April 1st Price Rise - it's no joke

[Guzzle]

Just been on Drive The Deal. A brand new but standard Golf GTi Performance 5dr dsg is now £28,923 after discount.

A standard SEAT Leon Cupra dsg 5dr is £23,532 after discount. Over £5k less.

A standard Skoda Octavia vRS 5dr dsg is £22,187 after discount. Almost £7k less.

I think it will probably be Skoda or SEAT for me next time if the difference is so great when it's time to change. 

[mcmaddy]

You don't get the same standard kit in seat or Skoda that you do in the golf. Nearly, but once you spec like for like the Skoda is virtually the same price.

[Guzzle]

Yes the standard vRS is looking a bit basic these days next to the GTi, but there is an extra £3k discount on the Octavia which still makes it cheaper when you consider the bottom line. And it's a bigger car.

Alternatively the vRS Challenge has some standard kit that costs extra on the GTi and is still over £3k less than a basic GTi when you've added the cost of the equipment that the vRS Challenge is missing.

[fredgroves]

Hmmm, for most of those years my 'pay rise' was 0%, 1% or less for 3 and 1.5% once. I think a new GTI is rapidly moving out of my pocket's comfort zone...

Tell me about it Watts! Mine was even worse :-(

Even beyond the luxury of a shiny new Golf, things are getting out of hand...

[fredgroves]

You don't get the same standard kit in seat or Skoda that you do in the golf. Nearly, but once you spec like for like the Skoda is virtually the same price.

As I keep saying on this subject, the other thing is that Skoda/SEAT finance rates are more too, plus the greater depreciation all in all makes for a very much more expensive total cost of ownership if you plan to have the car for 3 years.

[Guzzle]

You don't get the same standard kit in seat or Skoda that you do in the golf. Nearly, but once you spec like for like the Skoda is virtually the same price.

As I keep saying on this subject, the other thing is that Skoda/SEAT finance rates are more too, plus the greater depreciation all in all makes for a very much more expensive total cost of ownership if you plan to have the car for 3 years.

It's a fair point regarding the finance rates. But if buying with cash then i'd be amazed if a standard GTi was worth £5k more than a Leon Cupra after 3 years. I've always measured depreciation in £ lost rather than % retained.

When it comes to standard equipment, you just pay for the options that you actually want. The GTi has a great standard spec, far better than the 'normal' vRS, but there's only value in that if you wanted all that equipment to begin with. If you do want that kit then a it probably makes more sense to compare the GTi to the vRS Challenge. With those two it's swings and roundabouts on standard equipment but the vRS Challenge is nearly £5k cheaper after discount.

[fredgroves]

Genuinely surprised about these figures.... 3 years, 20k per annum:

Octavia Estate 2.0TSi 245 GPF SS €6 vRS Challenge 6Spd 19MY

P11D £30,715
Residual value £11025

Insurance group 29

Fuel Type Petrol

Cost per mile
49.92ppm
Fuel   13.18ppm
Depreciation   32.82ppm
Service maintenance and repair   3.9ppm


Golf Hatch 5Dr 2.0TSI 245 SS GTi Performance DSG7 19MY

P11D £35,450
Residual value £11325

Insurance group 33

Fuel Type Petrol

Cost per mile
57.40ppm
Fuel   12.21ppm
Depreciation   40.21ppm
Service maintenance and repair   5.0ppm

[monkeyhanger]

Are those residual figures right? The 3 year/30k mile GFV is higher than £11325, surely? I'd expect £1500 more than GFV if p/xing. Golf has generally had a GFV of about 48% of RRP.

For my 46 month old Golf R, I'm getting Tootle offers of £17200 and the local VW dealership offered £16k.

I'd be gutted if I bought a £32k Golf for £28k and it was worth £11500 after 3 years.

[fredgroves]

Those are fleet residual value figures, not fantasy GFV's from VAGFS.

[Arnold_Lane]

Those are fleet residual value figures, not fantasy GFV's from VAGFS.

But fleet residuals are probably based on fleet purchase prices which will be some way lower than £28K.

In my own motoring world I have always sold cars at the end of the finance period for more than the GFV's and some times A LOT MORE (£6.5K above GVF a few years back). I even sold an Octavia vRS CR estate at 4.5 years for £250 more than the final finance payment I had had to pay at 3 years.