Bye bye G T I...

[CookieMonsterGTi]

Looks great!

I think you will find the iDrive a huge step up from the golf.  Its the one thing I wish I could have taken from my old m135 to my TCR.  Much prefer the click wheel etc.

[jaceyboy]

I find BMW much better than VW, better driving position, solid quality cars, glad the GTi is my wifes

[Jim_mk7.5]

Cheers for all the posts. Wanted to try and reply to everyone who'd posted.

Yusee - sure will do. Not got out properly yet but hoping to see how it handles the twisty stuff soon.

Niall - yes, the fit and finish and feel inside are excellent and the lack of stop-start around town when in hybrid make it very smooth and quiet.

AGB - Ha, might have to consider a name change! Not got HUD as wasn't able to get a car with any additional packages spec'd. The instruments are very clear and well laid out and enjoying the speed limit display in the dash rather than in the main screen on my GTI. It even flashes when you creep over as a reminder, so I'm told... 

Fred - makes a lot of sense for me as didn't want to just pick a plug-in for tax reasons alone so think this is a good compromise. Would agree that the 3 Series is certainly a car BMW never really get wrong. The interior is certainly newer than my Golf in terms of tech but it also feels very premium as well. The volume knob is proper aluminium and feels expensive. Not sure about wireless Carplay yet as it seems to just drop off sometimes and can be slow to respond. Plus I don't have wireless charging although being connected doesn't seem to hammer the phone battery.

CookieMonster - Definitely enjoying iDrive, the click wheel is very easy to use and the whole system simple to get to grips with from the off.

Jaceboy - it's got a great driving position, you sit quite low but it feels nice and the seats are good. Not been any distance yet so not sure how that will be but lots of my driving is short trips etc and this is where the 330e makes a lot of sense.

Actually had a sunny day yesterday and the colour and paintwork look great. Going to give it a once over with the rotary when I get chance and get a ceramic sealant on. I did really miss my Indium Grey GTI and parked next to my Tungsten one, I can see why and think grey does suit the 3 very well if perhaps a little boring.

[monkeyhanger]

It's goodbye to my (Polo) GTI on Friday.

We have a Labrador on the way (1 week old, getting it in 7 weeks) and the kids are getting bigger, so made a decision that we need 1 big car in the household.

So I started doing a bit of research - discounted BMW3/4 Estates straight away - found the seating position of the 4 series awful when I got one as a courtesy car for my R's scuffed bumper ( so low, I felt like I was sat on the floor pan with very hard seats).

Was drawn to A4 Avant but looked at Tiguans/Q3s too. Decent boot volume on the SUVs, but mainly due to depth rather than footprint. A4 was a winner. Ridiculous RRPs, and huge initial depreciation made buying new an expensive proposition.

The car I settled on is £41.3k RRP, 11.5 months old but, but got it for £25.2k after haggling £600 off sticker price (I tried hard for more but it was competitively priced with others across the country and in stock on my doorstep at Newcastle Audi). Will take the PCP to score for 2 services and settle within 14 days. Got £15k for my Polo (offered the same by place that bought my R).

Only downside is the luxury road tax (my main tool for negotiating £600 off).

So Friday night I'll be in an Audi A4 Avant "40" TDI (2.0 190ps) S-line Quattro in Manhattan Grey, 10k miles and not a scratch on it (10k miles). Slightly boring, but still nippy and hugely practical.

[mcmaddy]

Skoda Superb estate no good for you Matt? Brilliant cars and mountains of space.

[monkeyhanger]

Skoda Superb estate no good for you Matt? Brilliant cars and mountains of space.

I gave it a quick look, but only marginally lower RRP new than the A4 in same(ish) spec, but lower levels of discount and even higher initial depreciation %. Just like the A4, you'd be nuts buying new and taking that initial hit when 1 year old is 40% cheaper than RRP and then depreciation gets sensible after that.

[mcmaddy]

They had a used fully loaded L&K estate at Pulman Skoda not that long back. Looked like someone had ticked every box they could 

[monkeyhanger]

They had a used fully loaded L&K estate at Pulman Skoda not that long back. Looked like someone had ticked every box they could 

I had nowt against the Skoda except the depreciation cost being marginally higher and the A4's interior is a big step up. Considered the Kodiaq too. Bottom spec Skoda vs bottom spec VW/Audi gap is significant, but once you go up the trim levels and the more expensive engines, adding Skoda's Quattro equivalent, there's about 10% in it which is eaten up by higher depreciation.

Higher depreciation on Skodas has always negated RRP savings vs VW/Audi for most models.

That fully loaded Skoda estate will lose someone a fortune if it's not a demo.

[mcmaddy]

It was 1 year old i think so already lost a big chunk.

[fredgroves]

Mr MH proving as usual he's the sharpest accountant on this forum 

Good hit though, makes sense to this tight fisted Yorkshireman.