NEW VW GOLF OR POLO

b0rder1, Feb 20, 12:29am
Looking to replace 2007 Holden Astra 2.2 SRI with either a new 77kw VW Polo or a 90kw VW Golf TSI.Any opinions on reliability of the new VW's or would we be safer buying a Mazda3 SP25!

carkitter, Feb 20, 12:33am
Mazda are doing some good deals on the 3 atm.

serf407, Feb 20, 12:56am
Hyundai i30 1.6 90kW, manual or auto, also dieselor 2 litre versions

What is important - open road ability, low fuel use, traffic jam crawling ability etc

vtecintegra, Feb 20, 1:09am
Depends on how big of a car you need.

I'd go the SP25 but be aware it isn't anywhere near as refined as the VWs (is better to drive though)

b0rder1, Feb 20, 2:02am
Test drove the i30 2,0 elite a few months back.4 speed automatic just doesn't do it for me after a 6 speed manual.Daily driving is mainly around town short trips, but also need good driving car for motorway driving/holidays pretty regularly.With price of fuel going up all the time, was impressed by claimed fuel consumption on Polo and Golf compared to Mazda (not taking into account the 91/95 fuel).Are these claims realistic!

People always seem to have horror stories about VW reliability and servicing repair costs.Also saying steer clear of DSG gearboxes because they cost big money to repair.

clark20, Feb 20, 3:15am
If you are going new "new" then its covered by warranty anyway. Go the golf, it will be more comfortable. Like all cars just keep them properly maintained and it will be OK easily for the first 100,000km.

Don't ever think of comparing the Hyundai to those, there is no comparison (and you are not left with a $2000 sh!tter at the end.

Actually it's time for jazz to back this up, He will be here momentarily.

clark20, Feb 20, 3:21am
We have 3 Mazda 3s owned by staff, and 2 have the SP23, with LED tail lamps. Now 4 years old she needs a new tail lamp at $500, I said Mazda should be coming to the party on that one as they should not fail for at least 10 years.

I still like the Mazda 3

shane.64, Feb 20, 5:26am
The golf is better then the polo but are they made in Germany or China !

gunhand, Feb 20, 5:35am
You might be a few years behind with the Hyundia comment. Once yes now no.

carmedic, Feb 20, 5:35am
Germany
VW??

clark20, Feb 20, 7:30am
Yes, still now. The Santa Fe's not bad. The others are still cheap underneath, even with their "new" clothes

clark20, Feb 20, 8:11am
Bumping for Jazz

poohy99, Feb 20, 6:28pm
That's because most people on this board discuss used imports.Nothing to concern yourself with a new VW.

read-a-holic, Feb 20, 6:51pm
both the vw polo and vw gold are pretty nice, saw someone test driving one the other day, definitely prettylol.The maintanance is an issue further down the track, ive got a polo (about 9 years old now though) and its definitely cost more to maintain than my previous corolla.if you like the vw, keep it for 50-100 thousand kms then sell before it starts to cost you too much

thejazzpianoma, Feb 20, 9:30pm
Golf or Polo either would be great. Personally I would go with the Golf as even the larger motor options are stupidly economical.

Nothing comes close to the Golf as a vehicle for the money. No one has a gearbox even close to being as good that has been tried and tested for 7 years. Its the gearbox that makes it, the DSG gives you better economy than a manual, super low maintenance and all the advantage of an automatic (and more)

With smaller cars its ALL about reducing drag on the drive train and having enough gears.

In terms of maintenance the Golf is very low maintenance and a good proposition for resale etc. Don't worry about the comments about VW's of old, the old Polo's were never a great car and while the Golfs were good they had niggles. The new generation of VW products reflects a company with Money to burn for development and aspirations to be the Number one manufacturer in the world (which they will be shortly)

The new generation Golfs (I consider these to be from the MK5 version) have real proven reliability even at very high km's, (lots of high km ones in the world as reps and financial controllers love them)

The difference in running costs between the Mazda and Golf will be huge. On paper you will find the Mazda uses nearly half as much fuel again as the Golf. in practice in the real world you will likely find the gap even bigger with the Mazda using closer to 60% more fuel.

I have been a big Mazda fan in past but right now they are just not in the running from an engineering standpoint.

intrade, Feb 20, 11:11pm
id buy a hiunday over a mazda any day. my mother has a i30 and it seems a good car they started making good cars since the getz came out.

ab095, Feb 20, 11:24pm
I'm a VW man, owned the first series Golf back in the day, now drive a Polo as my daily driver. If you buy new, no problem with repair, secondhand, many good VW specialists around. Strongly recommend you research on www.whatcar.com

fooglie, Mar 9, 9:02am
My wife's work car (tdi Golf) is on it's 3rd gearbox with less than 30 000 k's on the clock. We have had a Sonata which was the best car we have ever had. I know that Hyundai make a solid, reliable, super economical car. No contest.

thejazzpianoma, Mar 9, 9:07am
What year/model Golf and which dealership is looking after it!
This sounds suspiciously like the work of an incompetent agency than an ongoing problem with the Gearbox. but I may be speaking too soon.

That said there was a recall on a small batch of TDI's (Coke was affected as they just bought their huge fleet in time for the recall) and I suspect this may have had something to do with the change to dry clutches about then.

Here's a link to the U.K recall. probably some in for on the Kiwi one (same thing) if you look around http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/2010/1/12/latest-vehicle-recalls/32351/

clark20, Mar 9, 9:08am
No, that cannot be right. Jazz informs us the gearboxes actually get newer with age, and servicing is sooo cheap.

thejazzpianoma, Jul 3, 9:59am
Not only does the gearbox get newer with age, so does anyone who is privileged enough to drive one.