The Mega Mk7 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread

DaveyDave wrote: »

I'm quite fond of the 4 series, cracking looking cars. It's a bit different from the usual 1-3-5 series, which I'm not actually a fan of!

Everyone to their own

MisterDrak wrote: »

Very interested in that Joe. I'm kind ready to call time with my GTi at this stage. This is my 4th iteration, from the MK5, through the MK6 and on the two MK7's. Iv been driving them from way back in 2006, and while I still love them, I think its time for a change. Looked into what you just got and did wonder about the performance / day to day usability / advantages / disadvantages. Basically that stuff that you don't get with a 10minute test drive.

If you get a chance to post up a more comprehensive compare, Id be pretty interested.

Will do, no problem. I didn't want to derail this thread too much either (which is a great thread and I will continue to subscribe to). I'll post up some thoughts and pictures in the next few days after I get more used to the new wheels.

Was it a BMW dealership? If so they would have zero interest in the GTI and would only look to move it on to another garage so the price offered reflects the moving between garages. Also, BMW dealerships are notoriously bad at offering anything like a reasonable trade-in deal even if your trade-in was BMW. This issue with BMW dealers has popped on the 330e thread.

TBH when you're trading in a car it is the cost to change you should be looking at ie the difference between what they are offering on the trade in and the cost of the new car ( in your case they presumably have offered a discount on the RRP of the BMW ie what you are "saving" on the retail you are losing on the trade in!

I am thinking of changing my own car (a 151D GTD) this year and am wondering what trade in I will get....... I am trying to decide whether to go for a GTI or just another GTD ( I do like the GTD just concerned about resale value in a few years time!

Trade in prices offered can vary wildly.

Generally speaking you’ll tend to get the best trade in price if you bring it to the same brand dealer and you are buying a brand new car off them. There’s a lot more margin in a new car for the dealer to play with, more incentives from the manufacturer to push new cars so they’ll offer you a seemingly very attractive price for your GTI against another new VW.

But when you go to a different Franchise - Audi or BMW for example - they can’t and won’t retail a non franchise car. They have to offload it to the trade. That’s hassle and they’ll offer you much less than you hoped. I know for example that Colm Quinn bmw has opened a “motorstore” in Athlone recently where he stocks all the non bmw stuff. He probably got sick of trying to offload them for bottom dollar and wants a bigger slice of profit for himself.

Worse again if it’s not a new car you are buying. The margin in the used car will likely be in the small hundreds - and definitely not thousands.

Marcusm wrote: »

given that they are principally selling U.K. imports from their vast dealer network, they might not be the best for proncing 3 year old GTis.

True - but then a phone call to a local vw dealer might not be out of order then. That said, they had dozens of BMW, Audi, Mercs and even a handful of Aston Martins, so a good variety of high end stuff

everlast75 wrote: »

Marcusm wrote: »

given that they are principally selling U.K. imports from their vast dealer network, they might not be the best for proncing 3 year old GTis.

True - but then a phone call to a local vw dealer might not be out of order then. That said, they had dozens of BMW, Audi, Mercs and even a handful of Aston Martins, so a good variety of high end stuff

Gents
If you are trading a VW against a BMW why not try Frank Keane. They have a VW dealership so they are a bit more clued up to current prices.

They will source a car to your spec even if buying used.

BMW dealers are even giving piss poor trade-in values to existing BMW owners so don't expect miracle trade-in values for non BMW brands.

The vrt on a mk7.5 r and a clubsport are quite high

EletricMan wrote: »

Guys do any of ye know about the headlights in a 2016 gtd are they Led or xenons and are they same in a 2015? Also was keyless made standard In 2016?

No difference between 2015/16. Xenons. LED's are in the new 7.5 facelift (middle of last year).

Keyless has never been standard. I think it was briefly part of the tech/innovation pack but never "free".

Long post alert, so skip past / ignore if you wish!!

A few of you asked me to post up my thoughts on my recent car change, so here goes…

After about 10 years in one performance Golf after another, I recently got myself into something very different. As ye know, the decision to get rid of the R came about suddenly and not by free choice. That said, I was happy to see the car gone off my driveway tbh, it wasn’t worth the kind of stress and aggravation I’d had with it in the last 6 months. Within a matter of days I’d cancelled a new R order, sold the current car back to VW and I’d a deposit down on a BMW 420d M-Sport. The VW dealers were very accommodating, the situation could have been much messier and much more expensive for me only for their help.

I needed a new car. And I needed it quickly. So I ruled out ordering anything new. It also had to not be a hot hatch or anything hot at all!. And preferably in a much more subtle colour! I considered all sorts. I looked around the VW forecourt at the sea of Passats and Tiguans and I couldn’t do that to myself. While I was happy to get out of a fast Golf for a while I still wanted something that looked decent, is OK to drive, something I wouldn’t resent owning after 6 weeks. I also rather fancied the idea of getting away from VAG for a while, so I was ruling out anything Seat / Skoda and even Audi too tbh…

So that’s why I ended up in the BMW dealers. I started off my chat with the salesman saying something like “I don’t want to be here, I didn’t want a BMW yesterday, but here I am…”. He was only a wet week in the place himself so he must have been thinking WTF, is this a candid camera stitch up or what

I always liked the 4 series, a friend changed from a GTI to a 430d last year and I was very impressed with his. But for reasons as stated above, among others, I was happy to not go chasing 0-60 times for a while, so therefore I was more interested in trying a 420.

So the dealers had one 171 420 x-drive available to test drive. It looked great, very low miles, mint. But I was a bit underwhelmed by the drive. It seemed a bit noisier than I’d expect (even for a diesel) and a bit more sluggish than I’d like too tbh. A bit disappointing.

Then I was told they had another 420 (not xDrive) in their other premises. This was a “special” car I was being told. Nice big spec on it. And finished in a BMW “Individual” colour that costs $$$ to spec new. They insisted they get it sent down for me to have a look at it. So later that day I got a call to say it was in. This time the test drive was much more impressive. The car seemed infinitely more refined and definitely much more eager to move. No idea why, maybe the xDrive system adds too much weight? Another thing I didn’t like about the xDrive was the ride height. It sits higher, on non M-Sport suspension. I was much more convinced anyway by this car, although the “special” colour seemed a bit underwhelming in the dull evening – and it was a bit dirty, so hard to judge.

The trade in price offered by BMW for the Golf was poor. They might have upped it a bit more if push came to shove, but it was still looking poor enough. Fortunately I got an offer from VW dealers to buy it back off me for what I considered a fair price – so that made things much more straightforward. I told the salesman I’d need to bring my wife in the following day so she could give it the OK. By the time we arrived the next day they had it cleaned up and inside the showroom and it looked the business.

So I have the car over a week now. Overall I am very happy with how it’s worked out, even if it wasn’t what I originally wanted. The BMW is very nice place to sit into. I say sit “into” because you really feel cocooned in the cabin, compared to the Golf. You sit down nice and low and the dash wraps around you. I love the driving position and the coupe “low slung” feel of the car. Something I didn’t like about the MK7 Golf was the drivers seat. Its too high, even at the lowest setting imo. Fit and finish and general interior feel is really nice. It’s beautiful at night with the ambient lighting (which you can change the colour of). That said, the VW interior was really nice too. The orange backlighting of the dials is taking some getting used to though.

Obviously coming from a 300bhp 4-motion Golf, the performance is going to be a bit of a drop. But it really is quite decent. It pulls very well. It’s quite revvy (almost petrol like) and the 8-speed auto is very very slick. I would say anyone who’s accustomed to a GTI/D would find the 420d very acceptable in that regard. Gear changes are very smooth – compared to the slight jerky-ness I found with the DSG at times. The paddles on the wheel are really lovely too, much better than the VW equivalents, so I find myself using the paddles for manual changes a lot more than I did in the Golf.

The pro-navigation / media system is absolutely fantastic. It’s on another planet to the VW offering. Wireless charging for the phone too and it has some cool phone integration features – there’s a BMW app where you can check where the car’s parked, look at your journey / fuel consumption stats and even remotely lock the car! Pretty cool. It has built in Spotify and podcast apps too… so that’s rendered Carplay redundant imo (this can be activated over-the-air for about 300 euro).

The boot space is a real bonus too, it’s Skoda Octavia-esque proportions  Electric opening too. And it has a very nice electric sunroof. Never something I’d spec myself but having had it a week now, it’s a nice feature, it lets a lot of light into the cabin.

Things I miss a little bit (apart from the performance obviously):

- I’m back to a manual handbrake! I actually don’t use it that much as putting the gearbox in Park is sufficient most of the time
- No adaptive cruise / front radar – I don’t do much motorway driving so not a big deal tbh
- No reverse camera (but I may retro fit this)… the parking sensors do a very fine job though.
- No keyless (again not a big deal – it might actually make it less vulnerable to theft!!)

My mate helped me out with some BMW coding during the week which “fixed” some annoyances – e.g. the radio doesn’t switch off in these cars until you lock the car, or press the engine-stop button a 2nd time. Odd! So I coded that to behave more like it does in the VW’s. And a few other little tweaks too.

It’s too early to say what the MPG is like. I got a full tank with it and I still have nearly half that left. And I’ve been in it a lot all week, trying it out, giving family/friends a spin, etc… so we will see how the MPG pans out over the next months. I’d expect to be visiting the fuel stations far less frequently than with the R, that’s for certain.

Anyway, here’s a few photos…





pic hosting sites

Congrats Joe. Love the dark grey/ivory combo interior.

Good looking car. Well wear!

Looks great anyway, well wear!

So it's a 420d GC?

Are the vibrations not felt through the car? compared to the previous 4 pot petrol, could you maybe had gone for an inline 6 petrol.... yum. Next stop, electric!

Sweet ride Joe - loving the colours, inside and out. What WILL the neighbours think of ya. Feck 'em

Percentage wise Joe, had the Beemer depreciated much?