The estimated range on these vehicles is easily achievable if you do short journeys. We have 3 PHEV's (with one being the exact model you are reviewing) in the family, and, living in London with 99% of our journeys being well under 20 miles, we hardly ever use petrol. With a cheap electricity tariff of 7p/pkwh, we are - even in this current economical climate - absolutely quids-in. As a dedicated PHEV enthusiast, it's always mildly annoying when reviewers casually dismiss the MPG claims when they have essentially purchased the wrong vehicle. The reviewer would have been much better of purchasing a Petrol or Diesel variant of this car. The GTE _only_ make sense when you do frequent small town/city journeys. Purchasing a PHEV for regular motorway use is a very poor choice indeed, why lug around the extra weight of the batteries when you aren't going to use them..? I appreciate the honest review of the faults - VW are a quality brand, but many people gloss over their faults simply because of the brand name. To anyone considering purchasing one of these cars, I'd recommend looking for a high mileage example with full main dealer warranty. This is what we did for our sons car (late 2017 VW GTE Advance). The batteries on these examples are often in good nick as they haven't really been used a whole lot, and can often - even when 5 years old - have as little as 10% battery degradation.
120,000KM in 3 years, damn, that’s basically 110km of driving every day on average. 5 times more than the average UK annual mileage. “Anonymised data on every MOT test in Britain, released by the Department for Transport, shows that cars travelled an average of 7,134 miles in 2017, down from 7,250 in 2016 and 7,334 miles the year before that. In 2007 the distance driven by each car tested at MOT in Britain was 7,712 miles.” Thinking about getting one of these (used 2017) so appreciate your long term review.
If you want a car for short commutes (20 mile round trip, or 35-40 mile round trip if you can recharge at work) but need occassional 150+ mile range, then these are good options. I'd go for the Audi A3 Etron though-it's cheaper used and you don't get all that piano black trim in the cabin-it's much more stylish. Same car essentially, just tuned for comfort and with more conservative looks. I got a 2018 model and with the roof rails and dark blue metallic, it looks pretty smart. It's not the most dynamic car but has a decent turn of speed (0-60 in 7.6 secs and 140mph) when you want it to burn off tail-gaiting beemers that annoy you at junctions/lights!
0:15 lireally looks like exhaust is spitting some flames out hehe awsome vid. I just love this car so much.
You can't really talk about MPG when you never plug the car in and charge the battery, and have it in ECO mode.
I am just giving a realistic view of living with the car from my experience
Honest review i must say just bought one already regreting it
How come mate? I am tempted to get this model but not sure whether to wait, save and get Mk8 model
What makes you say that
Any chance of an update? It's been 4 months.
The estimated range on these vehicles is easily achievable if you do short journeys. We have 3 PHEV's (with one being the exact model you are reviewing) in the family, and, living in London with 99% of our journeys being well under 20 miles, we hardly ever use petrol. With a cheap electricity tariff of 7p/pkwh, we are - even in this current economical climate - absolutely quids-in.
As a dedicated PHEV enthusiast, it's always mildly annoying when reviewers casually dismiss the MPG claims when they have essentially purchased the wrong vehicle. The reviewer would have been much better of purchasing a Petrol or Diesel variant of this car. The GTE _only_ make sense when you do frequent small town/city journeys. Purchasing a PHEV for regular motorway use is a very poor choice indeed, why lug around the extra weight of the batteries when you aren't going to use them..?
I appreciate the honest review of the faults - VW are a quality brand, but many people gloss over their faults simply because of the brand name.
To anyone considering purchasing one of these cars, I'd recommend looking for a high mileage example with full main dealer warranty. This is what we did for our sons car (late 2017 VW GTE Advance). The batteries on these examples are often in good nick as they haven't really been used a whole lot, and can often - even when 5 years old - have as little as 10% battery degradation.
Thanks for your honest feedback. I'm considering as a possible buy, so really helpful. 166 mpg ? VW must get real world.
Can you afford one? It’s still 15k
Good long term review. Bit weird you bought a plug in hybrid and do 25k miles a year! Seems utterly pointless tbh.
to be totally honest it was to save money on company car tax 🤣
120,000KM in 3 years, damn, that’s basically 110km of driving every day on average. 5 times more than the average UK annual mileage.
“Anonymised data on every MOT test in Britain, released by the Department for Transport, shows that cars travelled an average of 7,134 miles in 2017, down from 7,250 in 2016 and 7,334 miles the year before that. In 2007 the distance driven by each car tested at MOT in Britain was 7,712 miles.”
Thinking about getting one of these (used 2017) so appreciate your long term review.
that's a lot of trips to the petrol station!
Is this car worth buying looking at buying one
If you want a car for short commutes (20 mile round trip, or 35-40 mile round trip if you can recharge at work) but need occassional 150+ mile range, then these are good options. I'd go for the Audi A3 Etron though-it's cheaper used and you don't get all that piano black trim in the cabin-it's much more stylish. Same car essentially, just tuned for comfort and with more conservative looks. I got a 2018 model and with the roof rails and dark blue metallic, it looks pretty smart. It's not the most dynamic car but has a decent turn of speed (0-60 in 7.6 secs and 140mph) when you want it to burn off tail-gaiting beemers that annoy you at junctions/lights!
Interesting video and surprised at the mpg... my 2013 bmw 330d achieves 60mpg on a run... thought you'd easily better this. Hybrids are too new tech
£700 for one wheel!!?? ripoff!!
Yep! 🤣🤣
Bargain compared to others!
Not the first time I've heard abiut electrical issues with these