The inevitable R test drive!

[Margy]

So in my search for a 2014/15 GTi, & the subsequent lack of suitable vehicles within a sensible radius, my friendly dealer sales person has asked if I want a test drive in his R demonstrator. The cheap lease deals of 2 years ago are seeing a surplus of Rs around the £20k mark, & he can source a Nov 14 plate with 29k miles. No nav, no heated seats.

I know I'll be tempted!

[volkswizard]

So in my search for a 2014/15 GTi, & the subsequent lack of suitable vehicles within a sensible radius, my friendly dealer sales person has asked if I want a test drive in his R demonstrator. The cheap lease deals of 2 years ago are seeing a surplus of Rs around the £20k mark, & he can source a Nov 14 plate with 29k miles. No nav, no heated seats.

I know I'll be tempted!

Went to a VW Financial Services auction last week where 10 out of 140 cars were Rs.

Mainly red, mainly manual, and mainly well under guide price.

Lapiz + DSG = roughly guide price of £21k at 15k miles ish to retail at £23k

There was a car at around 30k miles, red 5 door manual with no extras and IIRC it would easily be on sale at £20k even at VW, I saw it at around £18490 retail.

Condition was generally good, a few kerbed wheels and a few bird poo marks on paint but most cars looked well cared for.  Typical of Mk7 there were some front bumpers that were a bit chippy considering the miles.
There was one car with crappy budget tyres on the front which on R is criminal!

At £20k I think it's great value but I'd try and get heated seats at least.

[Margy]

Yep TR, 5 door manual. Be nice to actually drive one, but ideally I'd like the a nicely specced GTi for the same money. Lower running costs & a tad comfier ride for my old bones!

[volkswizard]

Yep TR, 5 door manual. Be nice to actually drive one, but ideally I'd like the a nicely specced GTi for the same money. Lower running costs & a tad comfier ride for my old bones!

I think the R is worth the extra but I'd want some bits.

There was a red 5 door (reg began with D) manual that didn't sell, they wanted £19000 for it, plus fees = £19500 but it was low miles at 10000 ish

I think VWFS have messed up as the £550 extra for any colour but red would easily be repaid on sale, they should have just charged people a bit more per month and included other colours.

[Margy]

My local dealer has a 63 plate PP car with 19" Santiagos, DCC, winter pack, 31,000 miles in TR coming in. Looking for £18k for it.

The only negative is the ride on 19s, (which I think will be helped by the DCC) & the on going cost of replacement rubber. Anyone with this spec have some thoughts?

Cheers,

Nige

[Watts]

My local dealer has a 63 plate PP car with 19" Santiagos, DCC, winter pack, 31,000 miles in TR coming in. Looking for £18k for it.

The only negative is the ride on 19s, (which I think will be helped by the DCC) & the on going cost of replacement rubber. Anyone with this spec have some thoughts?

Cheers,

Nige

Mine has Santiagos but no DCC and is very good, better than my previous A4 on 17s. If you are happy to go more basic and spend some more, Drive the Deal was offering new at 22995, not sure on the spec but could be worth a look?

As to tyre costs, yes 19s are going to be quite a bit more but how often you are going to replace them is more important. You could get away with about £40 a corner extra which if only once every 2 or 3 years seems okay to me.

[Margy]

Agreed, & in defence of the 19s, we only do about 8000k a year, so it's not a deal breaker. Although by all accounts, they seem a pig to clean!

[Watts]

It's definitely easier to remove them for cleaning, doesn't take much longer and involves a bit less swearing! Actually, with a good wheel mitt they aren't too bad for cleaning. If you have average sized hands you can clean the insides via the gaps in the spokes quite easily and the mitt will prevent blood loss from scrapes with the plates around the discs.

So all in I'd say if you like the 19s go for it, they look great, ride very well and are easy to own! And DCC definitely not essential.