Golf R 7/7.5 in 2024

[FifthGear]

Doesn’t take long after searching for S3 for Japan Imported cars to show up. Usually lower mileage 60K miles 100KM got better spec and meant to be clean underneath. I think landed I could get one for around 12 or 13K through an agent but happy to be corrected on this? I obviously haven’t done it before so don’t think doing it on my own is sensible. I’ve seen mention of insurance but quotes i’ve checked show minimal or slightly less with import.

Thing is if I chose to go that route it’d be probably least 3 months by time it’s landed and registered tested etc. I’m thinking it could be a viable option to at least get a better condition car than the ones largely in my price bracket. But obviously I rather buy a car sooner than later. I see plenty of JDM 8P S3 for sale as I guess over 10 year old car don’t need IVA test. I looked at those a while ago but thought they’d be tired now and if the new car is not much more then that would be better option.

Edited by FifthGear on Sunday 30th June 22:32

[Tony_T]

I'm looking at doing the same thing but sticking to 2013/2014 to avoid the IVA test (although not really looked into how much of hassle this would be). Think the pound is pretty good against the Yen at the moment too.

[FifthGear]

Tony_T said:

I'm looking at doing the same thing but sticking to 2013/2014 to avoid the IVA test (although not really looked into how much of hassle this would be). Think the pound is pretty good against the Yen at the moment too.

Logistically for me I stay other end of the country from the ports so I do need to rely on someone to take care of it for me. But I think if you had an idea of what to do it wouldn’t be that complicated.

What websites do you look on, i’ve came across JDMAW. I spoke to someone who says he runs an import site says a sportback with 50K miles would be around £12K or Saloon couple grand more. As far as options I wouldn’t ever use magride and just something else to go wrong for me, only thing I’m after is the upgraded sound system a nice colour would be a bonus

[Tony_T]

I've looked on Japaneseusedcars.com, website is extremely old but from what i can tell they have a good reputation. I'm looking at a MK7 gti, it won't be bargain of the century but should get a car that's a better spec and half the mileage of a UK one for a grand or two less. (I'm looking at spending around 9-10k all in).

[blueovercream]

I may have missed this but I presume there's a specific reason you want AWD, however, I'd really recommend a Mk 7 GTI. I put winter tyres on mine and it's great. Living in Scotland they get put to good use.

For your budget you'll get a bigger choice of cars in better condition, and the interior, with tartan seats, looks great vs the R which I think looks a bit bland. I'd guess a GTI might also be cheaper to insure.

Various reviews comment on the GTI being a better drive dynamically and while I've not driven an R, I can't imagine I'd use or really notice the slight performance advantage on public roads.

[FifthGear]

blueovercream said:

I may have missed this but I presume there's a specific reason you want AWD, however, I'd really recommend a Mk 7 GTI. I put winter tyres on mine and it's great. Living in Scotland they get put to good use.

For your budget you'll get a bigger choice of cars in better condition, and the interior, with tartan seats, looks great vs the R which I think looks a bit bland. I'd guess a GTI might also be cheaper to insure.

Various reviews comment on the GTI being a better drive dynamically and while I've not driven an R, I can't imagine I'd use or really notice the slight performance advantage on public roads.

I live there too and aware that good tyres>awd. For my use case it doesn’t really need to be an interesting drive so would sacrifice the playfulness of the GTI.

I’ve only ever drove fwd or rwd and wanting to try awd this time of course I know it comes at a cost. I know a GTI or similar is better value but AWD is a big want for me this time after a spin in an A45 a couple year ago

Edited by FifthGear on Tuesday 2nd July 18:43

Edited by FifthGear on Tuesday 2nd July 18:45