Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

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MarkTS74
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Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by MarkTS74 »

I know VW said from the onset of the new 2018 Polo onwards having no 3dr option available (believe that is also going to be the case with the next new Golf too) & rest of VW group cars having all (I believe) hatchback 3dr options deleted + many other manufacturers deleting hatchback 3dr options they are now a dying/pretty much dead breed.
I for one always preferred the better looking option of 3dr cars of available - sad time that we have them no more 🙄.
Was watching a "carwow" new Polo GTI review the other day and as the presenter Matt Wilson said "that's just teasing VW having picture of a sexy 3dr on the Polo handbook"....
Still remember the old MK2 Polo "coupé" of the late 80's/90's well.
Thoughts?
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by Andy Beats »

Hopefully Mini will continue to keep the 3 door option, I hope to get back into one of those again at some point.
None of the 5 door options float my boat at all.
MarkTS74
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by MarkTS74 »

I have a October 2014 BlueGT (6c) 3dr which looked so much better than the 5dr, it's the second car of the family & partner normally has the big 5dr car.
Really do think VW making a mistake deleting any future 3dr (excluding the 3dr UP! offerings) car in thier range (they could have at least keep the option alive with a new Scirocco).
As I have the option of not needing a 5dr it was nice to have the choice, might be the only option of a quick 3dr when I change in about 1.5 years is going to be a UP! GTI yes nice looking/fun/etc but having been in one once out of town stretching it's legs bit more at higher speeds not a match to the BlueGT's 1.4TSI 150ps - don't know going to be able to afford the "balloon payment" at end of my PCP (3years time) to buy it, won't be able to afford the new GTI, have to be a 1.5TSI "Evo" 150ps at least to make me happy.... nothing in the range anything like going to available VW group now.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by RUM4MO »

I'd think that after VW Group recovers from the WLTP stuff, and if the market place shows a strong enough desire for 3 door cars, then they will return, probably a bit more in line with what SEAT did with the Ibiza in the past, ie a slightly different body shape as in SC form.

Need this 1.5TSI engine out and ready to fit into some of them?
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by silverhairs »

With todays cars getting wider and car parking places staying the same size and some councils making then slightly smaller to get higher revenue, the length of a 3 door car makes it harder to get out of with cars either side. Also getting hold of the seat belt, is a bit more difficult.
Everybody here seems to like the three door car, but VW are trying to produce a car for the younger generation who in most cases will have a family and trying to get small kids into their car seats through the front doors can really put a strain on your back, the spine wasn't designed to twist round corners, bending over and holding a weight at the same time.
I'm retired, but I like the 5 door, when your either taking out friends or trying to get into a friends 3 door car is not easy.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by SRGTD »

Agree with silverhairs about the longer doors and the issues with getting in and out of a three door car in parking spaces (and small garages too).

I much prefer the convenience of five doors over three doors; much easier for me when transporting elderly relatives who aren’t as nimble as they once were, and find it very difficult getting in and out of the rear of a three door car. I also like the convenience of being able to open the rear doors and put small items - such as a coat - on the back seat, rather than having to use the boot every time.

Will VW introduce three door variants of five door models at some point in the future? With the cost involved in having to produce additional metal pressings (doors, side panels), interior trim panels and ‘tilt and slide’ front seats, and maybe other components that would be specific to a three door model, and with VW’s focus being very much on cost reduction and profit maximisation after dieselgate, it seems unlikely - at least in the short-medium term. There isn’t to be a next generation version of VW’s ‘niche’ three door only models; the Beetle, and the Scirocco (which has been replaced by a five door SUV; the T-Roc), and other brands under the VAG umbrella have also pulled the plug on three door variants - Seat’s Ibiza and Leon, and Audi’s A3 and the new A1 model.

So VW group customers looking for a three door for their next car will probably need to look elsewhere.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswage ... -over-100m
MarkTS74
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by MarkTS74 »

Some very good points made guys.
Agree cars getting bigger with no change in tight parking spaces made for cars size of yesteryear. Bigger cars now so 3dr's would make doors longer/heavier + maybe too awkward to teach seat belts.
Not till I read the link that is a huge saving for VW dropping all 3dr version's of Golf/Polo & dropping of any coupé models so with all that's been going on can why it's been done.
Interesting that seems to be stronger like in this group (I sense) for 3dr Polo's (particularly in GTI form)....my kids 9 & 12 so small & agile if they ever are in Dad's car (not often) don't really mind - that might change when they get older possibly & turn into stroppy teenage girls!

Maybe it's my misguided youthfulness (well maybe not I'm 44 this year) enjoying being back in a peppy 3dr BlueGT after two previous Jetta's TDI'S (MK5 140ps Sport that I had messed with a little/then a MK6 Jetta GT 150ps TDI), the BlueGT like being back in old 2001 3dr Polo GTI just more modern & in fact the BlueGT faster than that 2001 Polo GTI was (somehow that old GTI such character) giving me a unblanced basis towards 3dr Hatchs again.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by monkeyhanger »

3 doors cars are an absolute pain in the arse when parking in a car park. Longer doors, wider cars and even if the parking spaces aren't getting any smaller (they feel like they are), they're definitely not getting any bigger, so you're always at risk of getting a door ding from anyone who parks next to you and doesn't cherish their own car. You're hard pressed to fit them in a modern single garage and still have room to get out of either door (a typical single garage is 2.45m wide and a Polo with unfolded wing mirrors is 1.964m wide according to the brochure, so maybe 1.8m wide for those with folded mirrors - leaving with about 55cm door opening if you park towards one side (10cm off the wall on the passenger side) and about half of that is taken up by the door thickness when open - if you have a 30cm gap to squeeze out of your car, you'll be lucky.

I've had plenty of 3 door cars in my time (most recently 2 Sciroccos bought new in 2009 and 2011), but 5 door design is getting better all the time. I can honestly look at a MK7 Golf and not think that the 3 door model looks any better than the 5 door model.

The vast majority of cars on the road are 5 doors unless they're not a little roadster like a Mazda MX5 or Audi TT. If it costs noticeably more to develop and manufacture both 3 and 5 door variants, I can see the 3 door models being dropped permanently.
Leif
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by Leif »

I hate three door cars. Getting someone in the back is a pain. With five doors I can pop items in the back easily. And I think five door cars look much better, like real cars.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by RUM4MO »

3 door cars, in my mind (as well), have only one thing going for them and that is looks - oh and if you are just squeezing into the bottom end of a model range, they are slightly cheaper.

For me, I ran my daughter's late 2009 Ibiza SC 1.4 16 86PS for roughly 3 years, reaching for the seat belt - annoying, not being able to fit it comfortably into my double garage along side my S4 - annoying, finding a suitable parking space - annoying, coming back to the car to find that you could just about get into the car - very annoying, it looked a lot better than the 5 door version though!
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by Andy Beats »

Quite a few people here worrying about people getting in/out the back of a three door car.
Why? :shock:
Did I give a stuff about rear passengers when I had my Mini?
No, because it's my car and if passengers aren't happy, they're free to catch the bus. :)
I'm not running a taxi, so I'm not having passengers dictate what car I drive.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by vc-10 »

I'd never get a 3-door car as a primary car. I take people in the back too often.

And yes getting people in the back is a problem for you as a driver- you often have to get out to let them in or out!

There are some cars which look better as a 3-door, I think the previous gen Ibiza is a good example. But plenty of others it makes no difference, the last gen Polo for example.
MarkTS74
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by MarkTS74 »

Andy Beats
Think you summed up better than I did!
I now as my partner has the primary family car with 5drs/etc the second car in the family - MY car choice which I only drive again (as I did when I had my 2001 Polo GTI & as now partner has main family car) which would love to be a GTI again (umm some 6 points carelessly picked by me in my work van sort of causing bit of a cost issue for a GTI currently).
I know as soon as I test drove my BlueGT that is was just perfect for me currently - partner said before I went to pick/test drive & decide that & a Golf GT 1.4TSI 5dr "no black/no 3dr please at least" (she know I was looking at a GT Polo or Golf that's all)..the Golf GT 1.4TSI felt boring /not worth the £5k premium/the BlueGT the 1.4TSI felt
fun & exciting in.......you can imagine what colourful words said when I picked up & rolled up on the drive with my BlueGT a few weeks later. As I pointed out it's MY car/MY PCPing so it's is up me what I have, agree if rear passenger's don't like buses are available.
What I dislike is manufacturers taking away that choice for the buying public (understand yes it's costly for them to keep 3dr manufacturing) putting build/cost design/profits over chance of consumer choice.
It get a bit drastic when the only 3dr car choice for VW is a UP! GTI.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by Leif »

Andy Beats wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:44 pm Quite a few people here worrying about people getting in/out the back of a three door car.
Why? :shock:
Did I give a stuff about rear passengers when I had my Mini?
No, because it's my car and if passengers aren't happy, they're free to catch the bus. :)
I'm not running a taxi, so I'm not having passengers dictate what car I drive.
It’s the inconvenience. A front seater has to get out, move the seat forward, and wait while rear passengers get in/out. 5 doors is civilised.
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Re: Anyone going to miss a 3-door option?

Post by RUM4MO »

Andy Beats wrote: Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:44 pm Quite a few people here worrying about people getting in/out the back of a three door car.
Why? :shock:
Did I give a stuff about rear passengers when I had my Mini?
No, because it's my car and if passengers aren't happy, they're free to catch the bus. :)
I'm not running a taxi, so I'm not having passengers dictate what car I drive.
I'd think that it depends on the circle of friends/relations that surround you, when I used to car share at work, when someone moved and so left the car pool, I and the others currently in a pool would tend to give first option to someone with a 4 door car, so quite a few willing car sharers with 3 door cars never made it into car pools.

Likewise for relatives both younger and older, "taking your turn" when moving around and having someone head butt the pavement when leaving the back of a 3 door should make you feel more than partly to blame for that incident.

I see you say" I'm not running a taxi etc" but you'd probably be very happy to share their 4 door cars.

To take this to extremes, my daughter's boy friend runs a couple of Lotuses, an old Esprit and an FWD Elan - and no one cares to share these cars with him on a long journey including my daughter!

To add one other thing, do I like being in the back of a 3 door car when I'm used to being able to hopefully open a car after an incident - no, survival instincts make me think that I might not be as lucky as I could be - but that is just my personal view, I have only sat in the rear of my daughter's 3 door Ibiza once along with 2 other adults, and I was very glad to get dropped off to collect our car at a car park - I trust her driving but I can not control/influence all those around me.

Edit:- just to make clear one thing, I was quite happy to drive around with that car and take my wife with me in it, but if we had friends round or visiting friends, I'd make sure that I could step up and share any driving around when there was 4 of us to move around, its called being reasonable.
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