2 years or 20,000 miles to first service. (Can change to shorter interval if you like, but car designed for this.) Also told not to bother about running in.
There is a photo, at the dealer's, but there's rather a lot of reflection, and I need to obscure the number plate. Might get a better photo, anyway I'll post one soon.
I still wish the blue was lighter, it could be carbon grey to be honest, but you do see the blue when the sun shines.
Rolfe.
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Welcome back and congrats. Hope the cruise went ok and has mum had a go in the car?
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Congrats on your new car... Hope it is what you imagined it to be and moar!!! Post pics quickly...
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Congrats Rolfe glad you're liking the car, it is pretty great I do admit. Hope the cruise went ok.
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Cruise was a lot of fun. Mum hasn't been in it yet but she has admired it from the doorstep and thinks it looks great (of course she's registered partially sighted so that isn't necessarily the compliment it might be....)
I took a detour up the Lang Whang on the way home and after I'd passed two slow drivers and a tanker just out of Carnwath, I had a clear run to Currie. Wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!
Rolfe.
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Completely off topic but never mind - got my first labrador from a breeder in Currie "Rossbank Labradors" way back in 1994.
Anyway look forward to the pics when you manage.
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Glad you're back Rolfe. Hope you are enjoying your new toy.
I join the club in a few days.
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Took delivery this afternoon. Sad to say goodbye to the Peugeot, but it did rather blot its copybook by refusing to start this morning - battery discharged, but might have been my fault.
It was protesting at being taken to the knacker's yard!!
Also told not to bother about running in.
Don't let T_T read that!! He's had a go at me already for hitting 7k :P
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I was only wondering yesterday what had become of you, Rolfe. Anyway, congrats on the new arrival and post those pix asap - we have hardly seen any graphite blue GTIs :smiley:
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well done rolfe - enjoy! hope your mum's back copes ok in it!
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Don't let T_T read that!! He's had a go at me already for hitting 7k :P
It revs up very readily with the DSG, doesn't it? I'm getting much higher revs without really trying than I ever did with the Peugeot.
Rolfe.
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Congrats Morag on picking the new car up. Rather than wait months for a new car I went and bought an ex-demo whilst you were away! We're probably the only ones on 17'' wheels on here (although I have a set of 18s in the garage off my mk5 waiting to go on sometime). :smiley:
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It revs up very readily with the DSG, doesn't it? I'm getting much higher revs without really trying than I ever did with the Peugeot.
Never mind revving, where are those pictures? :laugh:
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Congrats Morag on picking the new car up. Rather than wait months for a new car I went and bought an ex-demo whilst you were away! We're probably the only ones on 17'' wheels on here (although I have a set of 18s in the garage off my mk5 waiting to go on sometime). :smiley:
I'm getting 17" as well. Must admit the shadows do look nice, but the 17" are a little bit more comfortable. (and cheaper tyres compared to 18", mine is getting the Bridgestones. Yes, I've finally seen it, pick up next week.)
Rolfe, we need pictures. :drool:
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Also getting 17", we should start our own little club. :smiley:
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Congrats on the new car and im glad your happy with it. :smiley:
Can i join the 17s club mines coming on them too :evil:
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Also getting 17", we should start our own little club. :smiley:
The 'Comfortable GTI Club' or the 'Cheap Tyres Club'???
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The 'Comfortable GTI Club' or the 'Cheap Tyres Club'???
Or "i got sick of monza IIs corroding and so did not want to go through that again club" :drool:
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The "Don't looks like driven through a pool of tar monza club" :wink:
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So I had to leave my black GTI which has 18s, in with the dealer for 3 days. They gave me their black demo GTI on 17s. The demo car was definately softer over the bumps than my car, but they looked a lot smaller on the mk 6 than they did on my old mk 5 which had 17s as well....was glad to get my own car back...18s def improve the look on a black car imo
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Don't know if this applies to the Mk6 but when the Mk5 was lauched I remember reading an article where they did a comparison of the GTI with 17's and 18's. The car on 17's posted quicker lap times.
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The "Don't looks like driven through a pool of tar monza club" :wink:
Hehe :smiley:
Anyway, Rolfe, if you don't get those pix up quickly, some of us here may be prone to thinking you've got a Deep Black GTI like everyone else and are just pretending to have ordered a funky colour...
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You been snacking on those french snails again FroGti? Not everyone has a black GTI! most seem to have white, then there are those with black who are closely followed if not equalled with those who have opted for carbon grey (yourself included) a few have tornado red and as far as I know Rolfe is the only one who has gone for a more unusual colour, I'd hardly call blue graphite "funky" (no offense Rolfe).
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You been snacking on those french snails again FroGti? Not everyone has a black GTI! most seem to have white, then there are those with black who are closely followed if not equalled with those who have opted for carbon grey (yourself included) a few have tornado red and as far as I know Rolfe is the only one who has gone for a more unusual colour, I'd hardly call blue graphite "funky" (no offense Rolfe).
Dont forget my United Grey!!! :tongue:
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You been snacking on those french snails again FroGti? Not everyone has a black GTI! most seem to have white, then there are those with black who are closely followed if not equalled with those who have opted for carbon grey (yourself included) a few have tornado red and as far as I know Rolfe is the only one who has gone for a more unusual colour, I'd hardly call blue graphite "funky" (no offense Rolfe).
Dont forget my United Grey!!! :tongue: lol :laugh: :laugh:
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Don't know if this applies to the Mk6 but when the Mk5 was lauched I remember reading an article where they did a comparison of the GTI with 17's and 18's. The car on 17's posted quicker lap times.
So, in summary. The 17" are much cheaper, more comfortable, cheaper tyres and faster.
Some think the monza shadows look better - matter of opinion of course. :undecided:
Any other advantages of the monza shadows apart from cosmetic?
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let's vote on it :cool:
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As a mk5 GTI owner myself you missed the most important thing about the monza II/shadow type finnished wheels off you list that the standard 17" monzas have over them and thats the much superior protection/resistance to corrosion/white worm.
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As a mk5 GTI owner myself you missed the most important thing about the monza II/shadow type finnished wheels off you list that the standard 17" monzas have over them and thats the much suoerior protection/resistance to corrosion/white worm.
is that absolutely the case? perhaps VW have done something with this new version to reduce corrosion/ white worm?
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Don't see how all makes of wheel with the pollished/lac tyre of finish suffer with the white worm problem.
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ok - tho i read our warranty will cover it iifc
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Yes it will but in the 3rd year as its dealer warrenty its harder to claim. Also what you going to do AFTER that 3 years? keep paying for them to be referbed? Thats why i said the 17s for long term ownership are a far better option but alot of owners change there cars more than there underware were as some of use keep them along time. Our mk5 is now 4 years old and i hope to keep it for at least 3 times that. I also hope to do the same with our mk6. Afterall i have had one of my mk1s for near 20 years now and guess what its never needed an alloy referbed lol
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fair enough. life's too short to worry overly about it now. will enjoy it for now and see how it goes. :undecided: :smiley: :undecided:
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Yes it will but in the 3rd year as its dealer warrenty its harder to claim. Also what you going to do AFTER that 3 years? keep paying for them to be referbed? Thats why i said the 17s for long term ownership are a far better option but alot of owners change there cars more than there underware were as some of use keep them along time. Our mk5 is now 4 years old and i hope to keep it for at least 3 times that. I also hope to do the same with our mk6. Afterall i have had one of my mk1s for near 20 years now and guess what its never needed an alloy referbed lol
I agree, that was one of the reasons we went for the 17" being more practical when keeping the car for a long time, also don't like the look of the Monza's (personal taste of course)
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OK, OK, sideways pictures as I can't be bothered to fiddle with Photoshop to obscure the number plate.
(http://www.vetpath.co.uk/netpics/prospero1.jpg)
(http://www.vetpath.co.uk/netpics/prospero2.jpg)
(http://www.vetpath.co.uk/netpics/prospero3.jpg)
(http://www.vetpath.co.uk/netpics/prospero4.jpg)
The colour is very similar to Carbon Grey, but it shows blue in sunlight. I wish it was lighter/more blue, but I like it well enough.
If you could see the blue badge and the "disabled passenger" stickers, you'd probably be horrified. However, went to visit a cousin in Edinburgh on Saturday and Mum was thrilled to bits. Ride is extremely comfortable, and the seat adjusts so that she can be comfortable even at only 5'1". She was particularly impressed by the heated seats, as it had turned a bit chilly by the time we set off home.
Cousins were well impressed too, after having a hurl round Ocean Terminal as a taster.
I got Bridgestone tyres, by the way. Is that good? Seems fine to me, but I'm not doing anything daft.
I'm already contemplating mud flaps, after being forced into a muddy puddle on a single track road on Friday (day after collection!) on the way home from Tesco.
Rolfe.
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Very nice Rolfe now I can see the graphite blue in the flesh so to speak it is really quite nice. In my opinion I prefer the monza shadows but glad that you seem to be enjoying your new car and mum too,she sounds like she's a game old bird (no offense meant). I'd go for the mud flaps I know what the roads in Scotland can be like. Keep enjoying your car. :laugh: :laugh:
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Very nice, looks really nice in blue graphite. :smiley:
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Looks good Morag, not seen a blue one in the flesh yet.
I've got Bridgestones on mine too. They seem okay, they're fairly quiet. Not had any real weather or done any proper driving to test them though.
Front mud-flaps you'd probably get away with okay, the rears don't look very clever though. Maybe they look better than permanently mud splattered paint though? :grin:
The first GTI I test drove had them and they looked a bit rubbish from the back, didn't really notice the fronts much, so they can't have been too offensive.
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Looks good, enjoy!
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Nice one Rolfe.
Looks stunning. Enjoy.
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Best car in the street.
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Well, I haven't really looked in detail, but my neighbour across the road got a new Mazda MX-5 coupe on 1st September. Red,with leather seats. Looks quite flash. So I had to look it up in "What Car", and realised it's cheaper, has a lower top speed, and slower 0-60 than Prospero.
So tough.
(Mind you, she has a husband and a little boy, so having a 2-seater coupe as a second car (or it might be a third) is a bit flash.)
Rolfe.
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And, nice wheels.
I looked at a Mk6 GTI in Hadwins, Lindale.
The wheels were like yours but really dirty looking.
VW had painted the insides. They just looked dirty.
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Very nice, glad you like it so much. The area you live in looks nice, too (hills in the background). I envy you living close to such glorious landscape.
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looks good rolfe - enjoy! lovely area you live in too!
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Yes it will but in the 3rd year as its dealer warrenty its harder to claim. Also what you going to do AFTER that 3 years? keep paying for them to be referbed? Thats why i said the 17s for long term ownership are a far better option but alot of owners change there cars more than there underware were as some of use keep them along time. Our mk5 is now 4 years old and i hope to keep it for at least 3 times that. I also hope to do the same with our mk6. Afterall i have had one of my mk1s for near 20 years now and guess what its never needed an alloy referbed lol
I had exactly that conversation with my local dealer, regarding Mk6 - and Mk5 before it - wheels. "We'll change them under warranty" was the reply.
"What about after 3 years?" I asked.
"Umm...Err...".
Thought so.
When will VAG learn not to fit silly polished and coated wheels?
My Mk3 Anniversary had a full set under warranty...and needed another when the warranty ran out...so I split them and powder-coated them. No problems for me anymore, oh no. That was 13 years ago they got caught..but still make the same mistakes.
Mk4 Anniversary...the same problem.
Mk5 18"s - same problem.
Mk6 18"s - same again.
A3s do it, Mk5 Sports have the same issues (polished rim goes, and centre caps).
It's a right royal PITA.
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When will VAG learn not to fit silly polished and coated wheels?
My Mk3 Anniversary had a full set under warranty...and needed another when the warranty ran out...so I split them and powder-coated them. No problems for me anymore, oh no. That was 13 years ago they got caught..but still make the same mistakes.
Mk4 Anniversary...the same problem.
Mk5 18"s - same problem.
Mk6 18"s - same again.
A3s do it, Mk5 Sports have the same issues (polished rim goes, and centre caps).
It's a right royal PITA.
Shiney wheels sells cars.
I had a set of these sort of machined/laquered wheels made by ABT on my old GTI back in 89. They lasted several years before corrosion got them. Had a set of 17" santa monica on my Mk4, which started going after only 4 years. This even with lots of TLC and the use of winter wheels. I stripped the laquer off and polished the machined surfaces and they were much easier to keep looking good after that.
But as you say, painting/powder coating is the best way to protect them.
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Very nice, glad you like it so much. The area you live in looks nice, too (hills in the background). I envy you living close to such glorious landscape.
Oh, that's just Kames Hill (or is it Broomlee Hill), barely a pimple. If the sun had been in a different direction, or even consistent (it was going in and out of cloud) I could have parked up somewhere with a much more spectacular backdrop. As it was, that's just the driveway of my house because it was catching the sun as well as anything.
You should see my drive to work and back. Very very scenic.
Rolfe.
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Oh, that's just Kames Hill (or is it Broomlee Hill), barely a pimple. If the sun had been in a different direction, or even consistent (it was going in and out of cloud) I could have parked up somewhere with a much more spectacular backdrop. As it was, that's just the driveway of my house because it was catching the sun as well as anything.
You should see my drive to work and back. Very very scenic.
Scotland rocks! I haven't been up there for over 30 years, but I still have fond memories of our caravanning holidays when I was a boy. I keep promising myself a return trip one of these days, but it's just so far for me :sad:
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Scotland rocks! I haven't been up there for over 30 years, but I still have fond memories of our caravanning holidays when I was a boy. I keep promising myself a return trip one of these days, but it's just so far for me :sad:
The flip side being, France is just so far for us in Scotland...and I loved my time driving through France - Reims is magical.
I'll maybe pass you going the opposite way one day!
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Nice colour...it is quite dark though. Have to say though Monza 2 18", despite any corrosion issues, look the mutts...big shiny wheels defo sell cars
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Must say this photo makes the wheel and colour choice look good to me. The wheels don't look too small or too big, understated with class like real GTIs :evil:. Others will im sure will disagree.
(http://www.vetpath.co.uk/netpics/prospero1.jpg)
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Maybe it's 'cos I'm still used to the black door-protectors on the gold Peugeot, but the doors look awfully naked to me. I actually thing they'd be enhanced by door protection strips!
Rolfe.
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I don't think they would look too bad on such a dark colour myself im sure the young pups out there will disagree with me.
Heres the dealer fit optional ones on a shadow blue.
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/flogitg/AudioNetPhoto/8216213.jpg)
(http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b361/flogitg/AudioNetPhoto/vw-golf-r20-prototype-spy-photo_3.jpg)