I'm in a similar position. I originally started looking for a lowish mileage Edition 30 however I was shocked at ty prices folk are asking for a 2007 vehicle.
Anything remotely low/average mileage and people are asking 10/11 even 12k!
That's bonkers for a 9 year old car.
The only reason I thought about getting one is I bought one in 2011 at 3 years old with 35k on the clock for £12,000, and thought 5 years on prices would have dropped significantly but clearly not. There is no way I am paying similar money now to what I did 4.5 years ago. People are definitely over inflating the values, you only have to look on Parkers price guide to see what they think they are worth.
So my attention has switched to a Mk6. Although they are a similar car underneath I feel inside they are much more modern especially on the tech front.
Some of the posts above saying what car they got for the money show there are good vehicles to be had for decent money.
A quick search has revealed decent spec and mileage golfs r's for 16-18k.
To me that is much better value for money that a 2007 ED30 on 50k
Don't see how these vehicles should only be 4-5k apart in price. I wouldn't expecting more like 7-9 difference in price.
I've seen a very nice low mileage DSG R, 2011 for £16,500.
Another thing is we don't actually know what cars go for, there might be all these high prices but what are people really selling for? Can't realistically see ED30's that are 9 years old going for 12k.
Same with the Mk6 Gti, I suspect the crazy high price ones on auto trader aren't actually selling for anywhere near the asking price.
I always been told a car is a bad investment money wise so j
I enjoy them for what they are. I expect the resale value to plumet like a stone over time, so don't know where people are getting their asking prices from.