OK thanks guys for all your input, varied comments from one extreme to the other, I have found a very good deal on a Cupra 300 as was posted earlier and is a bit of a no brainier if I want to take the new route. Golf R or GTI about £8500 over two years incl £2700 deposit. Cupra deposit £269 + 23 at £269 = £6400 its front wheel drive so about 200kg lighter than an R and apparently a lot more nimble, it also has dsg box as a no cost option !
I have a lovely GTI over here which has been cosseted all it's life and has only 40k miles on the clock, lived in a garage in a great climate, I have been spoilt and to find its equivalent in the UK as a ed30 Pirelli GTI or R32 would be a min of £9k on a 10 year old car ?
At 65 I'm getting into my twilight years, have enough money and have lived with old cars on the principles you have very corrected pointed out for the last ten years but the new car is going to win out and I can pose about as an old git in a fast car ! After two years I might well be back, all the best guys !