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-   -   eGolf goes back today - Final thoughts (http://forums.carmudgeons.com/showthread.php?t=157880)

FC 02-04-2019 10:33 AM

eGolf goes back today - Final thoughts
 
It was checked out for condition this morning and the guy said "It's as if it was never driven."

Final tally: 21,780 miles in 3 years. It suffered a minor fender bender in front and a really minor fender bender in rear (so both bumpers are new). It was a good car. Quiet, good in the city, and aside from one hiccup that took two visits to get fixed (a bad sensor causing dash to light up like a Xmas tree), it was pretty reliable. Impressive for a 1st-year car and VW's first electric attempt. I liked that they made it as "normal" a car as they could with no over-the-top EV goofiness.

We never fell in love with eGolf itself, but I loved the Golf platform. Roomy, solidly built, very practical, great driving position, and decidedly German in that it made me feel "at home" in ways no Japanese car ever has. I could see how a Golf R would be a car that I would be very happy to be in - and part of the reason why I questioned spending the money on the M3 (as you all know).

I got a Golf TSI loaner and liked that car quite a bit too. Potential reliability issues aside, the Golf platform is impressive.

I'll miss the eGolf for sure, but not enough to regret not having it. It was money well spent to have a nice car under warranty and try out the EV experience.

Things I did not like:
-Range in general, but this was vastly exacerbated by the extra hit taken in extreme cold (and heat) and highway driving.
-Horrid tires (downright dangerous in extreme cold) and in combination with the low-end torque they light up a lot.
-Dichotomy in personality and ability in town vs highway speeds. Quite quick in one/slow in the other. It required too much of an adjustment in driving style between the two to make it comfortable, IMO.
-Abysmal NAV/BT/connectivity/etc. For a 2015 car, it was pretty poor.
-A few other EV-related quirks I won't bore you with.

clyde 02-04-2019 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FC (Post 544883)
-Horrid tires (downright dangerous in extreme cold) and in combination with the low-end torque they light up a lot.

Good summary, I thought. Thanks!

This item triggered me (for want of a better term). Tires are so incredibly fixable. Very little, if anything else, has such a huge impact on what a car is like, it's easily remedied, and it's a wear item. I mean putting only 21k on the car, maybe you wouldn't have had to replace tires anyway, but still.

kognito 02-04-2019 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde (Post 544887)

This item triggered me (for want of a better term). Tires are so incredibly fixable. Very little, if anything else, has such a huge impact on what a car is like, it's easily remedied, and it's a wear item. I mean putting only 21k on the car, maybe you wouldn't have had to replace tires anyway, but still.


I'm just guessing that you have never leased a car. If so, think of it as a long term rental car. Ever thought of replacing tires on a rental car?

The Golf (well, Rabbit) we bought in 2007 came with shit tires, pretty sure I replaced them with less than 10K miles on them. And since I replaced them in way south Texas, I'm sure they ended up on someone else's car in less than 24 hours.

JST 02-04-2019 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde (Post 544887)
Good summary, I thought. Thanks!

This item triggered me (for want of a better term). Tires are so incredibly fixable. Very little, if anything else, has such a huge impact on what a car is like, it's easily remedied, and it's a wear item. I mean putting only 21k on the car, maybe you wouldn't have had to replace tires anyway, but still.

Am curious about which tires it had. My guess is that they were shitty partly because VW was trying to do whatever it could to reduce rolling resistance (and thus extend the eGolf's terribly short range). Fixing the tires might have made the range problem a lot worse.

FC 02-04-2019 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JST (Post 544892)
Am curious about which tires it had. My guess is that they were shitty partly because VW was trying to do whatever it could to reduce rolling resistance (and thus extend the eGolf's terribly short range). Fixing the tires might have made the range problem a lot worse.

This. They were low-friction, Helium-filled ( :rolleyes: ) tires.

And correct. I was not about to invest in tires for a rental. If I had decided to keep it, I would have instantaneously tossed those POS tires out.

clyde 02-04-2019 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kognito (Post 544888)
I'm just guessing that you have never leased a car. If so, think of it as a long term rental car. Ever thought of replacing tires on a rental car?

The Golf (well, Rabbit) we bought in 2007 came with shit tires, pretty sure I replaced them with less than 10K miles on them. And since I replaced them in way south Texas, I'm sure they ended up on someone else's car in less than 24 hours.

I think I never clicked post earlier...

You pay for gas in a rental, right? Tires are consumable like gas...they just last longer than a tank.

On a 3/30k or 3/36k lease, there's a good chance you're going to use up a set of tires to the point you'll need to replace them before turn-in if you use all your miles.

If you're going to do that, why would you suffer on shitty tires so you can bu a new set of shitty tires at lease end when you could just as easily spend the same money early to enjoy good tires over the lease life and then put the OE tires back on at the end?

If you only expect to use 20k miles over three years, it's a more difficult call since there's a good chance you won't have to replace tires, but if you know the tires are shit and compromise your enjoyment, why spend all the money on the lease to begin with? :dunno:

The point on range by JST and FC is well taken and I hadn't considered when I wrote something similar to above earlier today.

lip277 02-05-2019 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde (Post 544908)
You pay for gas in a rental, right? Tires are consumable like gas...they just last longer than a tank.

True - But you only 'replace' the fuel when it is used.

If the tires still have life left in them.....???

Like draining the fuel tank and then filling up again....

Alan 02-05-2019 06:25 AM

I’m with Clyde on this one, if the tires were so terrible I would replace them though the whole rolling resistance issue does come to play, do any of them actually feel good or are they all terrible.

Overall this car sounded pretty cool though I am pretty sure you’re not going to miss it.

kognito 02-05-2019 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde (Post 544908)
If you only expect to use 20k miles over three years, it's a more difficult call since there's a good chance you won't have to replace tires, but if you know the tires are shit and compromise your enjoyment, why spend all the money on the lease to begin with? :dunno:

The point on range by JST and FC is well taken and I hadn't considered when I wrote something similar to above earlier today.

I have leased a few vehicles, and have usually ended the lease with 10-12K miles left on the clock, so yeah, it has not made sense to replace tires.

And sorry, my first post towards you now sounds much more of a wizeass post than I meant it to be. In the past 20 years, my Rabbit had the worst tires I have had on a new vehicle, but it was owned, and I had a lot of choices on replacement tires.

My 1999 A6 (2 year lease) had poor preforming tires, but they were an odd ball size, I just couldn't make myself spend 2K on tires for a car I was returning due to many reasons.

I have had my current leased truck a little over two years, usually by this point I am looking at what will replace it at lease end. But so far, I really like this truck, and still have many yard, truck worthy, projects around the house. If I felt I needed to replace these tires I would, because I still feel that at lease end I will keep this truck.

FC 02-05-2019 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clyde (Post 544908)
I think I never clicked post earlier...

You pay for gas in a rental, right? Tires are consumable like gas...they just last longer than a tank.

On a 3/30k or 3/36k lease, there's a good chance you're going to use up a set of tires to the point you'll need to replace them before turn-in if you use all your miles.

If you're going to do that, why would you suffer on shitty tires so you can bu a new set of shitty tires at lease end when you could just as easily spend the same money early to enjoy good tires over the lease life and then put the OE tires back on at the end?

If you only expect to use 20k miles over three years, it's a more difficult call since there's a good chance you won't have to replace tires, but if you know the tires are shit and compromise your enjoyment, why spend all the money on the lease to begin with? :dunno:

The point on range by JST and FC is well taken and I hadn't considered when I wrote something similar to above earlier today.

Recall that the eGolf was primarily my wife's car. I've driven it a bunch recently just to put miles since I have a longer commute. The way she drives, she really could not care less about the tires.


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