[flyfs6]

I'm looking to get a new car for household use and I'm considering the following options:

Mercedes A200 AMG Sport Auto
Audi A3 Sportback S line 1.4 TSI DSG
VW Golf GT 1.4TSI DSG

While some things we want are standard on one car and optional on another, theres vice versa going on too. The must haves for us are xenons, basic sat nav, privacy glass, folding mirrors, parking sensors and split folding seats with load through.

The A class seems to car to be the car everyone wants to have judging by the amount I have seen on the road. The trouble is only £1k discount on the Mercedes, compare to £2k off Audi and almost £3k off the Golf. At that level of discount on the A Class, I could get in to a nice C180 AMG Sport Plus Auto for less, although I wouldn't really want one because there is a new C Class due soon.

The Golf has the most amount of practical equipment as standard such as nav, privacy glass, front & rear parking sensors plus folding mirrors. While the A3 benefits from standard xenon, body kit and larger wheels, but little less power than the Golf.

Has anyone on here sat in a Audi A3 Sportback or the new Mercedes A Class and what were your thoughts? Also has anyone experienced the VAG 1.4TSI (122bhp or 140bhp) engine ?

Thanks.

[mowflow]

Having driven an A class i would score it off straight away. Drive aside it's too cramped inside. Fine for the driver and passenger but rear leg room isn't great and the boot is very small when compared to the others.

I drove the 1.8Tfsi A3. It was a massive improvement on the old car in terms of steering and general ride quality. I didn't like how the S-tronic went with the 1.8 engine but reports seem to be that the 1.4TSI is what to go for. I believe it uses a different box. I would still have considered one if Audi had even attempted to make the figures work (they didn't)

Haven't driven the golf. The press are saying it's "class leading" as usual. I can really see it being that different from the A3 or the new Leon with being built on the same platform with the same engine options and no doubt quite a few other shared parts. I'm not a fan of the rear end on the mk7. Coincidently, saw my first new Leon on the road this week and it looks like an Audi from behind.

In terms of the VAG 1.4TSI engines, I know a few people that have various VAG wagons with them. Only complaint seems to be that they are nowhere near as economical as VAG claim.

[marcvaf]

Hi,

I have a Golf 1.4TSI DSG (122) and really pleased with it. The DSG box is really good and the gear changes are very quick and smooth.

The car does feel really quick especially for a 1.4, it doesnt feel too far off the 320D 177 i traded it in for. The DSG is meant to be more economic than the manual...with urban sitting at 36mpg compared to 34mpg with the manual...i usualy get close to 36mpg with start stop traffic, on a motorway doing sensible speeds usually 48+ mpg...having read numerous problems with the TSI 160 before buying the car the 122 has alot less issues

[mowflow]

I think they dropped the 160 1.4TSI as it was a hound. Lots of issues that VAG never did manage to sort. Speculation seems to be that they were hyper sensitive to spark plug gapping .1 out and the engine throws a fit.

[davyk31]

Any thoughts for the 1 Series? Not the prettiest fronts but a couple I had a courtesy cars were impressive enough, only 116i as well.

[AlwynMike]

SWMBO and I test drove a Skoda Labia vRS as a replacement for her arthritic Ibiza.
180bhp from a 1.4 pulling nothing. Feels very quick and responsive. Smoother ride than her Ibiza Sport. Pure plastic inside. 7 speed Gearbox super smooth and flappy paddles if she wants to play. Not the most good looking of cars, but we (meaning me!) tend to buy cars for the dynamics, rather than visual qualities (in the past I've had a Peugeot 309Gti and Lancia Fulvia's - all ugly cars but very very rewarding to drive).

Horror stories about the earlier CAVE engine using more oil than petrol, later CTHE supposed to be much improved. Likewise the plug issue is better now

Oh yes, hers is on order, supposed to be built this week, delivery in about 3 weeks hopefully.

Mike

[willhollin]

Not seen a Skoda Labia before!

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by willhollin

Not seen a Skoda Labia before!

Will, on past performance, I think you probably have!!!!

One of these days I will call her car that in polite company.

[scottc]

Would be worth looking at the Merc, they are doing silly deals at the mo. I got 14% plus £2300 towards the finance deposit. It works out at nearly 19% which is just silly.. Worth a look

[Sportplus]

Originally Posted by scottc

Would be worth looking at the Merc, they are doing silly deals at the mo. I got 14% plus £2300 towards the finance deposit. It works out at nearly 19% which is just silly.. Worth a look

I hope that wasn't a A class you bought...

Before discout 45-46K

With discout 36-37K depending on the "nearly 19%" figure

C or E class??

Can you PM the deal you got and what model please. This may get added to my list to look at depending on monthly repayments.

[scottc]

It's wasn't an A Class, i got a C250CDI AMG Sport Plus Coupe. The deal was great, it saved me 50% on my Porsche payments with a small deposit.

[flyfs6]

Thank you all for your replies.

Tried to view the A3 sportback but the first dealer we visited had no A3's at all. My household entourage did not seem keen on the idea of an A3.

We then viewed the Golf, which we later concluded is overall the nicest out of the three cars on my list. The dealership we visited were least interested in serving customers (VW Romford). When I was finally seen I said I'd like £3k off plus service pack & extended warranty. They didn't even come close, £500 off to cover the cost of metallic paint only. They haven't called back since. If I do order a Golf from anywhere it will take 12-16 weeks.

Checked out an A class, scored off in favour of the C class and it also lacked rear leg space due to the lovely one piece seats. Also felt probably the most 'modern, sporty & funky'. I asked to see a C Class AMG sport and a GL. I felt the saleswoman keen but pushy, we were looking at what cars they have in build even before seeing the models I asked to see. The household entourage wanted me to close the deal on a C class, thankfully the dealership didn't offer enough discount, phew! She only offered finance contribution (when I don't want finance) and asked me to email a quote I'd received elsewhere. They haven't called back since.

Finally got to see the new Audi A3 sportback, but household folk were not keen citing the Golf feels nicer (VW really have raised the bar high). I have been in touch with the lovely folk from West London Audi, whom I haven't visited yet but they have still offered an extended test drive and seem very willing to make something happen. Again a 16 week wait, I think I'd rather break the bank & get a S3 sportback.

So today I picked up the chariot we want to replace after warranty work, a Toyota Yaris 1.3 SR manual, yes I drive a Yaris... only sometimes . This was the best dealership I have visited recently. I found the salesman non pushy, he was patient and I drove a Yaris hybrid to get a feel of the thing plus CVT gearbox. A 1.3SR Auto (CVT) will have to be ordered, but Toyota have a manual version in stock (£1k less than SR auto and £2k less than T4 hybrid), apparently they're dropping on passenger height adjustment on the new ordered cars! They got very close to the deal I want, but I've walked away, do I really want another Yaris

[tony20009]

Household chores? I'd have said the Golf, but after reading of your drama with them and their unwillingness to meet you on price, the Yaris may the right choice. It is just tooling around and running errands after all, and you're quite used to using one. Do you need to fix what isn't broken?

[phil200tdi]

The golf would be my choice.

I'd try to go for a gt tdi though. 68mpg and 180bhp... Saw some decent lease deals on these recently too!

[prt71]

I set out to buy something similar to replace my wife's Prius, ended up today buying a VW High Up!

Love the looks and genuinely looking forward to driving it, less is more and all that.

[gIzzE]

I have taken the 2.0tdi A3 out and the the 1.4tfsi Sportback, loved them both, petrol definitely the winner, so nice to drive, refined, perfectly fine power wise and returned exactly the same MPG on the 120 mile run as the diesel, 48mpg.

This was my write up on the Merc forum...

Originally Posted by gIzzE on mbclub forum

After the discussion on RWD vs FWD in cars, and the group of family hatches including the A Class, Golf, 1 Series and A3, and 'does it really matter?' I decided it was best to try them all.

I have been thinking bout getting one of the above as a no worries, new car, good mpg, low tax, and cheap (contract hire deals from around £45 week).

As much as I like my 51 plate C Class estate, being a 12 year old car there will always be things that I could find to do on it to get it tip top, and I was wondering if a new one of the above may well be cheaper, or certainly no more expensive in real terms.

Decided the Golf and A3 are pretty much the same, and I don't really want a VW, so arranged a test drive of the Audi.
Had it for the weekend, no sportback at the moment but they have the 150bhp S-Line 3dr with the only option ticked being xenons, so perfect as this is what I would want, and would not actually order xenons to save some money.

Called Mercedes to arrange a test of the A Class, asked if I could have it on Monday. The reply was "someone can go down the road with you."
Seriously Robinsons Norwich, sort it out, I got the same when looking for an E Class estate, waited 6 months to get a test sorted out and in the end bought one from Worcester as I couldn't be bothered to wait any longer. Then asked for a test of the C250cdi sport plus estate they had, that was 6 months ago and still not heard back!

BMW have said I can have the car a week Monday or pop down and have one for an hour or so whenever I want, if that is long enough.
Fair enough.


So, just dropped the A3 off back at Audi.

Impressions??

Nice.


That's really about it to be honest.
Didn't thrill me in any area, but I wasn't expecting it to if I'm honest.
But I will say this, I could easily own one of these.

Firstly the ride, I had a 54 plate 2.0tdi S-Line when new, it was nicely put together but was a very hard ride, steering was crap, engine was noisy, power was adequate but always felt a little lacking, and overall it was never quite right.
This new one feels like a much bigger car to drive, it was firm, but it soaked up the roads really well. Was pretty impressed with this, as Audis normally mange to wallow around and crash over every lump and bump at the same time, a technical marvel that isn't something to be proud of. The ride on this A3 though was great.
I think I would try and find a car that was S-Line with the SE suspension though, think it would feel even better.

Power.
Only 150bhp so going to feel sluggish.
Oh No!!
I couldn't believe this was only 150bhp, it pulled so well and felt really quick, can't see anyone needing anything more. Pulled incredibly well.

Economy.
I reset it when getting in and when I took it back it was showing 48mpg. I would expect me to average around 53mpg in my normal driving.
Can't argue with that really, plently good enough.

Cabin.
1st Class.
From the pics I had seen I thought it looked bland and a real step backward, however, being in it the quality is excellent, soft touch plastics everywhere, grained black metal around the gearstick etc. All the switch gear has that solid rubberised feel to them.
Made me realise just how poor my E350 interior was.

The cluster is superb, as in obc or DIS as Audi call it, as is the multi function steering wheel controlling it all, and the Media Interface just worked, phone hooked up in 10 seconds, bluetooth streaming etc.
Sat nav came as standard and worked well.
Also the standard stereo was brilliant, full and warm with a nice sparkly top end, tweeter in the a pillars firing across the dash, nice move Audi.

The steering wheel as well, superb!
Audi steering wheels have always been pants imho, thin and too big, horrid.
This was chunky and small so felt great.

Seats.
Hmmm, nice.
S-Line seats that were just perfect.
Adjust in every direction and, well, perfect for me.

Space.
Not great. Felt fine driving it, the dog fitted in the boot no problem but we would struggle to go away in it without a roof box, but that is a given in this size car.
Sportback would give that bit more room on the boot and roof rails, that would be fine.


So a no brainer, I ordered one???
No.
The handling is still something to be desired, as many said in the FWD vs RWD thread, most wouldn't even notice it, but for me it is something that I may get a bit bored of once the new car feeling had worn off.
Just going home on a back road I know well showed up the FWD, you feel like you're being pulled round rather than pushing yourself round the corner in full control.
Not really an issue, more a shame.
It wouldn't stop me owning one, which is not something I could say about the previous model.


Must also mention the manual 'box, I hate manuals, but this was pretty nice, I would consider owning one, prefer the DSG, but I could live with this.

I can certainly see why What Car? has given the Sportback "Car of the Year 2013".
A very impressive package and all the car anyone would really 'need'.







Next up the 1 series, and the A Class if Mercedes will every lend me one.

Originally Posted by gIzzE on mbclub forum

Just a quick update on this.
I was lent the 1.4tfsi Sportback over the weekend.

100x better than the diesel, better handling (much lighter up front in feel), much nicer clutch (in fact would like it in manual over dsg), and it felt so refined in comparison.

Plus it also went back with 48mpg showing too, so why would anyone buy the diesel????

They are releasing a 1.4tsi with 28bhp more and cylinder on demand, so will cut cylinders when cruising saving some fuel.
Same price as the 2.0tdi, that has got to be the one to go for??

[gIzzE]

Oh, I also tried the 116i sport, that was really nice too, but if I am honest I think I would go with the A3.

[mowflow]

If the mk7 GTD achieves 68mpg on any normal drive I will eat my own legs. By all accounts the mk6 GTD returns 49mpg on average according to fuelly and honest John sites. No way will VAG have mad that much of an improvement and upped the wick.

Household entourage is a great term. I shall be referring to my family as such from now on.

[flyfs6]

Tony - I think yes, not fixing whats not broken maybe a sensible option. A change would be nice though. I would like to change the car in any case, but this car is exactly for running those errands where I don't have to worry about the car. I could just get another Yaris & save at least £9.5k.

Guy - brilliant reviews and they've been very helpful, thank you. The 1 series if I'm honest is tighter for occupants than the car I'm looking to replace, this strikes it off the list, plus its more money.

Mowflow - I want to avoid a diesel engine like plague . I lived with a poverty spec 1.6 TDI Mk6 Golf for a week recently, and the noise would just drive me mad. We will probably only do 6k miles in this car, but if we did get something nice then I would probably be tempted more often leave my car behind and drive this shopping trolley more instead.

[flyfs6]

I have seen an ex demo March 2013 (think its only been pre-reg) F30 320i M Sport auto with standard leather, pro nav, visibility pack, sun protection glass, heated seats, dimming folding mirrors, 5 year service pack...up for £26,850 (list £35k) ... perhaps I should bait them with £25k?!

[mikeysix]

Fly mate whatever it is you do for a living im happy to get trained up and help!!!! If your buying 25k motors to take stuff to the dump and the likes then I could live with that!!!!

[rich1068]

Can we define 'household duties'?

I'd be looking at something Korean (Kia) or the Focus ST Estate if you're wanting sporty and space.