What to buy? GTI or R20

[elisiX]

Sorry I forgot to say, when I spoke with my dealer before about my build date I asked him about any new info on the R20.

He said that all the talk amongst the sales managers was that pricing will be very close if not exactly the same as the existing R32 model and he expects leather and xenon's to be standard. But he did say that it'll be $65k on the road without any movement initially and without any options. On options, he thinks itll be an $80k vehicle if the same options are ticked from the GTI on the R. (well most cause Leather and Xenon's are included).

[Corey_R]

Yeah - this is what I've predicted and put into my spreadsheet. So really it'll be a case of waiting until the cars are here, go test drive one, and then negotiate on a 'to order' car from the factory, rather than the stock they already have.... just in the same way the people with the big discounts on the GTI have done

[elisiX]

fark. I'm in two minds as to what to do.

Wish the official pricing was out at least - even if you cant drive one.

I dont think I could wait for an order and would have to get what arrives first.

It's going to be bad enough waiting till late April let alone late May/June.

[G-rig]

The wait is so long and goes so slow, would be tempting to rock up at VW the first day and just grab whatever is there.

Or you could just get an S3. Prob a fair wait on them depending on options too but a second hand one would be alright.

[cme2c]

The wait is so long and goes so slow, would be tempting to rock up at VW the first day and just grab whatever is there.

Or you could just get an S3. Prob a fair wait on them depending on options too but a second hand one would be alright.

What about this?
http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...ords=&__N=1216 1246 1247 1252 1282 4294967194 4294967179 898&SearchAction=N&silo=1011&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhom e&__Nne=15&trecs=27&__sid=12632584F7B3

$75K with nav and titanium alloys. Brand new. Or for something different see if that guy in Melbourne gets the Scirocco on the road.

[Timbo]

Or you could just get an S3. Prob a fair wait on them depending on options too but a second hand one would be alright.

There seems to be a few 09 S3s in the hands of dealers. If you are not too fussed about options/colours, I'd wager decent money you can get one of them for a very good price. There's a few of us who managed $18-20k off RRP (around $60K OTR).

Looking at the specs, there's no real difference between what an S3 offers now, and what an R20 will offer in 6+ months time. Obviously, it's a matter of opinion about external/internal -- personally, I think the Audi interior is much higher quality than the VW, but I prefer the R20 to an S3 Sportback.

[Sharkie]

Audi Openhaus is on .... free onroads ... and reductions due to the tariffs....

New S3 Sportback could be yours for less than $67K driveaway with a bit of negotiation.

Same spec as the R, but with more prestige ..... and also lower resale in 3 yrs ....

BUT .....

for the best drive ditch them all and buy a BMW 135i .... better drive than all of them and quicker ..... pity it only has 4 seats otherwise I'd have 1 already .....

I drove a 135i and S3 back to back and there is no comparison .... its like a GT compared to a GTI .... not in the same league .....

[gareth_oau]

Audi Perth have got a similar one for sale, with flat bottom steering wheel and RS buckets installed as well

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...cs=3&silo=1011

if you want to buy it, i can drive it back to the east for you as well

[Corey_R]

I drove a 135i and S3 back to back and there is no comparison .... its like a GT compared to a GTI .... not in the same league .....

I agree with ya there. The 135i is awesome to drive. Shame about the interior (quality, practicality etc) and the cost of the car by the time you throw options in. Also, BMW are very open about how they won't 'negotiate five figure discounts like Audi' does because they say that they are ACTUALLY a premium brand instead of a brand wishing it were premium (to paraphrase).

[G-rig]

135i is the obvious performance choice but just that bit too expensive (compared to the GTI/S3/R32) and more impractical to be an only car. It would probably be a good car to get second hand if you can find a good example. I test drove an Auto and they are pretty nice, better visablity than the golf although didn't really get the chance to gun it properly. Interesting how they will be available in DCT (DSG) and the MY10 has twin scroll turbos.

I've always liked S3's, the interior was to die for when i saw a few pics a couple of years ago. The fit and finish is definitely better, even the stock radio looks top quality. Don't think the sportsback looks right though, would have to be a 3dr. For the discounts they are well worth considering against the Golf R. Agree that Audi will lose more value but if you get a bigger discount to start with then could be doable, and yet to get pricing on the R. Exterior wise i do like the Golf R better, and a 5dr Golf looks better than a 5dr A3 IMO.

Not sure it's really worth swapping from an R32 to S3 either, kind of a side step.

As mentioned you can't really go nuts with Audi options and everything costs more (service, parts, options etc).