Wife and I need a sensible spacious car for the labrador, and also her photography gear, so the two cars we have tend to be an estate, then something fun or different, whether that be a GTI type car, convertible, sports car, etc (sometimes sensible as well, if we had a need for two sensible cars) We can't have children unfortunately, so can spoil ourselves a little with the money that little brats would cost anyway
Tend to get bored of a car after a couple of years, so am always sort of looking at what our next move could be.
If I wasn't doing as much mileage as I am at the moment, then a Golf R would have been top of the list.
Audi - being on first name terms with my salesman at Dundee Audi always helps. I could wander in any time, and get a test drive of anything I want. Great service from sales, service and parts at Dundee Audi, and bettered a Drive The Deal quote for a TTRS we bought for my wife back in 2010. My salesman wasn't affronted in the slightest when I said I was ordering a GTD rather than order a new model TT, as he knows he's now my first choice when I look for new cars. Last car ordered was a A6 Avant Ultra last May, and the deal and customer service was top notch as always
The previous model used S3 I bought from Perth Audi on a whim was the single most disappointing car I've ever bought - thought it would be like my Edition 30 turned up a level, but the suspension was firm as anything, and car was very disappointing. The current A3 is dull as hell so the current S3 could be the best car in the world, but I never even considered it.
Both it and the BMW 1 series seem to be the cars that people who don't know cars buy because they think it makes them look sophisticated to their neighbours
Aberdeen Audi are good for service and parts, but have had mixed experiences from sales both for used and new cars - always willing to get me test drives though, but a couple of the salesmen there are so cheesy, it's painful (one in particular seems straight out of TOWIE
). Courtesy cars have included Q7, Q5, S5 and being handed the keys to various other nice models over the years when in for service. Can't see myself buying an RS4 or RS6 anytime soon however. A4 range is getting very old, but the RS6 would absolutely be the first thing I bought should my lottery numbers come up.
Despite Dundee & Aberdeen being part of the same group, Aberdeen don't budge as much on price, whereas Dundee being the smaller garage are much more willing to deal. Aberdeen Audi are one of the top selling dealerships in the UK & Europe however, so there must be too much money in the oil industry, despite the oil price at the moment. Dundee is getting a completely refurbished showroom soon, and Aberdeen is getting a big new expensive showroom and huge service centre getting constructed as well, so they must be doing something right
One of my clients also swears by Highland Audi in Inverness, but he's considerably richer than me many times over, so probably gets anything he wants
VW - didn't even test drive any of the Mk7 models before ordering the GTD in the company car scheme, and you know what, I didn't need to - I've always found the VW range to be spot on in terms of what I expect them to be. Bought my Edition 30 the same way. The local VW dealer in Aberdeen has improved hugely in customer service since the mid 1990s and get good service from sales, service and parts. A salesman I know there quite happily offers test drives whenever I ask, and got me an extended test drive of a Touareg R-Line last year when I enquired.
For the money, the GTD is miles ahead of the A3 (in my opinion)
The VW dealer in Dundee, Barnetts, also seems pretty good, but never got back to me when I was buying a CC back in 2010, and we ended up getting the (used) CC from Camerons, the Perth VW dealer who were very good, with great service and weren't pushy in the slightest
BMW - I've never been a BMW person to be honest. I find the styling more than a little awkward, and despite virtually all the motoring magazines wanking themselves silly at the rear wheel drive 'feel', I've found them to be fairly mundane to be honest, M models excepted. My younger brother has a last generation 2-series, and has had a number of fiddly issues especially with suspension and steering rack, so that's put me off as well.
I would like to try a BMW i8 as it seems a really interesting £100k alternative to 911, R8, etc....but I'm not in the market for a £100k car
The 6 series Gran Coupe is a nice (huge) car though, but the cost....
RWD in winter weather is another thing that puts me off, and the number of X-Drive 3 series and 1-series models I see around in Aberdeenshire seems to back that up - I see a lot of them going around now.
I did express an interest with the BMW dealer in Perth about getting a drive of a 5 series Touring when we were looking to replace our 2011 A6 Avant, but didn't hear a peep back. Just as well, as when our new A6 was driven into back in January, we received a 520d Touring as the courtesy car. Soggy, underpowered and interior seem very worn - probably due to being a hire car with lots of users.
Mercedes - no, I'm not a taxi driver, so an E-Class was ruled out immediately. C-Class is way too cramped in the back. My colleague has a new A-Class diesel, and it seems OK (even with the dash-mounted screen) but again, just isn't for me. Nothing else in the range remotely interests me
Porsche - test drove a new model Boxster S a while back - very nice car, and an accompanied test drive with the salesman from Porsche Aberdeen on a very wet day was fun, and he was egging me on not to hold back. No issue getting a test drive but the fact I was driving an Audi RS at the time might have swayed their judgement. Couldn't justify the extortionate price in the end, and in my job, turning up at a client with anything Porsche would cause endless amounts of grief and conversations about immediate discounts
If you ever want to feel violated, start pricing up a new Porsche...an Audi is a bargain in comparison
Land Rover/Range Rover - did consider the Freelander or Evoque, but the Freelander was prehistoric inside, and the Evoque was nice, but very cramped & expensive. Didn't bother asking for drive of either. Father in law has an old Discovery that seems to have been remanufactured several times over with the amount of parts that have been replaced over the years. My brother's bad experience with a Range Rover Sport means I'd never consider a Sport/Discovery.
