Golf R Specifications and Prices

[Prodigy]

Took the plunge today and ordered mine.
5 Door DSG - Rising Blue
19" Alloys (silver) + ACC
Leather, Bluetooth, Dynaudio Upgrade, and front windows tinted to match.

Very happy with the price, but delivery could be up to 6 months so looks like i'll be joining the waiting queue.

Congrats on your order mate, yep the queue is now becoming pretty long..

Did they give you a delivery date of Nov or early 2011?

[Corey_R]

Congrats Glennb. Judging from the "could be up to 6 months" I take it that means you've missed the chance for an build week allocation in week 37 and 38 like everyone who has posted before you. Let us know as soon as you know when your build week allocation is provided so we can let other prospective R buyers when they can expect delivery

[Dubya]

I believe people would mention it if a trade in was part of the deal.

The discounts are quite good for outright purchases and I personally never trade in as it's a good way to be 10k worse off usually.

... And in any event, rather than offering

... a really crappy trade-in valuation

it is more often than not the case that the dealer makes the deal more attractive by offering a seemingly generous trade-in (but less of a discount) to clinch the deal.

[Glennb]

Congrats Glennb. Judging from the "could be up to 6 months" I take it that means you've missed the chance for an build week allocation in week 37 and 38 like everyone who has posted before you. Let us know as soon as you know when your build week allocation is provided so we can let other prospective R buyers when they can expect delivery

I had a good long chat to the dealer and DP about this as i was prepared to alter my spec to get one of the allocated build spots, but they ended up showing me enough information to convince me it wasn't going to make much difference. Basically, i saw the list of R cars that the dealer has ordered (showroom stock cars, and pre-ordered ones) and they sort of sit in a dealer pool at VW Germany, until the build spots become available (or they have enough Aus spec cars to justify putting through a lot in one go). When a car gets a name against it (ie, sold), then it "can" progress more quickly but its all in the hands of ze crazy germans.

So, to avoid disappointment, i'm expecting a Jan 2011 delivery, but i know my order will go through tonight and will be sitting in the pool of about 10 R cars (from this dealer only i presume) that have been ordered over the last 6 months, but not yet built. So if VW Germany send a batch of R cars onto the line destined for Aus, hopefully mine will be included and i'll get it earlier! But it's a pretty crazy system the dealers have to work with.

Anyway, in 5-6 weeks i should find out more information and get a confirmed delivery date.

[G-rig]

From what I've heard the dealer allocated/unclaimed cars won't be seen till march, which is the same time you could expect if you missed the boat, so to speak.

[dave_r]

I had a good long chat to the dealer and DP about this as i was prepared to alter my spec to get one of the allocated build spots, but they ended up showing me enough information to convince me it wasn't going to make much difference. Basically, i saw the list of R cars that the dealer has ordered (showroom stock cars, and pre-ordered ones) and they sort of sit in a dealer pool at VW Germany, until the build spots become available (or they have enough Aus spec cars to justify putting through a lot in one go). When a car gets a name against it (ie, sold), then it "can" progress more quickly but its all in the hands of ze crazy germans.

Interesting stuff. The differing info on the whole order/production/delivery process baffles me. Would love to know which info was accurate and which was fantasy. (PS: Not taking a swipe at Glenn)

In other news, I had an interesting conversation regarding corporate pricing today. They're laughable if true compared to what was offered on the R32. But the example I was given for the Polo spec in my sig worked out to less than 2% off the RRP! So fair to say, the old school negotiations will have to be done as corp+ pricing is a joke.

[Silverarrow]

I was shown corp pricing yesterday when I test drove (and priced) an R:

$2500 base discount
$2000 of dealer delivery

If you can believe the document my sales guy showed me in their sales book, however he did say "Give me the last phone call" and opened fairly aggressively.....

I have to say I got out of my manual R32 to drive a DSG R (18" no ACC) - I won't go into detail on my drive impressions here except to say that I didn't feel the need to order one right there and then, although I will get one.

[LouLou]

Hey guys,

I'm still a newcomer to this forum so I'd like to say hi to you all.
I've ordered the R as well with the following specs:
Blue 5Dr DSG
ACC
Black 19 Inch Wheels
Sat Nav/Dynaudio + MDI
Recaros
Electric Glass Sunroof

Extremely happy with the final price so I recommend anyone in Melbourne to pay Camberwell VW a visit.

In regards to the colour, I am having the hardest time trying to choose between Rising Blue & Candy White. I've weight up both and can't seem to choose between the two. What do you guys think?

Cheers.
Alan.

[G-rig]

Don't get white =D

(sounds like they are all going to be blue or white).

[ccoops79]

I was shown corp pricing yesterday when I test drove (and priced) an R:

$2500 base discount
$2000 of dealer delivery

If you can believe the document my sales guy showed me in their sales book, however he did say "Give me the last phone call" and opened fairly aggressively.....

I have to say I got out of my manual R32 to drive a DSG R (18" no ACC) - I won't go into detail on my drive impressions here except to say that I didn't feel the need to order one right there and then, although I will get one.

Hey Silverarrow,

What did you think of the DSG coming from an R32 manual gearbox?
When you get the R will you be choosing DSG or will you go with the manual transmission agan?

[Silverarrow]

Hey Silverarrow,

What did you think of the DSG coming from an R32 manual gearbox?
When you get the R will you be choosing DSG or will you go with the manual transmission agan?

I was more impressed by the DSG than I have been on previous drives of DSG cars, still making up my mind on DSG over manual though.

It really is a different driving technique. I do like the ability to drive it like an auto, and that makes sense in traffic, the feel of the two cars (R vs R32) is completely different though and for a fair comparison a drive of a manual R would probably have been better for my purposes.

Will I buy a DSG - it'll probably come down to a decision on the day I decide to purchase.

The heart says manual, the mind says DSG probably makes more sense.

[Glennb]

Interesting stuff. The differing info on the whole order/production/delivery process baffles me. Would love to know which info was accurate and which was fantasy. (PS: Not taking a swipe at Glenn)

In other news, I had an interesting conversation regarding corporate pricing today. They're laughable if true compared to what was offered on the R32. But the example I was given for the Polo spec in my sig worked out to less than 2% off the RRP! So fair to say, the old school negotiations will have to be done as corp+ pricing is a joke.

Trust me dave, i took what they were saying with a grain of salt too, but after telling them i would change my spec/price to get an earlier delivery, they still said it wouldn't make any difference, so there was no gain on their part (that i can see at least) in what they were telling me. Also, there wouldn't seem to be any way to shortcut this process by going to other dealerships, as the problem isn't really at the Aus end, as most orders now are being told a similar 4-6 month wait for the car.

Time will tell, and i'll let you know when i get a confirmed build/delivery date.

As to corp discount on the R, there is actually a more significant decrease in price due to LCT (depening on spec) when the dealers start knocking a few dollars off their base price (eg, a $1000 discount at the base level will take ~$1,500 off the RRP due to LCT and taxes). The calculator spreadsheet doesn't actually account for this if the discount reduces the LCT to zero.

Suffice to say that if you are ready to order, GTI like discounts can be negotiated and i didn't even have to bang my fist on the table once.

[Corey_R]

Yeah - I think things start getting complicated if you start to try and separate what % discount comes from reduction in price vs reduction in LCT. In the end, it's semantics anyway, because you can't NOT pay the LCT if your car is in that price range.

There it gets really difficult is "where the discount is applied to".
If the dealer gives you a $1000 discount, and it's pre-GST (as they usually are), then in states with a 5% stamp duty, it does equal a $1500 difference to your drive away price (WA only equals $1430 discount for example).

So if corp discount is applied at this level, that $2500 off dealer delivery and $2000 off the car can actually turn out to be around $6,400 (depending on the state, and how much of your car is in the LCT threshold).

[Silverarrow]

Yeah - I think things start getting complicated if you start to try and separate what % discount comes from reduction in price vs reduction in LCT. In the end, it's semantics anyway, because you can't NOT pay the LCT if your car is in that price range.

There it gets really difficult is "where the discount is applied to".
If the dealer gives you a $1000 discount, and it's pre-GST (as they usually are), then in states with a 5% stamp duty, it does equal a $1500 difference to your drive away price (WA only equals $1430 discount for example).

So if corp discount is applied at this level, that $2500 off dealer delivery and $2000 off the car can actually turn out to be around $6,400 (depending on the state, and how much of your car is in the LCT threshold).

Correct - I was talking about the raw numbers - the 2500 (Corp discount) comes off the base price of the car, and reduces the LCT by a significant amount. I worked out the $4500 raw number translated to ~6500 on the total spec, the dealer was also not averse to the discussion around putting the RNS510 in post sale to reduce the price.

The Spec we discussed:

5Dr DSG
19" Talledegas
ACC
RNS510
Leather
MDI
Bluetooth prep (BTW this is the same as the previous VW/Skoda premium BT which was ~1800, now 550 inc.)

[dave_r]

In regards to the colour, I am having the hardest time trying to choose between Rising Blue & Candy White. I've weight up both and can't seem to choose between the two. What do you guys think?

You're asking the wrong people. Some of us have debated over the colour or options for over 6 months haha

Time will tell, and i'll let you know when i get a confirmed build/delivery date.

True, makes more sense that the other theories out there!

As to corp discount on the R, there is actually a more significant decrease in price...Suffice to say that if you are ready to order, GTI like discounts can be negotiated and i didn't even have to bang my fist on the table once.

That is what I found so surprising. The justification being given for pricing didn't add up.

There it gets really difficult is "where the discount is applied to".

Yeah it's too hard. All I was getting at is their justification for an R costing significantly more than an equal spec R32 was bull****. I've left them with my thoughts. If they persist with it, I'll cancel both orders and go elsewhere. Will definitely further delay me getting what I want but I've got to find another car in the meantime anyway so its a moot point now.