Really fed up with the car at the moment

[Madone]

I agree that you can research the problems with cars to a point but should the average lay person really need to spend more than a couple of hours doing this on a Volkswagen - a marque proud of quality? I did just that before buying (I don't ever buy a car blind) but not every owner seemed to have all of the problems I listed, in fact I have seen more posts in the last 12 months appearing all the time relating to people suffering the vast majority of my complaints rather than one or two. Independent buyers guides pick up only 30% of the problems I have actually experienced - thank god I didn't get a DSG or I would no doubt have had the control unit failure on that system as well.

I can accept the thermostat sticking and the cam chain rattle - annoying but easily remedied (costly for the latter though). What I find hard to swallow is the wings turning from fine to bubbling within 3 months (design flaw), the failure of a revG DV after 3 months (design flaw on a supposedly redesigned unit at least 4 revisions in the making), no mention of cam followers wearing out in VW service schedule (I was only made aware of this through the mass of posts on this good club or I may well have had hpfp and camshaft replacement to add to the list) and inlet valves so clogged up with carbon after a mere 48000 miles that they require cleaning to restore idle smoothness (such a basic thing in a motorcar) on top of the cam chain rattle and and thermostat. I've not mentioned changing the 3rd brake light that is a common failure - again thanks to this club it cost me only £40 and not £400 that VW wanted. I mean, who designs a 3rd brake light that needs the spoiler breaking off to replace it?

If you cannot admit that the above are a hell of a lot of problems for a performance car of average output from a supposed prestigious manufacturer then I fear people are just blind to the failings of the car. When it is all working well then it is indeed a great car worthy of its high praise - hopefully I will get it all sorted and it last many more miles before any come back but the RevG DV experience has left me bemused.

I think the key here is like you said to do even a tiny amount of research before you buy. You mention doing a couple of hours research ?, couple of minutes on google searching for common MKV GTI issues will come back with DV, decoke and cam follower. I knew all about these before purchase (and thermostat, PCV) and didn't spend more than 30 mins looking into it. That was the basis of my buying decisions, for all I knew before doing any research they could be complete lemons. I wouldn't buy any car this old and not look into it. Rusty wings is not great, I agree

[shoaybmakda]

@ReflexRob have you had the chain replaced on your car? If so what did it set you back?

[ReflexRob]

@Craig Stanley - search on here - you basically break it out with a drill / chisel.

@shoaybmakda  - been quoted £400 including parts from AlexVRS' garage.

@Madone - But like I say, people were saying they had to replace maybe a DV or a thermostat or cam tensioner - not that they were experiencing ALL of the problems I have (and many others) seem to be encountering within such a short timespan and at such low mileages. It is pretty rare to get a car that has all known failures whatever the brand / model in 1 package (known as a lemon to most people or a friday built car) but in the MK5 GTI it seems that we are ALL destined to have a sizable number of failures on our cars and it should just be accepted and put down to 'hey its 10 years old' or 'hey the internet says some of these things might happen', not ALL of these things are happening to a lot of people.

[shoaybmakda]

@ReflexRob is hat just the chain? Or include the adjuster and tensioner too? If it includes all of that, that's a very good price

[Juliand]

Oh no, I wasn't aware of the third brakelight issue! How crazy is that? Which DMF designed that?

Pressumably that's an MOT failure waiting to happen. I'm struggling to fathom out how to replace the rear number plate bulb on my son's 2003 Civic 3 door, prior to going in for MOT, but the 3rd brakelight news is in another league

[Craig Stanley]

Not an mot failure as they just class it as a reflector. Thank god as I can do without that aswell tbh.

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[amanda]

Oh no, I wasn't aware of the third brakelight issue! How crazy is that? Which DMF designed that?

Pressumably that's an MOT failure waiting to happen. I'm struggling to fathom out how to replace the rear number plate bulb on my son's 2003 Civic 3 door, prior to going in for MOT, but the 3rd brakelight news is in another league

The hi-line brake light will not fail an mot.....they will just say it isn't working!
I know because mine is failing and is very very dim by next mot I expect it to have died completely 
There is somewhere on here a work around but I am not a fan of how it has been done 

[Craig Stanley]

Unbelievable you can't get to it and replace a bulb without removing a body panel.

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