« Reply #10 on: 05 November 2015, 15:55 »
The interiors haven't improved that much in very up to date cars.
It's the vehicle electrics that have 'improved' massively with lots of extra pointless menus and some nice slick graphics on the displays.
Where I'd say you will notice a difference going back to an older car is who's owned it before you might not have loved it as much as you would have.
I'm not a betting man but I'd wager most ED30's will be getting a bit rough by now and most will have led a hard life.
If you can find a one or two owner peach that's not been thrashed or crashed then all well and good but you'll pay strong money for it. If you can find an example like that then it would be well worth the effort but it would be a lot of effort.
The BMW is a fantastic car but it's not a GTI.
You can have all the torque in the world and as many annoying gears as you like but it won't make a barge into a go kart.
I think Asker had the right idea having one of each in his family fleet (Ok he has an R not a GTI but it's pretty much the same difference really). The Golf for the twisty stuff where compact size and lower weight comes into its own and a big saloon for when you want comfort and a blast of torque.
There are literally dozens of decent performing cars for around £10k to £15k and there's no need to stay German.
Another thing to bear in mind saying you don't like handing them back after a couple years is that these cars are getting old and with bigger performance comes bigger repair bills.
If you want to keep a GTI, R, R32, F30 or whatever in mint condition it's going to have some big bills on top of regular depreciation. In the long term it'll cost you less than a new car but you'll also have more hassle. All well and good if you have lots of time and enthusiasm.
But would you keep an older car more than two years?
I personally keep an old car for doing all the crappy jobs I don't want my Golf to do, but I literally run it as on old sh!tter and it looks rough, despite getting looked after much better than the average old banger (I've always been a car person so my cars don't generally want for anything). I just run them until the MOT bills outstrip the worth of repairing it then I'll pick up another for another five to ten years...
But with my newer car I have no qualms in moving it on after a couple years.
Yes it's bloody expensive and a pointless waste of money for someone like me who does few miles and gets no company car benefits, but cars are like any modern throw away tech - they're getting overly complicated with cheap electronic proliferation.
If you like your cars, as most people on the forums do, then handing them back after a couple years should be no hardship as the world has moved on by then and there's another tempting model around. There are so many similar cars from similar manufacturers it shouldn't be a hardship to lease whatever the best deal is at the time for a year or two then move to something else.
There's no perfect answer.
How busy are you?
How much money do you have to spend?
How patient are you?
How OCD are you if you discover your second hand car has had a load of paintwork done that you didn't spot?
Do you know a good reasonably priced specialist to look after it?
« Last Edit: 05 November 2015, 16:02 by Exonian »
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‘25 8.5R, ‘23 8R, ‘20 8CS, ‘19 135iX, ‘19 TCR, ‘17 Ed40, ‘17 GTD, ‘15 7R, ‘13 GTI PP, ‘11 GTI, ‘09 GTI, ‘98 Ibiza Cupra, ‘05 GTI, ‘06 Polo GTI, ‘04 GT TDI, ‘05 Fabia vRS, ‘02 GTI T, ‘03 Ibiza TDI 130, ‘01 Leon 180, ‘89 mk2 16v, ‘99 Ibiza TDI, ‘96 VR6, ‘98 Ibiza TDI, ‘92 VR6, ‘88 mk2 8v, ‘92 Polo G40, ‘91 mk2 8v, ‘89 mk2 8v, 205 GTI 1.9, ‘83 mk1 GTI, ‘80 Scirocco GTI, plus some others I’ve forgotten
