The Mega Mk7 Golf GTI/GTD/R thread

Ogogo wrote: »

Picked this up yesterday....

Share some more details on the car. I know many think why would anyone go for a GTI when the R is priced so closely, but I really like those Perf Pack models.

Did you order it or was it sitting on a forecourt waiting for you? Any other impressions other than road noise?

Best of luck with it

I'v 16k km on my car now and the fronts are approaching legal limit, need to change them soon.

markad1 wrote: »

I believe the app connect is a no cost option on 2016 models.
I could be wrong

It's standard with Pro Nav. Not standard otherwise unless it's changed very very recently.

TheBazman wrote: »

I've 25k kms on my R. Fronts need changing soon. Rears probably okay for another while.

You should be ashamed of yourself:pac:

vintagevrs wrote: »

Share some more details on the car. I know many think why would anyone go for a GTI when the R is priced so closely, but I really like those Perf Pack models.

Did you order it or was it sitting on a forecourt waiting for you? Any other impressions other than road noise?

Best of luck with it

So the whole thing is a bit of a long story, My last car was a Range Rover Sport that I bought new in 08, before that I had another Sport, before that a Discovery3, a freelander, you get the picture......

Anyway bottom line I used to keep the cars clean and change regularly but then for a bunch of reasons (recession, got married to my beautiful wife, had 2 adorable kids, local landy dealer went broke, cost of changing sky rocketed) I hung onto this car for a good few years. Despite the fact that I only put up 78K on the car the cost of running and maintaining the car was beginning to upset me. Every time the car had a mechanical appointment the bill nearly always had 3 zero's at the end of it. These were nice cars but I was getting no joy from driving them and 90% of the time it was just me in the car.

Anyway, I started out considering buying a car purely as a means of transport, maybe a TDI or a modest petrol engined golf. I am disabled so automatic is something that I really want in a daily driver. As I only do mostly small journeys a few people in the know advised me to stay away from modern diesels. When I started specking out the golf and looking at a half way decent 1.4 auto the price jump to a GTI was not that substantial.

I was following all the goings on here, and doing some research online and I have to say I really struggled with the decision over GTI V's R. I finally settled my mind on the GTI (not helped by my wife who kept egging me on to go for the R) and called a couple of dealers.

I visited a local dealer here one day and couldn't even get the attention of a salesman and called back a couple of days later to see if I could get a test drive. The day I called back the guys were all over me. Turns out they were extra motivated to get cars sold and registered in February - I guess they have targets, commissions, rebates etc, etc.

Anyway - my intention was to order a car because I absolutely wanted a car with automatic and heated seats. GTI v's Performance pack V's R was negotiable to me but Auto and heated seats weren't. So basically the guys made me an offer that I literally couldn't refuse on the condition that the deal was done and the car was registered in February. They tried and tried to find a free R in VW stock (that wasnt blue and had heated seats) but couldt find one and came up with this GTI.

The car is a White GTI with performance pack and DSG. Extras are Dynaudio, Winter Pack (which has the all important heated seats) and the tech pack which includes keyless, reverse camera, sat nav, media player, etc. I was waiting about a week for the car to be delivered from Dublin.

Anyway, like I said I got the car yesterday, it was registered on the 29th of Feb so I had to fork up for the extra month of tax but I knew that was coming and like I said I really did get an incredible deal so the €39 in arrears is well spent.

Had I ordered the car (read.. have the patience to wait for one to be built) I would have ordered a metallic black, non performance-pack with leather.) Probably the main reason I would have ordered the leather is for easy cleaning with 2 small kids. As a compromise I came across a fabric treatment called Gtechniq I1 Smart Fabric that I applied to the seats today - This stuff appears almost too good to be true, if you have fabric seats its worth checking out.

I mentioned that I was pleased with the car, this to be fair is actually a vast understatement, I am like a kid in the candy store. The car is amazing, for the first time in years I am grinning like a cheshire cat behind the wheel of a car. It is such a nice car to drive and is very happy dealing with traffic crappy roads etc. The power is nice too. As far as the road noise is concerned I am probably being extra picky, it doesnt bother me that much I just thought I would ask if there were some easy way to damp it down a bit.

As far as the "R" question goes, for me I actually feel better about the GTI. I am not used to performance cars so going from what I am used to into a GTI is a big step. The move to an R felt like a step too far for me, who knows if I continue to like this one so much I might convince myself to go for the Mark 8 R when it comes out.

Nice story, and I'd agree with Vintage - you've come from a comfort oriented "off roader" into a small hatchback... So perception is everything and the new car is bound to feel a bit closer to the road!
Tyres do make a difference though. My GTI had the same wheels and tyres as yours. The R has larger wheels but is on Continental tyres. The R definitely feels a bit more insulated from the worst road surfaces.

useless wrote: »

Been mulling over a GTi-P DSG as we may need to become a two-car family later this year & I'm determined to get something interesting if I have to buy a second car. One thing I noticed with the VW PCP offer is that the GMFV for this car stays at 15620, regardless of how it's specified. List varies 41-45k for me depending on the options I choose, but only the deposit or monthly payment varies in the dealer finance calculator.

Yeah that's right. Only thing that affects the GMFV is DSG. Further proof that spec'ing extras is money down the toilet I guess.

I imagine by the time the touch screen is already in the car the addition of Nav at manufacture doesnt cost much extra. It is nice to have for that very odd time you might require it, but I agree I would not pay €1,000+ for it.

Does anyone happen to know what the waiting time is on a GTI these days. If I was considering a 162 when would i need to order?

JoeA3 wrote: »

10-12 weeks for a fresh factory order typically. If you want it in early July you'd probably want to order by mid April.

thats what i was thinking! cheers

OSI wrote: »

Yeah Karmann were telling me 12 weeks when I asked yesterday. Amazed at the value they're offering on trades in against these at the moment. Looking at a 5dr GTI-P with DSG, comes to about 42k and they're offering 10k for my 08 GTI DSG. Not a hope of me getting anywhere near that for the car privately so very tempting.

That's pretty good yeah. To think I only got about 15-16k for my '07 GTI back in 2011 :eek:

0% finance now too as far as I know.