What's next?

[GTIJNR]

ahhh... the new lancer ralliart, hatch... reasonable upgrade

[Sharkie]

Ordered a MK6 Golf GTI-R / R20T yesterday as a replacement for the Polo. 200+kw & AWD

I may still sell the Polo prior to taking delivery (ETA 18months ....) of the R20T and fall back to driving the dual cab ute i have parked at my dad's place in the interim.

Currently weighing up an offer on the Polo and in the current climate it seems reasonable. It is difficult to sell though as I really love driving it. I finally have it exactly where I wanted it (except for traction issues) and am going, OK, its sold .... and then after a drive, OK maybe I'll keep it a bit longer....

I'm worried I'll end up in a situation like I have with a VR6. Had 1 years ago and still miss it ......

May actually have a Tiguan before the R20T as my wife's RAV4 is due for replacement later in the year as well.

[NickZ]

Ordered a MK6 Golf GTI-R / R20T yesterday as a replacement for the Polo. 200+kw & AWD

I may still sell the Polo prior to taking delivery (ETA 18months ....) of the R20T and fall back to driving the dual cab ute i have parked at my dad's place in the interim.

Currently weighing up an offer on the Polo and in the current climate it seems reasonable. It is difficult to sell though as I really love driving it. I finally have it exactly where I wanted it (except for traction issues) and am going, OK, its sold .... and then after a drive, OK maybe I'll keep it a bit longer....

I'm worried I'll end up in a situation like I have with a VR6. Had 1 years ago and still miss it ......

May actually have a Tiguan before the R20T as my wife's RAV4 is due for replacement later in the year as well.

When is the R20T arriving on Aussie shores? And what's the estimated RRP? I didn't think that would be here for at least a couple of years.

[Sharkie]

When is the R20T arriving on Aussie shores? And what's the estimated RRP? I didn't think that would be here for at least a couple of years.

MK6 GTI is due Dec09/Mar10 at roughly the same price as the MK5 GTI.

R20T is due 6-12months later at roughly the same RRP (mid $50K) as the MK5 R32.

The slump in worldwide demand for cars may see these timetables speed up significantly though.

I know some people have waited 9-12 mnths for their special order VW's (and that is on currently sold cars) so a 18-24mnth wait is not too bad.

[NickZ]

Awesome, the R20T looks crazy I think that may be the next car - its arriving at the right time as well

[philthy]

Ordered a MK6 Golf GTI-R / R20T yesterday as a replacement for the Polo. 200+kw & AWD

Currently weighing up an offer on the Polo and in the current climate it seems reasonable. It is difficult to sell though as I really love driving it. I finally have it exactly where I wanted it (except for traction issues) and am going, OK, its sold .... and then after a drive, OK maybe I'll keep it a bit longer....

I'm worried I'll end up in a situation like I have with a VR6. Had 1 years ago and still miss it ......

Nice work on the golf Sharkie. You may lose a few dollars if you sell the polo in 18 months, but think of the fun you'll have driving it in the mean time.

[Markybhoy]

I'm seriously considering the Passat CC. If my consultancy business takes off, I'll go for the V6. Seriously quick car with a lot of luxury!

[Tick]

Not a big next step, but looking at an Octavia RS sedan in the next couple of weeks ....if I can let the Polo GTI go

[mikepologti]

probably a gti-r/ s3 ,something with awd. though as nutty as this sounds im kinda liking the fact that the cars i want wont be available for quite some time, as i need to get my money together anyway. well the s3 is out but way to expensive for me atm.

[pogo_55]

Aren't you guys even slightly concerned that buying a new expensive car in the next couple of years could be financial suicide? If or more likely when electric or other alternative fuel becomes mainstream when you go to sell your new car it will be worth .... well you won't be able to give it away. I really don't think electric cars are that far away. There are already a couple of good examples - Tesla and the electric mini in California, but you couldn't by any stretch of the imagination call them mainstream. However give it 3 to 4 years and I think it will be very different.

My Polo is just about to celebrate its second birthday and I am going to sit on the fence for another couple of years before deciding what to replace it with.

[DaveMack]

I'm with Pogo 55 on this one ... besides ... I like my wee pog just the way it is ... when the new rims are on ... and the downpipe has been fitted ... and ...

Dave

[NickZ]

Aren't you guys even slightly concerned that buying a new expensive car in the next couple of years could be financial suicide? If or more likely when electric or other alternative fuel becomes mainstream when you go to sell your new car it will be worth .... well you won't be able to give it away. I really don't think electric cars are that far away. There are already a couple of good examples - Tesla and the electric mini in California, but you couldn't by any stretch of the imagination call them mainstream. However give it 3 to 4 years and I think it will be very different.

My Polo is just about to celebrate its second birthday and I am going to sit on the fence for another couple of years before deciding what to replace it with.

I disagree, sure electric cars will become more common over the next decade. But I think there will always be a place for petrol guzzlers, even if it is only by enthusiasts. And I don't think it will hit that stage for a long time to come.

I may change my mind, but even if they make a fast electric car, the thought of driving in something run on batteries does not in any way excite me.

[RhysQ]

Aren't you guys even slightly concerned that buying a new expensive car in the next couple of years could be financial suicide? If or more likely when electric or other alternative fuel becomes mainstream when you go to sell your new car it will be worth .... well you won't be able to give it away. I really don't think electric cars are that far away. There are already a couple of good examples - Tesla and the electric mini in California, but you couldn't by any stretch of the imagination call them mainstream. However give it 3 to 4 years and I think it will be very different.

I disagree, sure electric cars will become more common over the next decade. But I think there will always be a place for petrol guzzlers, even if it is only by enthusiasts. And I don't think it will hit that stage for a long time to come.

I may change my mind, but even if they make a fast electric car, the thought of driving in something run on batteries does not in any way excite me.

You guys have clearly never seen the documentary "Who killed the electric car?". Look for it at your local video shop, it's very interesting and well worth the watch. Basically, the electric car was in production in the U.S. (i think it was mid 90's) and it was much faster on the quarter mile than the current (at the time) top model Mazda MX-5 (Miata to the yanks). It was such a cheap car to run just to be plugged in at night and due to the lack of combustion engine and number of parts, it was VERY VERY cheap to service and barely ever broke down. Also, the electric car was cheaper than combustion engine vehicles. These cars became popular cars and were selling like hotcakes.....until, they were banned from production. Why? Because car manufacturers were going broke. As all (well, most) of us know, manufacturers don't really makes their profits on car sales, it's all on post-sale servicing and parts sales. It was the government who banned the production of electric cars because profit levels in the motor industry were dropping so low.

It most probably is the 'future' of cars and to be honest, i think it would be great, but it has BEEN the 'future', 'present' and now 'past' of cars and has proved to cause trouble in the motor industry. I would take an industry wide agreement for this type of vehicle to be in mass production, which could well take some time. It will be many lifetimes before combustion engine vehicles are phased out so there's nothing for us to worry about. As NickZ said, there will always be a place for petrol guzzlers.

[Markybhoy]

I think that although electric cars will become the future, we've probably got somewhere between 5 and 10 years before they start becoming more prevalent. Therefore, we all should have time to buy at least one last monster gas guzzler before that time!

This is a glimpse of what will happen in the future.....

Boy: "Grandad, did you ever own a petrol engined car?"
Grandad: "Yep, ah had a 5.8 Litre V8 Turbo....none of that poncy electric stuff you boys drive these days. Did 0 to 100 in 5.8 seconds too."
Boy: "Wow.......that slow eh!"

Anyhoo, maybe we should start a new electric VW thread, rather than hijack this one!

[pogo_55]

I may change my mind, but even if they make a fast electric car, the thought of driving in something run on batteries does not in any way excite me.

Not exciting....
Do you know what a Tesla is? Alternatively look at this vid where an electric ariel atom dominates to the point of embarassment a Ferrari and Porsche.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qDZOBQs60w


I also think mentioning electric cars in this post is valid as it will be a possible choice for someone buying a new car in the next 2 years. The release date for the Chevy(Holden) Volt is supposed to be 2011.