Golfs worth this much? - Darcy Kitchin
Nearly three years ago the company I used to work for decided to give its staff company cars. As part of a recent exercise I asked the leasing company for a figure to buy the cars at the end of the lease. The results are shown below.

May '99 VW Golf TDi 110 49K miles £9275
April '99 VW Golf TDi 110 52K miles £9275
April '99 Toyota Avensis 2.0 GLS estate 55K miles £6300
April '99 Renault Laguna 1.8RT Sport estate 47K miles £5850
April '99 Honda Aerodeck 1.6ES 55K miles £5650
April '99 Passat 1.8S 51K miles £5575

Now I know that Golfs are well thought of by the trade, but it's a huge difference to the 1.8 Passat; to my mind the Passat has more presence and better comfort than the diesel Golf, and the economy isn't that far distant from the 44 MPG that the Golfs seem to do. The engine is a different story, appearing weedy and breathless for main road driving next to the Golf. It still gets my vote as bargain of the week; what do others think?
Re: Golfs worth this much? - Big Vern
I too faced this problem at the end of the summer, I would have loved a VAG Tdi, but so would everyone else, hench the high prices, take the Passat.
Re: Golfs worth this much? - Richard P
I faced the same problem, I really wanted a Passat TDI 110 earlier last year. I had a budget of 10K, and that would have got me a reasonable 'SE', S reg, with about 45K on the clock. I also discovered that the car was in insurance group 11. I ended up with a nearly new 'W' Vectra 2.0 TD with 7K miles for £9.5K, which I am very pleased with, and has group 7 insurance! (I am 23, so insurance is still an issue!) I do still like the Passat and the Bora, but those residuals!!
Re: Golfs worth this much? - pete
Toyota Avensis 2.0 GLS estate , clear winner , nearly a hacthback , right size engine for the car weight ,more reliable than the others , should still get 30mpg and £3000 to buy the petrol with , plus interest on it while waiting in the back
Re: Golfs worth this much? - Union Jack
Have a look at my post on "Time to emigrate" and get your hankies out ....

Jack