VW Golf Mk6 GTD - opinions?

[Tute]

I don't think anyone's saying it's a bad car - just what does it really offer over a year old one that would be considerably cheaper? Or hell, even something like an Octavia/Leon/A3 with the same engine?

£25K for a 170ps Diesel is utter lunacy. I paid £10K for the same engine, albeit with a crapper badge, and I felt like I paid at the top end of the scale for it.

Oh, and you'll only get well into the 40s MPG if you drive like a saint. I do 80 in mine and on a run, I get low 40s - and that's with V-Power diesel. If I use Tesco branded stuff i'm down in the mid-high 30s.

 

[Participant]

Is that what you think is it?

In general / on the road I mean. I.e. in real life, not on OcUK.

The 'stigma' of driving a Skoda or a Ford? Really? Wake up man, you've got a 4 cylinder low capacity hatchback not a Ferrari.

Yes, really. And if, as you seem to be saying, all 4 pot hatchbacks are equal, a 4 pot BMW 1 series is equal to a Vauxhall Nova.

It's just where they're positioned in my mind, I can't change that even if I wanted to.

 

[[TW]Fox]

And if I positioned Kia very highly in my mind and then I rushed out and spent a huge amount of money on one, regardless of where it sits in my mind I would also expect ridicule.

 

[Keithuk]

Hi guys I've just noticed this thread while I was Googling. I'm supprised we have a motoring section on here?

how did you not notice

its the 3rd biggest forum after Genereal Discussion and General Hardware.

Well I only come here if I've a problem with my OC computer.

I was actually searching the Golf GTD engine number location as someone was asking on the VW forum and apart from car sales places this thread came back.

 

[GravyMonster]

Wow. This thread has catastophic-meltdown levels of fail, from multiple people.

 

[Jonny ///M]

Why is it these days a car is an extension of your house or something? It's a mode of transport for work(Assuming so if it's really high mpg matters) so why does it matter it's a vw?

I'm not saying go buy a Ford focus but the other cars are essentially the same car but with 10k in your wallet.

 

[ruffneck]

just my opinion, but I personally felt the interior of the golf was better built and a nicer place to be then its equivalent focus or astra.

 

[[TW]Fox]

just my opinion, but I personally felt the interior of the golf was better built and a nicer place to be then its equivalent focus or astra.

The Golf is slightly better built. The Focus is slightly better to drive. The Astra is slightly crap. The Kia is slightly better value. The Peugeot is slightly French. The Mazda3 is slightly Focus.

Thats how it works. Neither is really that far above the other in reality.

 

[Ste]

What is this thread still doing here

To re-iterate, it's a company car and I havn't spent £25,840 of my own cash on it.

Fox is right, the Focus drives quite a lot better (though I did have an ST) better but the Golf build quality is far, far superior. The Astra is fail on all counts as is the Pug. I actually crashed a Pug hire car and they replaced it with a Golf - result! Not driven anything else.

I've had it a couple of months and done 5k in it (another reason I ditched the ST) and it's a very nice car, but as everyone says it's not worth the crazy cash price. It's painfully close to a 123d M-sport coupe at £27k, isn't it?

I'd have had a Focus RS either way...

 

[mjt]

I've had a new Golf GTD (170) at the end of January.

...

Yes I'm very happy with the car it being the first diesel I've ever owned. The fuel consumption hasn't been as good as I would expect. The first full tank did 43.2mpg, the second did 38.8mpg and I'm on the third tank now.

Why did you get a diesel if you do such low mileage that you fill up less that once a month?!

 

[[TW]Fox]

Why did you get a diesel if you do such low mileage that you fill up less that once a month?!

This is the sort of thing I just dont understand. Why didnt he just buy a real Golf GTI?

£25k on a diesel hatch to travel less than 500 miles a month.

Just... what?

 

[Jez]

This is the sort of thing I just dont understand. Why didnt he just buy a real Golf GTI?

£25k on a diesel hatch to travel less than 500 miles a month.

Just... what?

Shhh. Its people like this that keep up the myth that fuel consumption is a huge issue. Thus keeping all of the proper machinery which you and i would buy at an artificially low pricepoint

 

[Housey]

Not really, I was offered the AutoGlym package when I ordered it at around £350 but I said no thanks. When it finally arrived after 4 months which was an extra month that was quoted I asked what are they going to give me for waiting all this time? They asked what I wanted? I never thought about cruise control before but talking to friends they said its worth having. I asked it they would fit the cruise control, the VW addon price was £220. No we can't do that its too expensive. I said no its not its £60 for the switch and you just programme the ECU to accept it. No they can't do that. Ok then give me the AutoGlym package. No we can't do that but we can let you have it for half price so it cost me £175. When you are spending £25,000 plus on a car and waiting 4 months for it they are very tight on what they give you. Plus they said the VAT has increase this year which VW are absorbing that cost. I said well if they had delivered the car as stated that was on the old VAT price it their fault for not delivering on time.

Before I went to pick the car up I printed out a VW checklist of things to check when collecting a new car. I asked about was spare oil for topping up. They said it was supplied on the MK5 Golfs but they stopped it on the MK6 but they gave me a bottle. I asked where the bottle opener was as there is an impression in the centre console for one, the list said dealer like to keep these. No they aren't supplied anymore. When I read the handbook when I got home it said there should be a bottle opener. When I went back a few days later I asked them again, they said they would have to order one which they did. Not that I'm bothered about a bottle opener its just part of the cup holders in the front which I won't use.

I don't know how you can say the scrappage scheme is a con? The government pay £1000 and the manufacterer pays £1000 of the list price. Whether they add £1000 onto the list price is hard to find out. I have no complaints about the price.

Hmmm, do you work on the board of a major bank, retailer, telecoms or FMCG business and have budget approval for a few £100 million spend? If so when can we meet as I have this new thing that you will love. It doesn't work that well compared to other similar things, it doesn't come with a discount but it has a nice badge and you'll love it as it doesn't use much electric (or any I think)............I'll even AutoGlym it, though I will need something for that, but it's WELL worth it and we can finance it over 20 years at 9% interest (flat which sounds better but it worse) which is a cracking deal in these current hard times.

 

[Bluelion]

This is the sort of thing I just dont understand. Why didnt he just buy a real Golf GTI?

£25k on a diesel hatch to travel less than 500 miles a month.

Just... what?

We go through this discussion over and over.

Golf GTI list price: £24250 -> £26140
Golf GTD list price :£23600 -> £25505 <-- Cheaper

Golf GTI combined economy: 38.7 mpg
Golf GTD combined economy: 53.3 mpg <-- More economical

Golf GTI insurance group: 17
Golf GTD insurance group: 15 <-- Lower

Golf GTI emissions group: H
Golf GTD emissions group: E <-- Lower

Golf GTI performance: 0-60: 6.9s, top speed: 148 mph <-- Faster
Golf GTD performance: 0-60: 8.1s, top speed: 136 mph

So, in every category except performance, the GTD is better than the GTi. Yet again in typical OcUK fashion, performance is everything. It isn't for many people. 8.1s 0-60 is faster than the original mk1 GTi did it in, which was considered high performance at the time. It really isn't that slow.

 

[jamief]

But would you not just be better getting a Golf GT TDI 140BHP and spending £300 to get it chipped to 170bhp? I'm sure that would save about £5000!

 

[Janesy B]

If performance isn't important, why buy the performance diesel variant?

 

[peterattheboro]

Or you could buy used and save £10000. That's a whole other Golf you could buy.

 

[Kappa]

The point is, you're paying for a performance model, but the price you pay above just a GT trim is quite a lot. From looking at you're comparisons you favour a cheaper more economical car. So why not just get the GT?

edit - glad I'm not the only one who thinks that!

 

[[TW]Fox]

We go through this discussion over and over.

We go through this discussion over and over because people like yourself are seemingly incapable of grasping what people actually write, rather than what you perceive they write.

We'll address each of your nonsensical points in turn.

Firstly cost. The GTD is £800 cheaper than the GTI. On a £25,000 car this is completely irrelevent. In the same way that you wouldnt chose one chocolate bar over another because it was 4p cheaper, you would be mad to pick the GTD simply because of the minute saving, taking into account the pricepoint. Therefore, this is a non issue.

Next, economy. You've clearly missed the main point here. He is now into his 4th month of ownership yet has not even managed go through 3 tanks of fuel. He clearly doesnt drive much, therefore any saving in fuel economy is again largely irrelevent, especially in the context of the enormous price he has paid for the vehicle and the hundreds of pounds he has thrown away by falling for junk like Autoglym Lifeshine and dealer sourced GAP insurance.

Emissions - exactly the same arguments as above. Great, 40 quid in tax a year. Useful saving to the sort of person with a £25,000 car. Not.

And now, performance. The Golf GTD and GTI are not comfortable hatchbacks. They make compromises in this area with the aim of being sporting in nature. They have stiffened and lowered suspension. They have large diameter alloy wheels with low profile tyres which will cost much more to replace when they wear out. They have sports seats which offer less all round comfort than a comfort seat but provide much better support during enthusiastic driving. As we can see, they are quite compromised in the pursuit of performance. So performance obviously matters - if it didnt, a TDI 140 SE would have been a better car to go for.

If the OP is bothered about performance, he bought the wrong car.
If the OP is not bothered about performance, he bought the wrong car.

Either way, he bought the wrong car. He probably thinks it suits his needs best, but it doesn't. Thats the problem with the general public. They always think they know best. Most of them don't have a clue.

Ironically the one thing the OP did perceive he needed - cruise control - wasn't even included on his choice of car.

 

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Fox, I heart you, but some people just don't get it and you are most likely wasting your time providing such a comprehensive post that they will pick illogical holes in anyway.