I just don't understand why people are being so excessively defensive and over protective over a throwaway non-premium depreciating asset.
I've really not seen any evidence of Audis being better than a VW, they suffer as many warranty issues, use the same parts, and in some cases are built side-by-side with VWs and Seats at the same plant. I did look hard into an S3 and saw nowt in it between the 2 mass produced small-medium hatchbacks other than external looks, a slightly more premium (and I mean very slight, the MK7 has really closed the gap) interior, and almost no useful equipment on the Audi, but a raft of it on the Golf.
If you want nappa leather on the R, or a decent equipment spec on the S3, there is nothing between them price-wise, to me that is a strong indicator that quality of materials and build is pretty much equal between the 2, surely VW AG should be able to fetch more than a 2.5% premium for the Audi if it was so much better?
For me, picking the R over the S3 came down to a few things:-
1. Looks - I like the front and back end of the S3, not so much it's side profile in Sportback form, for me the 5 door R beats the S3 sportback hands down.
2. Equipment - The R comes with over £2700-worth of equipment that the S3 doesn't have, most of which I would be willing to order if neither car came with it. The S3 has £2600-worth of nappa leather that I would happily take for free, but would never willingly pay for.
3. Cost to change - my 2 local Audi dealership groups were not willing to give more than 5% discount, I got 12% on the R, and a better p/x to boot. The Audi dealers were more than a little snotty too. Even with the GFV drop, that S3 that i'd get £2k more for at p/x 3 years down the line would have cost me £2500 more to get to the spec I want - in the end i'll see most of it back, so in a way that leather is kind of free.
4. The wait - If Audi could have built me an S3 in a similar time-frame that BMW could have built me a 330D/335D, that might have clinched it. As it is, they were quoting me 20 weeks (same as the R was supposed to be).
Maybe an S3 next time, just to feel like i've bought something a little different if/when itchy feet set in (but knowing it's only skin deep). The 2 cars are much of a muchness. When you're buying a £70k Audi rather than a £30k VW, you'll likely see the difference. When you're buying a £30970 Audi rather than a £30150 VW, to be expecting a superior product, you've bought into the Audi salesman's sales patter. All IMO.
