Decision - 370Z or Golf R (or alternative)

Mike1983

Mike1983

Mike1983

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16 Nov 2007
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Hello all,

I'm in the market for a new car but can't make my mind up between the above two cars.

I'm 29 with 9 years NCD so insurance is becoming reasonable these days. I'm after a nice looking car with a bit of grunt, non-front wheel drive.

I'm not overly concerned about practicality or running costs (within reason). In other words, I'm not too concerned about mpg, tax or insurance, I'm just bothered about servicing costs and likelihood of things going wrong / expensive parts.

Car will be mainly used on a 25 mile round trip commute on a midweek basis plus general social / domestic / pleasure driving. The practical stuff like long road trips, carting crap around etc will be handled by my girlfriends car.

So far, I've narrowed it down to 3 choices as below

1) Nissan 370Z - I love the look of these and it ticks the power and performance box. One problem I've thought of though, with all that power and RW drive, will this be a bit too much to handle in the winter?

2) Golf R - Incredibly nice interior, 4WD benefits of bad weather control, brings practicality into the mix of being able to do my own B&Q and Tesco runs instead of using my GFs car. It does however look a little boring and I'd imagine turbo and 4WD equipment would be expensive to replace where necessary?

3) Toyota GT86 - Despite all of the great reviews and "feel" of the car, I've discounted this due to the lower performance, skinny tyres (but I know it has great handling) and the fact it is fairly long.

Anyone any other thoughts to add?

I've not driven any in person yet but I'm due to go out on manufacturers test drives of all three over the coming month.

Thanks

Mike
 
What is your budget and how much are you looking to spend?

I remember the Golf R being close the £40k with a few extras which is mental.
 
I owned 370z Roadster and I loved it. I also had the pleasure of driving a colleagues Golf R on two occasions. Both are lovely cars but very different.

Preferred the interior of the Golf R, love the square steering wheel and everything was nice inside. The 370z doesn't have a bad interior, I just preferred the golf.

The 370z felt a lot faster than the R.

370z

+ Faster than the golf
+ Much less common
+ Sportier looking than the golf
+ Better reliability (debatable?)
+ battery volt meter (I don't know what it shows but it's IMPORTANT OK)
- Only two seats, less practical
- Interior not as nice


Golf

+ Nice Interior
+ Tunable engine? (turbo?)
- Feel a bit ripped off that it's no longer a V6 but the same engine as the GTi
 
I could stretch to brand new prices but I'm mainly looking for very low mileage second hand with a budget of around 30k. (GT Edition 370 or Golf R with several of the factory options)

I've discounted the Audi TT as I much prefer the 370 for general looks and the fact they're less common on the roads. I'm a big fan of Japanese cars and love how the 370 looks, the only other 2 seater that could sway me is a Lotus Elise / Exige but my GF classes them as "chavvy looking"

Vanilla - That's a good summary and is great you've had personal experience of both. Would you mind elaborating on your reliability suggestion please?
 
Reliability - I'm a massive fan of Nissan reliability. My dad had an old Nissan estate C-reg which he used for crap work (trips to the dump, etc). It has never not started on the first turn of the key even despite not having had a service for many years!

My 370z didn't have a single problem with it in the 18 months I had it.

I put 'debatable' there because I didn't know how reliable VW were in general so I couldn't make the statement.
 
There is a [minor] facelift 370Z coming out in the near future, if that would have any baring on the price of existing 370Zs.
 
Understood.

May I ask why you decided to sell the 370?

Reliability is one of the big things to me. I've never owned a car with 4WD drivetrain or a turbo (other than diesel company cars) but the two words just bring up images of expensive bills to me if they were to ever go wrong.

How did you find the 370 in the wet? Would you ever consider using it in cold and possibly icy conditions for commuting / winter driving?
 
Mike1983 said:
Understood.

May I ask why you decided to sell the 370?

Reliability is one of the big things to me. I've never owned a car with 4WD drivetrain or a turbo (other than diesel company cars) but the two words just bring up images of expensive bills to me if they were to ever go wrong.

How did you find the 370 in the wet? Would you ever consider using it in cold and possibly icy conditions for commuting / winter driving?
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I was living in Australia when I had the 370z and I had to come home to the UK.

The 370z is a bit twitchy in the wet....in fact it's not just the 370z but any car that has quite a bit of grunt you need to take it easy in the wet.

I never experienced winter / icy conditions, it never got that cold in Sydney. Like all cars - will most likely be fine if you take it easy.
 
Rybo89 said:
R35 is dropping to about 35k? Treat your self.
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I would consider this if I were the OP :D

These are special. These are different. Basically add the golf and the 370z together :)

I would have bought on of these in Australia but they were too expensive for me to buy at the time. Equivalent of £95k when they were £65k in the UK!!
 
Mike1983 said:
Reliability is one of the big things to me. I've never owned a car with 4WD drivetrain or a turbo (other than diesel company cars) but the two words just bring up images of expensive bills to me if they were to ever go wrong.
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A) Since you're looking at buying a nearly new and very low mileage example, you aren't going to need to worry about things breaking for at least 2 years, due to them being under manufacturers warranty.

B) Once you are out of the manufacturers warranty, nearly all manufacturers do an extended warranty for about £500 a year, which offers no hassle repairs. If your car breaks, they will come out and pick it up, leave you a nice hire car, repair it, and deliver it back to you washed and vac'd (and hopefully repaired).

C) If you're still super worried about it, despite this bullet proof warranty, spend £28k and keep £2k in case of unexpected breakages. This is being a bit too cautious if i'm honest.
 
R35 as in Nissan GTR??

A GTR is my ultimate dream car but surely super expensive if something goes wrong?

Or does the R35 relate to something else?

Oh and sorry to the people who've mentioned BMWs. I've considered the Z4s but discounted them for the same reason as the TT. Additionally, a couple of my friends have had some bad experiences with their BMWs (a 325 and a 125)
 
Mike1983 said:
R35 as in Nissan GTR??

A GTR is my ultimate dream car but surely super expensive if something goes wrong?
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First you have to worry about the running costs, then on top of that you have to worry about something going wrong. It's pretty much Ferrari running costs.

Some guy on PH said:
My cost analysis was based against the 996 TT, which is MORE expensive to run than the 997tt due to the shorter service interval.

To the guy who expects a set of discs and pads all round on his GTR for £1500 - good luck to you fella - I suggest strongly you have a proper conversation with the dealership that you are buying your car from... The below are the figures given to me by Nissan dealership local to me - so no bullst and first hand.

All costs are inclusive of VAT and labour for fitting.

Set of tyres (the Dunlop run-flats) - £2,000
Brake pads - front - £1013.15
Brake pads - rear - £831.45

Discs and pads - front - £1842.30
Discs and pads - rear - £1660.60

Servicing (which must be undertaken strictly every 6 months or 6k miles which ever is sooner)

6k Service - £ 256.92
12k Service - £ 528.21
18k Service - £ 938.07
24k Service - £ 740.09
30k Service - £ 256.92
36k Service - £1,386.45

To add to above, you need to consider the post track inspection cost without which your Warranty will be invalidated - £138.00

That to me is the ONLY problem with the GTR. It may be cheap to buy, but its running costs would be more akin to that of a Ferrari.

Perhaps someone can post the real figures for the 997TT, but the above equated to a substantial amount more than a 996TT!!!

Fast, it is - cheap to run, it aint!

JJ
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