Golf 5 GTI or Audi A3 2.0T

rickchild · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:19

Le_Petit_Lapin said:
There's no need to roll your eyes, see I was thinking of those also as my next car, and I only really have to cart about my dog, a bit of shopping and a mate or two. They just seemed to me not to have massive amounts of leg room in the back. Personally i was thinking of moving up to an Estate of some description, mainly to give the doggy a good load of room in the boot area with the cage up.

Eyes rolled at wifey's fear of large cars.

The A3 sportback is a little longer than the normal A3 rather than just a 5 door version so they have a little more legroom, I haven't seen one in person yet but should be "plenty of room for (a) doggy" :eek:

jamief · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:25

There is plenty of room for a doggy in a Golf or A3 unless you own a St. Bernard or similar.

rickchild · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:29

jamief said:
There is plenty of room for a doggy in a Golf or A3 unless you own a St. Bernard or similar.

I hope my wifey isn't being referred to as the St Bernard of dogs

jamief · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:38

rickchild said:
I hope my wife isn't being referred to as the St Bernard of dogs

Does she slobber on you? Actually, lets not go there

rickchild · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:40

jamief said:
Does she slobber on you? Actually, lets not go there

Yes a little OT.

OK will report back after driving the Golf and A3, but curently leaning to the A3 as prefer the look of it and the Golf main dealer prices are a little extortionate compared with Audi.

g60dubster · 2 Oct 2009 at 15:48

rickchild said:
Yes a little OT.

OK will report back after driving the Golf and A3, but curently leaning to the A3 as prefer the look of it and the Golf main dealer prices are a little extortionate compared with Audi.

That's because the golf has better residuals than the A3, if you want to lose as little as possible get an S3. They are holding their money quite well and will strengthen further as they drop to £15k mark

Le_Petit_Lapin · 2 Oct 2009 at 16:10

rickchild said:
should be "plenty of room for (a) doggy"

Oh aye?

You're one of those types that lingers in carparks at 3am for a bit of nocturnal fun are you?

wez130 · 2 Oct 2009 at 17:27

Sukh said:
DSG doesn't have too good of a reputation, apparently, they have reliability issues which can cost a lot if they go wrong.

this is true, there are a lot of issues with DSG, but as long as you can get a warranty, it will be covered, i've had no such problems with mine.

jamief said:
Because they both have perfectly usable back seats?

A 5 door Golf or a "Sportback" A3 is perfectly suitable as a family car.

Again, the sportback is a decent sized family car, i downsized from a mondeo to this and we still manage with a buggy in the boot and a full weekly shop etc.

My choice would be what i chose, the 2.0T A3 sportback, i do however love the look of the R32 golf, but that's not in your list

wez130 · 2 Oct 2009 at 17:34

g60dubster said:
That's because the golf has better residuals than the A3, if you want to lose as little as possible get an S3. They are holding their money quite well and will strengthen further as they drop to £15k mark

i wouldn't have said that, i've kept an eye on the A3's used prices and they are holding well, except maybe for pov spec, same i imagine with the Golf, but the premium ones are holding their value quite well, infact, i paid £11k a year ago for my used 2005 sportback which is quite a decent spec (DSG, NAV, Bose, Bluetooth phone prep, leather etc), i went to a indy well known garage last week and they had a 2006 pov spec 3 door 1.9TDi with cloth seats etc for just short of £10k, and that's not the only example i've seen either, private sale might get a better deal of course, but i visit my audi garage quite often for a nosy too and have never thought ' gosh these are cheap'.

I Can't compare the VW though as i have no interest in them.

Housey · 2 Oct 2009 at 17:44

BUY THE GOLF! It drives better, looks better (to me) and is very big inside for what is a small car. Great little car the GTi and though not the sharpest hot hatch it's a cracking all rounder and interior aside a better car than the poorly set up S-Line!

Sootie · 2 Oct 2009 at 17:55

If you can push to an S3, then its a no brainer

Dangerous Dave · 2 Oct 2009 at 17:58

jamief said:
There is plenty of room for a doggy in a Golf or A3 unless you own a St. Bernard or similar.

I transport my lab about fine in a Golf, the A3 hatchback has a rear window that slopes significantly into the boot space so my dog hits her head off it so a Sportsback would be a better option if you want a A3 and transporting a dog.

On the Golf/A3 the Golf handles better however the A3 has a slightly better ride, A3 interior is better built although not by a huge amount your call really. I have a Golf GTI and it has been superb transported me round Europe, laps of the ring, been on the track, transported the dog and transports me with friends and bikes around fine. Couldn't ask for a better all round hot hatch.

If you do get a Golf make sure you put in the VW RNS510 sat nav unit I have had mine for a couple of months and it is a superb bit of kit. Touch screen, 3D maps and hard drive based where you can store your music it can also do full ipod/usb support with a MDI add on, has a SD card reader and with the bluetooth module full bluetooth with audio streaming and SMS support. The new firmware brings in full voice control, 32gig SDHC limit from the current 2gig.

Gaygle · 2 Oct 2009 at 18:19

Sootie said:
If you can push to an S3, then its a no brainer

they're another ~10k on top of his budget...

Oh yeah, OP, if you can push to an RS6, it's really a no brainer...

/Sootie

Sootie · 2 Oct 2009 at 19:25

rickchild said:
I could up the budget to say R32 or S3, but chances are I will be back commuting on the train in 6 months and any car will just sit there totally wasted and depreciating (which is why I got rid of the BMW) as I work in various locations as a contractor.

( Cue various suggestions for a fun 6 monther throwaway car... )

Gaygle said:
they're another ~10k on top of his budget...

Oh yeah, OP, if you can push to an RS6, it's really a no brainer...

As the OP said, the budget could be flexible

A second hand 06 S3 on Autotrader for £17-£18K - so only £5K over budget :cool:

wez130 · 2 Oct 2009 at 19:32

only 5k lol

Dandle · 2 Oct 2009 at 20:14

Ive got to disagree with all the quotes the A3 is better built. That may have been the case with the 8L platform but the 8P they are about the same. The A3 seems to use very slightly better plastics in places but these better plastics also seem to creak more than the golfs at the same mileage. We had both an A3 and Golf V from new and the golf seerms the better built of the two if im honest, over 10k its never been back to VW for anything whereas the Audi went back about 8 times for warranty items over 18 months(several times because of creaking interior trim).

wez130 · 2 Oct 2009 at 21:01

Dandle said:
Ive got to disagree with all the quotes the A3 is better built. That may have been the case with the 8L platform but the 8P they are about the same. The A3 seems to use very slightly better plastics in places but these better plastics also seem to creak more than the golfs at the same mileage. We had both an A3 and Golf V from new and the golf seerms the better built of the two if im honest, over 10k its never been back to VW for anything whereas the Audi went back about 8 times for warranty items over 18 months(several times because of creaking interior trim).

and on the flipside, my A3 is 4 1/2 years old and has never been back to Audi, and there are no creaks / squeaks or anything from the interior.

Dandle · 2 Oct 2009 at 21:04

wez130 said:
and on the flipside, my A3 is 4 1/2 years old and has never been back to Audi, and there are no creaks / squeaks or anything from the interior.

Did you buy it from new though?

Disco Boy · 2 Oct 2009 at 21:15

Getting the 325 is cheaping out because it's a 2.5 and not a 3l, and buying a 2l hatchback isn't cheaping out? I love your logic.

wez130 · 2 Oct 2009 at 21:40

Dandle said:
Did you buy it from new though?

no, as i posted above, it was bought by me a year ago. but it's still 4 1/2 years old