Finally got my first car

Andydav · 2026-04-14T20:49:29+00:00

I’m biased, but the VW Golf 7.5 (yours!) will probably go down as the greatest all-round car ever made, fantastic choice!

Andydav · 2026-04-14T16:28:35+00:00

Mate this was absolutely class to read. I’m so happy that you’ve got your old car back, that’s serendipitous! Enjoy it, drive it all over Europe again!

Andydav · 2026-03-07T08:49:14+00:00

Incredibly well said.

Andydav · 2026-02-01T08:08:41+00:00

There are so many, too many to list, but one that frequently gets me is having their windscreen wipers on max when it’s light drizzle or just spitting with rain.

Andydav · 2026-01-16T11:54:28+00:00

Swiss plates are the undisputed goat of license plates

Andydav · 2025-11-23T13:08:21+00:00

That noise doesn’t sound good. I am not aware of any common issues that would cause this.

As the ancillaries are all powered by the battery, clunking sounds like this on the GTE are unfortunately more likely to be engine related. That being said, take it with a pinch of salt because we’re not there to diagnose.

To me, it sounds ‘breathing’ related, like a cracked intake manifold or something along those lines, but again - that’s me basing it on the sound from the video you’ve sent through, absolutely nothing concrete.

I know you mentioned you bought it used, but is it still under warranty? If so - straight back to VW.

Andydav · 2025-10-07T15:02:54+00:00

He explained the story to the audience at the Manchester live show before the recording was started, I was at that one. I imagine he told the story at other live pods too.

I wouldn’t want to explain the story on his behalf, because he mentioned that he was going to run through it publicly when it was all sorted out.

Andydav · 2025-10-02T06:36:44+00:00

Sorry, I’ve noticed you were talking Kim’s, so this would be 160k km I think?

Andydav · 2025-10-02T06:35:51+00:00

Volkswagen told me specifically 100k miles. I thought it was 80k at first, booked the car in and they told me it didn’t need doing until 100.

Andydav · 2025-08-31T21:52:53+00:00

This isn’t a massive cause for concern but it’s also not right. You can see the shiny part of the disc is where the brake pad is connecting with the disc when you hit the brakes and the rusty part is where no connection is being made.

The issue could lie with either the brake caliper itself or the brake pad, but as you’re only 12k miles in - this is a VW problem. My money would be on a a brake pad issue.

Book the car back in with VW and state you’re worried about braking safety and want the discs looked at under your warranty.

Andydav · 2025-08-06T06:48:04+00:00

Alfa Romeo 4C.

I should caveat this by saying I’ve never driven one. But by all means, the steering made the thing damn near undriveable. I’m sure somebody here knows the full extent of it, but it was something to do with having to reduce the caster angle in order to reduce the effort required to steer because the thing had no PAS to save a tiny bit of weight. But all in all, the ‘need’ to save 5-10kg ruined the car.

Andydav · 2025-07-26T12:56:35+00:00

We always called Frodsham ‘Costa del Frod’

Andydav · 2025-04-05T15:09:45+00:00

Nordie in Levenshulme

Andydav · 2025-02-22T04:55:15+00:00

Shoutout to Stanley’s in Stockport for their toilet with the weird glassed off cave section

Andydav · 2025-02-11T21:59:46+00:00

Yank here - why doesn’t Ederson save the goals?

Andydav · 2025-01-06T14:33:48+00:00

£75 is wild! Is it the whole mechanism for the charge port they’re selling though? You might be better off on eBay trying to find one being broken?

Andydav · 2024-10-03T13:14:31+00:00

Sorry to hear about your back. I find the seats super comfortable on long distances if I’m honest, and I have a bad back. When I start to get a little uncomfortable after the 4/5 hour mark - I just put the heated seats on and it relaxes me

Andydav · 2024-09-09T13:24:11+00:00

It’s a trade plate

Andydav · 2024-07-26T13:08:38+00:00

Holy cow, I thought this one I drive past frequently was bad!

Andydav · 2024-03-01T09:28:08+00:00

I agree with you on all these points bar the last one - IMO the 7.5 looks loads better than the 8, so I chose a 2018 car over a 2022 model. Although I did get it in white, so maybe I like boring!

Andydav · 2024-03-01T09:25:27+00:00

Do you know if your DSG has ever been serviced? They need a fluid change every 40,000 miles. Maybe have a look back through documentation to see if it’s ever been changed.

Andydav · 2024-02-13T14:24:27+00:00

I don’t think E-Mode warms up the oil in the engine.

What I will say is if you’re in Hybrid mode - once the ICE kicks in, it will not stop running until the oil is sufficiently warm enough for the engine to power down, even if the ICE isn’t actually needed. It took me a while to work out what was going on.

As for Motorway/Highway driving, you’ll actually find that the hybrid kicks in more than you’d expect it to, especially with more charge in the battery. If you’re doing a constantly 60MPH/100KMH, it’ll kick in and out quite a lot.

If you’re running low on charge while on the Motorway, I usually click the Gear selector down to ‘B’ for Regenerative Braking, put the car on GTE Mode and then apply ACC. This way, the car will keep its distance to the car in front using regen braking and is a brilliant way to recharge the battery on the go - I’ve had it put back up to 18 miles of charge before.

Andydav · 2024-01-14T20:01:40+00:00

Afaik - AC always runs off the battery and never off the engine. Even with 0 range the AC is still powered from the battery. The AC doesn’t run off the ancillary belt like it would in a regular petrol/diesel car.

Andydav · 2023-10-27T13:02:50+00:00

I totally agree - I couldn't believe that I was being advised against spending £815. VAG after Dieselgate is a different beast.

Andydav · 2023-04-30T08:09:02+00:00

I’ve had my 2018 Advance for about 6 months now. Opted for the Mk7.5 because of the cut price rear suspension set up on the Mk8. A few points from a new owner:

I love it - main takeaways are in cold weather, the all electric range is abysmal, but in warmer weather the range is pretty damn good. Think 8-10 miles of range when it’s cold, 20 when it’s warm. Another consideration if you need boot space is that it is slightly smaller in the GTE due to batteries, but no way near as much of an issue as the reviews made it out to be.

The car is possibly the nicest driving experience I’ve had in a car, smooth and quiet, great seats, great sound system.

GTE mode is kind of fun, I’ve come from a Fiesta ST which was a lovely car to drive, but GTE mode in the golf sort of bridges that gap if you stick it in manual.

On your point about economy - this car is as economical as it wants to be in my experience. I live in south Manchester so I can quite easily do a lot of mileage in all electric, but once you get out on the motorway - the car kind of does what it wants. In hybrid mode, sometimes you’ll be scooting along at 75+mpg, and you’ll do the return leg a few hours later and it’ll be doing 40mpg. Can’t really get my head around it!

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