What did U test drive b4 you bought a Golf?

[fun510]

Let's not make this a huge beat up of other makes and models - Obviously we are all biased to VW here!

Out of curiosity I would love to hear what everyone thought of any other cars they drove when buying their Golf?

Myself - I drove A New WRXHatch (twice), Ford Focus XR5 and Civic type R.
I actually had to drive the WRX twice to convince myself is was actually fast, when punting it quite hard it just did not feal rewarding enough - No Smile, but still a fast car. Very soft, but quite refined.
I almost bought an XR5 Focus, with leather, tint and reverse sensors for discounted to 40K drive out. They are quite a good value package, when U consider a Golf to the same specs is about 46K drive out at full price, and the dealers don't like to discount.
Thankfully I got National Fleet pricing approved which then changed my opinion in the value for money stakes. At 41,800 drive away, I could not resist the Golf! The Torque, the comfort, the handling balance. Even added a Sunroof into the equation. I only have around a week to go to get her - Can't Wait!

I also drove the Civic Type R. I must say, I have an improved production race car and some track driving experience and this car would be a barrel of fun on a track (although it would still require a few mods). Such a tight package and excelent drive feedback, I scared the life out of the car salesman with this one on a quiet, familiar piece of road Hehehe

As I travel around 40,000km per year, the civic's firm ride, short gearing & buzzy engine would definitely get tiring. But a very fun and unique package!

It's very hard to keep these comment short, because I had a lot of fun driving all of these cars! Well maybe all except for the bland WRX?

Did anyone drive an MPS3 mazda? They look quite nice and have a heap of poke (190kw and 380Nm - Stock!) Not sure about their handling though?

[REDMKVGTI]

WRX - Not the new shape, crap interior, not that much fun, dont want to have the issues that WRX drivers have (stigma)

MPS3 - Awful interior, sloppy gear box and boring styling (might as well get a neo a drop rims on it). My prediction is the MPS3 will qicikly earn it's self a WRX reputation.

XR5 - Just didn't love it. Great car, interior was okay, seats were nice, space was good, but nice and good was all I could say about it.

120 - Too much money for too little car, but man I wanted the RWD.

SS - Just because I drove past and thought why not.

Polo GTI - I had the money for the golf, the gold looks so much better, interior is no much nicer so why would I. One thing I am jealous about is the red stitching in the leather, man I wish the golf had that.

GTI - Came out grinning like an idiot, actually had to have the seat forwards a bit, love the interior, came in a 3dr, easy to live with but still a hoot SOLD!

Civic type R - Not out when I purchased my GTI, although I appreciate Type R's I have never really liked them, and now the new one is out that stands true.

[REDMKVGTI]

Did anyone drive an MPS3 mazda? They look quite nice and have a heap of poke (190kw and 380Nm - Stock!) Not sure about their handling though?

Yeh, as you said plenty of poke, but the handling is not great. I talk to a couple of guys that have them up in brisbane who readily admit that they do not like corners (most will deny it like crazy). Now that reviewers have had a bit more time with them the same opinion is starting to surface more.

When I drove it I found much the same, I took the MPS3 and the GTI along a section of twisty road I know quite well and the GTI handled it far better (and the GTI dealer didn't flinch, the mazda dealer did and I went it harder in the GTI, LOL). Also, we (me and a few mates) did a run down another recently re-surfaced patch of road just out of Melb (2 x MPS3, 1 X SP23, 1 X MPS6), I followed the MPS3 and the point where you could notably see it getting twitchy in corners the GTI was still more than happy to accept more speed.

[GTI_SYD]

BMW 120i - Loved the quality of the finish, and I must admit the dealership experience itself nearly swayed me, but in the end not enough power for how much you pay. The one I was looking at with a 'sports' package was $61 before discount...and I knew I'd be lucky to get him down to mid $50k, so when the Golf was $46k with so much more power...

Mini Cooper S - Great car to drive, great presence, loved the individuality of the car (I always wonder why there are so few colours in the GTI - I would have loved a Gun Metal Grey GTI...) but just too small. I have two kids, and whilst the family car is a Ford Territory, I will still need to take them in it occassionally. There was even a special on the Works package which boosted the power etc...so it was very tempting... I think what also swayed me was the constant reviews saying how good the GTI was...it's hard to ignore that much good press!

[Jester_Fu]

Audi A3 TFSI Quattro - nice, but not fast enough. A very easy drive. Convinced me the Germans were on to something...
Audi S3 - OMFG! Would have done it, but turbo and covering around 30,000km per year would had grown tiresome and made resale value poor.
Ford Focus XR5 - if i was a wog, or wanted every goon on the street to try and drag race me at lights, would have been the perfect choice.
MPS6 - nice. Fast in straight line. Not bad value for what it is... but corners? Lamest drive ever. Not for me.
MPS3 - same as the MPS6. Good car, not bad looking but just a bag of crap in the corners.

BMW 130 was dismissed before driving for value and looks. I don't want to drive a minature station wagon without the functionality of a wagon.
WRX - yuk. Ugliest car on the road today.
Civic Type R was tempting, but i spent some time in a friends DS2 Type R integra over a few years, and while a great drive on the track or for short runs, they're a pain to move in traffic and not comfortable on a long drive. I couldn't see how the civic R would be any different so didn't bother with it.

[anarchycamp]

Only real options for a hatch like the GTI when I looked (early 2005) was the Megane 225 which felt cheap, French and couldnt bring myself to like the rear end.

I've since driven XR5, Mazda 3 MPS, Astra VXR and none of them come close to what I was looking for. I would still have chosen the GTI, I am a little VW biased though....

[Mischa]

I am a little VW biased though....

no **** just look at your sig!

[bailey78]

Mine was down to the IS250 Sports and the R32. Almost signed the dotted line on the lexus before I heard about all of the rattle issues with the car. Thank F I bought the VeeDub

[BarneyBoy]

XR5
Not too bad - a little 'doughy' in the steering, no cruise, no roof, no foot rest, a 4 seater if you go the dead cow, boot v. small ('cause of the exhaust), also they _love_ a drink. Nice stereo. Love the blue ones. They're giving them away right now - a bargain these days.
SP23
Goes OK, handles ordinary -> OK, cheesey interior, great colour range, nice wheels and equipment, look a bit poxxy. Good resale.
206 GT
Goes well - lotta torque down low. Electric steering is dreadful. 2 door only (I prefer 4), nice interior, handling OK, fit and finish pretty good (for a Pug), reliability questionable. Crap resale.
Ralliart Colt
Goes OK. Steers well, but feels very top heavy and the wheelbase feels very short. Nice seats, but poor level of equipment in a crap interior. Relatively expensive. Great warranty - 5 years, 5 year roadside, 10 years on engine, trans and turbo! Also they look like they could use a LOT of colour coding.
Civic Sport
Looks OK (not the front), interior look strange at first, but works very well. Dead cow and roof standard, but no Stability Control. Nice alloys, handles quite well, but suffers from suspension 'crash'. Plenty of room inside, very comfortable. Engine OK, but nothing special, needs a rev to get anywhere. Honda engineering and service a big plus.
Polo GTI
What a lot of fun. Goes well, handles well, fantastic equipment level. Add leather and a roof and it's still great value. Too bad only a 2 door available (for me). Needs 17s and a chip.
WRX (old shape)
Not even its mother could love its looks. Interior was bad (except the seats). Too much stigma attached to owning one of these.
Astra SRi Turbo
Goes like a cut cat, plasticky interior, 2 door only (rear passengers sit in an all-black tomb peering out through slit windows - not comfy). Seats OK. Under steers and torque steers too much. Holden salemen are wankers.
120i
They look tragic - could be Korean. Rear door quarter window stabs you in the chest when you get in. Way too little equipment for the asking price. Snazzy showrooms with the best coffee and biscottis(!).
Megane 225
A lot of fun to drive, but the looks...
Mini Cooper
A ton of fun to drive, one of the best. Look pretty good. Great resale. Options can suck you in (typical BMW) and can double the price of the car in no time. A 2 seater, really. Boot is a joke. Run flat tyres are a bulls**t idea. Not for me.
Alfa 147 JTD
Pulls like a 14 year old, great interior, nice equipment level, look beautiful with the right leather/paint combo. A great purchase for the heart, but you just _know_ it'll let you down. Crap resale.
C30 T5
Who'da thort I'd ever consider A Vulva? A mighty fine car. Love the looks, not bad equipment (but options very expensive), nice interior. Like it's sister XR5, loves a drink. Brakes felt funny. A 2 door, but one I'd probably live with it. Ended up a lot dearer than a GTI once you added 1 or 2 options.

Yes, I was busy over the 6 months or so while I was 'shopping'! Certainly in this category we're spoiled for choice - it wasn't like this before the Golf GTI was reborn and stuck a rocket up everyone's backside.

[Jester_Fu]

^So, i gotta ask... did the 206 break down on you during the test drive? I mean, if the "reliability is questionable"... it must have done *something* during the test drive to indicate this. See... irony from my perspective is i've owned 2 * 206's (a GTi and a GTI180) and BOTH have been **** loads less bother than my current 4 week old R32 I mean... "inferior french rubbish" is making the beloved VW marque look positively ****house in my experience. To top that off, my experience thus far with getting anything *done* by VW is 1000% worse than Peugeot Australia (Sime Darby). Only last week i actually had to drive in to VGA in Botany and insist someone speaks to me face to face to get a satisfactory result on repair of a problem identified on the car at delivery

[edstergtsport]

Tested
XR4 - Pretty Good Value but it didn't inspire me
XR5 - Nice but wasn't a fan of how it looked
Polo Gti - It was my first preference however then i test drovethe TSI, only 4 door and DSG did it for me
Civic Sport - was seriously considering this car cuz the interior was amazing, drinks normal unleaded, serivicing is cheap being a Jap car, standard sunroof and leather very roomy and the price for me was pretty good. Driving it was nothing special though. However I was gonna buy it if the dealer give me a price under 32k with full body kit, instead wanted and REFUSE to budge on 37k! i thought with only 1k more i be driving a VW Golf GT Sport...

[GTI_SYD]

^So, i gotta ask... did the 206 break down on you during the test drive? I mean, if the "reliability is questionable"... it must have done *something* during the test drive to indicate this. See... irony from my perspective is i've owned 2 * 206's (a GTi and a GTI180) and BOTH have been **** loads less bother than my current 4 week old R32 I mean... "inferior french rubbish" is making the beloved VW marque look positively ****house in my experience. To top that off, my experience thus far with getting anything *done* by VW is 1000% worse than Peugeot Australia (Sime Darby). Only last week i actually had to drive in to VGA in Botany and insist someone speaks to me face to face to get a satisfactory result on repair of a problem identified on the car at delivery

Jester, that sucks...you'd think for the $$$ you fork out you'd be given a pretty good treatment. I must admit (and I alluded to this in a previous post) the dealer experience at other makes (like BMW etc) was far better... I think VW need to pull there socks up if they want more return customers (and this is not a criticism at the cars...I love my GTI...more the VGA/Dealer network...).

[BarneyBoy]

^So, i gotta ask... did the 206 break down on you during the test drive? I mean, if the "reliability is questionable"... it must have done *something* during the test drive to indicate this. See... irony from my perspective is i've owned 2 * 206's (a GTi and a GTI180) and BOTH have been **** loads less bother than my current 4 week old R32 I mean... "inferior french rubbish" is making the beloved VW marque look positively ****house in my experience. To top that off, my experience thus far with getting anything *done* by VW is 1000% worse than Peugeot Australia (Sime Darby). Only last week i actually had to drive in to VGA in Botany and insist someone speaks to me face to face to get a satisfactory result on repair of a problem identified on the car at delivery

Oh, don't worry, I'm not pumping up VWs tyres - they ain't no choirboys!

Actually the parcel shelf 'string' broke when I opened the hatch & on another the glove box wouldn't stay shut on the 206s I looked at and drove. This is consistent with 306s and 206s that friends have had. Like Alfas, they both loved them and hated them, simultaneously. But their quality is certainly much improved from the previous models - I believe they're made in a different factory now. What the long-term effects of this are is the 'questionable' bit.

I took a 'risk' myself getting the VW - my head kept saying Honda, Honda, Honda... but, so far, so good.

[Nardi330]

i looked at many more cars like cooper s, WRX but ruled them out so i only tested the following cars:

Colt Ralliart - good for small hatch. seat is great but driving position too high. we have a jazz so we decided not to get a car with similar shape;

MPS3 - a bit too expensive for what it is (ie. turobed SP23). looks good but interior quality is ordinary. too much grunt for the chassis and relatively poor fuel economy;

Civic Type R - i so nearly bought this instead. i love the unique styling and absolutely love the interior. the red/black contract is very sporty and has all the fruits i need plus more. huge interior for a sport car/hatch. BUT (and it's a big but) the seat is too high (becos of the fuel tank underneath) and virtually no steering feel and feedback. it feels just like the Jazz we have. after comparing to my mate's DC2R, the steering was night and day.

[Jester_Fu]

Jester, that sucks...you'd think for the $$$ you fork out you'd be given a pretty good treatment. I must admit (and I alluded to this in a previous post) the dealer experience at other makes (like BMW etc) was far better... I think VW need to pull there socks up if they want more return customers (and this is not a criticism at the cars...I love my GTI...more the VGA/Dealer network...).

I'm hearing you, and trust that i made my opinion of their service very very clear during the meeting. I made a very strong point of comparing them to my experiences with Peugeot as VW do like to think of themselves a few notches above the French in every respect. There's no disputing the R32 is a brilliant piece of design and engineering... but the people who support that brilliance are anything but shining stars. It's no good having the best product in the world if the people you buy it from and rely on for warranty and maintenance are unco-operative and unreceptive. VGA were very helpful in the end, but they also agreed with me that it should never have reached the point where within 4 WEEKS of owning the car i was so disappointed with VW Assisstance and dealer support i felt the need to drive in and deal with the importer directly.