VW ID.3

My Id.3 is gone a week, handed it back to VW finance, only way I could get rid of it, no additional milage penalty despite already being about 20,000 Kms over the limit.

Absolutely no dealer would take it, not even the VW dealer where I got it, they said they have too many electric cars new and 2nd hand and can't sell them, all the other dealers said they won't take EV as trade in.

The finance company said there are a lot of people handing back their id cars, I was told this by more than 1 person in the finance company.

I was offered 11-15 K max from the many dealers I contacted and decided to hand it back under the half rule, I had approximately 20,900 left to pay and no charge for additional mileage.

VW finance were great to deal with and God bless that half rule !

Anyway, I will get the train from Carlow - Dublin in a while and pick up a 2020 Kia Cee'd 1.0L Turbo Petrol Manual with 27,000 Kms, I had test driven it and the i30 a few weeks ago and a Kia Stonic and loved them. The much lighter cars were so much nicer to drive and instantly noticeable.

19,500 is the cost of the Cee'd, a far more sensible sum to spend on a car and I love the fact it's far more basic with less tech and not dependent on software and screens, never again, I love the interior too and the analogue instrument cluster and I really forgot how good it is to drive a petrol manual after so long !

After 9 years EV driving, it's the end of the road for me!

Absolutely no interest in the car or EV any more to be honest, been there, done that, the excitement has well and truly worn off.

The petrol Kia is far more enjoyable to drive, far nicer interior and the whole point is as less tech and kit possible to go wrong if I keep it long term.

The infotainment in the id3 is a disaster and it really drove me nuts particularly when it locks up and crashes, the final straw was a couple of weeks ago coming down from work it all locked up again, I had no speedo, no access to climate, radio nothing, even the indicator clickers weren't clicking.

I really can't be bothered keeping it beyond warranty because it's loaded with so much tech that if something goes wrong out of warranty it will be incredibly expensive to fix or it could even be off the road for weeks or even months.

Either way, I didn't want to keep it, not interested.

It's got to the stage with electric cars that if they offered me a free one I wouldn't drive one, the Kia EV 6 was awful to drive, no feedback from steering and over priced, far too heavy to be in any way enjoyable.

5.3 L/100 Km wasn't too shabby over the 70 Km trip home and 120 all the way from Naas, that's fine for me. That's 53.3 Imp Mpg. Nice low end torque in it too.

Thanks for the best wishes !

I'll be around.

No, most sensible decision I made to get away from a car I really hate. I can't justify paying the balloon on something like that and to risk serious money if something fails out of warranty with all the tech. The Matrix headlights alone are big money if they fail.

If I wait then until the end of the PCP I would have got stung for excess mileage which would be even more than it would have been now in November.

I've been offered so low because no one wants to take it but will take it if I let them give me stupid money for it.

Not even Sheehy motors in Carlow would take it back after buying it off them.

It's only worth money if you can sell it, I couldn't no matter how hard I tried, unless I gave it away for 11-15 K.

If I were to contact a few VW dealers they might offer more if I were getting a brand new EV, that's not going to happen again, or any new car.

Well it's like this, PCP had to end sometime and it makes no financial sense buying a new EV or any new car and I bought a sensibly priced car that I actually like a lot, less tech to go wrong and less software to frustrate me. I do not like all the tech in these cars now even some new ICE cars with big screens you wouldn't even see in a house 30 years ago. It's a joke and distracting and can only add to the road fatalities.

Screens were a solution to a problem that didn't exist and in a car I want separation from screens which I have to interact with so much in work and also crap software at times, I don't want this in a car if that makes sense ?

EV no longer interests me, I get far more enjoyment out of driving a car that weighs a lot less and has gears, I did the EV thing for 9 years.

I just want to get into a car I like and like driving and doesn't annoy the sh*t out of me.

And no, electric cars are not going to save the earth either, that's absolute horse sh1te.

I've driven ICE for many, many kms over many years and have never had a single gearbox issue on a manual gearbox or even the clutch and no engine issues either despite higher mileage. Granted GDI engines are more of an issue but their greatest issue is owner neglect and that's proven time and time again. Maintenance is key and watching the oil levels.

If they gave me a free EV I wouldn't drive one again in a hurry, I'll happily risk ICE issues and manual gearbox over the boredom of EV driving and who's to say I won't have any battery or software issues, infotainment, headlights or anything out of warranty in the id3, don't assume that because a car has less moving parts that it's not going to be expensive hassle after warranty expires.

The 1.0L T-GDI engines will be fine once the owners look after them, their biggest issues with direct injection was lack of frequent oil changes and carbon build up on the valves and I have no issues with regular maintenance and after 200,000 Kms it will still be able to drive a lot further than an EV of the same age and fill up in a fraction of the time……………

Had an i3 don't want another, and the rear doors are a pain and to be honest, I'm really happy to be back in an ICE car. No benefit to me having EV only more hassle, I did it for 9 years and won't do it again in a hurry.

You do know I hated the id3 ?, I wouldn't drive another id3 or even a id4 or any of VW's utter sh*t cars they sell today with their tesla wannabe interiors, many people complain about them, people who buy VW expect a proper ergonomic sensible interior, not the sh*t they're throwing up today that looks like it was designed by screen addicted teenagers. If someone wants a minimalist interior that makes the screen the entire focal point of the car then they bought Tesla.

"buy a motorbike" Lol, I did, well, it's a Yamaha t-max 500 cc but it's a lot of fun.

Trust me, driving the kia manual is a lot more engaging than EV. At the end of the day after the novelty of EV, the joy and excitement of instant torque wears off electrics haven't much to offer except cheap fuel + the ridiculous weight dulls the experience even more.

I'd get the engine rebuilt before I go back to EV.

lol, I'm not wearing the L vest long you know.

The price of some of these bikes. I do love the Cub 125 be perfect for my country roads lol.

The Royal enfields are lovely bikes too.

I'm just repeating what I was told, now had I said I want to buy a brand new id3 I'm sure they would have told me something different.

Software is an issue so is promise of major OTA updates, it never happened but the older ones are forever stuck on older software, if they receive further updates it will be minor.

If you can get something else then I highly recommend you look elsewhere, if you like playing with screens and menus while driving then the id3 is the car for you.

I hated the interior, software issues, screen controlling so much but some people love stuff like that.

I would highly recommend that you test drive a few cars and make sure if you do plan on getting an VW id car that you seriously take the time to play with the infotainment and then ask yourself, is this good when actually driving ? if you like it then my car comes up for Auction in Wilsons as Fits said a few posts above and you might get a cracking bargain but think carefully and get a test drive in the car from a dealer before you buy something from auction that you haven't had the time to fully check out, the car drove me demented and the headlight still has fogging up issues, hasn't happened in a few weeks but it does happen.

Things like replacing one of those lights out of warranty cost a fortune compared to halogen for example.

Out of warranty issues could be very expensive and you could find yourself with it off the road for weeks or months.

If you are interested in my old Tour 5 remember there are no rear door speakers.

Definitely approach electric car driving with caution and spend as much time in the car as you can before you buy.