Hi and welcome OcTwenty
GTI will be way more fun than a 120!
Ok, so the BMW has rear wheel drive, but the golf has the legendary turbo tfsi engine which you can tune to the stratosphere
With the golfs, in my experience, it's all about the maintenance!! A well looked after car at 115k miles should be no bother!
But you really want to be happy it's been cared for and had all its bits done. They're not that expensive to maintain but it can be expensive to fix a car that's been poorly maintained. If you see what I mean
At 115k you'd want evidence ....
1) Cambelt and water pump have been done twice. Or if it's not had it's second belt and pump that the dealer does it for you in the price. Or private seller discounts the price as appropriate
2) DSG car should be coming up to its third DSG oil change (every 40K miles). Manual gearbox will probably want a clutch if not already done (and definitely if you're going to tune it)
3) Hopefully they've changed the high pressure fuel pump cam follower a couple of times already. And if they don't know what you're talking about on this one - walk away
4) Hopefully they've changed the oil much more frequently than VW advises
5) Some GTI's burn/use oil - try and check for this if you can
6) Then there's the common Achilles heels of the GTI which are cheap and easy to fix. Namely the PCV valve and the Diverter valve. Google those two and have a bit of a read around on them. Again if the owner/dealer doesn't know what you're talking about (on a high mileage car) I'd keep looking
7) Watch for the thermostat to reach 90 degrees within 10 minutes on the test drive. If it doesn't your thermostat might be stuck open. Common problem but a bit pricey to fix.
Check air con works well. Compressor clutch wheel failure is common and you might need a new compressor (spurious £250 - VW £700!!)
9) Diesel sounding rattle on tick over can be the cam chain and tensioner. Expensive to have a garage fix but can be done DIY if you're in to that kind of thing. Again another bargaining point if not already done.
10) Engine and gearbox mounts and suspension springs and shocks can be pretty tired at that kind of mileage. Worth checking.
11) Try and scan the car for faults with VCDS before purchase. Again, a half decent trader should be able to do this for you. Or you can have a borrow of a VCDS scanner from a forum member local to you. There's a list of VCDS owners by location on here.
12) There was a recall on the coil packs. Check if been done.
13) UK cars sometimes had rust issues with the front wings. VW UK sometimes fix these under warranty
14) Fuel filter at 115K would probably love to be changed If not already done
.....oh my.... seems like a long list doesn't it!!!
But if you're buying a car from a GTI enthusiast, or forum member, they'll know all about the issues listed above and would have no problem telling you what has or hasn't been done.
For example at 80k miles on my car I've receipts for virtually all of the above
