103TDI - General Discussion

[Mountainman]

My list of options (prices are approx retail per item):

• $45 - Leather Protect
• $120 - Fitted Floor Mats
• $270 - Media Device Interface (MDI)
• $500 - Metalic Paint
• $500 - Rear View Camera
• $595 - Dark Window Tint
• $695 - Paint Protect
• $1,400 - Park Assist
• $1,900 - Sunroof
• $2,000 - Extended 3 Year / 75,000km Warrenty
• $3,000 - Satellite Navigation RNS510
• $3,300 - Leather Comfortline

What is the experience with returns on this sort of optioning - around $14000 - at a 3 to 5 year changeover? It seems so easy to make a $35000 car a $50000 car. Do the options depreciate quicker than the car itself?

[kaanage]

Yep. A higher model in a range will depreciate less than a lower model that has been optioned up to the same price

[kaanage]

Back on topic, our TDI is very nice, aside from the 10% optimistic fuel consumption figures from the MDI and the snatchiness of the DSG in traffic and reversing. And find myself manually selecting gears a fair bit so I'd love the GTD's paddle shifters.

I forgot to mention the brakes - they are so overservoed it's ridiculous. This is probably the biggest weakness of the car, IME.
Are manual or TSI Golfs different in this regard?

[REXman]

What is the experience with returns on this sort of optioning - around $14000 - at a 3 to 5 year changeover? It seems so easy to make a $35000 car a $50000 car. Do the options depreciate quicker than the car itself?

My Golf R is $68,300 rrp on road. Good luck getting $50K after 3 years.

The more expensive the car, the worse it gets. You buy a 335 BMW brand new for around $130K. In less than 3 years.. 60K. Ouch.

You look at say a 325 BMW. That is $75,600 rrp. Add options of about $12K. All up on roads + taxes $99K. You pick it up for $93K. Awesome. Resale?

In 5 years time 50K tops If its got less than 40K km's on it. Less with higher Kays.

Do not option up a car for the purpose of resale value. Just do it for stuff YOU like or cant do without.

I guess the only thing is when you are on the buying side of the market, would you want one that is bone stock, or would you pay a couple thousand more for an optioned one (Sat Nav, Audio, Xenon etc)?

(The difference definitely wont be the $10-15K that the options cost you though, thats for sure)

I reckon the more expensive the car, the worse the resale of the options, because, at least I think, the kind of person say buying a Merc or BMW will just want to get one brand new, and wont dream of paying near new price when they can just get.. new!?

So you are selling the car to a different market (used luxury market) = less financially able people. Where you buy a WRX for $40K, in a years time you can sell for high $30's no problem.

Seller is a bit tighter.. Buyer is a bit more leniant..

Demand at luxury cars is different for "normal" cars I think. Hence the massively different proportional depreciation values.

(Just look at a 5 year old STI, or R32 compared to an M3 or Boxter)

(and even more so, in the girly market for cute hatches - barina's, corollas astra's.. man they still hold very well!! My sisters 2004 corolla worth $20K brand new still fetches $10K.. amazed when I saw how well the small cheap hatch market holds value.. again due to the type of seller and buyer as oppsoed to the condtition of the cars)

[Mountainman]

It appears that there is always a big drop after the first year too. A couple of weeks ago a friend picked up a 18 month old Passat 125 TDI wagon with 25,000km for $34,000. It was an ex church car and in immaculate condition. He got it wholesale because of contacts he had - best friends with the user. I don't know what options it had but he said it cost $54,000 new. That seems a big depreciation hit after 18 months to me but then probably nothing like a Falcon owner would experience.

[barges]

well i finally got my pro-bitz tuning box from the uk this week. installing it was a breeze and now the golf really pulls, still really smooth and the best thing is the massive turbo lag is reduced.
i can finally say im happy with my 103 tdi.

[kaanage]

Does it smooth out the drive train when crawling around in traffic?

If it does that and the other benefits they mention (and has no ill effect), then 99 pounds seems very cheap.

[NovaArtist]

Update on our 103TDI that we bought 9 months ago. We have not driven it a lot - although I do enjoy driving it when I get a chance - normally in my other leased car. However, the better half had an engine meltdown yesterday with the glowplug symbol flashing on and off and power getting very sluggish. Owners Manual claims this symbol does this when there is a engine management system failure and it needs to get to a VW service centre quickly. Turns out some sensor has packed it in, but no-one holds them in Perth, so need to wait a few days while one makes its way from Sydney. Good thing we were not in Esperence (as we were, only 2 weeks ago - although we took the 4WD in any case). Not crazy about getting substantial engine problems with only 2900 km on the clock (and I'm not missing a zero - it really is less than 3000 km after 9 months). This is why we have warranties - so not concerned about the sensor to much - always a nuisance when your without your car for a few days. I assume most 103TDI owners have not had engine system problems at this time?. I would guess we are just one of the unlucky ones to have this happen, most responses on this forum suggest these cars are quite reliable.

[khamtran]

I've had my 103TDI manual with sports package for nearly 11 months now and absolutely love it.

Some of the things I love about the car include the build quality, the great ride, handling and balance, heaps of usable torque especially at highway speeds and the superb fuel economy. I'm averaging 6.23 litres per 100km (measured at the pump and not with the trip meter which I find is a tad optimistic) and I'm quite heavy footed as well.

I wouldn't mind a bit more power though. Something like GTD power I reckon would be sweet.

[kaanage]

I would guess we are just one of the unlucky ones to have this happen, most responses on this forum suggest these cars are quite reliable.

Stay away from the diesel forum where they discuss EGR intake clogging, fuel tank algae and DSF failures and also the Passat forum where at least 3 TDI's have had injector failures that instantly disabled the car

Do other people find that the MDI is about 10% optimistic with its fuel consumption figures?