Golf GTI or the R

[P6GTD]

Guzzle - that’s what I had assumed. So if there is a decent contribution deal on and you intend to cancel finance and “cash buy” after delivery, VW finance must be cheaper as you start £1,000 or £1,500 better than using third party finance. Am I correct?

(I appreciate there may be cheaper third party finance if you intend to stay in the agreement for the duration by virtue of lower charges/interest compared to VW).

Incidentally I am buying my car with personal loan (top-up to trade in value) from M and S Bank at 3pc. Cheap as chips and at the end you actually own the car.

Next time, I will do the same but go into a VW PCP when there is a decent contribution then settle cash after delivery.

I didn’t do it this time as the Scottish dealer gave me a straight 18 pc off list on a last of line mk7 which I was looking for in Reflex Silver.
(If the 7.5 had still offered the same colour I might have waited and got one).

[RAIDEN]

Good news and bad.  The red one wasn't about so I drove a standard GTI with DSG and I did love it, Even tho on paper it was a bit slower than my S3 it did feel a bit quicker.  Comfort mode was a lot better than I thought it would be but sport mode the ride I didn't really like but you change all that in individual.  Now they found at there Derby branch a limestone grey PP with everything I wanted but it was 24k.  I told them the figures they sent me by email was way to expensive so they did that usual wait 10 mins while i'll talk to the numbers guy.  But the price was still too much even with all the extras chucked in.  Anyway we walked away and my wife spotted a R for sale at 21k so looked round it and it was white which is my first choice colour and it was 4 door with DSG.  So she starts hounding me to go back in and ask about it 

It had done 27k and was a 64 plate.  Needed a few minor bits on the body work but pretty good for its age.  It was slightly cheaper a month and a smaller balloon payment but with interest it was a rip off.  Just looked online and I could get a loan for £310 over 4 years and they offered me 7500 for my car.  So ill think about it over the weekend and let them know.  They would give me 2 free services but ill push them for 3 plus I wanted those body work issues done otherwise knock a grand off and ill get it done.

In conclusion both very very good cars.  GTI I felt was a much better car than the Focus MK3 RS I drove last month     

[I wanted a GTi]

21k for a 64 plate R with 27k on the clock? Are they taking the p!ss?

[Guzzle]

Guzzle - that’s what I had assumed. So if there is a decent contribution deal on and you intend to cancel finance and “cash buy” after delivery, VW finance must be cheaper as you start £1,000 or £1,500 better than using third party finance. Am I correct?

(I appreciate there may be cheaper third party finance if you intend to stay in the agreement for the duration by virtue of lower charges/interest compared to VW).

Incidentally I am buying my car with personal loan (top-up to trade in value) from M and S Bank at 3pc. Cheap as chips and at the end you actually own the car.

Next time, I will do the same but go into a VW PCP when there is a decent contribution then settle cash after delivery.

I didn’t do it this time as the Scottish dealer gave me a straight 18 pc off list on a last of line mk7 which I was looking for in Reflex Silver.
(If the 7.5 had still offered the same colour I might have waited and got one).

If you want to buy the car outright, the cheapest way is to accept the finance contribution offered by the dealer (as long as there is one) and then settle the finance in the first few days after delivery. Ideally with cash if you have it, or with a cheaper loan. Several forum members here have done it and will be able to explain exactly what they did.

Other third party finance is obviously available, but you won't get a deposit contribution, so as you say you will start off £1k behind (or however much the deposit contribution is). Therefore you would need to ensure that the interest rate is low enough to make the difference back to beat the dealer finance. Don't just rely on the interest rate though, always get written quotations and compare the total amount payable including fees.

The personal loan will result in ownership of the car if you see it through to the end, but if the interest rate on both is similar, then compared to a PCP you will either have higher monthly payments or you will be paying over a longer period because there is no balloon payment at the end. The longer the term, the more interest you will be charged.

[dubber36]

What the OP needs to consider is that on PCPs he will be left with very little at the end of the deal. A tiny amount of equity if he's lucky. Putting down a large deposit will bring the payments down, but he'll never see that money again. That's why I suggested leasing ealier on in the thread. If he banks the money he gets for his S3, he'll still have that at the end of the lease deal and still have been paying similar monthlies.

You need to do the sums and work out every last penny it will cost you to ride around in a car. Inflated screen prices and higher interest rates along with the more expensive PCP way of funding make used cars, in many cases more expensive than new.

[RAIDEN]

Bought this yesterday and very happy.  I just told myself if you buy a GTI you will always say maybe I should of gone for an R.  Really happy with it 

[Watts]

Bought this yesterday and very happy.  I just told myself if you buy a GTI you will always say maybe I should of gone for an R.  Really happy with it 

Where affordable you should always go with your heart, great choice!

[BobbyT]

looks great

[Booth11]

Congratulations on your R!  Looks really good.  I hope you really enjoy it, it’s a great car. 

[JeffPoe]

The R is faster and in nearly every way the better car.

However regardless of the very minor cost difference I went for a GTI. It felt more lively and as though you actually needed a small amount of skill to drive it fast. The R anybody can get in and drive fast..... to the point of being boring imo.

However the single biggest reason I went GTI is image. I'm sure every area of the country is different, but around West Yorkshire the R is generally driven by complete chav idiots. Zero class, baseball cap wearing morons. It's like a magnet for them for some reason. Same a little bit in the GTD, but the GTI you never really see it.