I'm looking at my options again!!! :rolleyes:

I know with the new shape Golf on the horizon, it should knock the prices of the current shape Golf!

I'm considering consoldating two cars into one, so a VW Golf TDI 130 or 150 maybe on the cards!

I'd like to know:

1) How much these cars realistically sell for?
2) How often do they need to be serviced?
3) How much roughly servicing costs?
4) Which road tax band are these cars in?

Cheers
Andy

I reckon you'll have to wait a long time for the prices on these cars to become realistic, despite the MKV being out now. Golf's hold their value very well indeed- just look at the MKIV, MKIII prices took an age to drop after it came out.

Personally I'd just buy a 1.8T petrol and with the cash I'd save on initial purchase buy £1000's worth of fuel and chip it. The cost will work out similar in the end.

That's probably a good idea! I guess realistically I'm looking at about 12-15,000 miles a year between me and my fiancee!

I want to look at the cost of keeping both our cars and swapping them both for one car!

The PD diesels can run a "variable service" regime where the on-board computer & sensors work out when the oil needs changing, this can be anything up to 25,000 miles :eek: but seems to average about 15,000 for most drivers.

UK dealers will set this up on new deliveries but ONLY if you specify it. Otherwise you're on a standard 1year / 10,000 miles regime. Can't have them missing out on lucrative service revenue now, can we :rolleyes:

IIRC the 10,000 service is about £110.

Expect an average of 45-50mpg in everyday use.

AFAIK this variable schedule applies to later VVT(?) 1.8T petrol engines as well. At least it does with 'tavias using the same engine.
Actually why not buy an Octavia rather than the VW? The only disadvantages I can think of with the Skoda are worse residule values and lack of image (actually I like the Skoda image, function over form and badge snobbery). You can get a newish 4X4 1.8T for 9K and early VRS are the same money. If you really want to save cash then you can get a 1.8T engined SLX or elegance starting at 6Kish.

I have no problem with the Skoda or Seat ranges!!

We decided on the Golf, because:

The Octavia is too big (my fiancee drives on the North Circular a lot and prefers a smaller car)
The Ibiza looks too small, but I will take a test drive!
The Leon is ok (but I'd want the Cupra R which is too expensive)!!
The Fabia 130 TDI looks good, but it's too new/expensive!

It really only left us with the Golf or an A3!!

Andy
we now have 2 Octavias & wouldnt change them for anything. The Octy shares the same floor pan as the Golf so they are basically the same'ish size. The only thing thats essential is reversing sensors on the Hatch
Our Diesel is on variable servicing & is currently up to 23000 without needing a service
The Petrol 4x4 is just fantastic, lightly modded!! I recently did the Cannonball in it & didnt get a single problem apart from a couple of bent Alloys. (driver inflicted)

Whatever VAG car you get book a remap with Jabba in Peterbourough, They seem to be able to make them FLY, both Petrol & Diesel models

Stuart

My 1.8T petrol Golf gets 25+mpg in town, and around 40mpg on the dual carriageway

DOes the job for me, and it's booked in to get APR software installed at the end of the month :D Jabbasport have a great reputation, but aren't too handy for Aberdeen!

Mike

Don't worry Jabbasport were on the list of 'places of interest'!! ;)

The Octavia may share the same floorpan, but it has a much larger boot than the Golf, which I think has made it a longer car! Nearly as long as a Passat!!!

The Octavia would be a fantastic car, if we were lugging kids, pushchairs and prums around!!! :eek:

The Ibiza and the Fabia (which I believe are based on the Polo platform) I would consider too small, if we were to go down the kids route!!! :o Especially as the sporty models I like are 3 doors!! I'm not a fan of the A2!!!

That really leaves the Leon, Golf and A3.

Leon - Cupra R is too expensive, although I should drive a 1.8T first!
A3 - more expensive than everything else with a similar engine.
Golf - TDI 130/150 or 1.8T!

Ring Mike or Elton at Jabba & see what they recon they can ring out of a TDI 150, If you are happy with std performance the Octy VRS is only 180 bhp so I would guess the diesel will exceed that giving you performance + economy when you want it & a good resale value. If it isnt to be a Skud I would suggest that route if you can afford the extra cost of the VW

Wouldn't a chipped/remapped Petrol turbo VAG engine outperform a chipped/remapped diesel engine, in terms of outright speed?

That's a question I'd like to know the answer to.

My mate has a 150bhp tdi - and he's as tight as a ducks ar5e. so they must be good value.

Nacro: yep, the chipped petrol will edge the chipped diesel for top-end and speed, largely because of the wider rpm range available.

But the diesel will have the edge for in-gear grunt.

There -- a post about diesels that doesn't talk about real-world performance :p:D

lol I love all that real world performance talk-

Just drop a gear in a petrol car and use the rev range and leave the diesel car behind (or maybe not).

As a side note I keep having a run in with a very optimistic 330D driver who just doesn't seem to be able to learn his lesson!

Had my Golf 130 TDI for around a month now - I test drove a few Golf & Bora, 130 & 150 TDIs before I settled on the one I bought.

The real difference I notice is the horendous understeer when pushed (compared with a Scoob) - but to its credit - it feels like its going to let go - but doesn't. There is a lot of body roll, and you do tend to move about in the seats a bit as they don't support you like the Scoobs did.

The difference in engine 'feel' between the 130 & 150 seemed to be that the 150 torque came in slightly sooner about 1500 rpm vs 1800 rpm, and slightly stronger - the 150 felt more natural (read - more like the Scoobs delivery ;) ). You only tended to notice this though if you were clogging it, and under 'normal' use they felt vey much the same. The 130 cruises very nicely & quietly at high motorway speed.

The difference betwwen Bora (Sport) & Golf was that the Bora was generally better kitted out inside, and the sound deadening was better. The driving feel was very similar.

So far I seem to be getting about 50mpg - from a mixture of driving - which includes motorway, urban, and a 100 mile 'sprint' in 2 hours along the from A55 & Welsh mountain roads where the horses weren't spared

Hope this helps

Steve

As another Scooby > Octavia 4x4 convert, I've also had Jabba experience. If you are not averse to a remap, you might as well buy the 130 Golf over the 150 and with a quarter of the money you save in the process , end up with 180bhp(+) and loads of mid range torque, which is the whole point TBH

Following on from Flat4x4's comment, if the 130 is significantly cheaper than the 150, go for the 130 & with the money you save pay for the Jabba map, fit a set of KW V2 suspension (£800 ish from Impressive Motorsport), Take it to Powerstation to rejig the geometry to lessen the understeer. Then if you want a brake upgrade you will probably find Group N discs, a fluid change & DS2500 pads will do the trick (Most newer VAG cars have lined hoses so std hoses OK).
TaviaRS runs his Octavia brakes with this set up apart from DS3000 pads but the dust from those "Eats Wheels" so 2500 better. People who have done tracks with Jon will vouch for how good the brakes are
You will then have a quick economical car that looks standard & the "looking standard" bit is when the fun really starts !!!

Enjoy

Stuart

I've heard from a few places that the 130TDI is 'good enough' and can be tuned almost as well as a 150TDI (although I remember reading that the 150 has stronger engine components!)

That's a good suggestion as I know the TDI's are 'built for comfort and not for speed' and I'm sure Mr Disco will look after me!! ;)

Are Powerstation the best people to take it to? Can they carry out the bumpsteer modification to Golfs?

Personally I would only take it up to DS2000 for road use and DS2500 if I were looking at track days!!! The DS3000 have been known to do that for a while!!! :eek: There 'WERE' supplied as standard on the Prodrive Alcon kit, until all the Subaru drivers were turning up with shagged alloy wheels!!!

I love the idea of the whole Q-car bit! Park it anywhere, leave it on the drive and I know that my fiancee would get no end of grief if she were driving some of my previous cars!

[Edited by Andy Tang - 10/16/2003 9:30:42 AM]

Sorry guys, I forgot my manners.

Thanks for all the information! :D

I guess I will need to have a look round some garages, do some test drives, look more at the running costs of what we have and what we want, as well as find somewhere willing to trade in two cars against one!!! :)

Sounds interesting - the thing I miss most is the handling

Any contact details for Impressive motorsport? - did a quick web search but came up with nothing, and no contacts for KV suspension in the UK

Steve

Steve,

Have a look here: http://www.impreziv.co.uk

For the Skoda specifc page have a look here

Contact details: 0870 7442269/07796 044030
Email: sales@impreviz.co.uk

Forgot to say, although the page above is Skoda specific, I'm sure John (Disco on Scoobynet) can get you prices for other VAG cars!

He got me prices for some bits on the Pug, but I'm now loathed to spend anything on it!!!

Thanks again for all the advice. :D :D

I had a quick look on Autotrader and the VW website and 3 year old, high-ish mileage VW Golf TDI PD 130 are selling for about £12k. :eek:

I was curious about the new Fabia vRS, so had a look on the website. £11,900!!! for a new 130bhp TDI with 6 speed box (unlike the Seats which only get the 5 speed), air con as standard, etc, etc. And the bonus is that they are 5 door cars!

So it's off to the local Skoda garage over the weekend and have a play in their demo car!

Re Powerstation, They have tweaked my Skodas geometry & I am very impressed with the result.
The adjustment possibilities are limited due to a few bits being fixed but even what they could do was an improvement. Mines a 4x4 Skud so the 2 wheel drive Golf may be more adjustable. Suggest you call Rich & ask what he can do, I guess they must have seen a few Golfs in their time.

Andy,
If Carlsberg made cars it would probably be a Skoda, Need I say more,

Andy

I have a 3dr GT TDi (130). The car is boring as hell to drive, handles poorly (like all mkIV's).... BUT, it's straight line speed is very impressive, wouldn't say it's that much slower than the 1.8T in standard form, so very driveable.

As for running costs, compared to my Scoob, cheap! Insurance is less than half (!) Even with my lead right foot I get 46-47 mpg and 500 miles betwean fillups, and a tank of fuel costs just £35.

The most expencive service is at 40k and 60k. Both of which are around £250, cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap! ;)

The only reason I brought mine was because I couldn't think of any other car I wanted for upto 18k. I am planning on sticking with it for 6 months and buying something nice for next summer.

Andy, Fabia £11430 here http://www.discountskoda.co.uk/skoda_fabia_order.htm

Should you go fabia, print it out & ask the local dealer to match it, they should be able to. We did it on a Octy TDI Estate

edit due to double post (didnt think 2 posts in 10 seconds was possible)

[Edited by Stuart J - 10/16/2003 2:04:51 PM]

What....???? You have to be drunk to apprciate it!!! ;) ;)

Mark, thanks for your comments! :) I don't expect it to be the 'drive of my life'!!!! :o ;)