GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: phil_790 on 31 May 2013, 18:28
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Hi All,
I had a quick test drive this afternoon, the car I drove was a fairly standard manual GTI 5 door in tornado red, the only options it had were the keyless entry and the pro nav.
Interior:
The build quality seems to have improved significantly over the scirocco, the only exception to this were the indicator stalks which felt just a little bit cheaper than I was expecting. I mentioned this to e salesman and he agreed.
Regarding the accelerator it is hinged from the top, I didn't notice any difference going from both my scirocco and my other halves mini whic both have the pedal hinged at the bottom. Also there is no metal footrest.
The nav pro screen is brilliant, but I personally don't think it's worth the £1700 pound extra.
The seats were very comfy and supportive, and I love the upholstery design. The golf ball gears tick took a little bit of getting used to, but after a while it was fine.
Performance:
Where to begin... It was incredible, the power delivery was smooth, the noise from the engine is fantastic, sounds so much better than I was expecting! Handling and ride were both great even over some of the shocking roads we have round here!
I think the electronic handbrake will take some getting used to as it applies itself when you turn the engine off or take off your seatbelt.
The only down side I can find about this afternoon was the news that my build week has gone back from provisional 27 to provisional 28... Good things come to those who wait!!
If there is anything else that I have missed, please let me know.
Cheers,
Phil :grin:
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Is that the Vindis Cambridge demo by any chance. Spec sounds the same. I'm driving that tomorrow (if I can find my license that is!)
Anyone want to make any requests for specific details, photos or video or anything else when I go tomorrow? Hehe
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Yeah... some pics?
Nice review though mate.
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Sorry for the lack of pictures, the only ones I have are a couple I took with my phone the other day when I saw the car without plates at the garage after work the other day, so apologies as they are not the best!!
(http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p749/phil_790/photo2_zps259fd302.jpg) (http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/phil_790/media/photo2_zps259fd302.jpg.html)
(http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p749/phil_790/photo_zpsc55cc505.jpg) (http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/phil_790/media/photo_zpsc55cc505.jpg.html)
(http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p749/phil_790/photo1_zpsd793c6fc.jpg) (http://s1349.photobucket.com/user/phil_790/media/photo1_zpsd793c6fc.jpg.html)
@Bill_the_bear, the car I drove was from Crawley VW, this car was sent to them directly from VW UK, the demo that they have been ordered for themselves has been delayed quite a bit and is likely to not arrive until after my one has been delivered!! Trust me you will not be disappointed with the test drive (if you find your licence!!)
Cheers,
Phil
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Is that the Vindis Cambridge demo by any chance. Spec sounds the same. I'm driving that tomorrow (if I can find my license that is!)
Anyone want to make any requests for specific details, photos or video or anything else when I go tomorrow? Hehe
Bear, can you have a look at the window switches and see if they have the chrome trim on them like the mk6, or generally just a pic around the doors and sills to see the trims? Also have a look at the roof spoiler to see if it's black underneath? All the pics i've seen it's difficult to tell? :-\
Cheers :)
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Spoiler is black on sides and underneath
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Is that the Vindis Cambridge demo by any chance. Spec sounds the same. I'm driving that tomorrow (if I can find my license that is!)
Anyone want to make any requests for specific details, photos or video or anything else when I go tomorrow? Hehe
Bear, can you have a look at the window switches and see if they have the chrome trim on them like the mk6, or generally just a pic around the doors and sills to see the trims? Also have a look at the roof spoiler to see if it's black underneath? All the pics i've seen it's difficult to tell? :-\
Cheers :)
Will get pics of both.
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Just got back from driving a TR 5dr manual with Pro Nav and Keyless. First to answer Jimbles question, there is chrome finish on the window switches and the spoiler has black underneath and side supports.
Summary is, I want this car! For reference I'm currently driving a Fiesta Zetec S.
I wasn't impressed at all with the way the dealer handles the test drive. I had a 2hour slot but the first 30mins was all needless questions, taking of my details and legal crap. I almost wish I hadn't gone as now they'll be on the blower to me every five minutes and I ordered from a different dealer so I'll have to fib and say I've gone for an ST or something! :angry: Anyway he finally goes to get the car and then tells me I can't just drive anywhere they have an approved 6min route?!?! Is that normal? Ford let me do what I want for about one and a half hours... I looked disappointed and got him to drag it out for 10-15mins but that's hardly enough time to get used to the brakes even. Not impressed VW!
So how did it drive?
Nice. The acceleration is great fun whether its going from 10mph or from 60mph it's so eager to soar away. Only problem is its over so soon because you catch up traffic in seconds. The steering is lighter than my Fiesta and getting back in it afterward I really noticed how much better the GTI is. Being a bigger car its a little less manoeuvrable but it's rock steady, this could be down to ACC maybe... In sport mode the ride matches what I get with the Fiesta pretty well and in comfort it's silky smooth. Normal is probably the best setting but I actually didn't try that in my 6min run.
I like that the bonnet doesn't stick out miles ahead, but the view to the front is more restricted than I expected, the rear view mirror seemed huge and got in the way. I think the chair height might have been set higher than I'm used to. For a bigger car it also felt a little cramped, but that is probably because of all the cool gadgets I don't have on the Fiesta.
Gear box was good. Getting back in my Ford I preferred the Ford one, but I think I didn't have enough time to get used to the VW, I kept going from 4 to 3 when I wanted to move up to 5. The brakes are very very powerful. The ride is very quiet. The noise from the exhaust is awesome.
Red is growing on me, it really did look good. I saw a Polo in white but was hard to visualise it on the GTI so I feel like I need to see a white one in person. There was a standard Golf with night blue. Looked great, but dirty. I feel like I'm 60:40 in favour of the white over the blue, but I'd like either. Interior trim and build is lovely, especially the steering wheel. Although I did find my wrists pressing on some of the multifunction buttons, probably need to adjust my grip vs what I'm used to on a Ford. The tartan seats look good and I was tempted to cancel the leather option, until I saw a Roc in leather. Is the Roc leather a similar quality to the GTI? I liked it a lot.
The Pro Nav looks beautiful. I saw a 5.8inch version too, and call me biased but, get the 8inch screen guys, it is in another league! 30gb SSD is a welcome bonus with the ProNav. The MFD was cool too, wish I'd had more time to play around with it.
No PP on this car, and I did find myself thinking the LSD would probably be very welcome taking corners as speed. Because of the dealers stupid test drive route I couldn't really push my cornering as the only sharp bends were in village centres or had heavy traffic taking them at 20mph. The additional brakes are absolutely overkill though. On balance I'm pleased I've got the PP and ACC.
LED running lights are good and the rear lights look great. I love the standard wheels. I like the 19inch ones too and would probably pick them if they were free (tyre cost might dissuade me though) but taking price into account the 18s are the best option I think. Didn't try the headlights. I wish the body kit and spoiler were just a tad more adventurous.
In conclusion, I think the dumb test route ruined it for me a bit, leaving me feeling decidedly underwhelmed. However, give me half a day with this car and no salesman in sight and I don't think I'll ever want to give it back! Very much looking forward to picking mine up and having a proper, stress free play! :grin:
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Bill: No chance in getting the car for 1/2 a day, not right now when they know there are people buying these blind (basically everyone who ordered before a week ago). I might have to get down to Scotswood road for a test drive, they have a great testing bit of road literally just out of the door. The dealership sit on a road about 200 yards below the A1, with a winding and very steep sliproad onto it. Great to power up that sliproad and get straight into traffic going 70-80mph - you can really test it's overtaking prowess in around the first 2 miles of your test drive.
Glad i'm not considering buying a demo - those will be caned from day 1! Coming from a Ford i'm surprised you never went through the windscreen when applying the brakes. VW brakes are always excellent in their class and those fitted to the GTI/GTD/Scirocco are really good.
Ford are great at one thing - manual gearboxes, and VAGs are better than most but not as good as a Ford.
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Nice write up Bear!
Was it Tom that took you out on the test drive?
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Bill: No chance in getting the car for 1/2 a day, not right now when they know there are people buying these blind
I wasn't very clear. I didn't expect half a day, and I knew the dealer was going to sit in. But, I had a 2 hour slot and he wanted to spend only 6 mins of that with me behind the wheel?? WTF? I expected to have 1.5 hours of driving and my choice of roads, that is what Ford gave me when I tested a Fiesta Titanium. How can any dealer think that 6 mins is enough to get a feel for a GTI? Surely 45 mins is the minimum to get used to it!
Also the dude spent 30 mins going over legal crap and taking all my "details" before the drive and there was over an hour left afterward when he wanted to talk more. I declined. I suppose this was to be the bit where they pushed for an order and then arranged finance and P/X. I booked a test drive, not a sit down and have a sales push session.
Coming from a Ford i'm surprised you never went through the windscreen when applying the brakes. VW brakes are always excellent in their class and those fitted to the GTI/GTD/Scirocco are really good.
I made full use of the seat belt the first few times, put it that way. Ford like you to slam the brake to the floor, seems like the GTI wants only the faintest of tickles and it tries to do an emergency stop. I'll get used to it (just not in 6 mins though!).
Ford are great at one thing - manual gearboxes, and VAGs are better than most but not as good as a Ford.
If I'd had time to get used to it then I think the GTI box would probably be better than the Fiesta one. I consider that high praise (if we skip over the minor issue of Fords not liking to use reverse, -cough-). Maneuvering wise the Fiesta is better but the GTI crushes it on stability (and obviosuly on speed, acceleration etc...). On the other hand the GTI is 3x more expensive. To be honest, I think both these cars are in the top 1% of vehicles in terms of sheer engineering quality. Given the choice of anything in the world and told to pick a small and a medium family car I can't think of better options. Which is why I'm really hoping to find a way to pay for the GTI without selling the Fiesta! haha
Was it Tom that took you out on the test drive?
Jack.
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6 min test drive in a (near) £30K performance car is daft.
Thanks for the write up Bill. Appreciated.
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Nice down to earth no nonsense review Bear.... Aside from the test drive did you glean any more information from the salesman with regards to ordering/ lead times if you were to place an order now say??
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In conclusion, I think the dumb test route ruined it for me a bit, leaving me feeling decidedly underwhelmed. However, give me half a day with this car and no salesman in sight and I don't think I'll ever want to give it back! Very much looking forward to picking mine up and having a proper, stress free play! :grin:
Bill, I hope I'm reading this right mate and it was just the overall experience you were underwhelmed with and not the car. No offence pal but a ford fiesta is not anywhere near the same league as a GTI. If it was I would be absolutely gutted. Also I'm taking it you haven't driven many different cars if you think that a fiesta is in the top 1% of engineering quality, the Golf isn't even in the top 1%
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Nice down to earth no nonsense review Bear.... Aside from the test drive did you glean any more information from the salesman with regards to ordering/ lead times if you were to place an order now say??
20 weeks guaranteed but will come forward a lot, that's all he said. I don't consider it to be helpful really...
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Bill, I hope I'm reading this right mate and it was just the overall experience you were underwhelmed with and not the car. No offence pal but a ford fiesta is not anywhere near the same league as a GTI. If it was I would be absolutely gutted. Also I'm taking it you haven't driven many different cars if you think that a fiesta is in the top 1% of engineering quality, the Golf isn't even in the top 1%
Exactly right, it was the experience not the car.
I actually used to work in an auction house so I've driven pretty much every car you see regularly on the roads. When I say engineering you understand I'm not talking about comparing with a Veyron right? It's one thing making 50 cars, it's another altogether to make a mass production car. Is there a better car than the Fiesta in its class right now? Hell no. Same question for GTI? The M135i probably wants to have a say but otherwise again, no there is not. I put both cars right at the top of the pack, which is why I own one and have the other on order. :grin:
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Bill, I hope I'm reading this right mate and it was just the overall experience you were underwhelmed with and not the car. No offence pal but a ford fiesta is not anywhere near the same league as a GTI. If it was I would be absolutely gutted. Also I'm taking it you haven't driven many different cars if you think that a fiesta is in the top 1% of engineering quality, the Golf isn't even in the top 1%
Exactly right, it was the experience not the car.
I actually used to work in an auction house so I've driven pretty much every car you see regularly on the roads. When I say engineering you understand I'm not talking about comparing with a Veyron right? It's one thing making 50 cars, it's another altogether to make a mass production car. Is there a better car than the Fiesta in its class right now? Hell no. Same question for GTI? The M135i probably wants to have a say but otherwise again, no there is not. I put both cars right at the top of the pack, which is why I own one and have the other on order. :grin:
Sorry that wasn't clear to me. It sounded like you meant the top 1% of any car in any class. It depends what you classify as being in the Fiesta class; a Polo, a Clio, Fiat 500, perhaps even a mini which are all very good small cars. Same with the GTI, you have the Beemer, S3, BRZ/GT86, Focus RS etc. it's all a matter of opinion at the end of the day :smiley:
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Really random.. saw a Tornado Red MK7 GTI on French plates this afternoon... Now I never thought I could like a car in red... but wow... it looks great :)
To add to that slightly, whilst there are loads of great pics of red available... it still looks 20 x better in real life. I'm not sure but I think the car in front might have been filming it.
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Sorry that wasn't clear to me. It sounded like you meant the top 1% of any car in any class. It depends what you classify as being in the Fiesta class; a Polo, a Clio, Fiat 500, perhaps even a mini which are all very good small cars. Same with the GTI, you have the Beemer, S3, BRZ/GT86, Focus RS etc. it's all a matter of opinion at the end of the day :smiley:
It was me wasn't being clear (as usual haha). Yeah its a matter of opinion. However, in my opinion none of the cars on your list are of the build quality of the GTI, but yeah the beemer can argue the point. The Polo is built more solid than the Fiesta, but it doesn't have the style, the fun or the price point.
I await to be shot down by Polo owners! hehe
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Sorry Bear
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Nice down to earth no nonsense review Bear.... Aside from the test drive did you glean any more information from the salesman with regards to ordering/ lead times if you were to place an order now say??
20 weeks guaranteed but will come forward a lot, that's all he said. I don't consider it to be helpful really...
Shocking!!!! It's enough to put you off ordering one. He might as well said, "You might get it in time for Christmas if you're lucky!"
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@RunningMan
I'm sorry you feel that way. If you like to own a car without driving it then that's fine, I prefer to have a try first. What is so wrong with that? If you understand the law of averages you will understand why that is not wasting anyone's time. Also you'll notice that I avoided everything but the drive as much as I could possibly do so, neither of our time was wasted. Jack didn't have to come in the car for the drive with me but I assure you be enjoyed it. It was his first go in one too and he spent half of the time driving. I don't think the insults are necessary outside of the playground but feel free to call me whatever you want I can assure you it does not bother me what you think of me.
Go grissley go :grin:
Actually I'm a polar bear so you got that wrong too. :wink:
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And the winner of bellend of the day goes to....RunningMan
Didn't your mother teach you if you've got nothing nice to say then don't say nothing at all? Clearly not.
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Actually I'm a polar bear so you got that wrong too. :wink:
Thus why you've ordered Pure White... its obvious really :)
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The brakes on the GTIs are incredible. I also went from a Fiesta to a (Mark 6) GTI and the brakes were just so much better. I don't think it's just a Ford thing either - I've driven a number of other cars, including other VWs - and none have brakes that compare to the GTI's. In fact, when I drove a single-seater at Silverstone, I was disappointed that their brakes weren't as powerful! I guess those big red callipers aren't just for show!
Bear - don't worry about feeling slightly underwhelmed on the test drive. Wait until you take it for your first drive - unrestrained by having a salesman sat next to you - you will have the world's biggest grin :grin:
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@RunningMan
I'm sorry you feel that way. If you like to own a car without driving it then that's fine, I prefer to have a try first. What is so wrong with that? If you understand the law of averages you will understand why that is not wasting anyone's time. Also you'll notice that I avoided everything but the drive as much as I could possibly do so, neither of our time was wasted. Jack didn't have to come in the car for the drive with me but I assure you be enjoyed it. It was his first go in one too and he spent half of the time driving. I don't think the insults are necessary outside of the playground but feel free to call me whatever you want I can assure you it does not bother me what you think of me.
Go grissley go :grin:
Actually I'm a polar bear so you got that wrong too. :wink:
You've already ordered one prior to the drive, and wasted someone's time who is trying to make a living.
So your try before you buy is a nonsense.
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@RunningMan
I'm sorry you feel that way. If you like to own a car without driving it then that's fine, I prefer to have a try first. What is so wrong with that? If you understand the law of averages you will understand why that is not wasting anyone's time. Also you'll notice that I avoided everything but the drive as much as I could possibly do so, neither of our time was wasted. Jack didn't have to come in the car for the drive with me but I assure you be enjoyed it. It was his first go in one too and he spent half of the time driving. I don't think the insults are necessary outside of the playground but feel free to call me whatever you want I can assure you it does not bother me what you think of me.
Go grissley go :grin:
Actually I'm a polar bear so you got that wrong too. :wink:
You've already ordered one prior to the drive, and wasted someone's time who is trying to make a living.
So your try before you buy is a nonsense.
But I haven't bought it yet, I have neither received goods nor paid for them. If I didn't like the car I would cancel my order immediately.
I again refer you to the law of averages. Anyway, it's pointless because your logic is wrong. If we follow your idea of not wasting the guys time then you could only enter the showroom after you were determined to buy, because if you don't buy then his time was wasted.
Also consider it future marketing. If he'd impressed me enough then next time I might have gone straight to him. I also might refer people to him. If he'd given a good price or a better lead time I might even have cancelled my order and gone with him instead.
EDIT:
Got your PM, lets call time on this argument then. I hope there are no bans to follow!
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Double post. My bad
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By Runningman's reasoning I should be banned from Costco. If you go in on a weekend they have lots of tasters on the go - I pick one up for something I have no intention of buying and eat it anyway if it looks nice.
Just because you buy from one dealership shouldn't be means of exclusion from another. I get my servicing and warranty work done at my local dealership because they're a few miles away, can drop me off at work when they've got the car and haven't cocked up yet (save for the disasterous bodyshop work done at a different site within the same group). Would I buy a car from them? Nope, they give poor p/x values (They use "webuyanycar.com" valuations for basis and then give you a few hundred quid more to try and coerce the gullible inot thinking they're getting a good price). :shocked: They also never discount and generally have a poor attitude towards the customer (one insisted once that he couldn't sell me a car without the diamondbrite package!). I buy my car elsewhere and get excellent service from them generally in the car buying process (been a few hiccups this time, not the salesman's fault). I'd try my luck at the place I didn't buy a car from for a test drive. You are not obligated to buy a car just because you had a test drive in it.
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You've already ordered one prior to the drive, and wasted someone's time who is trying to make a living.
So your try before you buy is a nonsense.
You make it sound like the poor old salesman is scratching a living and is one step away from going into the workhouse. He spent two whole hours with Bill. Unless you can categorically say that there was another customer at the dealership at the same time who was actually going to buy a car and couldn't as there were no salespeople available and went somewhere else as a consequence, then your entire point is moot. Or, to borrow a word from your post, "nonsense".
Plenty of people go to dealers for a test drive with no intention of buying. Some are just curious. Some are thinking into the future and making a shortlist of cars and might buy at a future date. Not exactly a crime. Are you similarly scathing about people who read magazines from the shelf in WH Smith or who play around on iPads and Macs for hours in the Apple Store?
If there was any time wasting, it sounds like it was from the salesman. A two hour slot and the test drive was six minutes? That's ridiculous.
I went to a dealer for a test drive of a Scirroco and a Golf. It was mid-afternoon on Saturday. I waited around for ages only to find that they had no demo cars, having sold the Scirocco recently. They reluctantly let me go out in a forecourt Scirrocco. For two whole minutes. They seemed more interested in going home for the day. The following morning, I went to another dealer, had two test drives and ended up ordering a GTD. I ignored any attempts from the first dealer to contact me. Hopefully they weren't reduced to penury.
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He spent two whole hours with Bill. Unless you can categorically say that there was another customer at the dealership at the same time who was actually going to buy a car and couldn't as there were no salespeople available and went somewhere else as a consequence, then your entire point is moot.
It was 1 hour in the end. I left as soon as I could after the drive, ironically so as to avoid wasting anyone's time! There were few customers and lots of salesmen, but I suppose when i booked it, it could have been the other way round for all I knew.
On average it will even out because people will go a little further to drive a car close to the spec they are interested in but order from their local dealer. While I was "wasting" Jack's time someone else was securing a sale that he will eventually make. Could be another dealer, a website, VW marketing, word of mouth, might even be me... Who knows.