Things you wish you knew as a new owner...

[f00glee]

Hi there all,

Been lurking on these forums for several days now in the lead up to my first GTI purchase. A tornado red, 06 plate, 3 door, mk5 which is in immaculate, totally stock, condition and is coming from a vw main dealer. To say im excited to pick it up at the end of the week is a major under-statement! Through reading about various parts prone to wear on these cars, ive already asked the delership to perform some extra checks (dv/fuel pump follower) on top of the "Das WeltAuto" auto checks which it was already due to undergo during the course of today/tomorrow. Its also having a cam belt/water pump replacement done and is having an air con regas and subsequent repair if necessary, as the climate control was non-functional on the test drive.

Having said all of that, my question is; What do you wish you had know early on in the ownership of your mk5, which may benefit a new owner? Any tips from maintenance to fun facts will be greatly appreciated! 

Many thanks!

-f00glee

[The Red Warrior]

I wish I'd known about this site earlier 

I also wish I'd known how all consuming of my time this car would be and how badly the modding bug can bite.

I wish I'd got a vagcom cable earlier too.

Just keep reading up about and keep up with the maintenance and you should be fine.

[Dan_FR]

There are several pieces of maintenance which I would consider essential.

Check/change the DV - they are prone to splitting and cause a huge loss in performance.

Change the HPFP cam follower (tappet) - potential fuel pump and cam failure if this part fails. Most dealers don't even know what the follower/tappet is so I highly doubt they will check or change this for you. Ask for proof!!

Check/replace the front PCV valve as early versions were prone to failing and caused low speed/idle issues

Check and replace the oil pickup pipe/strainer in the sump, especially if the car has been on long life servicing as these are prone to clogging and is a potential engine killer (oil starvation)

Run a slightly thicker oil (5w40) which is better suited to the engine and will help the engine to burn through less (these engines are heavy oil drinkers!)

Think that's the main bits. Enjoy!

[bbfb10]

I wish l knew how much this forum would cost me......

[lukemk5gti]

Your climate control could be down to a very likely faulty compressor and not just the gas. Cost circa. £1000 for that.

Don't just get them to check DV. It's only £40 so replace regardless. Need to also do PCV and cam follower.

Here are my threads on build, dv and detailing. Some of the info might be of general use to you!
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,89715.msg907250.html#msg907250
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,89106.msg902491.html#msg902491
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,87824.msg893078.html#msg893078

[bad devotions]

I wish l knew how much this forum would cost me......

^^^^ this....

[Juliand]

Your climate control could be down to a very likely faulty compressor and not just the gas. Cost circa. £1000 for that.

Don't just get them to check DV. It's only £40 so replace regardless. Need to also do PCV and cam follower.

Here are my threads on build, dv and detailing. Some of the info might be of general use to you!
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,89715.msg907250.html#msg907250
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,89106.msg902491.html#msg902491
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,87824.msg893078.html#msg893078

Just had a quick flick through these pages - really good job, with pics and commentary - top drawer stuff, and really helpful. Well done

[dansmith180]

I wish I leased a car so I couldn't modify it 

I think all the maintenance bits have been covered so from a modding perspective if you plan to modify just think ahead so you don't have to do things like brakes/ intake/ exhaust/ mapping multiple times.

[f00glee]

Thanks for the replies, all.

Had the car since saturday, have covered 400 miles already, and loved every moment of it! All seems to be working flawlessly with no surprises thus far, barring a slightly dodgy dome-light switch. The dealer did not end up checking the dv and fuel pump properly. Re the dv they said that if it fails it "makes a noise, which it isnt". So both the dv and fuel pump follower are on my list to do anyway. I figure swapping these parts out is worth doing, for piece of mind. Ill also do a bit more reading up on the other checks/replacements suggested here too.

Interesting to hear the oil usage comment, the engines drinking oil is not something id heard of so will kep an eye on oil level. Ill get myself a small amount of the standard oil the dealer would have likely put in (anyone able to tell me what this is? ill take a look in the manual to see what that says too) for topping up as necessary.

Other than that I only plan to do a couple of touch-up jobs. Ive ordered a set of new wheel cente caps and will give the car a good clean/detail soon. As for performance mods, I wont be doing anything for the foreseeable, as i currently like the idea of keeping everything stock and in pristine condition, but I wouldnt be surprised if I change my mind further down the line. 

[raz469]

Wish i knew how much i was going to spend as well.
Also..

I wish someone told me the steering wheel comes forward aswell as up n down.

Also wish i knew about the off button with the + paddle in D mode.

Wish i knew they were serious about that 98ron petrol too.

Basically i wish i knew the car was a thief.

[AJP]

Can't say I'd do anything differently if I did it again.

Maybe hold out for an ed30, but they were 10k when I got my GTI.

I'd agree with everyone saying how costly they are, in a good way. This is by far the most slippery modification slope I've ever been on!

[Washout]

Wish i knew how much i was going to spend as well.
Also..

I wish someone told me the steering wheel comes forward aswell as up n down.

Also wish i knew about the off button with the + paddle in D mode.

Wish i knew they were serious about that 98ron petrol too.

Basically i wish i knew the car was a thief.

The steering wheel comes forward, y do I only find this out now. 

[Ditto]

@f00glee see you got yours from approved used too. Did you opt for the extra warranty? If not I recommend it, it's about 300 a year and covers everything! (I had the entire alarm system replaced on it for example!)

[f00glee]

@raz469 Id figured the steering wheel out. A must have for a person of my stature, my lanky legs see me sitting a long way back, its nice that I can take the steering wheel back with me! Also have seen a lot about the higher octane fuels so once this last quarter tank goes ill be chucking a tank of v-power in.

@Ditto  As for the extra warranty, I eneded up not being eligible for some of the das welt benefits due to the age of the car, 10 years and 3 months was apparently 3 months over the cutoff for the daswelt warranty and therefore I was instead given a years' third party warranty; also wasnt offered an extended warranty. I personally prefer to put money away for repairs rather than spend extra for warranties anyhow. Because of the way my luck usually goes id almost certainly have a problem which isn't covered anyway!

The only thing which has caught my attention over the last couple of days is the engine noise after diving for a while and being pulled up next to a hard surface. With the echo from e.g. a wall there is a predominant *tick, tick, tick, tick, tick..* which happens maybe 4 times a second? Now I do appreciate that these engines maybe arent the quietest anyway, and also that as the car is still new to me im probaly almost looking for something to be wrong, so am thinking its nothing to worry about? Ive seen things about chain tensioners but this is always described as more of a "rattle"?