Bye-bye GTi hello R

[Mr Savage]

Just trawled this thread from start to finish to see the effect it has had on us - here's the roll-call:-

Moggy started it with his purchase, followed by Matchboy, then gjf then me, with 3 very interested maybes in mikeok, misterp and Virginvwman. 4 definite Rs and 3 more strong maybes. Not forgetting those who've had one a while!

VW have kind of killed the GTI with the R. I love my GTI but if I was to reorder today it'd almost be daft not to choose the R. This swapping must be happening world wide and not just on the forum. It will be interesting to see what VW do if they see a sudden mass increase in R sales and loss of GTI sales. The R already has about a 6 month waiting list, bet they've sold a load more than expected!

[monkeyhanger]

There are some here resisting the push to R, same few who seriously put down the GTD are now doing the same with the R. It's thirstier, a bit heavier, but quicker, more powerful and should be totally planted in all conditions. It does peeve a little when something a bit better comes through (like when the 170TDI Scirocco was announced 2 weeks before my 140 got delivered  ) They're all good cars, I can see why someone would want to stick with the GTD over R and GTI for fuel costs and taxation (if they're company car drivers), but at £450 a year more in fuel costs for R over GTI (10k miles a year, inc RON98 costing more and anticipated 5mpg fuel penalty) and higher purchase price being offset by an extra £5k on the GFV, there doesn't make much sense not to pick an R over a GTI apart from slightly more aggressive front end looks and a love of tartan.

The GTI will always be the most instantly recogniseable to the general public though.

[KyleB]

I'd love to be able to switch but the amount of miles I do would make me cry with filling it up. The R would be my car of choice though.

I'll give your DTUK box a loving home though mate if you come to sell it - don't think you'll be needing it on the R ;-)

[monkeyhanger]

I'd love to be able to switch but the amount of miles I do would make me cry with filling it up. The R would be my car of choice though.

I'll give your DTUK box a loving home though mate if you come to sell it - don't think you'll be needing it on the R ;-)

If you haven't got a box of your own by March next year then it can be yours if my Dad doesn't take up first refusal (not sure whether he's keen). Maybe I should take it off sooner so I appreciate the R even more! 

[virginVWman]

I'd love to be able to switch but the amount of miles I do would make me cry with filling it up. The R would be my car of choice though.

I'll give your DTUK box a loving home though mate if you come to sell it - don't think you'll be needing it on the R ;-)

How many miles do you do a year? I do 15-16k tops, and think having a diesel is rather pointless unless your 20 something surely.

** on a side note...still to hear from VW Chester (orangewheels) re a quote to px GTD for an R

[monkeyhanger]

How many miles do you do a year? I do 15-16k tops, and think having a diesel is rather pointless unless your 20 something surely.

That old argument harks back to the days when diesels were far less popular and as a result the car manufacturers used to charge £2k more for a diesel than the equivalent petrol unit, and residuals weren’t really any better for the diesel.

Nowadays, comparing GTI to GTD, we have a GTD that costs £400 less and will be worth (according to GFV) about £1500 more than a GTI at 3 years old when you trade in.

Before you’ve even put any fuel in you’re £1900 up on the GTI (no judgement on driving pleasure etc, just financials), then the average 10k a year driver will be saving £400 a year on fuelling the GTD. I wouldn’t recommend one as a 5k a year “potter to the shops and back” for reasons of DPF clogging, but even doing 10k miles a year, having a GTD makes financial sense.

The financial sense has obviously gone right out of the window for me ordering my R! 

[virginVWman]

How many miles do you do a year? I do 15-16k tops, and think having a diesel is rather pointless unless your 20 something surely.

That old argument harks back to the days when diesels were far less popular and as a result the car manufacturers used to charge £2k more for a diesel than the equivalent petrol unit, and residuals weren’t really any better for the diesel.

Nowadays, comparing GTI to GTD, we have a GTD that costs £400 less and will be worth (according to GFV) about £1500 more than a GTI at 3 years old when you trade in.

Before you’ve even put any fuel in you’re £1900 up on the GTI (no judgement on driving pleasure etc, just financials), then the average 10k a year driver will be saving £400 a year on fuelling the GTD. I wouldn’t recommend one as a 5k a year “potter to the shops and back” for reasons of DPF clogging, but even doing 10k miles a year, having a GTD makes financial sense.

The financial sense has obviously gone right out of the window for me ordering my R! 

http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.html

Used this link comparing costs of my annual mileage to what it could potentially be from my 45mpg at moment to a "best" case scenario of 35mog in an R. Difference over a month works out at an extra £40 in the tank, less that what I was expecting. I know as you say its a old as hell convo but I just wanted to see if it really was going to hammer me a month on fuel as it appears it wont on my numbers

[CraigW]

From my position it just doesn't make sense financially for me to trade up to an R at this moment.  The GTI cost me roughly £28,000 and is probably worth perhaps £20k - £21k (I don't know I'm just guessing). I still have approximately £7,000 of outstanding finance on the car. A discounted R would probably cost me close to £30k considering the options i would want. Just too much to lose after only 14 months ownership.

In addition, the release of the R was definitely a doh!! moment for me when VW announced the prices, i couldn't quite believe it was so closely priced to the GTI. I don't want to make the same mistake twice if they release the R400 and it's not anywhere as much as i am anticipating.

[monkeyhanger]

Did you add in the actual price per litre changes for that comparison? Don’t forget the R is running on 98RON.

For me on 10k miles a year, I deduced that my GTD 44mpg average (which seems quite normal on the forum) is 66% of the published combined figures, and so on that basis I would expect 26.4mpg from a “40mpg” R, or 31.0mpg from a “47mpg” GTI.

I took fuel prices to be 127p/L for RON 95 (GTI), 130p/L for diesel and 135p/L for RON98 (R).

£1323 for the GTD, £1876 for the GTI and £2321 for the R, doing 10k miles at the above prices.
The petrols do seem to be a little closer to the truth in their actual mpg vs published combined than the diesels are for most of us here. Maybe ss GTDers push our cars harder than the average GTI/R owner needs to (I think this is probably true of me). For that reason, I expect the average mpg for the GTI and R to be at 35mpg and 29mpg respectively (from mpg discussions here, biggest running in improvements reported with the R), making 10k miles fuel costs:-

£1323 for the GTD (unchanged), £1662 for the GTI and £2132 for the R.

For the average among us then, an R is going to cost £67 a month more than a GTD and £39 a month more than a GTI in fuel.

[virginVWman]

Don't know the cost of 98RON so went with the standard price. lol seems a bit more like it at 67 quid more per month ha

Spoke with VW solutions, outstanding settlement fig of £17,985 with a year old GTD at 15k miles. Be keen to see what it would be worth, so looks like could have some equity only a year in after a measly deposit to begin with. As some GTDs on VW are going for 23,500 similar to mine. Well aware they have been marked up and not what I could look to achieve if I sold private