[Blueorb]

Hi, I am a UK lease car driver due for a new car at the end of Sept. I am torn between the golf and the V40. I would be keen to know if anyone else considered the Golf and why they chose the V40.

I have driven both cars on extended test drives and both have their strengths. I have been back to the showroom today and looked at both again.

I do love the quality feel of the Volvo cabin and think I am going to go for it rather than the Golf. I am confused about specification however.

I would be ordering the R design Lux. I understand it has the full leather seats rather than the T tec offered in the standard R design and that it has rain sensing wipers and (Adaptive?) cruise control. I am unclear as to whether it has the theatre lighting, can someone confirm this? Does it also have xenon headlights or are these optional? Are there any other things added above the standard R design?

Can you also tell me if the premium sound pack is worth the additional money in terms of music quality over the standard high performance system?

One thing that does seem unfair is that the heated seats are an optional extra.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Matt

 

[cueba11]

Hi

Have a look here for the full specs.

I must admit I was deeply impressed with High performance audio system but I haven't had a back to back listening test with the standard system so I can say how much better it is.

 

[Marc]

It would be a no brainer for me, the Mk7 golf looks horrible in my opinion, not a patch on its original blood line, then add that tot he fact that everyone and their dog has a golf.... Just my 2p worth.

 

[B52]

Considered both, went for the volvo due to:

Being more fresh and having a more interesting design
Having better options/price ratio
Having better interior

Mind that i chose the d2 version and compared to the 1.6tdi golf

 

[nry]

Aesthetically there's no comparison in my mind (or my wife's!), the V40 R-Design is a stunning looking car, and the handling/comfort are simply excellent.

We didn't look at the Golf in all honesty, I think we did a website spec-up and found it lacking and, well, a bit dull in all honesty! Ours (OK, my wife's!) is due *fingers crossed* within the next two weeks, can't wait!

 

[ih8modem]

same

We were looking at the exact same two cars, and eventually chose the V40 over the Golf for a few reasons.

1 - My wife liked it more than the GOLF.
2 - Service from the saleperson. When you are spending a large chunk of your income on a new car, you want to be taken seriously. VW dealers (3 of them we went to) made us feel like they were doing us the favour by selling us a car. Volvo salepeople (we were attended to by 3 different people and made to feel like we were the most important to them on each occasion).
3 - We did not want leather. We did want electric seats. Volvo offers both, VW on the GOLF only offer the two hand in hand. No leather, no elec seats. Audi/Skoda/Seat all offer them separately, so ...???!? :s
4 - The V40 is something new. Its not as popular so maybe you can feel a little unique (boost that ego!). On a short trip a few days ago we played spot the golf vs spot the V40. 11 GOLF7's, 0 V40s. In fact I spotted the first V40 outside of the dealer only yesterday

 

[nry]

Salesperson is a good point! Ours has been superb, generally just like chatting to a chap in the pub over a pint about cars, whereas Mercedes (looking at the new A-Class) pretty much told us we fitted nicely into the market Mercedes were looking for with the new A-Class, and I actually feel as if they didn't believe we were really in the market for a new car (I may be 36 and my wife 32, but we are blessed with youthful looks!)...needless to say we didn't go back.

 

[ih8modem]

Hi, I am a UK lease car driver due for a new car at the end of Sept. I am torn between the golf and the V40. I would be keen to know if anyone else considered the Golf and why they chose the V40.

I have driven both cars on extended test drives and both have their strengths. I have been back to the showroom today and looked at both again.

I do love the quality feel of the Volvo cabin and think I am going to go for it rather than the Golf. I am confused about specification however.

I would be ordering the R design Lux. I understand it has the full leather seats rather than the T tec offered in the standard R design and that it has rain sensing wipers and (Adaptive?) cruise control. I am unclear as to whether it has the theatre lighting, can someone confirm this? Does it also have xenon headlights or are these optional? Are there any other things added above the standard R design?

Can you also tell me if the premium sound pack is worth the additional money in terms of music quality over the standard high performance system?

One thing that does seem unfair is that the heated seats are an optional extra.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Matt

I thin none of us answered many of your questions.
1 - LUX comes with Active bending xenon's
2 - LUX Comes with full leather (with R-design logo etc )
3 - theatre lighting front is standard on all, but on LUX you get rear as well.
4 - Rain sensing wipers is included on LUX
5 - Cruise Control on LUX is standard version, not Adaptive. Adaptive is only on the Driver Assistance package.

I cannot answer the sound system question, not an audiophile

 

[cemi]

Go for the V40 man, Golf is just boring.

 

[Blueorb]

Thanks for the replies and thanks for the answers Ih8,

Been back to the dealers again yesterday and today. The golf is quality and classy, but its just looks too pedestrian. As already mentioned, every man and his dog seems to have one and there is little difference between mk6 and mk7 in terms of style. Its more practical than the Volvo having a larger boot and more rear seat room, and in GT spec comes with sat nav and parking sensors as standard. The standard stereo is naf. So my quoted price includes dynaudio upgrade. The engine is also a gem. Only 1.4, but rapid and economical with Active Cylinder Technology.

The Volvo looks great, especially in R design trim and the interior feels very special and very comfortable. I was looking at getting R design lux, so would get the gadgets listed above in Ih8's post. Im not too worried about not having Sat Nav, but would have hoped heated seats and parking sensors came with the Lux package. Adding these starts to push the price beyond my budget as extras are not contributed to by my company lease agreement. The engine in the Volvo is also nice (D3) having loads of character being a 5 cylinder. Almost sounds like a V6 to my ears and still reasonably economical.

I had set myself a budget of £200 per month. The Golf comes in at £197 per month. The Volvo is £215 per month. Both prices include tax benefit, all servicing, tyres, repairs, road tax, insurance and 8000 miles per year.

My Grandmother has had Volvo's for years. She said once you have had a Volvo, you will never want another car.

I have asked for another quote, taking off the Rebel Blue paint and adding the winter pack to see if I can get the heated seats without additional cost.

I also looked at the Mercedes A class. It was lovely to drive but the 1.5 Renault diesel engine is weak. The A200 was way above budget at nearly £250 per month.

Still undecided............

 

[nry]

Didn't like the A-Class inside, the Volvo was a much nicer car to be in! Have you considered the D2 engine? Fantastic for a 1.6, drove like a petrol with no lack of power even though it isn't 'fast' per-se. We didn't bother with the Lux, rather the base R-Design adding the heated seats and a couple of other things, ended up cheaper than the Lux with the features we actually wanted

 

[ih8modem]

Didn't like the A-Class inside, the Volvo was a much nicer car to be in! Have you considered the D2 engine? Fantastic for a 1.6, drove like a petrol with no lack of power even though it isn't 'fast' per-se. We didn't bother with the Lux, rather the base R-Design adding the heated seats and a couple of other things, ended up cheaper than the Lux with the features we actually wanted

That could have been written by me !

Cars I looked prior to deciding on V40
1 - Skoda Octavia 1.6 DSG - pretty nice car, but both my wife and experienced a very weird sensation in the car, pressure on you ears like when you are climbing in a light aircraft.
2 - Audi A3 - Again a lovely car, but my wife felt too claustrophobic with the new dash design that comes out towards you. Same in A4 and Q3.
3 - Audi A4
4 - Audi Q3
5 - VW Golf 1.6 TDi SE / 1.4 TFSi GT - lovely cars, but for reasons stated elsewhere we chose the V40
6 - Ford Focus/Mondeo/B-Max - cheap materials inside, outside was good.
7 - Honda Civic, walked in , looked at rear of Civic, walked out.
8 - Mercedes A-Class - found the cockpit cramped and oppressive. Hated that floating Tablet thing in the middle.
9 - Mercedes B-Class - Nice car, slightly heavy on fuel compared to others out there, pricy for what you get , hate that tablet thing in the middle.
10 - Mazda6 - Really a stunning car, did not like that I could not remove leather seats from the Sport. Residual value plummets so quickly that I might as well have taken a company car (0 return on your money after 3-4 years there too !)

Essentially it came down to the V40 vs the Golf. When we first visited Volvo there was no D2 auto and that would have been it for us, as we decided we wanted a small engined automatic oil-burner. When our dealer called us a week or two later to tell us that Volvo had just announced the V40 D2 Powershift, we were pretty much hooked.

 

[nry]

The A-Class 'Ooh, we need to put this screen on the dash....here lads, chuck me some gaffa tape!' Looked horrible, out of place, and the rest of the dash was tacky and in your face.

 

[ih8modem]

CC

Thanks for the replies and thanks for the answers Ih8,

Been back to the dealers again yesterday and today. The golf is quality and classy, but its just looks too pedestrian. As already mentioned, every man and his dog seems to have one and there is little difference between mk6 and mk7 in terms of style. Its more practical than the Volvo having a larger boot and more rear seat room, and in GT spec comes with sat nav and parking sensors as standard. The standard stereo is naf. So my quoted price includes dynaudio upgrade. The engine is also a gem. Only 1.4, but rapid and economical with Active Cylinder Technology.

The Volvo looks great, especially in R design trim and the interior feels very special and very comfortable. I was looking at getting R design lux, so would get the gadgets listed above in Ih8's post. Im not too worried about not having Sat Nav, but would have hoped heated seats and parking sensors came with the Lux package. Adding these starts to push the price beyond my budget as extras are not contributed to by my company lease agreement. The engine in the Volvo is also nice (D3) having loads of character being a 5 cylinder. Almost sounds like a V6 to my ears and still reasonably economical.

I had set myself a budget of £200 per month. The Golf comes in at £197 per month. The Volvo is £215 per month. Both prices include tax benefit, all servicing, tyres, repairs, road tax, insurance and 8000 miles per year.

My Grandmother has had Volvo's for years. She said once you have had a Volvo, you will never want another car.

I have asked for another quote, taking off the Rebel Blue paint and adding the winter pack to see if I can get the heated seats without additional cost.

I also looked at the Mercedes A class. It was lovely to drive but the 1.5 Renault diesel engine is weak. The A200 was way above budget at nearly £250 per month.

Still undecided............

wow that's low for a Company car lease - our lease company would charge me a tad over £500 for the V40 R-Design and Just under £500 for the GOLF 1.4TSi ACT GT (Before Tax of course). Add Tax and NI and the cost soars to over 600.

You mention the A-Class and a 1.5 Renault Engine? Do you have a link on more info about that ?

 

[nry]

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mercedes/a-class/35587/new-mercedes-a-class-details

"Leading the charge will be the Renault-derived 1.5-litre diesel in the A180 CDI. It emits 98g/km of CO2 – the lowest of any Mercedes – and means exemption from road tax. It claims 62mpg fuel economy, too, while 108bhp and 260Nm of torque should mean decent pace."

 

[ih8modem]

Wow

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mercedes/a-class/35587/new-mercedes-a-class-details

"Leading the charge will be the Renault-derived 1.5-litre diesel in the A180 CDI. It emits 98g/km of CO2 – the lowest of any Mercedes – and means exemption from road tax. It claims 62mpg fuel economy, too, while 108bhp and 260Nm of torque should mean decent pace."

I hate Renault with such a passion that I reckon I would have done something stupid if I'd bought a Merc and discovered it was a Ren-no-go Engine.

The passion comes from a 2002 Renault Laguna 1.9Diesel that cost me more in repairs and maintenance than the original purchase price.

 

[Blueorb]

Still cant decide. I have to make a decision this week. My heart wants the Volvo, my head wants the golf.

The golf GT has features that will be used daily; namely parking sensors, adaptive cruise, road sign info, curb view mirrors and I have got the dynaudio sound pack. Its a well specified car, but its just dull and my wife drives a Golf, so fancied something different.

The Volvo has more character, has full leather (and love the theatre lighting) and bi xenon headlights. Also has dual climate control. I cant afford the options the golf has unless I switch to D2 engine, then I am down nearly 50bhp and the car looses some of its character. I love the sound of that 5 cylinder unit. Im also worried the wife will find the volvo too big to drive. Parking it will be a nightmare without sensors due to the poor rear visibility.

Aggghhh.........

I want a hybrid of the two cars!!

 

[nry]

I thought the V40 had auto-dip side mirrors when you select reverse so you can see the kerb?

Golf MK7 5-door is 2027mm width by 4268mm length...

V40 is 2041mm width by 4369mm length...I guess the V40 is a smidgen bigger. Have you driven the D2 engine? Worth a go if you haven't.

 

[Blueorb]

Not driven the D2, I guess I just dismissed it due to performance on paper. I know performance stats don't always reflect how an engine feels, I should know this. I remember test driving the BMW Mini, both the 2.0 and 1.6 Diesel engines. On paper, 2.0 all the way. When I drove them the 1.6 was far superior. The car felt lighter, smoother and had bags of torque that more than made up for lost BHP. I also currently drive a Renaultsport Twingo 133. Although similar BHP to the Golf 1.4 ACT, the Renault feels gutless. Same with my wife's Golf 2.0 diesel PD engine (140 BHP) The Golf feels such a strong engine compared to the Renault.

I did drive the Mercedes A class with the 1.5 Diesel engine. That really did feel gutless. I suppose I imagined the Volvo 1.6 Diesel to be very similar in terms of character and performance given the size of the car.

Perhaps I should pop back to the dealers for a test drive of the D2. I really did love the 5 cylinder motor though. I had the Volvo S60 with D3 (138bhp) on demo. It didn't feel particularly quick, but the engine character made up for this. When I had the V40 on demo, it was the D3 (150bhp) but was an auto and did feel different to the S60. I prefered the S60, but I am sure it was just because of the different gearboxes.

The Golf engine I was most suprised at. I only demoed the 1.4 out of curiosity for the ACT. I was blown away with the performance this thing has for such a small engine in a large car.

My parents have just bought the Ford Focus with the 1.0 ecoboost 3 pot engine. I had to restrain myself from laughing when my dad said it was quick. He handed me the keys for a drive and I was amazed by this little motor. What a cracking unit for what it is. It really does pull well and could not believe this was a 1.0 engine.

Has anybody here initially considered the D3 then ordered the D2 after driving them both?

nry, I know the Volvo is only marginally bigger on paper than the Golf, but rear visibility is better on the Golf than the Volvo, hence the benefit of parking sensors. I can live without the sensors, but not sure the wife would be confident without them.

 

[wizzy]

I never considered the Golf, as I never found the seating comfortable. I don't find parking a big issue with the Volvo, even without the auto dipping door mirrors. If you can, go for the D3, a better engine IMO. The technicians at my dealer also prefer the D3