Revisiting "which hot hatch March 2020"

[jv]

Didn't require referral or previous ownership - that was removed at the end of December.
Already said my local dealer couldn't compete.
You just order through whoever does offer the best price, doesn't matter if the local dealer won't entertain it.

10mpg difference over 10k miles is about 675 quid 

[fredgroves]

So I went and had a sit in.. the I30N.

It's ok, its not exactly full on German premium but nicer than say a Ford or a French car.

Didn't do a test drive today, but did talk to a salesperson (who didn't strike me as someone who knew anything about cars).

Things I learnt:

1) It has a strut over the rear suspension. Nice handling no doubt but a little intrusive if you planned to try to load it to the max. Its not at seat back height, its across the boot floor, but does have some 45 degree reinforcement pieces which do intrude into the load space.

2) I was told "the manager who has one as his car struggles to get 30mpg and typical is more like 18mpg". Wow. Simply wow. That is Range Rover territory for a 276 bhp hot hatch. What did Hyundai do? Drill holes in the bottom of the fuel tank to save weight? She said "but it is a 300bhp car".... actually, no its 276bhp FWD and a BMW 310bhp AWD manages 27mpg when you really floor it. I'm not sure I can bring myself to drive a 18mpg car, even if the extra fuel is offset by the cheapness.

3) Lead time is 1 week. Yes, I said ONE WEEK.

Probably more than anything else though the lack of ACC and DSG is something that would put me off.  Apparently with the facelift this is coming, but the facelift is last quarter of 2020. I suppose a 29k car that you added those to is a 33k car... wondering if that is then so far off of a Mk8 GTI.

Think I'm back to the BMW again.

[mcmaddy]

Didn't require referral or previous ownership - that was removed at the end of December.
Already said my local dealer couldn't compete.
You just order through whoever does offer the best price, doesn't matter if the local dealer won't entertain it.

10mpg difference over 10k miles is about 675 quid 

yeah but it's not just 10mpg is it! It's upwards of 15 maybe nearer 18.

[dubber36]

10mpg difference over 10k miles is about 675 quid 

yeah but it's not just 10mpg is it! It's upwards of 15 maybe nearer 18.

So just over £1200 a year then. The cheapness does pay for an awful lot of fuel, but who want's to be filling up every what... 200 miles?

[mcmaddy]

The PCP and lease deals aren't exactly cheap either. I suppose if you were buying upfront then it wouldn't matter but when I looked at one it was in the region of 500 quid a month.

[jv]

But if there were, you'd be wailing about the cheap lease deals like early R always gets criticised for.

[mcmaddy]

But if there were, you'd be wailing about the cheap lease deals like early R always gets criticised for.

doubt it  I just don't see how Hyundai can expect to attract golf owners if it's going to cost more to buy and run than a golf does 🤷‍♂️

[Exonian]

... did the obvious thing of buying another f***ing VW 

  That sounds familiar!!

So I went and had a sit in.. the I30N...



Think I'm back to the BMW again.

It’s good to look at everything on the market and gradually eliminate the other runners.

But then most of us end up back in bloody VW’s again! (See above)   

The M135i is by far the strongest runner of the current new crop as a package (for some reason the prettier A35 falls short in my eyes) but with 332PS the 8R or new S3 could suddenly become of interest if priced right.

Ignoring the plethora of ways people on here finance their cars which is unique to each individual the fact remains the whole ownership costs of buying a pre-registered 7.5 GTI/TCR/R should still be quite reasonable over the medium term so long as one isn’t relying on Das Welt PCP costs and instead looking at other options of finance. Just over £30k for an almost brand new TCR or R loaded with all that standard kit isn’t terrible value. A fair bit less for the amazingly capable and economical GTI P even better value and a darn sight prettier than its successor.

But new, right now I’d say the M135i is too good to ignore.
An ex-demo almost impossible to ignore...



This is actually a really good thread. Lots of real life experience, real life costings and projected values (the latter being far more important to some owners than they admit to themselves).
There are people on this forum that have a lot of experience in this field through their work but haven’t contributed which is a shame, it’s always good to see the full picture.

[king monkey]

I test drove an i30N before buying my R. Ride was exceptionally harsh and the mpg was dreadful on the testdrive. I wasn’t hammering it either. However, I really liked the car but when we started talking numbers it was crazy. They wanted over £450 a month from what I remember, far more than my S3 was costing me or my R eventually cost. Tbh at the price they are, I’m surprised you see any in the road.

As far as bmw are concerned, they have a really odd sales technique. What do you want to pay a month? We’ll get it for that. Their discounts are always crazy but there’s a price to pay. You could get the old 140i for around £22 at only six months old. Suppose you have to pay for that discount somewhere.

[Exonian]

Spent a short time driving on the city bypass on Monday and saw three i30N’s within a short space of time so they must be catching on well.
A grey and a white hatch and then a bright green fastback passed me in the opposite direction.
I’m probably about 25 years too old for their typical customer base but have to say they look and sound good. If you can pick one up really cheap and don’t have to use it every day (works van for commuting etc) negating the crap fuel consumption they must be a compelling purchase.

The exhaust pops and cracks would be a bit tragic at my age but they raise a smile on my face when I hear one pass me. I think the i30N has neatly filled a void the Focus ST doesn’t seem to occupy anymore.