RS Wagon versus Mk 7 GTI

[mattaus]

Hi all,

I apologise if this has been covered elsewhere. I recently 'stumbled' across the Octavia RS. I have been seriously looking at a Golf GTI (with the performance pack) but have had my head turned slightly by the RS Wagon.

As far as I see it, the RS is a GTI in wagon form. Obviously the performance pack has a slightly more powerful engine and a special diff. But the RS seems to trump it in nearly every other facet; especially value for money. For around the same price as the GTI-PP I can get the RS wagon with the Tech pack, the 18" black pack, the sunroof, the leather seats, and the extended warranty. The GTI is much more expensive if some of those sorts of options are added, whilst others are not even available on the GTI (sunroof and smart start are not available on the GTI-PP for example). The RS also has the better infotainment suite.

So...what gives? Honest answers only please. Quality control? Reliability*? Servicing costs?

I do like the look of the Golf better, but the RS Wagon would be much more practical for me in my daily life. Plus I've always liked the idea of a sport wagon (the CLA250 Shooting brake is top of my list but is a touch too expensive for my taste).

I would like to ring the sh*t out of my car every now and then, but will very rarely (once or twice a year) go on track days. The better handling of the GTI-PP would rarely, if ever, be tested by me. I rather a spirited drive to lunch/dinner destination with friends over a club cruise to a track day. I suspect my fiancée does too lol.

One final big consideration for me is that I would be leasing. Resale is a concern of mine, hence my addition of the extended warranty, but if push comes to shove I can simply hand the car back when the lease expires.

Sorry for the long winded post. I always seem to discover these things right before I need to hit the hay, and of course I now have so many questions I won't sleep properly.

Thanks!

- Matt

* I am aware the Skoda is a VAG vehicle and shares pretty much all it's mechanicals with the Golf. I guess the only thing that could be different is country of origin and hence quality of manufacture?

[lucmor444]

I was considering a GTi as well before I put in my order for an RS wagon.

The space and price won me (actually the wife) over to the RS.

The RS is clearly a step down in quality (particularly the interior) and does miss out on a few things in comparison to the Golf. Missing for example is the adaptive dampers and XDS+. If you were interested in the PP then you could wait for the RS 230 which offers the same power hike and trick diff as the PP but is not due till late this year or early 2016 by the looks.

I agree resale is a problem and usually would have put me of the RS but this will be my last lease vehicle and will keep it after my lease expires so not a big personal concern.

In all honesty I personally would have liked to convince the wife we could manage with a car the size of the Golf because it is a better overall drive in my opinion. I am nevertheless happy to own the RS.

[entice]

I was informed that the Sunroof became an option on the GTI PP a few months ago due to lacklustre sales.
Once re-added, sales increased again.

not sure on smart start....

[Snail Style]

I've worked on both, driven both. Would go the RS due to practicality any day of the week.

[donweather]

The RS hands down for space, practicality AND performance. Stage 1 the RS and you've got a serious performance wagon. Yes it doesn't have the XDS but you can work around that easily enough on the RS.

Your biggest question is going to be how quick do you want this car? Massive wait for a new RS if you want all those options and there no car in stock.

[brad]

Consider the RS to be about 5%-10% softer than a standard GTI and your somewhere near the money (IMO).

I'm not sure about price comparisons - expect 10% off RRP for the Skoda. Maybe the GTI can get similar discounts. A mate of mine bought the PP because the street price wasn't much more than the RRP of a GTI.

Skoda stock levels are kept very low. Unless you can find what you want on the forecourt, expect a long wait for a factory build - 12months isn't uncommon.

I think build quality is better than VW.

Reliability depends on the drivetrain you choose but the RS is a proven package - pity they stuffed up the 1.8tsi with the 7sp DSG.

Servicing costs are at similar rip-off levels to VW even though they were marketed as being cheaper. I know one person that got his Octavia serviced at the local Audi dealership because they charged less.

Warranty can be a pain as you are stuck with attending a Skoda Service Centre - VW & Audi won't / can't do warranty for you.

Resale is variable. Some people appear to on-sell quickly & a good price, others wait around for ever. Trade-ins appear to be generally low & Skoda don't appear to "support" their own marque with inflated trade-ins when updating within the brand.

My 1.8tsi manual hatch is a Nov 2007 build purchased in Jul 2008 for $30k on a 2yr lease that was extended by 1yr. I then purchased the car for $12k. With 150k on the odo it's worth $7k-$8k which is a lot less than people are asking for similar 2007 Golfs. I don't intend to sell it - just run it into the ground.

[woofy]

Resale is a funny thing with the RS, I have friends who have watched and complained for years they can never find a cheap one. Others here have sold them for around what a Golf would go for, if not higher. I've noticed redbook has kept the same figure for my late '08 RS for 2 yrs running now so I reckon there is a lot of heresay about the real price. Certainly the car dealers themselves lowball and have been found selling ex lease or tradeins pretty cheap but on the whole private sales seem to be pretty good. I have about 3 people anxiously waiting on my car to come up for sale. I think with the 6mth wait you might be put off, but there have been more than a few stories going around that Skoda are about to increase stock production in the Czech republic of them and also that Skoda Oz are about to fufil a heap of factory orders in a big clump and then some which may mean the end of waiting and floor stock appearing. Quality/reliability is the best of all the VAG cars, check out the Power surveys. The Czechs take a lot of pride in building them whereas the rest of the VAG group use immigrant labour or farm them out to various other countries. We are in the midst of trying to work out how to keep our 2008 RS and sell off our 2011 Santa Fe so we have two Skodas by the end of the year as we really don't want to let ours go even with a new one coming.

[bobski]

I drove the GTI/RS back to back in 2010 and the RS won hands down. I wanted a family car that could be fun to punt and the RS delivered. As Brad said, an RS is 90% of the GTI. And I think that 10% difference is the livability - the GTI for me was a bit harder of a ride and more direct steering. But anyway, drive them back to back, consider the details and its then about brass tacks.

Resale: The RS will have the best Skoda resale. I found that there were immediately buyers out there for my second hand RS and I got the (very reasonable) price I was after in about 2 months (I'm regional NSW, so I that was a factor - would have sold it in a few weeks otherwise). They are seen as a second hand bargain and there aren't loads around. Dealers don't want to touch them (even the Skoda dealer I bought another Skoda off was well off the trade mark). Whether either of those change with many more delivered, I don't know. But its a great used buy. And isn't Skoda doing some sort of financing/resale guarantee now?

[bobski]

Reliability depends on the drivetrain you choose but the RS is a proven package - pity they stuffed up the 1.8tsi with the 7sp DSG.

The 7-speed in my Superb TSI is ho-hum compared to the 6-speed in my old RS. Its not awful, but I now see why people complain about the DSGs whereas before I thought it was pretty good.

[Gerrycan]

When I parked my Octavia wagon next to a Golf I realised just how much longer/bigger the Octavia is.
I probably only use the huge internal capacity of the Octavia maybe 12 times a year, but it is really handy and the surplus capacity is no burden for the rest of the time.
It is our only car so it has to be versatile.
If you don't need that sort of space, or have alternatives, then the Golf is probably that bit more the driver's car.

[Sloth]

I'm not sure about price comparisons - expect 10% off RRP for the Skoda. Maybe the GTI can get similar discounts. A mate of mine bought the PP because the street price wasn't much more than the RRP of a GTI.

As an FYI, when the new Octavia was released last year, Skoda @ Parramatta told me the Corporate Plus program discount on Octavias was 12%.

[mattaus]

Well my fiancee is probably going to be getting hold of a CX-5 soon, so we'll be covered on the larger car front. Really, if I didn't have a weird desire to own a sports wagon of some sort ,then the RS would not have even grabbed my attention. The thought of a highway destroying sports wagon has appealed to me ever since I got blasted by an RS4 wagon on a road trip from Brisbane to Mt. Hotham 4 years ago. Yeah, comparing an Octavia RS to an Audi RS4 is a bit unfair, but it's the thought that counts.

The fact that it seems to be a much better bang for buck vehicle over the GTI also doesn't help.

The issue surrounding warranty claims is a bit of a problem. According to Google maps there is a service centre at Mt. Gravatt. However the centre is owned by Bryan Byrt, who if their VW dealership in Capalaba is anything to go by, have gone bankrupt. Their Ford dealership went the same way. Not helpful.

Waiting times might not be an issue - my current lease does not expire until September, although I would need to place an order ASAP. Of course I could still be waiting for a long time for it even after my lease expires.

Honestly its all down to brand perception for me. I guess all I can do is head to a Skoda dealer and give one a whirl.

I have a quote request in with my lease provider now, so I'll see what the discount comes to. If it's close, then I'll have to consider it. If the fully kitted out RS is more expensive than the GTI then it'll probably be off the table.

[99Reza]

I think the service centre on Mansfield has been taken over by Mt Gravatt VW (Greenslopes dealer), still have the Skoda emblem in front of it. I will find out soon enough if they can do warranty job on Skoda car, one of my headlight was due to be replaced under warranty before Bryan Brytt went bust.

[woofy]

I've had no issue whatsoever with warranty work, the dealership I use was bought by another group, but I had something replaced well out of warranty last year without much fuss, about $500 in parts alone so I wouldn't stress much about that. Definitely go see and drive one in the flesh. The hatch or the wagon have way more boot space and space in general than a CX-5, they aren't really a big car, even the former 6 hatch had more room, SUVs always have less space than people think compared to a hatch or wagon. The CX-5 is a Mazda 3 in a fat suit. The CX-9 is more comparable for boot space with an Octavia, but of course its a 7 seater and a much larger car on the outside.

[Gerrycan]

Definitely go see and drive one in the flesh. The hatch or the wagon have way more boot space and space in general than a CX-5, they aren't really a big car, even the former 6 hatch had more room, SUVs always have less space than people think compared to a hatch or wagon. The CX-5 is a Mazda 3 in a fat suit. .

What Woofy said +1

The CX5 ,in fact all Mazda, may be nice driving cars and the engine and transmission combos better than most, but their packaging efficiency is very poor.
I remember going to the Mazda dealer years back when the original Mazda 2 and the Mazda 3 were on display in the showroom and my then young son going from one to other saying in a confused voice "But the smaller car is bigger inside".
Every Mazda 2 since then has been successively bigger outside and smaller inside, and poorer driving visibility as well in line with most of their models.