VW ID3 owners review.

I’m strongly thinking of buying an ID3, the one I’m looking at is the 150kw Family Pro Peformance 58kwh.

Any real world owner’s reviews?

I have one of those but with 205kw power option.

It’s ace. No regrets at all. Fast, fun, cheap to run, bike fits in the back with ease.
There is a bit of a difference between the speed of the two power options but I’m sure your option will be fine; it’ll still be plenty fast off the line.
There’s a very active UK owners group in Facebook that has a wealth of information in it.
Any specifics you’d like to know?

I have the model you are considering. It is very good, all the reviews criticising the infotainment and switchgear are just picky. It fantastic to drive in town and on motorway. My commute is 135mile round trip and costs £1.50 on octopus go.

It is vast in the cabin and very comfortable for passengers.

We’ve been on some long journeys in it and as long as you find good reliable ultra rapid charging- InstaVolt.. you’ll be good. But 95% of charging is at home.

I can’t really recommend it highly enough to be honest.

I have that exact model. I’m not a big car person but it’s the best thing I’ve ever driven / owned – cheap to run, fun to driver. Bike fits in the boot with the wheel off.

What bikes are people fitting inside and how? Could it take two?

29er ht – sorry should clarify that’s with the seats down! Doubt you’d fit a bike in the actual boot.

My full sus orbea fits with the front wheel off. Another on top would be no hassle at all.
Road bike fits with both wheels on.

I use a clean tonne bag from Jewsons and use it to put most of the bike in.

The plastics are a bit cheap and the infotainment, climate and steering wheel buttons/systems are actually worse than the bad reviews, but it’s a good car overall. We’d buy another one despite it.

There’s an over the air update going on as I speak which I hope sorts the terrible/over aggressive lane keeping assist.

I think it’s a good car but I can’t get excited about it. So looking at the Cupra Born instead – same car, but different styling by a Seat derivative

Oo, sounds good. I’ve got one coming in November 🙂

If you were thinking about getting it OP…

I’ve ordered that exact model. Delivery estimate is “early April”, no fancy extras. So factor that in if you are in a rush!

I’ll keep an eye on this, we currently have a BMW i3s (which will be going back in June next year so still a way off) and wondering what will come next 🙂

I’m changing from a Tesla Model3 SR+ July 2019 to a new ID3 Family Pro Performance on 17 Nov. Internally and especially the UI I’m expecting is going to be a massive disappointment, but being outdoors person I desperately want to return to a hatchback rather than a saloon car.

Internally and especially the UI I’m expecting is going to be a massive disappointment,

And the charging network surely?

I only charge at home but the thing Tesla seem to have nailed is the the charging?

Yes, altho 99.8% is local commuting so none issue and the last time I turned up at superchargers (Gretna Green services) they were all occupied so I use the much faster Ionity chargers, But yes I’ll be out in the wild west, but it currently only requires a bit more planning and its only going to get better IMO. I’ve now 2.5years experience of it and I’m fairly confident i will cope with the occasional long distance trip. On my recent hol to Scotland I made a point of avoiding Tesla superchargers to prove to myself I can do it

Good luck OP. The IDs look pretty good. I’ve seen a few local to me and VW seem to have gotten a nice balance of style and substance.

As an alternative have you seen that U.K. orders are open for the Tesla Model Y? This is a hatchback/CUV/SUV similar in size to the Model 3. Delivery allegedly ‘early 2022’.

I’ve got one with the 205 kw power option.

It a company car and I picked it to replace my Seat Leon FR, the 4 year lease on which was over.

I took a bit of a punt on the ID.3. I hadn’t seen one in the flesh nor driven one but at the tenth of the monthly price of the new hybrid Leon which I quite fancied it was a no brainer. I was prepared to live with the shortcomings of the ID.3 for that price differential.

Turns out it was a great choice! The only up-speccing from the base model was the addition of the cheapest alloys over the steel wheels. They look great.

Nippy, really nice to drive, currently 214 mile range on a full charge (has dropped a bit due to the lowering temperatures up here in Inverness) roomy inside, loads of cool tech as standard.

I’d order it again in a heartbeat.

I’ve test drove the base model which I quite liked but the Family pro has a slightly nicer interior.

FYI, the 150kW is the 201bhp one.

The car finance company says they have a car available in December.

Cheers all for the insight.

A friend got one recently. The plastics and switches would be embarrassing on a car that was half the price and the seats are uncomfortable on longer journeys. Apart from that it’s nice but in five years I expect it will look like what it is, a first attempt.

I’m currently waiting for mine, at moment got the e golf which is nice but the range is poor so hoping the id 3 is a lot better

at the tenth of the monthly price of the new hybrid Leon

Where did you find that deal?

at the tenth of the monthly price of the new hybrid Leon

Where did you find that deal?

Via my work company car scheme.

I assume the tenth of the monthly price refers to the BIK payment ?

Sad to see that while you can buy roof bars that fit the ID3, VW don’t certify the roof for carrying anything. I would like an electric car, but the ability to carry up to 75kg of kayaks or canoes is essential.

I assume the tenth of the monthly price refers to the BIK payment ?

Hybrid Leon was roughly £150/£150 BiK tax / personal contribution.

ID3 is £15/£15. Maybe closer to £20/£20 with the alloys and the charging cable.

So there isn’t a roof rack for the ID3?

If true then that pretty much means that the car isn’t much use to me as we (as a family) have 4 bikes. Which we transport regularly for family cycles.

I would like an electric car, but the ability to carry up to 75kg of kayaks or canoes is essential.

Skoda Enyaq, BMW Ix3, Tesla model 3…. plenty that do

Tesla model 3 has a really low max carrying weight. And still not sure the roof rack mounting points are…..solid/clever enough! (I would 100% shatter the glass roof….). Model 3 had max weight of like 420 kgs or something. With s family of four and stuff, not sure it could cope without sagging/handling (and road legality) being impacted.

Btw, the need for a kayak drove me to get a VW id4. that 600 quid kayak caused me to buy a 40 grand car. Thanks. (It’s an obscene amount of money).

So there isn’t a roof rack for the ID3?

I think there might be two separate questions here. One – do VW sell a manufacturer set of roof bars for the ID3? It seems not yet, although there’s plenty of conjecture on EV forums that they are coming. Theories on this delay vary about whether they have worries about ‘total payload’ with passengers and luggage being exceeded (for which the ID seems pretty good anyway) or just the impact on range, pushing people towards the rear transport carrier (NOT a tow hitch) that they offer.

Two – will the roof cave in if you put aftermarket roofbars on it? It seems it won’t and people seem to do this fine. But will it knacker the range of the car? Very possibly.

I have one of those but with 205kw power option.

It’s not 205kw it’s 205bhp.

Big difference. There is no current 205kw version (that’d be about 275bhp), it’s 150kw.

So there isn’t a roof rack for the ID3?

Can’t get one for my i3s, although that could be down to the carbon roof? No worries though as I can fit my XL 29″ FS in the back.

Our ID.3 is, on balance, good. Being able to charge at home makes going to a filling station seem somewhat archaic. We only have a (bought separately) 3 pin adapter and that is fine. Ours has the 150kW motor, with 58kWh battery.

The interior quality doesn’t seem befitting of a ~£30k car. Most surfaces feel as cheap as the absolutely-the-most-basic 2005 polo the ID.3 replaced. The mid-console tablet screen is flimsy and does not respond like a modern smartphone. The steering wheel controls feel better than the rest though. It seem obvious that the money has been spent on the power/drive-train rather than interior.

Ride is a bit jiggly. Possibly the springs are quite stiff to cope with the battery weight.

Range is nothing like advertised and is getting worse as the temperature is now dropping. I think we get ~<180 motorway miles, or about 3 day’s worth of commuting. This is a week’s worth so is OK but our other car does ~650 miles/tank, or 1 fill/month. The convenience of charging at home helps here.

As has been mentioned the lane keeping assist is quite aggressive. It can be turned off but comes on again after the car is power-cycled.

The immediate power and quietness of drive makes it a pleasure to move around in though, although it is not a ‘driver’s car’. Light steering with oodles of lock thanks to RWD seems to make for good manoeuvrability. Radar cruise with full stop-start ability is good in heavy traffic, although it does occasionally slam on the brakes for a parked car being driven around.

Some grumbles above but really we enjoy using it. I’d maybe go for leather upholstery next time, if available, due to toddler stickiness.

I think the lane assist and cheap plastics is now an issue with all VWs. Lan assist is scary on our new T-Roc, and was pretty bad on out previous Tiguan. At least with the later you could turn it off and it remembered, on the T-Roc you have to turn it off every time you get in. Horrible thing. Plastics are cheap, but my biggest irritation with modern VWs is the carpet. It seems to think it’s velcro and grabs everything. Impossible to vacuum properly.

I think there might be two separate questions here. One – do VW sell a manufacturer set of roof bars for the ID3?
Two – will the roof cave in if you put aftermarket roofbars on it? It seems it won’t and people seem to do this fine.

The two questions for me are “does anyone sell roof bars for it” and “has VW had the roof capacity certified”. The MG5 was initially stated to have a roof capacity of 50kg, but then they realised it hadn’t been tested so the roof rails were stated to be decorative only. Now it’s been tested and is certified for 35kg. So far as I know the ID3 roof is not certified. In the event of an accident that would give insurers a get-out. Most policies have something in the small print about not loading the car outside the manufacturer’s guidance. If your roof load came off and injured a third party, my understanding is that your insurer would pay out, because they are legally required to pay third parties, and would claim the money back from you because you’d broken the terms. Maybe I’m being over-cautious but I wouldn’t carry a roof load if the car wasn’t certified for it.

But will it knacker the range of the car? Very possibly.

A roof load would reduce the range, just as it increases fuel consumption on an ICE car. I’d consider that inevitable, and entirely my responsibility to deal with.

Does the id3 have a towing capacity?

I’m waiting for more news on the I’d buzz but seeing what issues with the rest of the Id range are, and how VW respond, is useful.