Russellj

Decided to sell the R estate in the end, after 9 years and 126k miles of ownership, to a nice chap from North of the border (hi Scott) who I’m sure will continue to look after & enjoy the car. I’ve made the jump to EV and switched to a Polestar 2 Long Distance Dual motor, so AWD (416Hp and many torques). Ex demo from Polestar, 5k miles, 10 months old for low £30k. List is mid £50k. Wowsas! Yes it will continue to depreciate heavily but I plan to keep it for 8 years and will be saving £2k pa by charging overnight at home on an EV tariff at 6.5p/kw.. Electricity is effectively 1/8 the price of petrol at that rate. And something like a Cupra Leon is an extra £400 tax for 5 years (premium tax rate only started applying to EVs in April this year) so that’s another £2k not spent, making £18k less in running costs over 8 years and that’s before factoring in the lower maintenance costs due to fewer oily bits. So the Polestar would have to be worth zero pounds after 8 years and the Cupra £18k to be evens. And I don’t believe the Cupra will be worth as much as that. And I hope the Polestar will still be worth a few quid. The battery (which is obv what everyone worries about) is under warranty for 8 years/100k miles and replaced if at less than 70% capacity at that point. (And even then the range would still be fine if you’re just pootling locally). YouTube has a chap in a Polestar 2 just passed 100k miles with battery capacity at 88% and other makes (e.g Tesla) report similar slow enough drop off to make it worth a punt. Main concern on the warranty front is whether Polestar will be around long enough to back it. A few of the EV companies are substantially in the red with EV take up not being what they’d hope (who knew that punters don’t have a spare £60-70k for an electric BMW 3 series or equiv??). And Google has quite a few worrying stories about the potential survivability (or not) of Polestar. First impressions? Feels really solid, high quality, minimalist interior. The infotainment is simple, intuitive and designed to be easy to use on the move (radical, eh?). Much better than the offerings in the i4 and Cupra Born I tried which just felt fussy with far too many screens and much distracting swiping involved. Bizarrely it has wireless charging but not wireless CarPlay so you have to plug your phone in anyway which completely defeats the point of wireless charging. But found a £20 USB dongle on Amazon which broadcasts a wireless CarPlay signal via Bluetooth so problem solved. The full length pan roof is really nice (although doesn’t open) and features like adaptive cruise, lane assist and 360 degree cameras come with the Pilot pack. Having had ACC on the Golf it was a must for my next car. Obviously very refined and quiet on the move - glides along effortlessly and really easy to drive without feeling too disengaged. Pushes you back in your seat if you floor it (as you’d expect) at any speed (well up to 70mph officer). And with no gears to change the response is instant. Reviewers all seem to complain about the poor ride quality but although a little jiggly it’s no worse than the R estate on 18s with DCC. (I’ve got the standard 19s on the Polestar). And with a higher profile tyre than the Golf, the ride quality is noticeably better over UK roads. Obviously suffers from battery weight and is a tad bargey but not too bad (and I didn’t used to throw the R estate around that much). It handles well enough for me. Polestar currently have a deal to install a charger for £500 (typical price is £1,000) and that was fitted painlessly yesterday. One thing that feels a bit sneaky is the stated range. I’m sure you’re all aware that you’re not going to get the official stated range (something like 360 miles for this one). And you may also have clocked that in winter the range is lower (so take x% off) Oh, and you’re on the motorway too? (Take another y% off). So by that point you may be down to something like 250 miles. But then the advice is to charge the battery in the 20-80% range (charging time increases dramatically below 20% and above 80%) and repeated charging to 100% is not good for battery longevity. So you’re actually looking at 60% of 250 miles in a worse case scenario (so 150 miles). But you just need to do the maths and make sure it works for you. Things I’ll miss? A rear wiper! Why do the majority of EVs not have rear wipers? Rain, dew and snow don’t avoid EV rear windows! Really stupid omission. There’s also no spare wheel. I never needed the Golf’s but it just feels wrong not to have one. And the massive Golf boot was useful for the annual trip to the Highlands. But I’m sure we can make do with the 450ltrs (Inc front boot) on the Polestar. Reviewers often comment on the lack of space and headroom in the back but I don’t often have passengers so not a concern for me. Just thought I’d jot down my thoughts & reasoning for anyone else contemplating their next move. As you can tell ultimately the numbers made it compelling to switch, but it feels like I’ve not lost at least some of the fun factor in the move. With the current pricing on ex-demos and cars up to a couple of years old these Polestars in particular feel like a real bargain. Finally just to say that whilst I’ve not posted a huge amount on this forum over the years I have used it frequently for reference. My thanks to the community and especially the mods for helping to create such a welcoming space and curate such an excellent source of knowledge for the R. Cheers Russell

Am musing precisely the same question. 16 plate R estate here. Purchased as ex demo at 6 months old with 9k miles (for £26k!). Fully loaded (pan roof, leather, DCC, Dynaudio), serviced every 10k, DSG service at 30, 60, 90k miles. Been very reliable (except for the expected thermostat/water pump and Haldex replacements). Simply the best all round vehicle! Now at 120k miles. Do I keep it or change? Cupra Leon estate looks interesting. With the facelift model part way through 2024 they got an increase in power to 333 BHP, a slight change to the exterior (looks meaner at the front), a better quality interior, bigger infotainment screen and ILLUMINATION for the annoying touch sensitive temperature controls. (And retain physical buttons on the steering wheel so you don’t turn on the heated steering wheel by accident when simply going round a corner!). The VZ2 model also got leather seats as standard with the facelift. Seems to be a steady stream coming through as ex-management cars on Autotrader - often VZ2 spec and often with sunroofs. List is about £50k but suspect no one is paying that. One of these at 6 months old with 5k ish miles is c. £35k. In today’s world that seems like “value”. They also now come with a 5 year warranty as standard. Took one for a drive the other week. Feels a very nice place to be. Build quality is good. Refinement is much better than I recall from previous gen Seat Leon Cupra estate. Road noise might be a tad louder than my Golf at higher speeds but then I’m on 18” wheels and listening out for it. Feels like the closest equivalent in today’s world to what I bought 9 years ago.

16 plate R Estate on 112k miles with pano roof. Owned from 6 months. No problems with mine. My perception is that sunroofs on the hatch are more problematic.

Now showing at £418… and out of stock 😔

Might be the driver’s knee airbag?

Hi Steve I have the same issue. Could you share any details on what you fitted, part number, source, cost and the like? Thanks Russell

Thought I’d update this thread with my latest experience. The AC Condenser on my 16 plate estate has just failed after 6 years @ 90k miles. Cost to replace (at dealer) would have been £700 but fortunately I purchased the extended warranty 5 months ago. I’ve just heard that this will be covered under the warranty, so repair is foc. In case you’re wondering I refused the AC “service” when it was offered in the past as the AC has been sufficiently cool (until recently). [The dealer’s price to replace the unit is also outrageous. A new condenser is £135 from carparts4less and I got a quote of £230 from my local non-dealer for the labour, so would have been literally half the cost compared to the dealer quote]. Having myself needed a new Haldex (£500), thermostat & water pump (£1,000) and now condenser (£700) in the past 18 months I think you’d be mad not to take out the extended warranty if you plan on keeping one of these after 3 years!

REALLY pleased to hear the outcome! Fingers crossed on the possible additional goodwill…

Precisely my reasoning too (also at 6 years). Suspect they’re hoping to profit from continued contact with customers who might defect to an indy as a car ages. The “health check”, 2 x MOT and 2 x service visits ensure frequent dealer contact over the next two years so plenty of opportunity to point out (possibly non-essential) work. Just think how many air con services you might need over a 2 year period? 😀 A couple of items were pointed out to me at my health check but I only went ahead with the one which would be a blocker for the warranty (clearing an infotainment error code) and asked for a quote for the other (discs & pads).

Mine lasted 5 years/80k miles in my 16 plate with stop-start disabled.

2016 R Estate with pano roof here. Bought at 6 months as ex-demo. Now at 5.5 years and 86k miles. Never had any issues with the sunroof and love it 👍 But don’t get me started on the bust thermostat/water pump (£1k) and also haldex (£500) both at just under 5 years 😠 Wish I’d had the warranty package at the time - https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners-and-drivers/servicing/service-plans/all-in.html

No problem Mark! Have to say the R estate is the perfect car... and still is after 5 years! Merry Christmas to you too.

Hi Mark Maybe it is indeed a feature 😀 But I doubt you'd get mould in that space unless there's something for the mould to "eat". If it's just metal, plastic and rubber I think it'll be fine (but I wouldn't leave a sandwich there ☺️). At 5.5 years old there's no sign of sunroof mould with my car. Maybe just open up the roof periodically to dry the deflector out? Thinking through the issues that I think have been reported on this forum re: the sunroof... I haven't yet had the sunroof drain being blocked, but I wasn't impressed when the local dealer offered a "sunroof drain hole service" for £70 the other day! ("Sorry... You want me to pay to address a design flaw??"). I also haven't yet encountered any issues with the glass shattering (but always ensure my insurance policy expressly covers sunroof glass as not all of them do). And to date I've not suffered from birds pecking at the sunroof surround. So no problems with the roof for me! I'm actually really happy with it - lets lots of light into the cabin, even when not actively in use - and I was keen to find an estate with one fitted. I trust yours will keep you happy for a long while too! Cheers Russell

Hi Mark I have a pano roof on my estate and have noticed the same issue (wet wind deflector) from time to time. Soon dries out with a little speed induced breeze 😀 Russell

I have no problem with the analogue dials on my 7 and don’t see the value in a digi dash. Having shelled out £500 for a new Haldex pump (despite over servicing it at 4x20k mile intervals - local dealer refused to clean filter) and £1k for water pump & thermostat all at 5 years/80k I’m not looking forward to more clever bits falling off 😔 Five years for these bits does not seem reasonable either. Whilst I love the DCC option on my car I’m concerned at the replacement cost per corner (£500?) if/when they go wrong. And DSG fixes aren’t cheap either. It’s only the thought of £3k+ per year depreciation (and the lack of the cash upfront) for a new one that justifies keeping it. Oh and the fact that I cannot think of anything to replace the R estate!

It may be a few days over the official warranty period but I think any reasonable person would expect a car dashboard to last longer than that? https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl Wishing you luck with pursuing this. I wonder if you’ll be the last. Let us know how it goes…

The cynical part in me also suggests they might enjoy the £500 bill for replacing the pump when it burns out…

For my R estate, 16 Plate, after 4.5 years and 78k miles I had a coolant alarm with coolant level sudden drop, leading to diagnosis of thermostat housing leak. Replaced water pump & thermostat at local VW garage at a cost of £950 (local indie quoted the same). Deeply unimpressed 😕

Thanks Chris - appreciate the input and it does fit with the change of tyres. I might try your fix over a couple of runs 👍 However I've also scanned for error codes via OBDEleven which shows an intermittent Haldex Clutch Pump error C111207. So that sounds like something mechanical to be addressed. I’m hoping it might just be a clogged up filter. It obviously needs a clean by now anyway 😀Will book it in to be looked at. Worst case scenario is a new Haldex but I’m prepped for that now 😕

Normal driving it’s fine. If I knock it down a couple of gears and floor it I can make it happen. Have never seen the TC light come on before. Maybe it’s just the greasy roads and me being aware of it now.

Weird. It did seem a bit of a coincidence that mine started immediately after the tyre change too. Thanks for the reply - appreciated 👍

Thanks for the info. Think I’ll try a proper haldex service & reset see if my lucks in. I feel like I’ve sacrificed enough cash to the VW gods recently 😕

Hey Carter, did you get a resolution to your issue? Have just had all four tyres changed to Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen-2 (so expecting *better* traction at the moment!). But the Traction Control light now flickers noticeably under load and power is curtailed. Turning traction control off and it feels fine again with the power being there and no apparent spin. Hoping it might just be the new tyres needing to bed in. Really hoping it’s not the haldex as I’ve just stumped up for the waterpump/thermostat issue 🙁 Am aware of the haldex issue and have had mine serviced at 30, 50 & 70k miles (but only oil changes as my local vw dealer doesn’t do filter cleans 😡). Will check for codes via OBDEleven in the next couple of days etc but since your background was so similar I wondered what happened in your case?

Just for the record... R estate, 16 Plate, 78k miles here. Chalk up another victim of the thermostat housing leak issue. Had coolant alarm with coolant level sudden drop, leading to diagnosis of thermostat housing leak. Replaced water pump & thermostat at local VW garage at a cost of £950 (local indie quoted the same). Deeply unimpressed 😕

Do you have your phone plugged in via Carplay/Android Auto? I’ve experienced similar behaviour before and it was down to my phone screen thinking it was being pressed and sending signals to the head unit. Unplugging the phone, cleaning the screen (and a restart of the phone) cured it. Just a thought. Hmmm, just re-read your post and noticed “If I select a non-entertainment related screen like phone screen it stops” so probably unlikely!