Opinions on a new car...

[drsmithy]

Well, not "new" new, but new to me.

I've just come back from a few years in the US and need a car - so while the prices here are utterly horrifying compared to what I've gotten used to, I have to bite the bullet... Since I'm pretty much down to choosing between VAG vehicles I figured this would be a good place to ask for an opinion.

This car is basically going to be a daily driver for myself and my wife, and we're hoping to get a good 3-5 years out of it, probably including the arrival of at least one bub in a year or so. At that ~1yr mark we may get another vehicle if we need it (ie: if I still need a car to get to work like I do now), and we'll probably have a bit more $$$ to spend (most of our money is still stuck in the USA). My only must-have criteria are: hatchback, automatic and at least somewhat engaging to drive - I dont need "oh my god we're there already" performance (I'll be getting a bike for that ), but it needs to be at least as "zippy" in city traffic as my Dad's '04 Mazda3. I had originally planned to get an auto Mazda3 SP23 - we had a Protege5/323 in the US, I had an MX6 years ago and my parents have a 2 and a 3, so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. However, I'd wanted a Golf for years so we decided to go and take a new Mk6 118TSI and 103TDI for a drive during the EOFY sales. Didn't end up buying anything, but I was very impressed with how nice they were to drive - in particular the NVH compared to the Mazda3 is miles better.

At that point I was caught between the responsible choice of a ~$22k used Mazda, or the fun choice of a ~$33k new VW. I'm sure everyone here has had a similar dilemma. *Then* I made the "mistake" of taking a used '08 GTI for a drive, decided I must have one, and found several for sale at around the $30-32k mark. Finally, yesterday I saw an '07 Audi A3 1.8T on Carsales for about $24k that I'm going to take for a drive tomorrow.

Which brings me to this post... It seems that - absent any catastrophic problems - the A3 would clearly replace the Mazda as the "responsible" choice, since it's basically the same in terms of age an mileage, but will be similar to the (non-GTI) Golf to drive (ie: dynamically similar to the Mazda, but with the awesome DSG and vastly better NVH), for a relatively small price premium. I'm not especially familiar with Audis as they've always been a bit too overpriced for me, but I had an A3 as a rental for a week's holiday in Germany a couple of years ago and it seemed like quite a decent drive, even though it was only the 1.6L. With that said, a mate in the states has an A4 and several things (thought nothing major) went wrong just before it went out of warranty.

So, after that somewhat rambling backstory, what I'm after is a few opinions from this learned forum:

• Is ~$24k for an '07 A3 1.8T DSG w/leather seats and 47k on the clock a decent price ? It seems to be in line with Red Book valuations, but then again all the GTIs I've looked at have been well over the Red Book estimates, even for base models, and they obviously sell for something around those advertised prices because they don't stay on the market for long.
• Would you agree that between the SP23 for ~$22k and the A3 for ~$24k, the A3 is definitely the better choice ?
• How would you compare the A3 to the GTI ? I understand they're quite different cars, with quite different price points, but I'd still be interested to here what people think, especially if they've owned both, particularly from a daily driver perspective (parking, boot space, driving in traffic, occasional weekend thrash, etc). I also noticed that an APR or Bluefin chip would bring the A3 up to similar power levels to the GTI, for only a grand or so - a good idea ?
• If I did get a Mk5 GTI that was still within in the factory warranty period, is it worth getting the 3 year extension ? I see from one of the stickies that it seems to go for around the $1700 mark from one of the Sydney VW dealers.
• Finally - a bit out of left field - it occurred to me that a slightly used or ex-demo Mk6 118TSI Wagon with a sports pack and APR chip would be a pretty cool combo and offer something close to the MkV GTI in terms of performance, but more practicality (the Golf boot is a little small), at around the $32k mark. Has anyone here seen or done this ?

Cheers.

[macdub]

I was also considering used GTI and then went on to used Octavia RS and then finally settled on new polo GTI. It's smaller than used GTI but you get a brand new car. I have no idea about Audis but 24k with 47k on clock sounds good.

[jessv3]

I have came from x 2 Audi's before the GTI and can say the Audi's interior's are definitely a nicer place to be over the vw, the material's are of higher quality, however your going to pay a premium for that both upfront and with servicing. I found the GTI has sharper steering and handles better then the equivalent A3 but that's a given considering the sporty nature of the GTI, The 1.8T is not a bad engine but wont be as quick or torquey as the 2.0T you can get an A3 with a 2.0t which is identical to the GTI so maybe lookout for them too. It really is subjective to ones taste but I just preferred the way the GTI drove over the A3 it felt like it hard more sparkle and was more masculine then the A3, interior space is identical in both.

[poyta]

If you're serious about the bub in a years time I'd stay clear from a Golf and definitely not a Polo. Thought they can take a baby seat and a pram you won't too comfortable. When I installed the baby capsule ( lying down position ) in the Golf the front seats had to be really moved forward to accommodate it making the front passengers quite squashed. Now that the seat is in the sitting position its better but still not exactly roomy. Also the boot isn't the biggest things I've seen either - once you stuff a big pram and a baby bag in there there's not much room for much else. One my last interstate trip with the bub I had to stuff the car's interior with all our bags to fit everything. It was a very uncomfortable trip. I've recently had to buy a larger SUV as a 2nd car for this reason. If you don't want an SUV get something with a huge hatchback opening boot like a Mondeo or a Mazda 6. Something to consider

[RSOK]

Speaking as a father of 2 kids under 4yo with a penchant for spirited driving, I went for the Skoda Octavia RS wagon... would have gone a GTI had it not been for kids, but boot space inadequate... I'd seriously suggest this as a better alternative to chipping a 118 Golf wagon (it's already set up with the MkV GTI 147kW 2.0L engine, chip it up from there is easy) as well as standard sports suspension, handles very very well, you're basically getting 8/10ths of the Golf GTI's performance with a heck of a lot bigger boot, I fit a pram, a porta-cot plus 2 full-size suitcases plus overnight bags.

You could easily pick up a 1yr old RS (hatch or wagon) for low $30k, 2yr old for maybe $27-28k.

[drsmithy]

So I ended up deciding on an '07 GTI, 37,000km, for a bit under $30k, in immaculate condition (and the owner is having its 4-year service done before pickup - sweet !). Bog standard except for leather seats.

I cam very close to getting the A3, except it had a strange droning noise at lower speeds, especially when slowing down (and the cup holder underneath the armrest is possibly one of the dumbest designs I've ever seen). The seller said that she'd been told it was just the exhaust, but it didn't sound like an "exhausty" noise to me. Other than that it drove and performed well (obviously not as well as the GTI, but it was also 5 grand cheaper. ) - clearly a superior vehicle to the SP23 that I was comparing it to.

Now I just need to decide on a replacement stereo for the GTI !

EDIT: We did have a look at the Skodas, but my wife didn't like the aesthetics of the liftback, and the wagon was too large. They're not really any cheaper, either, for a car that probably won't hold its value as well.

[jsof]

nice, cant go wrong with the gti, love mine to death.
although im a big fan of the r36 wagons also.

either way well done