Really fed up with the car at the moment

[Madone]

Why do people expect 10 year old cars to be 'bomb proof' and 100% reliable? They are not new cars anymore guys, they're at that age where you will have to start putting your hand in your pocket to maintain them.

Yes the rusty wing issue is a bit sh*t, but all modern engines will have direct injection related carbon buildup  (if that even is the cause of idle issues as they have to be REALLY bad to have that much of an effect.

I have to agree, nothing the OP said sounds out if the ordinary (apart from the rust possibly). I have done pretty much the same items to my car and never thought it made the car bad. Just part of buying a 8 year old car. When buying it I had things like this in mind. If you want complete trouble free motoring you need to buy newer. Thermostats, carbon on the valves happens as miles and age go up.  I really don't see anything wrong.

[Craig Stanley]

If you can do the work yourself then its probably not too bad but if you have to use a specialist each time especially if these things need doing at different times then the bills soon rack up. Its probably better to buy a 10 year old car if you are mechanically minded and can maintain the car yourself if not maybe buy newer.

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[Madone]

I agree no one wants to pay out, but out of the things listed only the wing is really something to get really  miffed about. Carbon build up causing lumpy idle, not the end of the world, obviously depends how lumpy but I bet it still drives fine, same with thermostat, will still drive ok. Get the two done at once. DV, check before you replace, easy to do, cam follower is pretty much a one off thing and costs £35. I'm. Not saying don't get these things done, but if you cant afford them in one hit the car still drives fine ?. I got clutch slip soon after buying my car, that's want ideal !

If he had said the gearbox went, then the head gasket blew, then yes, totally unexpected and clearly the car is not in great health. But even the very best 10 year old GTIs will need a follower, carbon clean, maybe a DV, and prob a thermostat.

I am not saying he shouldn't be fed up about paying out, but his car doesn't seem at all like a bad one, normal issues tbh. He won't have to do them again for years, if ever !

[ReflexRob]

Let's put it this way - my previous 2001 325Ci had 144k on the clock when I sold it for the Golf - it was 15 years old, utterly reliable and other than the front wings same as the Golf it had only needed 1 caliper replaced in 50k. I sold it because I fancied a hot hatch.

10 years for a car is absolutely nothing. All the cars I've ever owned have been over 10 and so far the Golf is by far the most unreliable.

If I can get it working and stay working I will probably fall back in love but the design flaws are seriously surprising!

I agree that the problems I listed are common to the Mk5 GTI but I totally disagree that they are acceptable on a modern car:

DV - I replaced it with a brand new G unit and it has ripped again after 6 months, it is a proper bitch to get to on a K03 and has resulted in a rounded hex nut.

Cam follower - easy enough for me to change which I did in the first month, however, if it wasn't through some poor unfortunate owners giving us a warning then this design flaw would cost you a ton of money to replace camshafts and hpfp etc. Not even VW acknowledge it as a service part but folk are replacing them every 20k for safety! That's 18 months normal motoring.

Cam chain tensioner rattle - why has the engine got not only a cambelt to replace (I knew this and am fine with it - got it done at purchase) but then also use a camchain which is meant to be a for life item but then stretches and or has a poorly designed tensioner that slackens causing your performance car to sound pants. Pretty major DIY job.

Thermostat - again not the end of the world but on a K03 you have a fair few hours of work ahead of you to replace it. You can keep driving it but it is overfuelling which won't help the engine longevity.

Carbon build up - again quite a few hours DIY and why?

To reiterate this is a low mileage car, yes it's 10 years old but it is 5 years younger than the BMW and with 90k less miles.

Oh and wing corrosion - why?!7

I'm not suggesting these cars aren't great when sorted but they have a gobsmacking amount of common faults for a modern car of relatively simple technology marketed as a reliable, quality car.

Guess I will be getting both the spanners and wallet out once again shortly whilst the car limps along for now.

[ReflexRob]

@Ditto - a video wouldn't show it up, it isn't terrible but I can feel it through my seat and you can hear it.Just an annoyance with the knowledge it means my valves will be all sooted up....

[Craig Stanley]

I have the same thing and this is why its yet again in a specialist having it looked at along with the oil pick up cleaned and the noisy air con. Another £400- £500 bill I suppose. I totally agree with ReflexBob.

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[Ditto]

Do the revs flutuate much?

[Juliand]

Seems most comments are on the negative side

Like the other commentators, I expect a great deal more - these are very poor design / manufacturing  issues, which just shouldn't be there. Indefensible on a modern car (even 10 years old)- you shouldn't have to be nursing them like this, with mileages below 50,000.

Beginning to regret my decision to buy......and many others are too, by the sound of it. I was quoted nearly £900 to do the cam chain / tensioner and cambelt..... with no  guarantee that it would solve the very common noisy diesel sounding tick over ....33,000 miles, and fvwsh huh! Might just be the injectors - not sure

The Japanese competition seem pretty much bullet proof. Maybe back to Type R Civic......

[ReflexRob]

@Ditto  no - rev counter is steady.....

[Kieran1990gti]

When I get a chance I'll be selling up. Owned the car 6 months and I have to admit it's the worse car I have owned. I always have the feeling the car is a ticking time bomb, always going into limp, engine management light on and its the newest car I have ever owned. Before I bought one I thought it's the slowest hot hatch about be good,  reliable,  simple, easy motoring I guess not.

[Chris92]

Many other car makers have a chain in the valve cover driving one of the cam shafts it's not just a vw thing and they fail just as much as the mk5s. Another thing is of course your old bmw was reliable most older cars are in my option less eletric crap, less emission crap, less safety gear etc etc etc. go look at newer bmw they are built like pizzas boxes dmf going, dodgy fuel injectors, wiper motors, stop start playing up, ecus etc. funny how people still rate bmw reliability wise.

I've had two mk5 gti's and they have been the most reliable cars I've ever had. When I got them I changed the DV, cam follower, oil pick up pipe, serviced them and did timing belt. Never spent another penny on them in 4 years (apart from yearly servicing). No rust either. Maybes I was lucky but 10 year old cars these days aren't like 10 year old cars of the past.

[r5gtt]

I have to disagree with many cars failing chains as the golf is more common and a weak point imho. Sorry should have added cam follower too as that's just stupid as the old school way was good enough but as shoaybmakda says it's a money making ploy.
My tt had a chain and that was never replaced and sounded really quite @150k + remapped and driven hard.

[shoaybmakda]

I think the common theme here for most people is old is gold - which I often think is the case but with the newer cars you get the latest technology. And with that comes a ton of sensors etc which i guess at some point will fail.

My personal opinion (not fact I have to stress) is that the manner these cars were made so money could be made on labour by the dealers e.g sensor goes wrong - take it back to the dealer to get it fixed. I often did find that my old Japanese cars had less issues than any German car I had (dual mass fly wheels, injectors and loads of different sensors playing up being the common faults)

That being said - despite the issues I have had with my golf, once the issues do get resolved, I absolutely love driving my car and the smile this car gives me I've not had on any car I've owned (I guess that's the feeling that keeps me going when i do find an annoying fault!)

[r5gtt]

Got to say I've not had any issues like any of the above. My cars quick as fook as I tend to give her a blast down the A13 after work shish it's quick but not quick enough. where's my tt lol 

[Chris92]

I have to disagree with many cars failing chains as the golf is more common and a weak point imho. Sorry should have added cam follower too as that's just stupid as the old school way was good enough but as shoaybmakda says it's a money making ploy.
My tt had a chain and that was never replaced and sounded really quite @150k + remapped and driven hard.

I know it's a pretty common thing for the cam chains to fail I'm just pointing out other car makers you this type and fail aswell not just vw, I'm not comparing to any specific car. All car makers engineer faults into cars it's a known fact 100%. Some do it this way others do it another way. I've seen far to many examples.