GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Sootchucker on 13 May 2015, 16:52
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OK guys, it's fast approaching the time when I usually start to look for my next vehicle. Based upon delivery times last time (about 7 months) and I don't think it's got much better, that would be approaching the full 3 years with the GTD by the time any new replacement arrived (if I ordered a new one by September).
Now usually I get itchy feet and there's plenty out there to tempt me, but to be honest, I really like the Golf. I have it on PCP, so there's the small matter of the GMFV to pay off, but I have the money for that already sat in my account, so it would not be a problem to pay it off. To be honest, at about £14.5k to pay it off, for a very well equipped (then it would be a 3 year old) GTD with low mileage (i will be about 25k miles at the time), would be a very good buy if sourcing privately I think.
Then there's the option of getting another Golf - either another GTD or possibly a GTI, and get the benefit of the MIB II infotainment system with the Mirrorlink (with Apple Play and Android Auto), and also take the opportunity to add a few extras I missed off (heated steering wheel and windscreen and perhaps the 19" Santiagos or sunroof option).
I could pay a big chunk off as a deposit (think VWFS will let you pay a maximum of 25% of the value of the car as a deposit), and looking at the deals on Orangewheels, it looks like a discount of between 8-10% is fairly easily achievable, which would keep my repayments similar to what I'm paying now.
I suppose the question I'm posing (eventually), is am I just better (if I still want to be driving a MK7 Golf), paying my current one off and driving it for a further couple of years until the MK8 comes along, or chop it in for a new MK7 on a PCP over 3 years.
I've been back and forwards many times and the wife is now sick of talking about it, so I thought I'd bore you lot :laugh: :laugh:
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I would wait for the Golf GTI Edition 40 or Golf R420 :evil: :laugh: :wink:
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Its a very personal decision - for me, paying 300 plus a month it has to be a car less than two years old so I start to get itchy feet shortly in to the second year!
Prices - you can get 12% off via drivethedeal.
Options - well I am always tempted too - but this time I don't think I would go for built in navigation again - its just too expensive and I am not at all sure I am getting much back from the 2 grand plus spent on Discover Pro and Dynaudio... not sure there is a heated steering wheel option for GTI/GTD/R yet but these things do seem to be in a constant state of change at the moment....
Your first decision is going to be petrol or diesel....
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Pro nav is only 1200 this time with tech pack and heated steering wheel is now an option. I'm going either gtd/r estate out waiting for the tiguan r line, at the moment haha
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I don't think I would go for it even with the reduced price in the future....
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The 6.5 is ok but I just feel the 8”one looks better. I know it's expensive but you can't even retro fit them so that's another reason I'd go for it..
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I'd keep the GTD (considering all the toys it has on it), unless you're going to make a radical change like getting an R - for me it was as much about gaining traction as it was for the extra ponies, and the MK7 is so refined, the GTD doesn't feel quick at all to me compared to my Scirocco 170TDI (I mean that as testament to how good the MK7 chassis is, not a criticism of the GTD).
To swap your GTD for a newer one just to get faux-leather door cards and a slightly better head unit seems crazy to me - the MK8 isn't that far away if you're prepared to keep your car almost the full 5 years.
Swapping for a GTI when you could get better in gear performance (not so much off the line) by putting a box or remap on your GTD and still getting good mpg also seems a bit crazy. Unless you get an order in for an ED40.
Did you take out the extended warranty on your GTD or would years 4 and 5 be squeaky bum time? As a loyal VW customer, you should be due plenty of goodwill towards remedial work, should the worst happen.
On paper it seems a daft time for me to swap a GTD for an R, my commute is about to double to 24 miles each way with my new job i'll be starting sometime in June - but i'm trying to think about more than the extra cost and almost certainly getting the missus a Polo GTI so we can swap on a weekly basis to keep the miles down on both (again the head says "buy her a TDI and reap the fuel savings when it's my turn driving it to work" - might've been tempted with a 2.0TDI 150 under the bonnet).
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Thanks guys. Monkeyhanger, to be honest your appraisal is about where my head is at the moment. I know a couple of guys including McMaddy have the new Carbon Tuning map on and apparently it makes the car into a flying machine, so that may well be an option.
Your right of course, it's crazy to spend £30k plus on pretty much an identical motor just for a few extra toys, but I guess I just needed someone to say it out loud :laugh: :laugh:
As to warranty, that's the crux. No I don't have an extended warranty and I have a DSG box, which to be fair so far has been bullet proof, but I know they cost a fortune to fix if they go wrong. I do have a friend that works for warranty direct and can get me a really good deal on a full warranty for much less than VW would have charged. Guess that might be something else to consider.
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Thanks guys. Monkeyhanger, to be honest your appraisal is about where my head is at the moment. I know a couple of guys including McMaddy have the new Carbon Tuning map on and apparently it makes the car into a flying machine, so that may well be an option.
Your right of course, it's crazy to spend £30k plus on pretty much an identical motor just for a few extra toys, but I guess I just needed someone to say it out loud :laugh: :laugh:
As to warranty, that's the crux. No I don't have an extended warranty and I have a DSG box, which to be fair so far has been bullet proof, but I know they cost a fortune to fix if they go wrong. I do have a friend that works for warranty direct and can get me a really good deal on a full warranty for much less than VW would have charged. Guess that might be something else to consider.
My dad kept his MK5 170TDI DSG for almost 6 years and did 123k trouble-free miles in it. The only work he had done was have the Piezo-electtric injectors replaced FOC under a recall at 4.5 years old. He did say the difference afterwards was remarkable. Most things that aren't going to last mechanically will fail under warranty, but there's always that little doubt that something costly could go.
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I have only had my GTI PP 6 months and was going to wait for the MK8, now the ED40 is going to be out in 2017 I am temped to change early. So much for me buying a 4 year service plan and 5 year warranty ! A good buy for someone in two years :smiley:
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Why are people even considering never mind buying the diesel when doing such tiny mileage? For me, the GTD is always the compromise buy for those that do big miles. Otherwise, petrol all the way.
So if I were you I'd keep what you have or trade up to an R. The GTI would be nice but I think it wouldn't feel different enough to justify the outlay.
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Why are people even considering never mind buying the diesel when doing such tiny mileage? For me, the GTD is always the compromise buy for those that do big miles. Otherwise, petrol all the way.
The residuals are a consideration too - although they've shrunk all round recently, when I priced up a GTD vs a GTI, all things considered (residuals, lower RRP, higher mpg, lower car tax) on average mileage (10k PA), the GTD was going to be £110 a month cheaper. Not such a concern now with petrol and diesel currently about 17p/L cheaper than it was back in Sept 2013 and the residual differences are not as great as they were.
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It's a fair point Joe. At the time I purchased the GTD my mileage was looking to be around the 15-20k mark per year, but my circumstances changed and now I'm only doing about 8-9k per year. If I'd have know this back then, then I would have almost certainly have purchased a petrol GTI, but I am where I am now.
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I've only done 13k miles in my September 13gtd and haven't given the lowish mileage a second thought or wished I'd bought petrol. I think people need to get over this low miles = diesel car only. Remember the gtd was cheaper to buy than the gti so all the usual figures don't really apply to it. The dpf won't be an issue either and a remapped gtd is way quicker than a gti and more fuel efficient too. The only way I'll buy a gti is when vw put the cylinder deactivation on the 2ltr petrol.
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The GTD is actually more expensive than the GTI here in Ireland, oddly enough. All the more reason to stick with the petrol here unless mileage dictates otherwise. Having said that, this country is diesel obsessed (lower road tax, perceived economy, etc), so the GTD residuals are probably a bit better.
For me though, I had a MK6 GTD and I really hated the clatter and noise on tickover, especially on cold starts. A change back to petrol to rid yourself of that is worth far more than the MIB 2 IMO!!
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Can't say I've noticed any diesel clatter on the gtd mk7.
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The diesel bashers always like to bring up the clatter, but always neglect to mention that once rolling the diesel is quieter than it's petrol counterpart due to the engine running at around 30% lower revs in any given speed than its petrol equivalent due to higher gearing. I personally don't hear the engine ticking over very often as i'm moving 99% of the time and stop-start switches the engine off for 1/2 of my idling now.
Petrol cars that run on RON98 are closer to diesel tech than many would like to admit - direct injection and higher compression prior to ignition.
As diesels go, the current VAG 2.0TDI unit is the quietest i've come across around that size - BMWs at work (the favoured company car in 320 M Sport guise) are noticeably rattlier at idles, very much more so when cold.
Got no issues at all with the engine itself if i'm chasing better mpg.
Will we see cylinder deactivation across the range anytime soon? Unless they can get a TDI to run smoothly enough on 2 cylinders then I suspect not. If you end up with TSIs all within 15% of the mpg of the closest TDI then it's probably game over for the TDI. I doubt VW will allow that to happen unless EU emissions targets make it increasingly difficult to achieve required CO2 output without it.
Just goes to show that VW prices don't always seem to be a fair representation of cost + a uniform % of profit, they make what they can, where they can - whatever that market will bear. Joe has just said that in Ireland the GTD costs more than the GTI and last time I looked, that was the case in Germany and the Netherlands, but France, Spain, Italy get cheaper GTDs.
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I also think the later VW TDI units are much more refined than the earlier units. My PD unit on the Golf 5 for instance, whilst pretty much bullet proof, sounding like an old black cab on idle, although much quieter on the move.
Funnily enough, I think the 140PS CR unit in my previous Scirocco was quieter than my MK7 GTD at idle - I was very surprised at how quiet the Scirocco was. However, once on the move, the added refinement of the MK7 show though with much less cabin and road noise than before.
I think I read somewhere a few years ago that the issue with Cylinder deactivation on Diesel engines was a) the much higher compression they run at and b) the temperatures of cylinders 2 & 3 would rapidly cool on a diesel engine leading to other technical issues (or something like that).
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I too would join the diesel haters. I love the engine on my GTI - it has so much torque it behaves like one - you can have it in sixth from just above idle and it still pulls well. I'm no stranger to current VW diesels either; the other car was until recently a 2.0 TDi Leon (newest model) and I hated that engine. It was noisy at idle and had horrible vibrations at various places in the rev range. Ditto for a 1.6 TDi Octavia I tested. The petrol unit is so smooth and sweet apart from that stupid soundaktor... That reminds me, I must turn that down to zero with VCDS.
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The diesel bashers always like to bring up the clatter, but always neglect to mention that once rolling the diesel is quieter than it's petrol counterpart...
I wouldn't class myself as a diesel "basher", I've owned a couple myself, including a MK6 GTD and I drive various other diesels on a regular basis. So in my relatively informed opinion, diesel still has a very long way to go to match the petrol for refinement and power delivery across the rev band. No diesel (including my old GTD and my mate's MK7 GTD) had that nimble excitement you get in the GTI when you put the foot down from a standing start. The tickover noise on the MK7 GTD is pretty harsh too IMO, but I guess it comes down to whatever you are used to. Each to their own!
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It's a fair point Joe. At the time I purchased the GTD my mileage was looking to be around the 15-20k mark per year, but my circumstances changed and now I'm only doing about 8-9k per year. If I'd have know this back then, then I would have almost certainly have purchased a petrol GTI, but I am where I am now.
Same for me, mine was to be close to 15k and that was more than enough to sway me to GTD but change of role and less travelling means likely 8-9k now (not complaining really as work trips are not as fun as social outings, generally same locations and in peak of traffic)
Having said that economy is still pretty good and having opened the GTD up on a long stretch only this week, then still brings smiles, so still the perfect compromise really for most needs.
April next year is my allotted time to choose again so still sometime for me before seriously start to think about next vehicle but will likely move to petrol and at this stage its likely an R with some of the latest options. (Wife wants the Tiguan R so may be a battle of wills come the time)
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Some people just prefer a Diesel engine for the driving style, that American V8 type low end torque and lazy revving nature and with a remap or box the Diesel can hold its own at normal road speeds with some pretty potent petrol engines so there's no reason to jump to a GTI (which in itself is pretty torquey in mk7 guise).
Whether or not you do come up with a car decision Mr N, I'd wait for the VW pricing to settle down post BW22 as the configurators still look a mess. I just had a quick nose around to see if anything has changed in the Performance Golf section of the VW Config. and there are still those weird price anomalies that look like the nav was supposed to come as standard on the GTI/D.
Then I had a quick look around the Scirocco config. wondering if the Gen II stuff was on there yet. You can no longer get folding mirrors for a fiver but the paint prices have gone haywire. The only free one looked to be Unano (which you probably couldn't order if you wanted to), red costs £90 more than white, some metallics are now £610 and some £540 :roll eyes:
The price lists the dealers have from VW make no more sense either unless they've released new ones very recently.