it's just the badge.

pobviously the majority of people choosing between an astra and a vw disagree.........

thats why the vw sells for more

Plus
the astra is more than one owner 60 plate and being sold by a car supermarket .
The vw on the other hand is one owner and a 2011 car not a 2010 one and still has manufacturer warranty

as for the astra being more reliable not sure where you get that from but even if thats correct the main thing is that if people prefered the astra it would be £12K and it isnt
 
They were just representative, you can find many similar examples. The Golf is always pricier by a large margin.

The fact that people are willing to pay more is exactly my point. But why? It can only be the badge. The Golf is not a better car.
 
So much more than a badge, we're talking brand here. I had a Vauxhall - lot's of them. I hated them all they were dogs! Silly electrical things went wrong repeatedly. They were older cars but it has tainted my perception.

I feel confident that the VAG group make the best and nicest cars. Surveys, breakdown stats and similar may contradict me but we are all subject to our own biases.

Demand for a car keeps the price high. Low depreciation may also be a factor in people buying the Golf over an Astra.

Why did I buy a used A3 when I could have got a new car from another Marque? I like Audis, it will lose less money that any other new car I would have got.

One mans awesome car is anothers dog!
 
waynne said:
So much more than a badge, we're talking brand here. I had a Vauxhall - lot's of them. I hated them all they were dogs! Silly electrical things went wrong repeatedly. They were older cars but it has tainted my perception.

One mans awesome car is anothers dog!
Click to expand...


My wife has had 2 Astras, 1 N/A and the current one is a turbo. No problems with the N/A Astra until she wrote it off.

Turbo Astra is fine and well made.

My son drives an Audi S3 and loves it.

My daughter has a VW Corrado and a BMW and loves both.

I drive around in a bog standard VW Fox and it works fine.

As I said before, it is down to perception, clever advertising (although no one owns up to being influenced by it) plus personal experience.
 
The Astra J is supposed to be a really good car apparantly.

The reason I posed the question is that within the next couple of months I will be spending 10 grand on a car. It has to fulfill a very specific set of criteria, cos if I'm spending that much I want what I want plus there are rules around my car allowance.

it has to be:
medium sized 5 door hatch - focus/golf/astra size
10 grand or less
3 years old or less
less than 60k on the clock as I will be keeping it for 4 years/80k miles
automatic
built-in satnav
lots of kit and comfort - rain sensing wipers, hid lights, all the mod cons cos I'll spend 90 minutes a day in it.
decent mpg but sub 9 seconds to 60, so likely has to be a diesel.
cheap to maintain/fix. I'll use an indy garage so really needs to be cheap parts.

There is quite literally ONE car that meets all these.

Astra 2.0CDTI 160 Elite.


I'd genuinely welcome any other suggestions.
 
Yugguy said:
They were just representative, you can find many similar examples. The Golf is always pricier by a large margin.

The fact that people are willing to pay more is exactly my point. But why? It can only be the badge. The Golf is not a better car.
Click to expand...

best is subjective ( or is it objective ?:blink:)

So you ,or I , or anyone else for that matter cant just make that statement as we all think and judge differently and that , is the point

As og says it is perception that counts which is often but not always based on fact

re your new car If I may offer a thought
Maybe you are approaching this from completely the wrong direction.

you have your budget look,test and evaluate the cars and buy the one you think is the best for you and let every one else decide what they prefer
 
The Astra J is ok I guess but it doesn't rock your world.
The electronic parking brake is a nightmare if it fails for one.
To say they are fairly wide it's not that spacious inside.
 
It's great value for money don't get me wrong.
The elite comes loaded and in 165bhp form it's no slouch either.
A simple remap should see 200 odd bhp and 350 lb/ft of torque and that would make it a quick car to be honest.
 
look at golf and A3s as well. theyre the same car different badge. my skoda was a couple of grand cheaper than the closest golf to it i could find and nearly 5k less than an approved audi a3 that was 2 years older and more than double the milage
 
I am not a fan of Vauxhall but I haven't really paid much attention to the current lineup. My parents have just bought a 12-plate Corsa 1.4SE. First thoughts, yuk, but ...... in fairness it is actually quite pleasant. Not my kind of car really, too small for a start but for their purposes, like about 400 yards per year :) it's suitable.
 
Over here, VW's are known for horrible resale value and unreliability... So prices for VW's here are generally dirt cheap unless you buy new, in which case, it's expensive and overpriced.
 
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^ ^ ^ Lot's of Americans complain about BMW reliability too ^ ^ ^

Are VW cars really bad?? I know many people here who are happy with them. Then again, I know people who think Rover and Vauxhall cars are good. Not really my plate of pasta but each to their own.
 
HDi fun said:
^ ^ ^ Lot's of Americans complain about BMW reliability too ^ ^ ^

Are VW cars really bad?? I know many people here who are happy with them. Then again, I know people who think Rover and Vauxhall cars are good. Not really my plate of pasta but each to their own.
Click to expand...

My ex boyfriend had a MK3 VW Jetta (sister car to the Golf). He used the trip meter to measure his distance between breakdowns...

Not an exaggeration. The longest distance between breakdowns was 700 miles.

Also, one of my friends recently got rid of his E46 BMW 3 series for unreliability, so I can confirm that one too.
 
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TommyTwinCams said:
My ex boyfriend had a MK3 VW Jetta (sister car to the Golf). He used the trip meter to measure his distance between breakdowns...

Not an exaggeration. The longest distance between breakdowns was 700 miles.

Also, one of my friends recently got rid of his E46 BMW 3 series for unreliability, so I can confirm that one too.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with the facts as you present them.
 
derv???
I grew up on VW. While growing up, every member of my family had an American car, I grew up on the Herbie the love bug movies and going to classic VW shows as a kid. VW's of any sort bring out the 7 year old in me. My dad's friend while I was growing up had a 1970 Bug he'd take to shows and gave me a ride in once or twice.
 
To be fair i dont think you can judge a mk 6 vw on the basis that mk3s were rubbish.

I have found an alternative choice, but i would need to see how big they are, iz fabia or polo with the 1 4tsi 180bhp engine and dsg box. Quick but still fairly frugal. Might have to be thepolo as the fabia is as ugly as sin.
 
Yugguy said:
To be fair i dont think you can judge a mk 6 vw on the basis that mk3s were rubbish.

I have found an alternative choice, but i would need to see how big they are, iz fabia or polo with the 1 4tsi 180bhp engine and dsg box. Quick but still fairly frugal. Might have to be thepolo as the fabia is as ugly as sin.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it's indicative of all VWs. I know many similar horror stories. Like a buddy who traded in his Oldsmobile Intrigue on a MK5 VW Jetta (again. Golf/Rabbit sister car.) 2.5L 5 cylinder. Within 5 months, the entire engine had to be replaced as the engine disintegrated. He quickly got rid of it for a Ford Escape after that, saying the VW was the worst decision he'd ever made. MK5's aren't much different from MK6's.
 
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