My 2011 Golf vs 2011 BMW 530d rental

c17chief

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Golf 2dr
So I am in Germany for a couple months. The Golf is at home sleeping of course, and I have a brand new BMW 530d for a rental out here in Germany. 5 series BMW's and E class Mercedes are the going choices among our group for rentals....with a pretty good mix among MT, gas, diesel, etc. I knew right off I would rather have a smaller car since those are boats for out this way, but figured I would go with the norm and try on a nice car for awhile. I did push to get a MT diesel vs just taking whatever out of the class. They had none with both...I could of gotten a MT gasser or an auto diesel as far as the BMW's went, so I got the auto diesel. It is nice and all, but after a couple weeks with it so far, I would much rather have my Golf out here then that car. In fact I think the Golf is MUCH more fun to drive even though the bimmer is faster...and for the tighter urban areas, the bimmer is just too big for comfortable effortless zipping around. In fact if it wasnt for all the fancy radar/parking assist on the BMW, it would be flat out annoying sometimes.

Even though I am out here 2 months, we can only keep the rentals 2 weeks to a month before exchanging them with the rental agency. I think I will step down below our allowed rental class and see if they have any A3 TDI's or at least a Golf. Hopefully they have something like that without having to go to the likes of a cheap boring ole Citroen or Opel or something...in which case I would just stick with what I have.

So in other words, VW Golf > BMW 530d to me, at least as far as driving around europe goes. :D
 

douglas751

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
Golf Mark VI
I am in Germany often. My favorite rentals now are:

For Long Trips: Ford Mondeo Wagon TDCI (hard to park though)

For Long Trips, but I must also park in a city: Audi A4 TDI

The Audi, even with the small TDI engine and manual trans is a really nice car. It is almost as zippy as a Golf in town, yet much better at high speeds for long distance.

Here is what to avoid: Passat, Opel Insignia (thirsty, bad nav), any Korean, Toyota, any Renault

Also good, BMW 320D, Ford S-MAX TDCI (very big), Focus TDCI (if only driving in town), Skoda Superb (too big for small towns, good for distance)

The Mondeo has the best steering, the best seats, and the best seat position. It is not the fastest, it does not have the best gadgets. YOu can drive it all day and get out feeling fresh. The Audi A6 and the BMW5 are too big, too heavy, too complex.
 

h_curtis

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Location
Pittsburgh
TDI
none yet
Audi A4 TDI
The Audi, even with the small TDI engine and manual trans is a really nice car.
My dream car that I will never be able to own. I wish we had that car in the US. I will say, I have an '05 Audi A4 USP w/MT and it is a great car that gets good fuel economy. I was just thinking about trading it in on something, but there isn't anything that I feel is as good because of the AWD. I can't afford the new A4 right now, but might wait a while and get one a year or two old.

Thanks for sharing your trip experience.
 

German_1er_diesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Location
Ratzeburg
TDI
BMW 118d
I am in Germany often. My favorite rentals now are:
For Long Trips: Ford Mondeo Wagon TDCI (hard to park though)
No wonder, it has the wheelbase of a Taurus.
The Mondeo has the best steering, the best seats, and the best seat position. It is not the fastest, it does not have the best gadgets. YOu can drive it all day and get out feeling fresh.

I had a Mondeo Titanium 2.2TDCi in Summer, and it definitely had gadgets. Big-screen navigation with pretty good iPod integration, heated and cooled seats... but the best thing about the Mondeo is how it drives. Smooth, but fun through corners for such a big FWD car.
The 2.2L diesel has 200hp. That's plenty, and the 6-speed manual feels great.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
that is a monstrous wheel base!
 

German_1er_diesel

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Location
Ratzeburg
TDI
BMW 118d
OK, it's not exactly the same wheelbase - 112.2" for the Mondeo, 112.9" for the Taurus.
Still, the Fusion only has 107.4" - the Mondeo has a vastly larger interior, being much wider and taller than the Fusion too.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I think if I were there, I'd want to experience as many different offerings as possible, so I'd go with something that was unavailable here... which is not hard to find of course.
 

migbro

Veteran Member
Joined
May 19, 2010
Location
Lincoln, Mass.
TDI
2003 Golf GL
I think if I were there, I'd want to experience as many different offerings as possible, so I'd go with something that was unavailable here... which is not hard to find of course.
The last time I was in the UK I rented a Skoda Octavia TDI with a manual transmission. Though considered a low end vehicle in Europe, that car was great. Tight, fast, comfortable and very low fuel consumption.

what do you guys do that you get to be in europe for months at a time??
c17chief -- C-17 Chief? My first guess would be spending your tax dollars.
 
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waspie

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Location
ne ohio
TDI
05.5 pkg2!
The last time I was in the UK I rented a Skoda Octavia TDI with a manual transmission. Though considered a low end vehicle in Europe, that car was great. Tight, fast, comfortable and very low fuel consumption.



c17chief -- C-17 Chief? My first guess would be spending your tax dollars.
heh, i suppose i could have paid better attention to the name... thanks for the slap
 

eparker202

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Beetle Convertible 6MT TDI
get a skoda yeti, its a golf chassis and tdi motor with awd! or a tiguan tdi awd, i have always wanted one of those.
 

c17chief

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Location
NJ
TDI
2011 Golf 2dr
c17chief -- C-17 Chief? My first guess would be spending your tax dollars.
yeah. And wow, digging up an old thread! haha.

As far as the tax dollars go... it's pretty much win win as far as the cars go. The rental place we use pretty much hooks us up when it comes to long term rentals like that. Pretty much comes out to about $52/day out the door. Considering 29.99 euro is the cheapest per day for the smallest most basic thing available I have seen out there in recent years, we pretty much get a steal. Especially when our orders call for SUV class as it is, which is usually much more expensive. :cool:
 
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