looking for new car Mini cooper v ds3 v audi a1
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I've driven both a DS3 and own a Fiesta so I can give my 2p on those:
The interior is nicer in the DS3 than the Fiesta IMO, and I thought the standard cloth seats were comfy enough. It also feels more spacious although the glossy dashboard is rather annoying. Both drive similarly well, the DS3 is probably a bit lighter on steering and a bit more numb in the responsiveness however.
Also, both can be specced up with a good amount of tech for the price of a basic A1/Mini!
The interior is nicer in the DS3 than the Fiesta IMO, and I thought the standard cloth seats were comfy enough. It also feels more spacious although the glossy dashboard is rather annoying. Both drive similarly well, the DS3 is probably a bit lighter on steering and a bit more numb in the responsiveness however.
Also, both can be specced up with a good amount of tech for the price of a basic A1/Mini!
Soldato
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FYI, A1 would likely hold value better than the fiesta/ds3/vauxhall.
As the used market is flooded with ex-fleet cars I doubt that's true.
All small cars hold their value better than larger cars, but the only one that really does better than average is the Mini. And even that is very model sensitive.
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Or it is in fact true?
Just take a look before doubting. A1 holds value better than a corsa. There is no 'doubt'.
The fact that there are LOTS sat unsold at "premium" prices at Audi dealers is not the market. Ring up an Audi dealer with a hypothetical low mileage car for sale (they won't want it) or as a trade-in and you'll be truly horrified at what you get offered.
And it's a very old car underneath. It basically has the same underpinnings as a Mk I Skoda Fabia. And that car was designed in the 1990's.
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Oh really?
Quick look a pistonheads shows a touch over 1100 A1s for sale. By comparison there is 4000+ corsas and 6000 something Fiesta. Granted some of those corsas + fiestas are older.
I've had 2 A1s now and traded/part ex'd both them so I think I know a little more than someone who clearly has never driven one (if you think its 20 years old). My first A1 which I bought new hardly depreciated in two years. I think price new was £15.6k and got around £14k or £14.5k when I part ex'd after just under two years.
Much as i'm not a fan of the A1, there is no way the equivalent aged fiesta commands anything like the same price.
Whether the real world residual loss works out any differently is a different matter though.
Either way, both the Audi and the Mini have a more premium feeling interior than anything else mentioned here, without a doubt (despite the a1 having, imo a pretty ugly interior design)
Whether the real world residual loss works out any differently is a different matter though.
Either way, both the Audi and the Mini have a more premium feeling interior than anything else mentioned here, without a doubt (despite the a1 having, imo a pretty ugly interior design)
I love it when people make incredible generalisations about other OcUK contributors.
We have 4 A1's (2 of them Sportbacks) on the fleet at the moment, plus an S1 Sportback. So I have driven the 1.4TSi, 1.6TDi and 2.0TDi, plus the 2.0TSi petrol. I buy/lease a fleet of 45 cars and 5 vans. With the exception of 2 Mercedes, everything is VW Audi Group (VAG). So I know a bit about residuals. Residuals on the A1 are shocking. The Skoda Fabia has better residuals. Honestly.
The car underneath is the same platform as the 2000 Skoda Fabia. Yopu can take the seats straight out of an A1 and put them in any Fabia. The JabbaSport rear anti-roll bar for the Mk I Fabia also fits straight on to the A1. The suspension is essentially identical. The only VAG cars still running 5x100 PCD wheels are the A1, the Seat Ibiza and the Skoda Fabia, Rapid and Roomster. All based on the same underpinnings. Originally designed in the mid 1990's. The new Polo, I am told is 5x112mm like all other VAG (apart from the Porsche designed Touareg/Q7 that are 5x130 (some early ones are 5x120) and the VW Amarok and Transporter which are 5x120mm. I know my VAG cars and I can absolutely assure you, the platform the A1 is built on is VERY old indeed.
More or less - Fabia was VW A04 Platform (PQ24), A1 is the newer PQ25 which is a development of PQ24. There is also a 2012 revision AO5+ as used on the Skoda Rapid and Seat Toledo.
Mk5 Polo including the 2014 Facelift is still using the same platform.
VAG are overdue a new Supermini platform, likely it will coincide with the MK6 Polo.
EDIT: MQB Platform (e.g. A3 MK3 / Golf Mk7) is supposed to be usable for Superminis as well
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_A0_platform#PQ25
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group_MQB_platform
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Soldato
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I'm not going to bother responding to the waffle but what a daft point that is. I probably 'could' take seats out of a Lamborghini and stick them in my TT. I don't walk around saying the TT is the same platform as a Gallardo. In the same sense you could probably take R8 bucket seats and stick them in a fabia.
Actually, they are the only Audi seats that you can swap into a Fabia. All other VAG seats fit any car, but the A1 platform is so ancient that he seats only swap into other really old cars. Like a Mk I Fabia. I've had an R8 and a Gallardo and yes, they can have the same seats as a TT. But the platform is very different.
A1 = Ancient 1
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Okay then...what made you buy/lease 4 of them? If they are so ancient and awful... 
Okay then...what made you buy/lease 4 of them? If they are so ancient and awful...
Because 4 staff chose them. Our company policy is you can have what you want. And they wanted those. So they got them. I got an A6 allroad BiTDi and an AMG SLK55 because that's what I wanted.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Audi do seem to flog platforms to absolute death rather more than most other manufacturers - ie the previous A3 which went for 10 years before they finally stopped being able to flog a 10 year old car as a brand new one. The only other manufacturers that seem to get away with it are Jaguar Land Rover and I thought that was more to do with lower development budgets or something.
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JLR don't do bad compared to the VAG stable! And yes tooling Etc is easier to amortise across vag volume. MQB has cost VAG £50bn over the last few years, mental numbers.
That old XF has already been replaced though
That old XF has already been replaced though
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[TW]Fox;27885458 said:
A quick wiki check shows the BMW E46 being in production 9 years. But no one mentions that.