Preamble! – skip if you must
I am not too sure where to start with this really! – I posted this here because its main focus is on the MK5 GTI read on.
Anyway I went to Norwich at the weekend to see the lady (she is at her final year of university there). I had Friday off too and took the opportunity to get some test drives……
Some of you will know I have been looking to change my current Mk4 2.0 GTI for sometime now, its done some 140,000 miles now, is near 7 years old but yet I can still make it shine like the best of them
. I have had 3 VWs now.Anyway turning 25 this month with work promotions etc I am not in a position to seriously think about getting a newer car with a kind of budget of around 18kish. I know in my heart that the MK5 GTI is for me, but I cant get my head around VWs pricing on the car, it is just TOO high IMO.
So with a open mind and heart I thought I should check out my alternatives, I was tinkering with a MK4 R32 – not new enough and too similar to my base car, BMW and the rest – not my cuppa.
So that leaves Audi and Skoda – I have narrowed it down to the 2.0t FSI engine after having a 2.0t A3 test drive last year and the GTI.
Skoda VRS 2.0t FSI
I visited Robinsons skoda on Friday to test drive the new Skoda VRS which we all know has received great reviews and hot hatch of the year 2006.
Firstly they were expecting me, the guy knew my name and was ready to take me on a test drive straight away! So the GF and myself got in the “race blue” saloon VRS which I have to say looked mint even with the 17” alloys. The door had that very satisfying THUDs which we take for granted sometimes with VAG cars. The cockpit was that on a par with VWs, everything where you expected, awesome stereo, duel climate as STANDARD and the whole exterior of the car looked poised and aggressive. I did not rag the car, but pushed it enough to get the turbo working proper, it felt light and as nimble as the GTI and the extra length of it helped it around the corners and felt very planted. The ride was smooth and totally quiet. In fact we even forgot that the sales guy was in the back after a while – could get used to this car very quickly.
In all I was very impressed with this car and very glad that I took the opportunity to test it, skoda are on to a winner with it that’s for sure! The sales guy knew I was interested and I was keen to see what it looked like in black with 18”s. He happened to have one at the lock up so he took us in his car to have a look at it. Looked fantastic, parked next to a A4 s-line would look even more sporty imo but echoes some of the aggressive look of some Audis and VWs.
The guy stated up front that he would do a deal with us and recommended that we go away and think about it seriously which we did.
Before we left the managers of the garage had a word with me about the car, it was a really honest chat the guy was very friendly and was honestly really happy that the range of people coming to see the car, he asked my age etc and he was saying its all testament to that skoda brand that is now getting much more established in the market – SO true!
I am leaving out another major factor here, the price! With all the options I want I could get one from www.broadspeed.com for about 17k which I think would be matches by the dealer – what a steal! It’s a lot of car for that money.
My concerns were the size and is it exactly what I want… I don’t have kids at the moment and don’t really need the 5 doors and if I got one, would I be thinking “should have I got the GTI?”
So that night we went out into town to have some drinks!!
VW MK5 GTI
The GF hates this car although she has not seen it much or sat in it “its boring, why don’t you get something different” - “I looks like an astra!” I kind of see where she is coming from, but for me it pushes most of the buttons I need pushing. She also HATED the idea of a checked seats so I wanted to show her the interlagos seats to put her mind at rest.
The mission was not to just get he buy in
but also give me a chance to match it against the skoda to see where it really stands.We arrived there and got of the car and straight away saw a 55 plate grey GTI with 18” and some other extras and the first words that came out of my mouth was “that really is a sweet great looking car”. We went up to it and had a look at inside and yep, still hits the buttons and even she agreed it looked good.
This it where my story turns sour to the point that I will be writing to Robinsons group to complain about the way in which I was treated at that VW garage! – I will explain why….
We both walked in there, Saturday at about 2pm lets say, some customers were sitting down going through ordering a passat I think and there were not any other sales reps in there from what I could see. We were waiting in there for about 5 mins or having a look at the phanteon.. NOT EVEN A GTI IN THE SHOWROOM! Lol which was confusing to say the least. This rep stumbles out of the toilet and quickly asks if he could help.
I proceeded to tell him my situation that I am looking to buy a GTI but still need convincing about the money spent and that I had driven the VRS and was very impressed with it. His words “Yes very good car, not quite a GTI though”, fair enough I thought.
I firstly I said we would like to have a look at the cloth seats as we are not too sure about them on the standard spec and he swifty gave me a cloth sample to have a look at while looking on the screen to see what used GTIs he had in stock. I said that we need to see some in a car and he quickly said, “not got any for you to see” which I thought was VERY strange…..
I then asked for a test drive as I thought the conversation was going downhill very fast – he did not even offer us a chair to sit down I was forced to almost squat to speak with him :S his response regarding the test drive was “sorry not got any here you can have a drive in” I then said corrected him and said that I had seen a grey one in the car park, was it is customers car? If not could we go out in it? “that is our demonstrator car (I was like WTF you said you did not have one), but its valued at around 26k and has DSG, its not in the price range your looking at so it pointless you driving it” – I said “I am sorry but I need to re-affirm my association with this car, DSG or not the car is exactly the same, but with some extra options fitted, in no way is it a million miles from the one I am wanting to buy” he then went on to give me specifics about the DSG box and that if we were to sell that car it would be way over my range @ 25k .
I went on to say how perplexed I am with VWs messages about this car –I am a prime target for VW, I am 25 years old earning in excess of 30k, owned 3 VWs now and in the market for a new one! and that in other places I have been keys were thrown at me to drive the cars and that they were more than willing to get used to the car. (I was very angry at this point). He went on to say that the GTIs are so exclusive now that he has almost sold his quota for 2006 and does not really need to sell anymore and the price is more than justified for the car – he has plenty of customers that he knows are willing to pay full asking price and are not bothered at all about value for money. I the said about importing the car from Germany at a fraction of the price @ UK spec – I said they are the same cars as these in this showroom and that I have read about lots of people going this route and his response was “who would buy an import when you have finished with it?, we knock down the price of imports when we get them by 1-2k straight away if we get them” – I did not want to argue at this point as it was getting quite embarrassing.
“would you like me to look for a used one or ex-demo?” I stupidly said yes – I should have known I would have got a better service from my local VW that this berk. He took my details and said that “as soon as a find one I will call you and we can give you a serious test drive to make it worth your while as giving you one today really will not help you” - I wanted to spit bullets at this point, he gave me his card and I walked out..
As soon as I got out I ripped his card up and I honestly can say my faith in VW at that point was shattered – he really ruined it for me. We were both almost speechless with this guys shortsightedness and point blank rudeness, it was the worst piece of salesman ship I have EVER seen in my life!! This car is pitched just right for me, yet he still managed to royally fu9k it up! In comparison to skoda the whole experience was 100% terrible, I took steps back rather than going forwards!!
It was clear that the guy thought I was some time waster, granted I was a lil unshaven with some fubard old converse trainers on, but that should not have made any difference – I even spelled out to him my current circumstances.
I will name this guy if anyone wants it PM me.
So did I want to get this car after this event? NO WAY, but I could not help looking it at again in the carpark and thinking “It is still so nice” – currently its clear this car is selling itself. If this car had been a failure I am almost certain that VW would have been in big turds.
I drove out and proceeded to see another 2 GTIs in the carpark on 06s plates and one black one in a class store room – I saw that at least 1 had cloth seats. What a lying piece of ****!
Audi A3 2.0t FSI s-line
It took us a while to find this garage!!! We had to stop a few times to get directions and when we found it we found out they had just moved out to the otherside of town! Lol So we proceeded in the hope we would get a better service…..
We found it, it is HUGE, they had just moved into the building, the showroom was packed with cars! They were not even supposed to be open, but the doors were open of course, a sales opportunity never ends they said !
The receptionist soon greeted us standing next to her half assembled desk! – she soon got us someone to speak to use. While we were waiting they had exactly the car I would be after in the show room, it was in a green that was so dark it looked black – it looked fantastic! Even the misses loved it!
We seated with the sales executive and we discussed what we were looking for, budgets, history, timescales etc.. He was willing to throw us the keys to anything we wanted without supervision (yes I was still wearing the same clothes as before!). Unfortunately they did not have any 2.0t s-lines to drive, however he was keen to get one in when I am next down. He took my details and we had a long chat about the cars, all in all It was very pleasant and they were willing to go the extra mile for me WHICH IS HOW IT SHOULD BE!!!
Ok the audi is more expensive, but it does feel more refined inside and looks just as aggressive on the exterior – but again is it exactly what I want? – I think it is enough for me to be happy with and not think I should have got the GTI.
So am I nearer to getting any of these ????
In simple NO, tonight I looked at the A3s second hand and to be honest they are still too much money, I again looked into imported or car supermarker & second hand GTIs and it still looks an attractive option for me, but I am so disappointed with the company, its hard to put it to words, but it sucked big time.
This skoda keeps popping up into my head as the sensible buy and to be honest it is!
- Perhaps I am best to wait another 6 months, continue saving and wait for prices to fall.
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