Having been a Scout Owner for just over a year, my missus has just started to learn to drive in an automatic not good when the scout is a manual :(

So off i popped to the dealership to look at trading it in for a new scout and there arent availble nooooo good so that leaves me pondering over ordering a new VRS estate or a 2nd hand Scout?

After test driving the VRS I have to say I'm impressed, so decisions decisions

Why cant she learn to drive a manual , is it because she is a woman? Get her to drive a manual, spend loads of money getting a vRS, or get a divorce

Why cant she learn to drive a manual , is it because she is a woman? Get her to drive a manual, spend loads of money getting a vRS, or get a divorce

+1, get rid, :yes: buy the Vrs.

Simple enough.....

Q1.

Is a manual a no, no for your good lady and does she have to drive your car (you could always get a granny special supermini Auto....)?

Yes - probably best chopping for a DSG.

No - get her to learn manual or acquire one of the aformentioned granny specials.

Q2 (Assuming 'Yes' to Q1)

Do you need ground clearance and 4x4?

Yes - stick with a Scout

No - Go for a VRs

Hope that helps? Changing cars is always expensive. If change can be avoided, all the better in my opinion.

Niall

Only thing is (and I'm gonna get flamed for this) is the DSG in standard guise is a bit naff, not due to the way it changes gear (as that's awesome) but the choice of gear - it tries to go up too quickly and you end up in 5th at 40mph with the car chugging along at about 1 rpm so you can feel each piston going up and down - or you use sport mode and it red lines it all the time which is daft if you just want to drive normally. It's why I hated it and went for the manual but that's clearly not an option for you.

Easily fixed by a trip to Shark though as the software on the DSG can be altered to make it behave sensibly.

Having said all this I do have a fondness for 4WD as opposed to 1 wheel drive (with no LSD all it takes is for one wheel to spin and you go nowhere). I so want a Yeti CR170 with a map.....

I've owned both a four wheel drive and a fwd VRS octavia mk2 and absolutely no doubt I'd be going for the Scout! It makes wheelspin and traction issues a thing of the past! :-)

Still plenty of new Scouts sat in dealers ready for instant delivery...

On a serious note, have you investigated insurance on either for her, new drivers are loaded hugely , could spend that( silly money) on a second car till she gets some no claims . You would take a hit on either car money wise as well

On a serious note, have you investigated insurance on either for her, new drivers are loaded hugely , could spend that( silly money) on a second car till she gets some no claims . You would take a hit on either car money wise as well

Actually when my wife was learning to drive putting her on my insurance reduced the cost - go figure.

Seems insurance companies like to have an occasional second driver on the policy, reduces the risk apparently. I now keep her on the policy even though she refuses to drive my car due to its size.

Teach her to drive in a manual, only having an auto licence will make choosing cars in the future harder & always more expensive. If shes scared of the manual find some waste ground (its a scout after all) or an empty car park & let her just practice pulling away & stoping.

As to the original question, scout every time, if for nothing else its a lot safer should she have a knock, 4Wd reduces the risk of slides in the wet & the higher profile just has more presence on the road making it less likely mr stupid will do something in front of her. I think its also a cooler car to own, get it mapped, put some decemt rubber on it & you can really suprise people in the twisties

Edited 10 July, 201213 yr by Stuart_J

Teach her to drive in a manual, only having an auto licence will make choosing cars in the future harder & always more expensive.

+1

It's a bit silly learning to drive an auto. It you're starting from scratch it's not really going to be much more difficult to learn to drive a manual and in the future she won't be so limited in what she can drive. In an emergency she might be very grateful she can drive 'any' car or van.

Cheers for the replies gents some of them did make me laugh

She is adamant thats she is learning in an auto, its taken me 17 years to persuade her to learn to drive so I'm sort of winning the war of attrition lol. I like my scout especially in the winter up here in the north of scotland it was a awesome!

Big decision, I'll do some digging ref an availbale DSG scout, although the deal the local dealership has offered me on a new vRS means I'm not losing much money on it

Cheers for the replies gents some of them did make me laugh

She is adamant thats she is learning in an auto, its taken me 17 years to persuade her to learn to drive so I'm sort of winning the war of attrition lol. I like my scout especially in the winter up here in the north of scotland it was a awesome!

Big decision, I'll do some digging ref an availbale DSG scout, although the deal the local dealership has offered me on a new vRS means I'm not losing much money on it

Scout is a popular car so the dealer will give you a good price for yours, The MK2 Octy is starting its run out so dealers can I guess offer good deals, loads will be sold so values in a couple of years will take a bit of a knock. Why not buy an old small Auto just for her

Why not buy an old small Auto just for her

+1 Saves her scraping your Scout/VRS

+1 Saves her scraping your Scout/VRS

For starters & this is from a dealer although it looks a small timer trading off his drive

http://www.autotrade...213hj?logcode=p

most small autos are private sales from new so likely to have had a reosnable life

To add if she has something slightly older she wont be scared of scratching your car & if she has the little scrape on a gate post or kerb that most new drivers have it wont matter one bit

I just put VW Auto into Autotrader & it threw up loads

Edited 10 July, 201213 yr by Stuart_J

If she's not doing a lot of miles a small auto 4x4 might come in handy as a second car for snow/floods etc and might give her some confidence. Just don't mention they roll over better than normal cars.