Is it all worth it? Advice sought from those who have endured the process.

[stiggy786]

After months of silently reading this forum (weirdly feel I know some of you already) finally decided to join in the fun.

Pretty much as the title says, I want to know what the bottom line is for you guys who have/are been/going through the ordering, waiting and delivery process.

Reading your stories over the last few months have really scared me about taking the plunge, but I love the car. It's been one of my dreams to own a new GTI since I was 16 and I promised myself that when I achieved my first dream of becoming a doctor I would save up and treat myself!

Went to my dealer yesterday, we are trying to hammer out a deal. We are still a way off it but it exists somewhere.

I'm looking to buy this:
- GTI 5dr manual
- Pure white
- Perf Pack
- Panoramic
- Sat nav (standard)
VW list price is approx £29,400

I would like to know what you think about the following:

- What sort of discount would you think is a good deal for this car? What is the max cash price you would pay?
- Dealer says looking at Jan delivery if I order by the end of the month, but when should I realistically expect it?
- Are any of these options waste of money, likely to be faulty, delay the car?
- Has anyone used brokers e.g. DTD and what are the pros/cons?
- Is it all worth the wait, being messed around, and the cash?

Reading all your trials and tribulations have made me very weary (and sorry to hear), buying a new car should be one of the best experiences but at the same time when you're forking out £25+ grand I'd want to know the honest facts.

Thanks for checking this out, looking forward to meeting you on other threads, and hope you have a strict be nice to newbies rule. cheers!

[cheets7]

10%-12% off the price doing well! And no when you take delivery it will be all worth while.

[monkeyhanger]

You will moan for months as VW keep you in the dark and possibly delay your build by weeks. When you finally get it though, yiu will know it was worth the wait. Best case discount is about £3500, but bottom book on your p/x, or maybe get decent p/x and £2k off.

[CraigW]

Welcome to the forum.

To try and answer a few if your questions

1) discounts on these cars are proving harder to come by due to the demand being so great. The dealers seem to be able to offer discounts if you add a few options so perhaps look for about £1000 off and see what they say.

2) your looking at about anywhere between 16 and 24 weeks just now so if you order just now I'd say expect delivery round about end of January maybe into February.

3) all options can be seen as a luxury. You have to live with the car for 3-4 years so go for what you can afford. Don't over stretch yourself but try to have as few regrets as possible. Perf pack was a definite for me, thereafter it was what I could afford. Keyless entry is excellent and the standard sat nav is very good.

4) quite a few on here have used DTD and they are very reputable. They put you straight in touch with a VW dealer so no worries about warranty or anything like that. You will likely get a much bigger discount through DTD but sometimes their orders may not take priority over directly going to a dealer so may add to the delivery time. Other than that they are perfectly sound.

5) the waiting is a killer but the car is certainly worth it and if it's something you have wanted since a young boy then what's another 4-5 months. Alternatively you could always try and source a cancelled order or even consider purchasing a demo.

Good luck with you choice. You will love it if you go for it and this forum will keep you entertained

[Thornster]

DTD are good, and the dealer my car is being sourced from have given me realistic details regarding lead in times / estimated build week.

THe discount when I ordered via DTD was around 12%, but I had also managed to get a local dealer down to around 9%.

I'd say Jan was just about possible for build (I ordered in early July, and an expecting my car late Oct / early Nov), sometime in Feb may be more realistic.

I'll let you know if the wait is worth while in a few weeks time when I get behind the wheel!

[stiggy786]

Thanks all for your feedback so far

DTD are good, and the dealer my car is being sourced from have given me realistic details regarding lead in times / estimated build week.

How close to you (geographically) is your allocated dealer, have you been able to pop in and speak to someone directly after DTD brokered the deal on your behalf? I like to do business face to face but money talks and the 12% DTD offer is tempting. Do DTD guarantee that you'll pay the price they quote on screen, or can you later discover that no dealer was able to meet that price?

[JellyB]

Congrats on becoming a doctor!

I didn't get much of a discount to be honest (8%?), I had to order and be sure I got a car before my old one needed the annual spending in December and I didn't go for a broker as I wanted a dealership close to me.

I had no idea it really would be a 5+ month wait. Still I have wanted a GTI since my late teens and circumstances and insurance have prevented me from doing it but now I am (hopefully) only a few weeks away from having one.

I am not sure but I would be skeptical of a January delivery, given that I ordered in July and I am expecting delivery "by the end of December". And the dealer I ordered with mentioned March/April delivery for new orders, could be the factory doesn't run over xmas and new year or something?

Anyway if I were you I would drive as many as you can, spec what you want, order from DTD or similar and settle down for the wait.

[Bill_the_Bear]

Tried to PM but you haven't posted enough.

I advise keeping the options light.  I'd drop the PP, why do you need it, are you going on track?  Keep the cost down to get value for money.  Go to DTD but beware that people are struggling to get the discounts that were possible at launch.  The wait may be 20+ weeks but hard to be sure.

Like you I always wanted a GTI.  It's a great car, but in comparison to some rivals it's pricy.  So are you after the GTI image or the GTI performance?  If its the image then it's second to none.  If its performance then maybe shop around before deciding.

PS: No one on here is going to say its not worth it, so you have your answer in that sense.

[DougL]

Drive the deal are still offering discounts of over 11%. Really, it's like buying through a dealer.... once you have ordered via them ALL further dealings are between you and the dealer. My car is built, it was ordered in May, plus you get that discount off all the options as well. Drive the Deal get paid a £3-400 introduction fee by the dealer.

[Neil_MK]

In terms of discount my best advice would be to shop around. I got 10% discount on a fairly basic spec plus a good px price. That did mean I ended up buying from a dealer 80 miles away and spending a lot of time sending lots of emails but worth it in the end.