Hi, Firstly what a great forum, so many great detailed how to guides and a brilliant source of information!
I've pretty much dreamed of owning a mk5 gti since they first came out, and even though I've been watching the prices come down over the years, one has always been out of my budget, at least for the next couple of years, or so I thought...
Having driven around in my trusty B5 passat tdi for the last 4.5yrs, I decided it was time for a change, a gti was out of my budget so I was after a 2ltr tdi mk5 or the 2ltr gt version, plenty around for the £2-£2.5k mark, however, while browsing on auto trader, a tornado red gti popped up within this price range! A 5dr, manual with 160k. Initially I dismissed it as it was too cheap, especially from a dealer, albeit an independant, but after a couple of hours I couldnt stop thinking about it, and as it was only 10 miles away I thought it was worth a look at least.
Upon arriving I was quite surprised, although it had done 160k it was in good shape with only a bit of rust on the front of both sills, a rusty front passenger wing and a few minor stonechips here and there, certainly in keeping with the age and mileage. After taking it for a drive I knew I wanted it! It drove superb, so smooth and tight and that power delivery! clutch felt good and didnt slip so assume it must have been replaced (although no paperwork) It'd had 4 recent tyres, newly refurbed wheels, new drilled and grooved discs and new pads all round and 2 new rear calipers.
The temp gauge wouldn't over 70, the passenger front door wouldn't unlock with the fob, the headlights had faded and gone a bit yellow and both front wings were slightly darker shade of red but knew these were relatively cheap and easy to sort.
It was as basic as a gti came (except for the 6 cd changer in the armrest) with cloth interior, 17" monzas, 5dr and tornado red, probably exactly as I would have specced it had I bought it new from the factory! It had a FSH with an invoice from vw for a major service and cambelt (£761) at 127k and only 2 owners, the mileage didn't bother me too much as it drove spot on, and my passat had done 212k! I managed haggle £50 off the already cheap price and drove home with the biggest smile on my face and my bank £2350 emptier!
That was 4 weeks ago, I've since replaced the passenger front door lock, new centre caps, new set of mats as there weren't any, wet sanded and polished the headlamps, had the thermostat replaced (after reading the guides on here I decided to pay a garage to do it!) and fitted a new pcv valve as it idles ever so slightly lumpy when warm (still does)
Absolutely love driving this, and although it'll be kept pretty much standard (doesn't everyone say that?!) I will be checking the dv and the cam follower very soon and replacing if needed, and it may need the timing chain/tensioner replacing as its a bit diesely when warm, although reading on here it seems some can sound really bad and still be ok, don't think mines that bad though, could do with finding a decent specialist in the worcestershire area to give it a check over if anyone could reccommend?
Anyhow, sorry for the essay, here's a couple of pics;
A couple of pics from the advert on autotrader
As it was after bringing it home, parking on my drive and looking out the window every 30 seconds
Along side my trusty old passat
After a good clean and polish (can't beat tornado red when freshly polished!)
And how it sits at the moment, with new centre caps and restored headlights
