Bad News

[Autopia]

Well I drove the vRS this morning and my first impression was just how much it felt like a VW. The interior quality is excellent and it really makes you ask how they can do it for the money.

The seats are very supportive although they do lack electric adjustment. A small price to pay I suppose. The touch screen head unit is straight out of a VW and the standard audio was something to behold. Very good dynamic balance even without a subwoofer.

The drive itself was VERY satisfying. It pulls with almighty power that just keeps on building. The brakes inspire confidence with their stopping power and have a good progressive action. Torque steer is a bit of an issue (mainly when accelerating hard with lock applied) but no where near as bad as Japanese rivals. The ESP does a good job of controlling wheel spin without killing all the fun. In a straight line drag it'd put many unsuspecting drivers to shame as they got left in it's wake.
With some APR goodies this thing would be like watching the Hulk transform right in front of you - scary but compelling at the same time.

The only "cheapness" I could identify was the grab handle for the tailgate (a rubber strap) which, whilst being functional, seemed like an unnecessary cost cutting measure, and the cargo area loading bed. This was very flimsy feeling wood and featured an utterly poverty looking elastic lifting strap that looks like it would break after only a few uses.
That was it for flaws as far as I could see.

In a nutshell this is a amazing car for the asking price but as many of us have commented, it takes some commitment to look past the badge and see the car for what it is.... a very well built vehicle from a 100 year old marque that represents superb value for money and a huge bang for your buck.

Cheers

[Autopia]

Cheers mate! It's a work in progress...

It looks finished to me.

[GoLfMan]

G6E Turbo, who cares about the resale, I'd have one of those any day of the week Over ANY current VW !

[Autopia]

G6E Turbo, who cares about the resale, I'd have one of those any day of the week Over ANY current VW !

I took one home for a weekend thinking I'd be back into the dealership on Monday ready to sign on the dotted line.

It's fun to drive because it's so stupidly quick but that's all that appealed to me and that simply ain't enough reason to buy a car.
The steering wheel doesn't go up enough so I couldn't see the top part of the speedo properly.
The stereo system looks the goods but it can't cope with even normal bass at 2/3's volume.
The iPod integration was lame.
No Xenon lights even as an option.

I'm not saying it's a bad car but fot the money there are some area's that they should've done a LOT better.

[Nathan_B]

a mate of mine is currently involing himself checking out a Mercedes c32 AMG.. 140k brand new 7 years ago now under 40k!

Although maintence doesnt drop like the re-sale!

[Autopia]

Yeah though about the C32 but I'm doing a novated lease so the car can't be more that 8 years old by the end of the lease (usually 4 years)

[SharifE]

55K --- 65K, whats 10K to keep u happy.
Declare War or compromise, NO R36 = No more shoes.

[Yevvy]

Just another option, how about passat 125tdi with a DSG? option it up for another $10k then get a chip and you'll be sweet not as fast as the R and does sound like a tractor, but that torque and fuel efficiency is going to keep you smiling

[sci_fianime]

Yeah though about the C32 but I'm doing a novated lease so the car can't be more that 8 years old by the end of the lease (usually 4 years)

Thought of recommending a B5 Audi S4 but saw the above condition...

Good luck on ur hunt...

[passatpout]

Just another option, how about passat 125tdi with a DSG? option it up for another $10k then get a chip and you'll be sweet not as fast as the R and does sound like a tractor, but that torque and fuel efficiency is going to keep you smiling

That was going to be my next suggestion..

Or how about seeing whether the V10 TDI from a Tiguan will fit into a Passat? Now that would be an interesting sleeper.. probably want 4-motion for it...

But since it's going to be a novated lease, what does the cost on an R36 work out to be? Interest rates have dropped about 4%, and fuel prices have dropped about 20% since I took my lease out.. almost enough for me to cancel it and renew (which might happen if I change employers in the next couple of months anyway).

[Swallowtail]

almost enough for me to cancel it and renew (which might happen if I change employers in the next couple of months anyway).

Just be aware you'll pay penalties for breaking a fixed rate lease early that can be thousands of $ - it's like breaking a fixed rate mortgage cos interest rates have gone down - very rarely financially worth it.

If you have to change the car anyway so be it, but you be unlikely to save much money by breaking a lease early to refinance at a lower rate.

E.g. I'm 2 1/2 years into a 4 year lease on my Mazda (8% rate), outstanding on the lease is about $32,000, the break fees are $2,000 on top of that...

[gerhard]

I'm a bit of a budgeting person - I think your wife is smart to want to downsize the mortgage as much as possible. Someone mentioned that interest rates are low right now, but that doesn't alter the fact that mortgage amounts are high these days compared to when I was in that position. High mortgage x low interest rate still = bloody lots of interest.

I was fortunate that I was able to extinguish the mortgage just before turning 40, in spite of having 2 kids and a wife who hasn't worked since the first child was born. And yes, I paid up to 13.5% interest and well over 50% marginal tax with no salary sacrifice available for cars et al.

So for us it was always a struggle which did not include new cars.

Nowadays though, with novated leases providing tax reductions it may well make sense to get a benefit.

How about a 380 2007 which go for around $20,000 or less with only 20-30,000ks.

[Autopia]

55K --- 65K, whats 10K to keep u happy.
Declare War or compromise, NO R36 = No more shoes.

LOL. It'd never work.

[Autopia]

Just another option, how about passat 125tdi with a DSG? option it up for another $10k then get a chip and you'll be sweet not as fast as the R and does sound like a tractor, but that torque and fuel efficiency is going to keep you smiling

As soon as you use the word tractor you've lost me. I don't hate diesels, I'm just not ready for one yet.

[revhead]

How about a low km 3.2 passat with the sports kit for say $40,000 plus?