2014 Golf R or Lexus IS300h? - Lease
 

Opinions on which business lease deal to go for out of the two. The cost of the Lexus IS300h (Lux Nav) which comes fully loaded is approx £290. VW Golf R once specified with 5 door, DSG, Nav, Met Paint, rear airbags, rear camera is approx £250. This is excluding VAT for a 24 month contract (5+24payments), 10k miles. So over a a two year period the Lexus will cost approx £1100 more than the Golf R which will offset the fuel costs difference.

Obviously fuel consumption is better with Lexus IS300h Lux, better quality and design cabin, better std spec and more std extras, rather more plush and refined. The Golf on the other hand is a much more enjoyable entertaining drive with 4WD & great performance, with 0 to 60mph in 4.9sec as compared to 8.5sec for the Lexus.

I know these are two very different class of cars, one is a fuel efficient hybrid luxury saloon, the other a fast, capable 4wd hot hatch but they do fall into very similar lease costs. I initially was decided upon the Lexus IS300h and was looking forward to the refinement (especially compared to current lease vehicle- a soul destroying Nissan Juke 1.5dci!!) & fuel efficiency of a hybrid. But last night came across the 2014 Golf R and am now in two minds?? I am wondering if the boring soul destroying drive of the Juke will feel similar in a hybrid Lexus? I do feel like saying sod it to the better fuel consumption & luxury of a Lexus for the occasional excitement of a good hoon in the Golf, during the daily grind of a working day! ps though, to throw a spanner in the works, I do still have my track prepped JDM Impreza Sti Blob in the garage for trackdays & weekend blasts!!

Any thoughts & opinions appreciated :)

Golf imo, but two different cars. A few of the chaps from cliosport are buying one. Cracking deals too.

Golf by a country mile :thumb:

Unless you're over 55, the Golf.

Or an M135i ;-)

Not a fan of the BMW tbh. Golf looks great

Looks valued over driving thrills on an Impreza website?

Errrrrmmmm....

Didn't think there would be such strong favour for the Golf already! I am definitely leaning towards the Golf :) There was a cracking deal on the M135i a couple of months ago at £250 (not sure about spec) but that is finished now. But I quite like the DSG box and 4WD means I dont have to pull the Impreza out of the garage when it snows and get grit/salt in my Tein Monoflex coilovers and new Alcon 6 pots!!!

One of the main reasons for these low prices are because lease companies predict high residual prices for the Golf R in years to come.
Though I have been told by Gateway 2 Lease & LeaseplanGo that these current low lease prices will not last long. Apparently it has been discounted by VW and they will soon increase the prices they are charging to lease companies? Im not sure if this is just sales talk or whether I should wait a couple of months before signing up. I have 6 months left on my current lease but current wait times for the Golf are approx 4 months. So I could wait 6 to 8 weeks to see if the prices drop or prices may go up in that time??

Might be worth going for it; M135i lease rates have leapt back up again after being super low for a couple of months.

Golf R looks like a no brainer to me....?

Thanks Chaps :)
Good thinking Maatteboy, in regards to what happened to M135i prices.

]

There's a fair few people kicking themselves for not grabbing one in November/December. I think a lot are now looking at the R too with those prices!

Gold for me.....

I think the small Lexus have the driving dynamics of a Toyota Corolla. Nice, but everso dull. Its OK if you are a person who wants a mile muncher to cruise about and is into comfort over speed.

Golf R is what is it. A fast Golf GTi with AWD. Its going to be a harsher stiffer ride. But that can be counteracted with the active dampers option (active chassis control -DCC ) and full electric seats (not sure if this is available anymore). Although personally I wouldn't opt for the definetly sh*t gearbox (DSG), but thats personal preference - I would put the money towards the active suspension instead.

I don't like DSG either. Most seem to love it.

I didn't realise (never took much notice) how quick the golf is. Obv now looking at the spec I know why. If I had £260 or whatever it is as disposable income I would own one, no question about it.

Golf any day of the week.

They drive well and are highly tubable. Stage one gives over 300 bhp. Stage two will see about 370 bhp.

They are now a smidge under 300bhp standard. I suspect 400bhp is fairly accessible.

Are you allowed to tune a lease car? I doubt it.

I work for VW on car sales If your going for the Golf get the order in now as we are quoting our customers for September delivery now.

Thanks for your input as IIRC you had an R32 at one time?

As its my own business lease car I'm trying to keep monthly costs down, which means trying not to tick too many options boxes! I'm adding 5 door with rear airbags, basic Nav, reverse camera & DSG.
Il keep the std 18" wheels which have 22/40/18 tyres as I don't like 19" wheels with the 35 profile tyres. Especially if as you are saying the suspension is already quite firm.
Unfortunately the leather interior at £1700 is extortionate and the std bucket style seats are very good.
The active suspension at £850 is also something I will have to leave out for costs reasons, very good though it is.
VW do make silly extra money by only giving you red as a std colour and all other colours are options!! Onyx White is £255 and Lapis blue is £550?
Im adding the DSG gearbox purely as Im sick of changing gears in the daily rush hour start stop traffic, I really cant be bothered....maybe its old age! lol

Good info mate :thumb:

No tuning really allowed if leased, though many do fit removable ECU tuning boxes etc.
I wont be doing any sort of tuning, the Impreza I already have is a bad enough money pit as is!!!:brickwall:D

Saw a Golf R in my local dealers showroom on Friday. Had the nicer alloys (Not the ones show above) and was in Blue.

Looked very nice. Shame that Blue wasn't available in the GTI.

I know it’s not important, but the engine bay on the Golf is about as plastic and boring as engine bays go, you certainly wouldn’t be showing that off in the pub carpark.

I’d still have the Golf though :)

Why pay for basic nav, surely a tom tom is cheaper/ more flexible

Yes you have stick it on the windscreen, but you can take with you etc

We went for "basic" nav on the BMW (although it's a lot more than just nav) - it's very good, totally integrated and upgradeable. Early built in nav was dismal but now the car and van have it and I wouldn't have one without it.

The "Pro" nav is double the price for a slightly bigger screen and a few more bits of software - same in most cars. Costs the manufacturer about £50 more, they charge an extra grand (or more) - yet because the cars are "premium" and owners want the "best" they lap it up.

I checked the GFV on basic (Business in BMW speak) and Pro media too - basic retains £580 and costs £999. Pro retains £650 and costs £2k. Speaks volumes IMO.

Just seems one more thing to go wrong imo

And a tom tom does the job of getting one from A to B - what more do people want

Soon cars will have a "driving module" that enables the driver to read the evening
Paper on the way home

It's just a bit messy, needs removing, etc.
The nav info screen is well in line of sight and the most important info comes up on the dash in the BMW. The van one is semi integrated (a brochure option but made by Kenwood) and works pretty well but the BMW one is a lot quicker and easier to use.

The van one was essential last year in Europe.

Definitely not worth having a while back but many "demand" it when buying some cars and IMO it is worth having. You usually get a few extras too but the top end stuff gets very, very geeky.

The lease cost for the r is excellent. We lease our cars at work so are always looking and it's tough to lease a GTI for that money. Mind you, the 330d m-sport is cheap at £294 too. I'll keep an eye on that site, cheers!!

This Golf R deal has been pulled today, now prices are approx £50 per month more :( Apparently demand went crazy at this price.
Luckily I have a confirmed quote which is valid for 28 days :)
Gona order it tmrw as I test drove the Lexus today and wasn't really bowled over or overly impressed with any particular element. Its a great car with a lovely interior but nothing that special and I was not keen on the whole hybrid power delivery etc.

A45 opps sorry that's me off again.

Golf R but remember the 19s you see there are not the 19s you get in the UK, we get the same design alloys but only up to 18inch
19s are BBS style

The 19s in that picture cannot be obtained in the UK :/ sad eh

but the Golf by Miles. rocket ship and so much potential for tinkering :)