is that the twin charged thing though?
So what have you lot got against golfs?!
- Thread starter Stupot_
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is that the twin charged thing though?
some mk4 golf gtis were infact just re-badged 1.8 high end models, granted. but the k4 golf is a great car. love the way the look and drive. never understoofd the argumernt of them being a lesser audi either. a mk4 golf is just as, if not better built than an s3
Caporegime
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Yep, don't think you can get a 1.4 N/A Golf, i hope for the love of god you can't.
It does appear that way, but list price means nothing nowadays, you can walk into a dealer and get £5,000 off a Focus, walk into VW and put your balls under a hammer to get £1,000 off.
Example -- Focus ST3 for £19k. Or a Similarly specced Golf GT (NOT GTI) which touches just above £20k I believe. And I'm sure many would see the Focus as the better car.
Caporegime
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How much have both cars lost after 1 and then 3 years?
You used to be able to!
and believe me, 60bhp 8v engine in a golf is not much fun at all!
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Yea, that must be it judging by the slating the Audi A3 and Ford Mondeo hatchbacks get
Where do people get this sort of rubbish from/
the mk4 seems to have become the chavmobile of choice in Tyneside..you see endless numbers of them now with crap bodykits and huge (usually audi) wheels
they almost all seem to be diesels as well..perhaps the fuel prices are biting into the underclasses these days so they need to economise
they almost all seem to be diesels as well..perhaps the fuel prices are biting into the underclasses these days so they need to economise
There isnt anything wrong with a Golf but for me its paying premium money for magnolia. Its average at everything performance wise/doesnt excel at anything but has above average build quality.
It is average for people that like to think they are getting something a bit special but arent.
It is average for people that like to think they are getting something a bit special but arent.
Golfs are usually good cars, taken for what they are in reality, not as many people percieve them to be (a cut above the Focus/Civic's/Leons et all of this world)
You do pay for the perception. Great if you're selling, not so geat if you're buying I guess.
You do pay for the perception. Great if you're selling, not so geat if you're buying I guess.
My dad took one of those off a friend as payment for some odd-jobs done, many years back - cleaned it up and sold it on. What a truly slow car that was! Mk2 I think.
Having owned a Civic, and currently driving around in a Golf loan car (free, thanks to VW), I'd have to say that the Golf is noticeably better built than the Civic, in terms of materials and build quality. I'd say the Golf is probably a bit nicer than the Focus too, despite costing less.
Caporegime
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Oh boy, that's going to upset you know who.
Nggg...*bites tongue*
All I can say is that I think it's slightly unfair to say that all of the quality advantage of the Golf over the Focus / Leon / Skoda etc. is purely perceived and in no way actual.
To back this up I will cite three observations, some subjective some not.
- My brother in law owns a current 08 plate (but pre-facelift) 1.9 diesel Audi A3 sportback (company car, low road tax good economy), for which retail prices started at a similar price to what we paid for our Golf (£17k). Granted you would get discount from retail but on the other hand, £16k got you a boggo one with no options. My view is that my car is significantly quieter than his in terms of road noise; him and his wife commented the same (unprompted) when they first came for a ride in the Golf. Some of this might well be down to increased engine noise from the tractor diesel, but most road noise at motorway speeds comes from tyres on tarmac. They might also have been being sycophantic but even if they were, which I doubt, they were right; it is quieter.
The caveat for this, of course, is that the current A3 is now a few years old and is about to be replaced, at which point I'm sure it'll be better than the current Golf in terms of road noise. Point remains though that the current Golf competes with the current A3 (which is all we have to go on at this stage) in terms of refinement (as well as ride quality and handling in my view). Now, assuming the road noise really is less in the Golf compared to the Audi, then surely some of the quality difference must be actual rather than simply pie-in-the-sky day dreaming by Golf owners, as has been suggested.
- Every Ford and Civic we sat in felt like cheap nastiness compared to the Golf, due in part to flimsy doors and rattly panels. It felt like sitting in IKEA vs. John Lewis and we just didn't like it. (That last comment will probably drive some of you nuts). Comparing the Audi A3 and the Golf MkVI, I really can't differentiate the two in terms of interior quality and cabin comfort. They both use very similar materials in similar places. If this is all purely a figment of my imagination and I'm just another deluded Golf driver, then I'm happy to be deluded as I paid less than the Audi guy for a very similar product that is actually bigger inside.
Look at these dashes.
The only differences I can see are the silver glovebox handle and the chunkier air conditioning knobs on the Audi. The Golf has silver trim around the steering wheel buttons and nicer door controls. Look at the way the grab handles meet the console on the Audi, not that great really (the Golf ditched the centre grab handles for the MkVI so not a true comparison I grant you). The centre console of the Audi looks more like the Focus than the Golf; the Golf has a "single line" design that integrates the air vents and which I feel is an improved area.
Here is a 2009 Ford Focus (also starts at £17k, though large discounts are available) dash...
At first glance fairly similar but for the inferior (imo) styling of the Focus. However, the build quality just isn't there compared to the Audi and the Golf. Plastics feel flimsier and rattle more. That aside, I just don't like the styling as much and having owned a Fiesta (yes I know they're different) and had first hand experiences of Ford's excessive cost cutting and having to fight tooth and nail for most warranty fixes, I'd have to think very hard about having another one. The only issue we've had with the Golf so far has been a minor software-related one, whereby we couldn't get the doors to lock themselves when setting off. They picked up the car and dropped it back off the same day, having altered something via VAG-COM, no questions asked.
- My parents-in-law own a newish Skoda Octavia and sitting in the back, the plastics and all round feel of quality is inferior to the Golf. The door handles, window buttons, door cars, seat nets, rear air vents many other things...just didn't look and feel as good.
If I'm wrong then I'll just have to carry on living in la-la land. If the Golf only carries a perceived level build quality, then where are the tangible reductions in quality between the Golf VI and the Audi A3, because I just can't see them? On the one hand people say 'Should have bought a Skoda, as it's all from the VAG parts bin anyway' and a second later it's 'Why buy a Golf when an Audi costs the same and is so much better'? It seems to me that these people are the ones suffering from the perception issue, as the only real difference between the current Golf and the current Audi, is that the Audi badge is perceived to be more prestigious. There might be some technical things I don't know about, such as the methods used to secure dash panels and door cards, or the quality of the suspension components and if this is the case, I'd love to be enlightened.
Can I finally add that I bought our car before those stupid 'like a Golf' adverts came into force!
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I was in a 2009 Focus the other week in Scotland (hire car) and thought it was very noisy, as did the 2 other people travelling with me and the finish was not that great, not as good as the Golf subjectively at least. I was a front seat passenger but was less impressed than I remember being last time I drove my fathers version.
i concur with Robbie G
the vw golf is an incredibly well built car, and is just as (as i've stated in my first post) - if not better built than an s3 and other more expensive cars and is in a league above a focus or mondeo on build quality and components used.
anyone who disagrees is blinkered (although i understand the irony in that comment)
i'd love top gear to do a test on this. blind fold some passengers and get them to experience a long journey in a golf, focus and mondeo.
the vw golf is an incredibly well built car, and is just as (as i've stated in my first post) - if not better built than an s3 and other more expensive cars and is in a league above a focus or mondeo on build quality and components used.
anyone who disagrees is blinkered (although i understand the irony in that comment)
i'd love top gear to do a test on this. blind fold some passengers and get them to experience a long journey in a golf, focus and mondeo.
I have a 1.9 Golf derv lump in my Polow so Nothing.
These Young people will Never appreciate what the Golf means as they have only ever owned recent cars & all cars these days are reliable.
Golfs name & rep come from a day when cars broke down all the time, Golfs didn't no matter how much abuse you gave them.
Even now I would rather have an Old Mk2 Golf than the Rep mobiles these lot drive/own/cream over.
They are Much better looking & much more suitable to a Young blokes lifestyle.
This is the Only place I know where a rep mobile is considered cool.
I am Not talking about the Dudes that use there cars as an Office as that is understandable, I am talking about the Weirdos in there early Twentys that want to drive a Grandads car.