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New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 10:46 pm
by SusieB
Hi, I'm looking for a bit of inspiration in deciding which of two GTi+ cars to buy. Both are brand new and available without delay but deciding which to buy and which will be a better reseller in two years is driving me silly ! I'm hoping to decide on Monday !
So. Car one is white with a black pack and rear camera.
Car two is reef blue with an iron dash-pad, art velours and Brescia wheels.
The price difference (the cars are at different dealers) is £940 with the white car obviously the cheaper one.
I like the reef blue car but suspect it will be less desirable in resale.
Any thoughts please.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:24 pm
by SRGTD
Welcome to the forum SusieB.
Of the two cars, I’d go for the Pure White one. That’s my personal preference though, but the clincher for me would be the upholstery. I’m personally not a fan of the optional Art Velours upholstery in the Reef Blue car, and I think a car with the standard Jacara tartan upholstery would be easier to sell, come resale time.
I also think that the Pure White GTI+ will probably appeal to more prospective buyers when the time comes to sell than the Reef Blue car will. However, colour choice is a very personal thing.
Of the two cars, my preference would be the Pure White car but with the optional Brescia alloys. If they’re both at the same dealers, I’d be asking the dealer if they’d swap the standard Parker alloys on the white car for the Brescias on the Reef Blue car, with price adjustment if necessary (Brescia alloys are a £350 option), although I’d try and negotiate with the dealer to do this at no cost.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:48 pm
by Ima
Welcome to the forum.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 11:50 pm
by Ima
It’s a nice dilemma to have as you’re getting a great car whatever you choose. To me, I’d agree with SRGTD. Pure white with black pack and Brescia wheels the top choice. The art velours seats aren’t what a GTI is all about and add no resale value but will be accounting for much of the extra cost at first purchase and will be money you won’t get back, so if it was my money it is the white.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 12:12 am
by OomStu_ZA
Hi SusieB
Welcome, my choice for exterior colour is white but for interior I prefer the iron black finish as opposed to the red insert, and my car came fitted with leather seats. I also have the 18" rims and find the ride quite comfortable for every day use.
Many safe miles ahead!
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 6:57 am
by lancslad1985
If you are considering resale then any trade in value will be for a base gti plus, they don’t include addons.
If you’re looking at resale as in private selling I’d have thought the white with the tartan would be more popular over the art velours. Not to mention the blue is a bit of a marmite colour - you either love it or hate it. I used to love the blue silk of the last polo but the reef blue is too dark for me and looks dull on days when it isn’t sunny. White also hides swirl marks much better than the darker blue and white is a very popular colour.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:29 am
by SRGTD
@SusieB; if you’ve not actually seen the two cars yet, it might be worth having a look at pictures of nearly new Pure White and Reef Blue Polo GTI+ cars for sale in the used cars section on VW’s website and on Autotrader website. Hopefully there’s enough of both colour cars currently for sale and a sufficiently large enough number pictures taken in different lighting conditions so you can see how each colour looks on dull and bright sunny days. That may help you decide which colour you prefer (use the advanced filters to narrow down your search to just White and Blue Polo GTI+ models). If resale is important to you, the numbers of each colour for sale will also give you an idea of which is the most popular of the two colours.
Also, have a look at some of the video reviews of White and Blue Polo GTI+‘s on YouTube, which can also give you an idea of how each colour looks in different lighting conditions. You can also use the new car configurator on VW’s website to ‘build’ one in each colour. On my tablet, I think the configurator does give quite an accurate representation of both colours.
I agree with @lancslad1985; White is easier to maintain if that’s an important consideration for you. IMO I also think Reef Blue looks quite a dark colour on overcast, cloudy days and not a good as Blue Silk that was offered as a colour on the previous generation car. Reef Blue does look good on bright, sunny days though - although in the UK we might not get too many bright sunny days!

Also, I think Pure White tends to show off the design ‘creases’ in the bodywork better than Reef Blue does.
At the end of the day, colour choice is quite subjective, and is a very personal thing that only you can ultimately decide. However, ensuring that you’ve seen examples of both White and Blue - if not actual cars, from pictures and video reviews - to help you decide is important IMO to help you make the choice that’s right for you.
Good luck with your choice.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 10:11 am
by BootsOnBallast
Morning...
As the other guys had said it’s really a case of personal preference. You’d be silly to disregard resale values when buying a car but you also can’t just buy a car based on how much you’ll sell it on for.
What colours and options will you prefer?
It looks like i fall well in to the marmite category with my reef blue plus with its art velours and red dash interior!
I walked in to the dealer wanting silver, tartan interior, iron dash and a reversing camera..... but in the end I got offered a stonking deal on a stock car.
I enjoy washing my cars and the blue lends itself well to detailing products. The dealer agreed to supply and fit the camera for free as well as absorbing the cost of the seat upgrade.
I love it. Sometimes the ride is hard and my brain shakes when I hit a pot hole but I love the challenge of driving it hard while getting as close as I can to 40mpg..... simple mind I guess?
Oh and one last thing... with the world being as ducked up as it is with no sign of any real improvement just buy the one that’ll be most fun and enjoy it.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 12:11 pm
by lancslad1985
Agree with @bootsonballast. There’s more to life than resale values. Get the car you want and can afford out of the two. I ordered a red gti as I always wanted a red one and any other colour would’ve been a regret for me
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 12:52 pm
by monkeyhanger
It's got to be red or white, with Brescias, preferably deep iron inserts too, forget the art velours - robs the GTI of its interior identity.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:58 pm
by SusieB
Thank you all for your great input, I've decided on the white car. Seeming as you guys are really on the ball with your knowledge, the current model is the 2018 model yes ? So if I understand correctly VW have Polos Golfs etc on a 4 year cycle meaning I've two years of ownership before a new face appears on the scene ? Again, thanks for your great help and comments.
Re: New member, decision to make.
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2020 8:05 pm
by OomStu_ZA
SusieB wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2020 7:58 pm
Thank you all for your great input, I've decided on the white car. Seeming as you guys are really on the ball with your knowledge, the current model is the 2018 model yes ? So if I understand correctly VW have Polos Golfs etc on a 4 year cycle meaning I've two years of ownership before a new face appears on the scene ? Again, thanks for your great help and comments.
You're welcome and good choice selecting the car in white. There a lot more well informed people on this forum but afaik the current Polo was launched in 2017 and if the model has an 8 year production cycle then we may see a face lift around 2021/2022.