Golf GT tdi collecting tomorrow

[Pommyboi]

Hello!

I needed to plan ahead this year to change my current Audi A1 in May and some how ended up buying a new Golf GT 2.0 tdi in White which I collect tomorrow.

I priced up another A1 with about £1500 of extras and the monthly payment got close to the cost of the Golf which didn't really require any extras adding to it. I preferred the idea of the 1.4 ACT Gt but the diesel held its value better as reflected in slightly cheaper monthly payments. As it is January the dealer was keen to sell the car in the show room and we did a deal which included them matching the What Car price and increasing the original P/x price on my car. The only extras I would have like were different wheels and heated seats otherwise the specification is excellent and they are providing servicing up to 3 years/30,000 miles free of charge.

I'll admit I haven't even driven the car yet but having owned 2 x MK V Golfs and an Audi A3 I think I'll enjoy the car greatly and it will be much more comfortable than my current A1. I took a quick photo from my phone as it won't look like that after driving home through the snow and taking it to Sheffield for a work meeting on Wednesday.

They offered Gap insurance but I got it from ALA via Quidco and used the code GAP12 to get another discount - just in case anyone else needs a discount code.

Golf 2013.jpg

[Pommyboi]

I had a PM asking how much I paid. I can't reply as I have less than 10 posts.. simple answer is £1000 off the list price for the car, the What Car price is £1200 off the list price of the diesel. Orangewheels gives an even bigger discount but I didn't use them as I was worried about how much equity I would have left in my p/x if I waited another 12 weeks for a new car to arrive.

[Evil Dan]

I took a quick photo from my phone as it won't look like that after driving home through the snow and taking it to Sheffield for a work meeting on Wednesday.

Whereabouts in Sheffield? If it's city centre you'll be ok.

The main roads are reasonably clear of snow but I had to do a couple of visits today off the main roads and it was pretty hairy even with winter tyres in the snow.

[Pommyboi]

Whereabouts in Sheffield? If it's city centre you'll be ok.

The main roads are reasonably clear of snow but I had to do a couple of visits today off the main roads and it was pretty hairy even with winter tyres in the snow.

The drive to Sheffield was fine, only the road next to the hotel was packed snow and ice. I love the car, just getting used to a few things and have had to take time to read the manual on cruise control and satnav. I'm not very happy with the satnav at the moment - the directions talk over the music and podcasts with no obvious way to turn the sound off. I think I know how to solve this now so look forward to testing tomorrow.

I haven't found the ride as amazing as the reviewers in a lot of national magazine and I'm wondering if the adaptive suspension control really makes a difference as it seems to be fitted to all the cars I've seen tested in magazines except SE models.

Minor irritations
- volume control is on the left of the steering wheel when the other audio controls are on the right
- you can't mute satnav from the steering wheel (see below)
- the satnav position is distracting as it is well away from your natural eyeline, the pop up solution on Audi A1 and A3s is much better
- there is a strange ridge on the columns which I don't like. I'm sure they weren't there on my MKV Golfs
- an average MPG is disappointing. With the latest version of the engine and a lighter car I thought it would get 50pmg easily and improve over time. Early days yet and I've start recording the mpg on fuely.com so I can see the real economy over time.

Looking forward to the 2.5 hr drive home tomorrow, not often I say that

7/2/13 - Update - The only remaining irritation is the satnav and muting the sound. You can't mute the sound from the steering wheel, you only get down to "5" on the volume, this means on iPod tracks the sound goes quiet, not too much of a problem with music but it makes podcasts particularly hard to listen to. It doesn't have the same issue when the radio is on. The alternative to get the sound off is to go to Nav > Settings and turn the volume off there. To turn it back on you go to the same options... a bit long winded.

[sebtomato]

The new 2.0 TDI seems to disappoint quite a few owners of MK7 Golfs or new Audi A3s, as the engine does not seem to deliver the savings expected compared to the previous model, or even anything close to the expected MPG advertised by VW, despite both cars being also much lighter.

It's true that most cars reviewed and tested seemed to have the adaptive suspensions. None of the new A3s tested by the press had sport or S-line suspensions either...

[Pommyboi]

The new 2.0 TDI seems to disappoint quite a few owners of MK7 Golfs or new Audi A3s, as the engine does not seem to deliver the savings expected compared to the previous model, or even anything close to the expected MPG advertised by VW, despite both cars being also much lighter.

It's true that most cars reviewed and tested seemed to have the adaptive suspensions. None of the new A3s tested by the press had sport or S-line suspensions either...

I'm not sure how many owners there are out there at the moment but it's a standard complaint with any car, it'll be a lot better with 30,000 miles under its belt.

I think the s-line/sport suspension is purely a marketing requirement but Audi engineers say the best set up for cars is with the standard suspension.

[Neil Ramsay]

Mines has the DSG box and with 400 miles of mostly 60 -70 MPH motorway driving it's average is 48.3

Ride is certainly firmer than my 2011 Focus Titanium but not uncomfortable.

Tried the sat-nav once, now the screen is either on Media or Traffic info, with the MPG etc on the DIS

[sebtomato]

it'll be a lot better with 30,000 miles under its belt.

Let's hope we don't have to wait 30,000 miles for an engine to behave as it should...