A3 is only a Golf etc
- Thread starter Firefly
- Start date
In most cases these days there are real differences between different brands based on the same underlying car. The days of manufacturers being able to simply screw on a different badge to exactly the same car and expect to charge a premium are long gone.
Obviously in some cases the differences are much bigger than others. They can be visible (trim materials, overall design etc.) and not visible (different suspension settings, engine tune levels etc.).
Are you a snob to pay more for VW than for a Skoda? maybe, but maybe you're also concerned about depreciation: the premium brands tend to hold their value better.
I don't see any big deal over it: it's not as if any of these were a secret or anything. Contrast this to electrical appliances (fridges etc.), where in a lot of cases it is just a badge job, and there's no resale argument to justify the extra expenditure made for the more expensive brand.
Obviously in some cases the differences are much bigger than others. They can be visible (trim materials, overall design etc.) and not visible (different suspension settings, engine tune levels etc.).
Are you a snob to pay more for VW than for a Skoda? maybe, but maybe you're also concerned about depreciation: the premium brands tend to hold their value better.
I don't see any big deal over it: it's not as if any of these were a secret or anything. Contrast this to electrical appliances (fridges etc.), where in a lot of cases it is just a badge job, and there's no resale argument to justify the extra expenditure made for the more expensive brand.
S40 and V50 are actually Foci!
)It depends on their knowledge.
A3 is overpriced but is far superior to the Golf. Drive one and you'll see.
A4 is far superior to Octavia. Passat on the other hand is overrated so a lot of people who buy these do so for snob factor or perceived excellence in a product which just isn't excellent anymore.
It really depends on what you're comparing and the underlying reasons for people buying brand x over brand y.
I drive a Passat. I am far from being a snob. I don`t think the car is overrated. What it lacks in extras it more than makes up for in reliability. It is the best buy I will ever make, and that makes it excellent in my books!!
I think the point is that an Skoda Octavia is the same car and is therefore just as reliable but cheaper. I used to have a Passat as well so don't think I'm getting at you. Having said that I hated my Passat and considered it the most boring "good" car I even owned (I don't rate the £400 9 year old Citroen AX I had just after I got married or the 14 year old Fiesta I learned to drive in).
aircobra19
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How are these far superior? Same chassis and more or less the same oily bits. Yes the quality of the interior is better, but how far superior. The irony is the Octavia does better in most reliability surveys. How that happens with the same parts I've no idea.
As far as I know the Octavia is based on the old Bora platform and the Superb is based on an extended Passat platform.
I bought an Audi A3 back in 04 brand new. I bought straight for cash so I got a good deal. I got a 1.6 Attraction with Climate, armrest & Alloys all for €28,000. An equivilant Golf 1.6 with a similar spec was working out at €25,000. I decided I'd rather drive an A3 and get me 3 grand back when I sell it. The car was the best car I have ever owned and it always turned heads when it was washed. I sold it the other day for €20,000 after nearly 3 years. €8000 depreciation in 3 years is probably the lowest decreciation that anyone can expect. The car has had 3 service and is still on the same tyres. Similar Golfs are now making 15 to 17 grand.
Just my 0.02c.
I bought an Audi A3 back in 04 brand new. I bought straight for cash so I got a good deal. I got a 1.6 Attraction with Climate, armrest & Alloys all for €28,000. An equivilant Golf 1.6 with a similar spec was working out at €25,000. I decided I'd rather drive an A3 and get me 3 grand back when I sell it. The car was the best car I have ever owned and it always turned heads when it was washed. I sold it the other day for €20,000 after nearly 3 years. €8000 depreciation in 3 years is probably the lowest decreciation that anyone can expect. The car has had 3 service and is still on the same tyres. Similar Golfs are now making 15 to 17 grand.
Just my 0.02c.
What is a BMW "only" then or Porsche? Common parts or chasis etc means very little apart from that. Some of these cars are worlds apart and one has to drive them perhaps to realise.
You'd be surprised how much a tweaked chasis can affect everything from handling to ride quality. I've driven a Golf and an A3 and I found the A3 not only a superior feeling car (materials etc) but also a far better drive. In saying that I think it's vastly overpriced for what it actually is...but as a previous poster pointed out the depreciation is low so perhaps it is worth it in the grander scheme of things.
well, then A3 is not only a Golf...
Well not according to this (as someone else posted in another thread) :
[broken link removed]
They are lounging at 88!
aircobra19
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aircobra19
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The A3 is simply stiffer IMO. Dynamically its not really any different. I wouldn't say it has been tweaked. The S3 and Golf GTI have been tweaked.