I've had my Tungsten Silver GTI PP for about a month now - for those looking to buy, here is what I reckon about the chatter on this and other forums that I read in advance of picking up the car.
As forums tend to be a gathering place for people waiting to pick up their cars, and others with problems, I just thought I'd add my experience now I've had the car for a while to balance things out...
Spec:
5 Door
Tungsten Silver
Performance Pack
Nav
DSG
"Windscreen Wipers smear" - Not mine, they seem fine, perhaps they have changed the standard factory fit ones but they are fine on my car.
"Rattles" - Not on mine.
"Economy" - Was a bit of a shock to start having come from a diesel, however the engine really does loosen up after the first 1000 miles and it really affects the MPG. Can get 40MPG if very careful, so I'm a happy bunny.
"Dealer valeting" - There was a lot of chatter in the forums about this and that you should on no circumstances let the dealer valet the car. I had mine AutoGlym'd by them, so I was nervous about letting them carry it out after reading the comments. I paid particular attention when it arrived, but in the end they did a brilliant job, so it goes to show that not all dealers are the same! (thank you White Rose VW in Petersfield)
"Ipod connection" - Mine came with both new and old versions of the cable.
"Stereo Quality" - I haven't got the dynaudio. The sound is perfectly acceptable for my ears, I listen to a lot of audio books in the car and it's fine.. It's obviously not as good as the Bang & Olufsen system in my other car, but it's fine for me.
"Performance Pack" - don't have anything to compare it to, but the brakes seem amazing and it is fun to drive - can't tell if that is the PP making a difference though. I did worry that I should have waited and bought the 'R', but in the end, for me, the GTI PP is perfectly fast enough, any more would be verging on making it scary rather than fun (IMHO R owners). Also I'm not finding that traction is an issue despite 230PS through the front wheels.
"DSG Gearbox" - brilliant, wouldn't have anything else, love the noise.
"Sat Nav" - I find mine to be good - better than the unit in my 2010 A4 estate. The smaller screen on the head unit is fine, though the bigger screen does look quite cool.
"Adaptive Cruise Control" - once you have got use to it, is amazing - I use it all the time down A and B roads, just tailing the car in front at an acceptable distance - a very stress free drive. I've heard chatter of worrying 'False alarms', but haven't had any at all - time will tell, but I like the system.
"Auto Hold" - Some people have said this can make it a bit jerky moving off - I guess it just depends on how fast you want to drive off, but I don't find it an issue.
"Dealer" - got 2 bottles of wine, a healthy discount, a model Golf GTI Mk6 for my son (Mk7 not available yet!), they Auto Glym'd it well, but unfortunately they registered as a 63 plate instead of a 14 (I've got a private plate on it, so perhaps they thought I wouldn't notice). They gave me an extra £500 off for the 'inconvenience' but I'm still a little p'd off about it since I picked it up in mid March...
What I might have specced if I hadn't bought a dealer specced one:
Keyless entry
Reversing Camera
And if money were no object:
DCC
Sunroof
Parking Assist
Niggles:
Minor, but it's difficult to press things on the screen when driving - quite distracting.
Again minor, but because the engine stops when you stop, it can make you forget to put the handbrake on and turn off the ignition, I know that sounds weird, but I'm getting used to it...
I can't think of anything else, overall, very pleased and highly recommend it...
