JPS1

Having just finished washing my wife's Golf R this morning I started to wonder is this the best car you can lease for £300 per month.

I know there will be split opinion on leasing and the Golf R, but as my wife has a company car allowance and needs a new car every 2 years I ordered this for her. After 4 weeks and numerous drives by myself I have to say it's a brilliant all round car. Certainly faster than my standard 2006 wide track hawk STI and on everyday driving more useable than my daily commute E63 AMG. More importantly she loves it and that's after a 330d MSport run for the last 2 years.

The question is....Is there anything else out there you could lease for £300 per month which is better? I added midnight blue metallic and 19" wheels which I think look great!

Kedlestone

iTrader: (9)

Audi S3 or S5 Coupe. Was looking at Golf R estates myself for something to throw the mountain bikes in, £250 ish plus vat on business lease.

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Looks nice with the 19s

Took 3 weeks for the thieves to steal my Golf R

urban

iTrader: (1)

Keyless I assume then?

JPS1

Not keyless on mine?

JPS1

Forgot to mention Gap insurance is a must for leasing.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Sorry - that was meant for the poor fella that got his nicked

JPS1

No worries!

scoobyboy1

iTrader: (16)

Mine got stolen with the key, They come into my house!! Stole the car while me and the family was upstairs asleep. Saw them racing off my drive at 2am was not a nice sight to see!!!

JPS1

That sounds awful. I do wonder whether it's worth sleeping with the car keys or leaving them on show to protect the family?

Matteeboy

Surely no car is simply "a lease car?"
You can lease almost anything.

The deals come and go. One drove past us earlier and sounded like a diesel. Very capable but rather bland.

JPS1

You can lease anything your right......,,the point is what you can lease as a new car for £300 a month?

Bland.........I'm not sure I agree with you!

Matteeboy

The M135i was on for less a while back.
Six cylinders, three litres, RWD, sticky tyres, bigger brakes. Just done a track day in mine (with two other M135is): stacks of Scoobs, Evos, Porsches, BMWs, not one VW or Audi.

fpan

iTrader: (11)

How many miles does she do per year and does she have to pay for the fuel?

JPS1

She does around 10,000 per year so perfect and yes she pays private fuel.

Without driving one it's hard to call but as someone who's had most cars from Porsches to Astons I almost wish I had got one myself! Very hard to fault and will just about get you home in winter.

I hate to say it but almost the perfect all round car!

JPS1

Matteeboy.......I can see you're a BMW fan and I agree they are great. I've had 2 M3's and one M5 and love everything about them. I've even just ordered the new 335d MSport as my company car but when I say the Golf R is a great car for the money I mean it!

The point is my wife is not after a track car and for everyday driving it takes some beating.....A M135 is a great car but I would rather have the top of the range marque than second best?

When a M3 or M4 pulls up next to you do you honestly believe you have the best?

Matteeboy

An M3/4 is £60k. That's twice what mine cost. And it has almost the same engine and is getting worse scores from the press. It's also the saloon/coupe shape which I think is rubbish; massive but totally impractical.

The Golf R is nowhere near top of the range for VW; our recently departed California 4motion was a £53k VW and broke down constantly; VW can't build cars properly any more.

I had a new Mk4 R32 Golf when they came out (plus numerous other VWs); they used to build cars properly; not any more. There's a member on here who sold his R after a few months after tonnes of issues.

I had a 335d too; a great car but recent diesels are too unreliable; I'm petrol only now.

My wife absolutely loves our M135i and does loads of miles in it.

I'm sure the R does many things well but while my Cali was in for constant repairs, I sampled almost every VW as a courtesy car; I won't be buying another one.

JPS1

Sorry matteboy if I came across in the wrong way. I have no alliance to VW but I am just commenting on what seems like a great all round car.

If if breaks down I will be the first to post but so far so good.

Correct me if I am wrong.......you would recommended the M135?

JPS1

I was confused by a VW California at 53k????

I thought you were on about some super sports VW but after 2 mins on Google it's a transporter camper van! What broke down then......the fridge? ��

Matteeboy

Sorry JPS; I went in a little strong there - thanks for bearing with me.

Yep, really like the BM. I'm aware of its shortfalls (cold tyre grip is poor, it looks a bit odd ore or post facelift, some interior plastics are low rent, etc) but overall it's a great all rounder; tracked ours, driven it to Germany, done all sorts and yet to find a major weakeness. And if it does snow (very rare down here), the BM stays at home and the Subaru will be used.

Matteeboy

The rear diff (it was 4wd)
Three EGR valves
An ECU
Paint corrosion issues three times
A control unit

And many more minor items; we had it three years (when it worked it was great); 15 dealer trips, around three months of us not having it. Sold it before prices dropped too much. It had under 23k miles on it when we sold it (bought new).

Don't forget high end Touraegs, Passats, etc; all way more than a Golf R.

JPS1

Hey matteboy........the last post was just a joke about the fridge.

I think you've had some really bad luck. You can't move for VW transporters at my local Van rental place and they swear by them.

Sorry again, when I meant Marques I meant M cars should really be M cars and not just badged. I hate to see M badges on BMW's that are not true M cars.

The Golf R is the top of the Golf range........obviously not Toureg!

If I owned BMW I'd want you on my PR side!

Matteeboy

Guess what type of business I run... ;-)

The M thing is a long running joke especially when the M135i was faster than all but the 1M around the TG track (before the F10 M5 and F80 M3/4)...

The M-lites have about 30% M in them. Old M cars were about 80% M. The current M3 is about 50%.

The real crap thing is M Sport stuff ; 0% M input...

JPS1

Ha ha.......it's only the way MB are going and having the AMG brand on stock cars with a few styling changes.

What a shame!

Matteeboy

And Audi with S-line.

And Volvo with R Design (although for some reason Volvo pulls it off quite well)!

RS Grant

To answer the OP's question... then at this present moment, as far as I can see, I think the Golf R is the best all round package available for 200-300 per month.

I got mine in April and if I'm honest I like it far more than I thought I would, the reviews which I've seen/pay attention to are pretty favourable... sure, like any car which I've had, it's got a couple of small areas that I'd like to improve on, but nothing major and on the whole as I say; it's great.


Cheers,
Grant

Uncle Creepy

...

Matteeboy

Praise indeed! The new M3/4 is a big step up in torque (and a bit more power with less weight) and performance over the E90 M3 but the latter definitely struggles against an M135i; and comical "it's not a real M car" gang seem to forget that the M division has been releasing bloated, tech overloaded cars for many years; the X6M, X5M, the two tonne M6, etc as well as some fairly average cars like the early E36 M3, Z3M roadster, etc. The new M3 is a belter on a dry track but day to day, even ardent fans complain of terrible traction issues on real roads.

Anyway, the Golf; it's like that bloke at school that's pretty good at everything but is actually a bit of an ****. There's just something about it that gets right on my nerves; several rivals I'd rather have. Fifth Gear have just given it a bit of a bashing too.

jameswrx

iTrader: (4)

Why on earth don't Subaru come up with a fresh new Impreza! There has to be a market for a cheaper alternative to all this new breed of hyper hatchbacks!

I know they still do the Impreza sti but complete with the hated 2.5, why not come up with a new Impreza with the 2.0 twin scroll of the new wrx (which I didn't even know existed until the other day) and make a 350bhp hyper hatch Sti with pops and bangs like these latest breed, but way less money. It's gotta sell surely?

RS Grant

If you want to drive on UK roads like your pubes are on fire in all weathers, then you wouldn't buy an M3/M4 in the first place... or if you did, then you'd have absolutely no right to moan about a lack of traction in poor conditions or once you end up sticking it in a ditch/barrier due to your own stupidity.


Was that the Fifth Gear review that had it doing J-turns and stuff?? Hardly in depth, relevant review unless you're a spotty oik who wants to find out what car will be the most fun once you've stolen it.

I'm fairly happy with the kind of reviews that Chris Harris does and I seem to have similar tastes as he does in what does/doesn't make a good car. I don't think he's too swayed by outside influences or bribery as much either, unlike other road testers/presenters seem to have been at times.

Here is a review he did on a standard MK7 R against his long term M235i with the M-Performance catalogue thrown at it.


...and I completely agree with what he says, about both cars actually.

I ordered my R in October last year and waited c6 months to collect it. I hadn't driven a manual version and was worried that it would be like the manual TTRS in the family, which has quite a poor gearchange when pushing on; but given that the deal was so good (£200 per month is insanely cheap!) I couldn't really say no and decided to risk it. I was wanting to enjoy the Golf, which I do... but I didn't think that it would actually impress me, which it continues to do.

Is it the fastest car in the class: no.
Is it the best handling car in the class: no.
Is it the best sounding car in the class: no.
Is it the best all-round car in the class: yes.


Cheers,
Grant