MK VI Wagon in OZ

[midlifecrisis]

You sure? It's that price driveaway on the site.

Ok, no, thanks. Well thats better but its still over 40K with parking sensors etc...

[brad]

Ok, I am still awaiting the official Australian launch of the wagon, prices and options, but figuring it wont differ to match from the current golf (and having copies of the UK brochures and prices to go by) I was seeking people's opinions on factory options from their experiences with them.

My current plan is to get 118TSI but price could push me towards the 90TSI with mandatory Comfort Pack.

As a newbie here as my first new car ever, I welcome any feedback on these or things I am overlooking.

Thanks

Have you considered a Skoda Octavia Wagon? Better engines, more power, better appointed, less money, no early adopters "tax".

just a thought

edit: didn't bother reading thread - I take it that's already been suggested?

edit2: pay no attention to the prices on the Skoda site. You'll get a big discount off them.
Also, the 118kw 1.8TSI puts out way more than 118kw from the factory - more like 125kw-130kw. I have no idea why they understate the power on that engine.

As gregos said - have a look at the Octy hatch. Huge boot. I can highly recomend you try Wakelings Skoda at Campbelltown. Got my Octy for ~$32k drive-away.

A mate has just ordered an RS wagon from them:

white DSG RS Wagon with the following options -
Leather
Sunroof
Alarm
Xenon
SatNav
Fog Light Cnr
Mobile device interface
Bluetooth
Lifetime Tint - front windows and screen
Privacy Glass
Front and Rear sensors

Options total $10,700

On the road for mid 47k plus GST
and first 2 services for free.

[Dubya]

If finances are so tight that midlife is considering going from a 118TSI to a 90TSI (but with a $2,000 Comfort Pack which seems in the long term will defeat most of the purpose of dropping down to the cheaper model) then I think he should think long and hard about buying a brand new car at all with their significant initial depreciation.

Value for money is what I'd be going for if my finances were as tight and that means driving a hard bargain on a second hand car and/or looking at the Skoda brand.

It is usually difficult to sell cars second hand which makes it a buyers' market and MLC should use this to his advantage and not overstretch himself on a 118 TSI Variant or shortchange himself with a 90TSI.

In such a market he could "save" (reduce his investment by) $10k and get all of the features and functionality he desires in a, say, 2008/09 vehicle with <30k km on the clock.

[midlifecrisis]

Have you considered a Skoda Octavia Wagon? Better engines, more power, better appointed, less money, no early adopters "tax".

just a thought

edit: didn't bother reading thread - I take it that's already been suggested?

edit2: pay no attention to the prices on the Skoda site. You'll get a big discount off them.
Also, the 118kw 1.8TSI puts out way more than 118kw from the factory - more like 125kw-130kw. I have no idea why they understate the power on that engine.

As gregos said - have a look at the Octy hatch. Huge boot. I can highly recomend you try Wakelings Skoda at Campbelltown. Got my Octy for ~$32k drive-away.
:

Ok thanks for the heads up. I agree with the thinking that the Golf Wagon for the next 12 months will be lucky to not be sticker price. I was hoping the strong Aussie to Euro and more competitive market might help on prices.

When you configured your Octy's did you haggle the cost of every option, or just shoot for a 10%-15% off the total?

[midlifecrisis]

If finances are so tight that midlife is considering going from a 118TSI to a 90TSI (but with a $2,000 Comfort Pack which seems in the long term will defeat most of the purpose of dropping down to the cheaper model) then I think he should think long and hard about buying a brand new car at all with their significant initial depreciation.

Value for money is what I'd be going for if my finances were as tight and that means driving a hard bargain on a second hand car and/or looking at the Skoda brand.

It is usually difficult to sell cars second hand which makes it a buyers' market and MLC should use this to his advantage and not overstretch himself on a 118 TSI Variant or shortchange himself with a 90TSI.

In such a market he could "save" (reduce his investment by) $10k and get all of the features and functionality he desires in a, say, 2008/09 vehicle with <30k km on the clock.

My problem is trying to get something with everything I think I want.
So far on the to drive list are all the Golf Wagon engines when they appear, maybe the Skoda Roomster, Skoda Octavia wagon, Hyundai i30CW, Mazda 6 Hatch and Wagon, maybe the Mazda CX-7 new 2 wheel drive, maybe the Nissan Dualis, Subaru Forester and Peugeot 308. My spreadsheet for all these is slowly coming together.

At present I want new because it is a 10 year planned keeper. I want something
> very safe (ANCAP 5, ESP! curtain airbags, and stuff to keep hands on the wheel -> pref auto lights and wipers, pref wheel controls for music and phone),
> decent auto - I dont want a gas/diesel guzzler, or a kangaroo gear box,
> prefer 500 litre back and easy access (hence hatch or wagon),
> cool as I hate sitting in summer traffic with my aircon not cutting it or having to turn it off for the otherhalf who is too cold (dual zone and tinting),
> reasonable acceleration and road holding (10 secs to 100 preferably - safety and fun),
> reasonable fuel economy (<= 8L/100km) if I can, under 10L/100km at worst,
> parking sensors rear and front to avoid expensive bingles and parking hassles (Park Assist looks like a major benefit as well to avoid guttering wheels and screwing up when I have poor rear vision),
> good ipod/iphone integration,
> baby/kid friendly and safe,
> reliable,
> good after sales support,
> and a friendly Aussie online community as well would be a bonus.

[brad]

When you configured your Octy's did you haggle the cost of every option, or just shoot for a 10%-15% off the total?

I didn't get any options - there wasn't much on the list to have. About the only thing I stipulated was that I wanted CSC2 tyres & not the other two brands that were fitted. Had my windows tinted by an independant for $250.

The other thing that sealed it was that the dealer offered me $4k more for my trade-in than the VW dealer did on a $10k more expensive GTI.

The other advantage of the 118kw Skoda is it's a 1.8 with turbo whereas the Golf is a 1.4 turbo/supercharged so the Skoda is slightly less complicated & not as stressed.

If you can live with a manual (the M6 is an easy box to live with. I usually drive autos) then you'll get a low km 18month old Octy 1.8TSI with <35,000km for $20k-$25k.

[TuNeS]

My problem is trying to get something with everything I think I want.
So far on the to drive list are all the Golf Wagon engines when they appear, maybe the Skoda Roomster, Skoda Octavia wagon, Hyundai i30CW, Mazda 6 Hatch and Wagon, maybe the Mazda CX-7 new 2 wheel drive, maybe the Nissan Dualis, Subaru Forester and Peugeot 308. My spreadsheet for all these is slowly coming together.

At present I want new because it is a 10 year planned keeper. I want something
> very safe (ANCAP 5, ESP! curtain airbags, and stuff to keep hands on the wheel -> pref auto lights and wipers, pref wheel controls for music and phone),
> decent auto - I dont want a gas/diesel guzzler, or a kangaroo gear box,
> prefer 500 litre back and easy access (hence hatch or wagon),
> cool as I hate sitting in summer traffic with my aircon not cutting it or having to turn it off for the otherhalf who is too cold (dual zone and tinting),
> reasonable acceleration and road holding (10 secs to 100 preferably - safety and fun),
> reasonable fuel economy (<= 8L/100km) if I can, under 10L/100km at worst,
> parking sensors rear and front to avoid expensive bingles and parking hassles (Park Assist looks like a major benefit as well to avoid guttering wheels and screwing up when I have poor rear vision),
> good ipod/iphone integration,
> baby/kid friendly and safe,
> reliable,
> good after sales support,
> and a friendly Aussie online community as well would be a bonus.

+1 from the extremely satisfied Octavia club The Octavia TSI with 7speed DSG meets all of the above you stated. The driveaway RRP on the website is merely a suggestion........You will get a better price than that.

Happy hunting and I hope you enjoy whatever you end up with.

[Spook]

When you configured your Octy's did you haggle the cost of every option, or just shoot for a 10%-15% off the total?

You wouldn't haggle on each option. The thing to concentrate on is the final purchase price, or changeover price if you have a trade in.

Looking at what you want, the Octavia has you pretty well covered.

• DSG Liftback/wagon at $37,705 / $39,810 on road respectively

• Front/rear sensors at $990

• metallic paint at $630

• MDI at $270 (?? - I used VW price)

And you're all set. Assuming negligable stamp duty and total is $41,700 driveaway for the wagon without any haggling. You get acceleration 0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds, fuel consumption 6.7L/100km, dual zone air-con, auto headlights and wipers, multifunction leather steering wheel, 560/580 litres boot space, and the neatest touch-screen audio (and parking/climate control) system there is, the RCD510 (aka Bolero).

But back to the topic. For a Golf Wagon, you're looking at probably at least $34,990 for a DSG 118TSI Comfortline (ex on-roads, assuming we do get this model). Using Golf hatch prices, the options you'll need to get to your specs are:

• $700 metallic paint

• $1,400 park assist

• $270 MDI

Comes to $37,360. On-roads will probably add around $4k, giving you a total of $41,360. Looks cheaper than the Octavia, but you won't have the RCD510, but you do get park assist.

Again you'll most likely be able to bring that down under $40k. 0-100km/h in 8 seconds, fuel consumption 6.2L/100km (both hatch figures here; wagon will be slower/thirstier due to the extra weight), 505 litres boot space, and extra for RCD 510.

So it looks like the Octavia wagon is pretty much lineball with the Golf wagon, which surprises me to be honest. I would have thought Skoda will be cheaper than their VW cousins. In any case, all this is pure conjecture until VW puts out the pricelist.

Incidently, you can now register on the VW website to get more info on the wagon.

[logger]

Also, the 118kw 1.8TSI puts out way more than 118kw from the factory - more like 125kw-130kw. I have no idea why they understate the power on that engine.

Skoda do not have a monopoly on this. Apparently same is true of the 118kw 1.4L TSI in the VWs. They too put out more than 118kw from the factory.

[midlifecrisis]

You wouldn't haggle on each option. The thing to concentrate on is the final purchase price, or changeover price if you have a trade in.

Looking at what you want, the Octavia has you pretty well covered.

• DSG Liftback/wagon at $37,705 / $39,810 on road respectively

• Front/rear sensors at $990

• metallic paint at $630

• MDI at $270 (?? - I used VW price)

And you're all set. Assuming negligable stamp duty and total is $41,700 driveaway for the wagon without any haggling. You get acceleration 0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds, fuel consumption 6.7L/100km, dual zone air-con, auto headlights and wipers, multifunction leather steering wheel, 560/580 litres boot space, and the neatest touch-screen audio (and parking/climate control) system there is, the RCD510 (aka Bolero).

But back to the topic. For a Golf Wagon, you're looking at probably at least $34,990 for a DSG 118TSI Comfortline (ex on-roads, assuming we do get this model). Using Golf hatch prices, the options you'll need to get to your specs are:

• $700 metallic paint

• $1,400 park assist

• $270 MDI

Comes to $37,360. On-roads will probably add around $4k, giving you a total of $41,360. Looks cheaper than the Octavia, but you won't have the RCD510, but you do get park assist.

Again you'll most likely be able to bring that down under $40k. 0-100km/h in 8 seconds, fuel consumption 6.2L/100km (both hatch figures here; wagon will be slower/thirstier due to the extra weight), 505 litres boot space, and extra for RCD 510.

So it looks like the Octavia wagon is pretty much lineball with the Golf wagon, which surprises me to be honest. I would have thought Skoda will be cheaper than their VW cousins. In any case, all this is pure conjecture until VW puts out the pricelist.

Incidently, you can now register on the VW website to get more info on the wagon.

Yeah, thanks I did register already.

As for configurations and costs, I looked at the NZ options as they are posted now.

NZ exchange rate is $1NZ = $0.80 AUD So take 20% off everything.
I am fairly certain from a number of current Aussie market golf upgrades that we will get an even better deal than NZ.
For example the current MkIV 90kW TSI DSG = $40,750NZ / $32795AUD equivalent
Current Australian price for same Golf is $32,990 for Comfortline but the NZ configuration has smaller alloys, no multifuction steering wheel, climate control, and lacks other smaller Comfortline additions. Or Bluetooth is $500 here and $600 even after NZ exchange rate in NZ.
Also with the Auissie dollar being the highest against the Euro for 2 years they really need to adjust the whole range so maybe 2010 will see drops like Peugeot did this week.

So guess configuration and costs

TSI 90kW DSG is $32996.
With sideairbags / belts light $480
Light and Vision package $600
ParkPilot and front and back sensors $1400
Rear privacy glass (heat) $523
Climate zone aircon $600
Multifunction steering wheel and big display $400
MDI for iPod $360
Bluetooth $600 (is actually $500 AUD for current Golf VI)

TSI 90kW (10 sec to 100 - same as original SSS)
$32996
goes to
$37959 ($38K + O/R)
with alloys
$39559 - But probably $2000 less due to reasons mentioned + OR