A happy accident?!

[Gryzor]

Last night I was visiting my mate who has just moved, so I used my TomTom.  Two things:

• On the way to my car I dropped my TomTom and cracked the screen
• While driving along the country roads I paid close attention to my speed and how I took corners

Long-and-short of it is that I've had a change of heart on my specification.  After getting sucked into the hype of the Performance Pack, I've decided to remove it, especially when taking into account reviews of the stock car.  I simply do not drive the car hard enough, often enough, and looked back at the very reasons why I wanted a GTI in the first place.  I've also removed Park Assist as I never have any issues parking without any aids at all.  With sensors and a reverse camera, I'm sure I'll manage just fine!  With the semi-demise of my TomTom, and thinking about the neatness of having it integrated, I decided to swap those two for the basic Sat Nav.

My dealer reckons that I should be OK, and only get charged the extra on the Sat Nav "as I've been a long and loyal customer", lol  He is going to speak to the manager now.

[pauliem]

I agree it is nice to have it all integrated and that is the main temptation of the sat nav.

But my iPhone goes everywhere with me anyway and TomTom on it is just the same as the dedicated units.  I use a Brodit Proclip so the phone is always visible and charging in the car anyway.

I also have Park Assist on mine, I didn't really want it, but it was a cheap option and will stop my GF getting flustered when it is parking time. 

Having read a bit more about Park assist there is one feature I really like, it can also get you out tight spaces.  Don't really need that here, but drive to Sicily once a year and get stuck in some really awkward situations, that might prove useful there.

[Jimble]

Last night I was visiting my mate who has just moved, so I used my TomTom.  Two things:

• On the way to my car I dropped my TomTom and cracked the screen
• While driving along the country roads I paid close attention to my speed and how I took corners

Long-and-short of it is that I've had a change of heart on my specification.  After getting sucked into the hype of the Performance Pack, I've decided to remove it, especially when taking into account reviews of the stock car.  I simply do not drive the car hard enough, often enough, and looked back at the very reasons why I wanted a GTI in the first place.  I've also removed Park Assist as I never have any issues parking without any aids at all.  With sensors and a reverse camera, I'm sure I'll manage just fine!  With the semi-demise of my TomTom, and thinking about the neatness of having it integrated, I decided to swap those two for the basic Sat Nav.

My dealer reckons that I should be OK, and only get charged the extra on the Sat Nav "as I've been a long and loyal customer", lol  He is going to speak to the manager now.

Hope you don't regret cancelling the PP 

Only joking! I agree it's easy to get sucked in as i have but since i added it i feel better about the car, i think it's because it's as good as it can be with the PP and i'd always have that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that i'd made a mistake..

[CraigW]

I think the sat nav integrates really well into the dashboard of the GTI and looks the part. I am looking to spec the sat nav pro and although hugely expensive I think its one of the few options that will add value to the car come resale time. In saying that I think the PP will be another one of those options that the second hand market will be looking for.

[Gryzor]

Hope you don't regret cancelling the PP 

Only joking! I agree it's easy to get sucked in as i have but since i added it i feel better about the car, i think it's because it's as good as it can be with the PP and i'd always have that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that i'd made a mistake..

Once I'm sat in that car with all the comforts, no regrets at all   Thing is, my current care doesn't have it, and I won't have driven a car with it.  Straight line performance is really no different, and I just don't drive my car like I'm on a track.  Time for me to get realistic about the car, otherwise I might as well have gone for a used M3 or something!

I think Sat Nav is always attractive in the used marked, and I'm sure PP will be too.  However, at best you'll only get your money back on options, and chances are I'll be trading for something anyway in the future so ease-of-sale isn't high on my agenda,

[monkeyhanger]

CraigW: it will probably add very little to the car, 20% of original option price if you're lucky. Out of interest you should try and get a solutions quote with and without it and see what the final guaranteed value is for each quote. PP has got far more chance of retaining a decent amount of purchase value.

[Hawaii-Five-O]

Speccing options is all so very personal - and budget dependent.

I'd love to have a fully integrated sat-nav but I can't really afford, I'd love to have the PP, but I can't spec it, I'd love to have the Orxy paint job but it's out of the budget-range that I set myself (and nuts money).

I think it is easy to get sucked into adding loads of options through peer pressure and 'journo' reviews. Gryzor's post highlights this point perfectly.

On the whole I've stuck to my guns and kept my car spec pretty basic. I only added the keyless entry system.

The thing is the new GTD/GTI is so well specced from the Mk6 it's got everything I want. The main thing I really, really wanted was the Bi-Xenon headlights and the ADC but both come as standard, yay! I also badly wanted DAB and phone prep and it has these too. So, I didn't feel the need to spec many expensive options because the UK spec cars are pretty well loaded especially compared to the A Class and BWM 1 Series.

[Gryzor]

It's really hard to force yourself to compromise, especially with peer-pressure, but you are right H5O.  I've still got a lot of options on there, all of which I want and will use (apart from the premium phone prep for the heated screen...).  Some more than others, admittedly, but at the best part of a grand, PP isn't something I feel I'm going to benefit from. It's a lot to spend just to feel good about the car (as much I advocate that feeling good is half the battle!)

[CraigW]

CraigW: it will probably add very little to the car, 20% of original option price if you're lucky. Out of interest you should try and get a solutions quote with and without it and see what the final guaranteed value is for each quote. PP has got far more chance of retaining a decent amount of purchase value.

I've never been a massive fan of the PCP route to be honest. My preference has always been to try and own the car outright at the end of the term. I tend to keep my cars for 4 years so im basically looking at a 4 year loan which i was used to paying with my current car.

[monkeyhanger]

CraigW: it will probably add very little to the car, 20% of original option price if you're lucky. Out of interest you should try and get a solutions quote with and without it and see what the final guaranteed value is for each quote. PP has got far more chance of retaining a decent amount of purchase value.

I've never been a massive fan of the PCP route to be honest. My preference has always been to try and own the car outright at the end of the term. I tend to keep my cars for 4 years so im basically looking at a 4 year loan which i was used to paying with my current car.

CraigW: It would still be worth getting the 2 quotes just purely to see what retained value VW put on the presence of your proposed additions (the difference between the 2 quotes) - the figure may surprise you. You can take up VW finance for straight up complete payments over 36/48/60 months, paying the "token" final payment fee (£60?), may be handy if you can't get a proper bank loan with less than 6.4% APR