At the VW Dealer

Recently, the new sales representative from Volkswagen contacted my husband several times saying, “Your Golf 7’s inspection is coming up soon, so could we please appraise it before then?”

Our Golf is about to hit its 3-year inspection this August, but at the time of those calls, we had no intention of parting with it. When I told the representative this, they said, “That’s perfectly fine, but please do come by anyway.” So, our family decided to visit the Volkswagen dealer.

VW Golf 7.5

When we arrived at the Volkswagen dealer and stepped inside, right in front of us was a pristine white current Golf (7.5).

This is the facelifted Golf 7 model, but compared to our Golf 7, there isn’t much difference in appearance. By the way, here are photos of our Golf.

While the exterior differences are minor, inside the car, the meter cluster has become digital,

and the center screen has been updated. Other than that, most things are the same, giving the impression of “a familiar Golf interior.”

The rear seats look like this.

Before riding in the Golf, I thought, “The rear seats look pretty cramped,” but actually sitting there, it’s quite spacious and comfortable.

As I was checking out the Golf, the sales rep asked, “What do you think of the Golf 7.5?” but my husband replied,

Hmm… but we have no complaints about our current Golf 7, and we’re more than satisfied, so we won’t be upgrading to the 7.5. I am a bit curious about what the Golf 8 will be like, though…

Indeed, there’s nothing lacking in our current Golf, and it’s rare to find such a well-balanced, cost-effective car. The showroom also featured a special edition Golf Variant, the “Tech Edition.” That navy blue is really beautiful.

There was also a Golf Touran on display. It looks like a minivan, but with a height of 1670mm, it’s lower than typical Japanese minivans.

Also, the rear doors open sideways, giving it a wagon-like design that’s cleaner than most minivans.

And then there’s the POLO, which I’ve whimsically thought, “When my daughter gets her license, I’d love for her to start with a car like this… lol.”

It’s cute, performs well, stylish, and I love this body color. When I previously drove a loaner POLO, I felt it was “a really great car.” According to my husband, even with the new model, it still has a manual handbrake instead of an electronic parking brake, so it doesn’t automatically stop in traffic jams with ACC, which is the only downside.

フォルクスワーゲン「POLO」を1日乗ってみた感想

VW Tiguan

Next, we took a look at the Tiguan, which had caught my eye for a while.

This is a clean diesel compact SUV that was the best-selling model in its segment in Germany (2017). The dealer’s display was the “Tiguan TDI 4MOTION R-Line,” a top-level sporty model.

The Tiguan looks big, but its dimensions are “Length: 4500mm, Width: 1860mm, Height: 1675mm.” It’s wider than the 1800mm-wide Golf 7, but compared to the Porsche Macan’s 1923mm width, it’s more compact and likely easier to maneuver.

My husband tried sitting in the Tiguan’s rear seats and didn’t feel cramped at all; the higher roof made it feel very spacious. It seems comfortable for long trips.

The rear seats can slide forward and backward for adjustment. When the sales rep asked again, “What do you think of the Tiguan?” my husband said,

It’s cool and I like it, but the diesel engine is a bit of a concern… or something like that.

Well, our current Golf is so good, fits the whole family comfortably, and carries our luggage well, so switching to the Tiguan isn’t really an option.

How Was the Golf 7 Appraisal?

While looking at the display cars, I completely forgot the reason we came that day, but the sales rep called out, “The appraisal for your Golf is complete.”

Oh right… we came for the Golf 7 appraisal today, lol.

The result was… “The trade-in value for a new car purchase is about 40% of the new car price.” I see… so that’s how it is with the Golf. The car itself is fantastic, so I think it deserves a higher valuation.

The Golf is a great car, but I’ve heard its resale value isn’t great in the general used car market, so it might be best to keep it long-term or trade in for a new VW. Buying certified used cars might be a better deal anyway.

Interestingly, something happened that afternoon which led us to decide to part with this Golf 7. I’ll share that story in another article, lol.