MasterOfReality
After forever
Weren't most of the issues with the DSG though?Personally, I wouldn't buy a new Golf GTI. I prefer older Golfs (Mk1-Mk4) which I can vouch for as being quite reliable (and cheap to fix when they do break), but I can't say the same for the newer Golfs, except that what's been in the news lately about VW is a bit disconcerting. If you were going for a new VW, I would look carefully at what factory its coming out of before deciding. Having said that, I do think that VW unfairly bears the brunt of the whole "euro is expensive to fix" thing seeing as any new car that you can't really work on yourself is going to be expensive to fix. That's just the way it works these days.
There are a few independant mechanics that do euro/VW in Brisbane, although my closest one in Kenmore charges an arm and a leg for a service.
Thanks. Too bad the Renaults are not at Hyandai prices though!I've not had experience with the new Megane Hot hatches, but have owned 2 Renaults when I lived in the UK.
Clio - got it from new, drove it for 3 years, had a few little issues, overall not bad, but it was very basic.
Megane - was the dealer demo, drove it for 3 years, literally within weeks of its warranty expiring (3 yrs, I'd done around 80,000km), the following failed:
Aircon
Electric drivers window
CD Player
Middle brake light fell off the back window (Renault attempted to repair it twice and then told me just to take it off!)
Central locking
ABS Brakes
They (Renault's) are very popular in Europe for the same reason Hyundai are here (lots of car for you $), however they aren't built to last - more, they seem to be built to survive the warranty period. This was confirmed by a few mechanic friends.
Also - consider that these cars are built and designed for European driving - ie the majority of people only drive cars for upto 5 years and then swap them in for new ones (new car prices are very cheap!), average mileage is much lower than Aus, the roads are less stressful on suspension, and they don't have to cope with the heat / dust etc we get over here.
Add to that higher servicing costs, and the expense of any 'spares' having to be imported ... I would steer clear of a Megane over here (different story if you were in the UK and wanted one to keep for 2-3 years).
Just my experience, hope it helps!
p.s. The Ford Focus is regularly cited at the best in class in the European car magazines/tv shows.
Was watching more on youtube about the Focus ST - don't know if I can get over that terrible dashboard. Its almost as ugly as the Civic Type R.
There is a 2008 model in lairy orange with a sunroof on carsales if that isn't too old for you?I'm currently eyeballing Focus XR5s (budget's a fair whack smaller than yours), personally I prefer the look of the last XR5 (LV) to the new model; do you think I can find one with a sunroof though?
As for Meganes, they look sweet, but try sitting in one and looking out the back. The Astra GTC I had in Germany was a shocker for vision, but the Megane is possibly even worse; wouldn't top my list for practicality, that's for sure.
I'm yet to sit in any of these cars - the dealer I rang up on Friday to book a test drive for a WRX never got back to me to confirm.