Car Buying Decision, what would you do?

Car Buying Decision, what would you do?

Author
Discussion

wibble cb

Original Poster:

3,742 posts

214 months

Sunday 17th March
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My wife has decided to look into replacing her 2011 VW Golf, its getting on a bit and the mileage is now 194,000KM ( FYI we are in Canada), it has come down to 2 choices at the moment as per below:

Option1 - a 2021 VW Golf Highline Auto, its a mk 7.5, so still has actual dials and buttons, rather than the digital dash of the MK8, the car has just turned 3 years old and has 27,000 KM on it, so hasn't done much at all, it comes with Bluetooth, satnav, leatherette ( yes really), heated seats, sunroof, a/c, 17 inch alloys, basically all the usual bells and whistles, the dealer wants 30k C$ ( 17k GBP) with some scope to get a small discount, buying this outright is possible, no finance.

Option2 a brand new Mini Countryman Cooper S, its already built so no chance to spec it, again comes with sunroof, a/c, leatherette seats (heated again), Bluetooth, etc this was 52k C$ outright, or leased for a total of 46k C$ over 4 years.

Both are 'last of the line' cars, the Golf MK8 being a poorer car than the one it replaced, the Mini being due to be replaced next year, by a bigger more expensive model.

So do you pick the familiar Golf, knowing it will be similar to the present car in most respects, or go for the ostensibly new Mini, with lovely warranty ( and servicing), but in 4 years it would go back ?

I found the Mini perfectly adequate , it did nothing wrong, but didn't exactly wow me, while the Golf was like the one we have, with slightly nicer finishes.

Thoughts are appreciated, there are no wrong answers!

ZX10R NIN

28,358 posts

132 months

Sunday 17th March
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Golf it's the better car imo, but seeing as you're in Canada have you looked at the Hyundai range as they're imo better than the Golf.

georgeyboy12345

3,641 posts

42 months

Sunday 17th March
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I'd definitely pick the Golf.

Mr Tidy

24,270 posts

134 months

Sunday 17th March
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If your wife has been happy with her Golf and is only changing because of its age and mileage another Golf looks like a safer bet than a Mini that left you a bit underwhelmed.

Hyundai might be a good shout though, or Kia equivalent.

Mad Maximus

473 posts

10 months

Sunday 17th March
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The golf. I imagine your wife will just get pissed off when the mini ends up in the garage for warranty work every other week. That being said if you want something more exciting the mini is that but it comes with downsides.

Summit_Detailing

2,007 posts

200 months

Monday 18th March
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The Golf is the answer given you own one currently and it's not a mk8.

Cheers,

Chris

culpz

4,930 posts

119 months

Monday 18th March
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Purely out of those 2 options, I'd go for the Golf.

LTEcactus

51 posts

59 months

Monday 18th March
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Golf, it's the cheaper option and you have it outright so can decide to keep it as long as you like.

RammyMP

7,007 posts

160 months

Monday 18th March
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The wife had a Countryman for a weekend test drive, I didn’t like it, it just felt a bit cheap. I’d have the Golf.

DT1975

644 posts

35 months

Monday 18th March
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Mad Maximus said:
The golf. I imagine your wife will just get pissed off when the mini ends up in the garage for warranty work every other week. That being said if you want something more exciting the mini is that but it comes with downsides.
Which is of course nonsense . We've had four Mini F56 in the family since 2015 with a 2014 plate over 85,000 miles. The only one that needed warranty work was a software update for an engine warning light.

I work on these cars and they're pretty solid.

Ezra

626 posts

34 months

Monday 18th March
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Why are the choices limited to those 2? Are there specific criteria she wants? If so, maybe worth listing them and the PH collective may come up with some alternatives.

stevemcs

8,986 posts

100 months

Monday 18th March
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I’d go with the Mini, it’s a better car and egr aside is a more reliable car and better built, better nav too.

wibble cb

Original Poster:

3,742 posts

214 months

Tuesday 19th March
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Well, the MIni lost out , round 2 now commences, The same VW Golf is now being pitted against an Audi Q3 , the fun continues….

Ezra

626 posts

34 months

Wednesday 20th March
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If Audi is in the picture, are there A3's in Canada? They're more or less a Golf equivalent.

wibble cb

Original Poster:

3,742 posts

214 months

Wednesday 20th March
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We only get the A3 saloon, not hatches!

wibble cb

Original Poster:

3,742 posts

214 months

Sunday 31st March
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The verdict is in, she went with the Golf, picked it up Thursday and seems happy with her choice.


At 3 years old, its a Highline model with a lot of nice features, and only 28,000 KMs ( 17,500 miles, in 3 years! ), it still smelt new! We went to see it, it needed some rectification on the dash as the previous owner apparently had a dog, but it came back fine, it also came with a set of winter tyres/rims, free winter and summer mats, and a full tank of petrol, ultimately we got double the trade in price on her old Golf and 1500 bucks off the list price, all in a shade over $24,000, still has 1 year of the comprehensive warranty and 2 more years of engine/gearbox cover, not that we ever had a claim on the last one, so not overly worried by this.







spec here

https://www.auto123.com/en/specs/volkswagen/golf/v...

So its not a Q3/Countryman or Taos, because ultimately none of these is what we needed, the Golf is a great urban vehicle, fine for long trips and is is a capable load carrier.