Bye-bye GTi hello R

[TheMoggy]

Made the plunge today...trading in my TR GTi for a Lapiz Blue R with DSG (built this week, arrives mid-October)

I may have only had my GTi for 12 months and feel a bit stupid for trading in but couldn't hold out any longer and I got an excellent deal!!!

Anyone else made such a quick shift? If so, any regrets?

[Mr Savage]

It really goes to show how ridiculous the pricing on the R is as everyone in a GTI seems to be chopping it in for an R already.

[blueheaduk]

It does interest me that there are a lot of people switching over - surely it must be costing an awful lot to swap so early?

I feel like I might be missing something? Without being too nosey can anyone describe what kind of inflation in price they're facing for switching to the R? I am flirting with the idea of switching to an R at some point but if it was going to work out significantly cheaper to switch sooner then obviously I would look into that...

Thanks
Greg

[monkeyhanger]

For most people, the part-ex price for a 1year old car won't be much more than that of a 2year old one, there just isn't the margin there for the dealership to make it happen.

Take a new GTI for £26k. Discount is common if you know to ask for one and negotiate. So you get one with a few options and maybe pay £25k for it. Not many people are going to want to pay more than £24k for a year old one that had an RRP of £28k (inc options), or pay £23k for a vanilla one, when they can wait an ever shorter time for a new one.

If sticker price is £24k, the dealer is going to want to make 20%, offering £19k -you lose £6k, there are a fair few demos about which are all competing at the same age/pricepoint.

Keep it for 2 years and you'll have probably lost an additional £3k. The dealer will have it up for £21k and be looking to give you £16/17k for it. This is all on the assumption that the popularity of the GTI doesn't strongly wane for everyone looking to get into an R.

I usually keep a car at least 2 years to spread out the initial loss with a year's normal depreciation. The R could really do with some special sports seats to set it apart, but otherwise it looks reasonable value next to the GTI.

[TheMoggy]

The R cost me an extra 35 quid per month with a deposit of 1500 quid. In terms of what I owe on the GTi and the price the garage are giving me I'm losing about 500 quid. The deal I referred to was the saving on the new car plus I am getting it in a month (with the spec I wanted) rather than the 4-6 months others are waiting.

The way I looked at it was the 500 quid I lost was going to be the price of the new tyres I already need plus my road tax is now due. The extra per month and the deposit are a shame obviously but I'm going to offset that by the enjoyment I will have

The R in the North East seems relatively rare (only ever seen one in the area) whilst the GTD and GTi are everywhere, especially the GTD - 5 parents at my kid's school have GTDs, there are only 160 kids in the school!!...My GTi doesn't feel 'special' anymore (very shallow I know) 

[fredgroves]

The R in the North East seems relatively rare (only ever seen one in the area) whilst the GTD and GTi are everywhere, especially the GTD - 5 parents at my kid's school have GTDs, there are only 160 kids in the school!!...My GTi doesn't feel 'special' anymore (very shallow I know) 

Given that the Golf Mk7 is consistently the 4th best selling car model in the UK, its not too surprising really. Ok, so the more expensive models will be more rare but you are still talking about a very popular, affordable and desirable car - not an exotic.

Should have gone for something less popular, like a Audi A3 :-P (right down the bottom of the top ten that one is!)

[TheMoggy]

Given that the Golf Mk7 is consistently the 4th best selling car model in the UK, its not too surprising really. Ok, so the more expensive models will be more rare but you are still talking about a very popular, affordable and desirable car - not an exotic.

Should have gone for something less popular, like a Audi A3 :-P (right down the bottom of the top ten that one is!)

My original remark was a bit tongue-in-cheek  ...what I hoped was a bit of exclusivity with the GTi and GTD. I'm hoping I get that with the R, at least until the R400 is released when I will make the jump again  (before I get a reaction / bite, I'm joking)

[matchboy]

Made the plunge today...trading in my TR GTi for a Lapiz Blue R with DSG (built this week, arrives mid-October)

I may have only had my GTi for 12 months and feel a bit stupid for trading in but couldn't hold out any longer and I got an excellent deal!!!

Anyone else made such a quick shift? If so, any regrets?

Done exactly the same - although my provisional BW is 4    But yes, the R is nearly the same money for me monthly and too good an opportunity to pass up!

[gjf]

Same here ordered an R, my GTD is 3 at christmas and i was looking to get back into a GTI again but with the R pricing structure its a no brainer - well over £100 cheaper per month than the GTI for me. I cannot quite believe how cheap the insurance is either .

[mullermn]

All these stories make the idea of a swap very tempting.

Does anyone know what the chances are of getting an extended test drive in an R? I really like the GTI and I'd want to be pretty sure of myself before I tried to enter in to a swap.