Looking to buy Higher Mileage GTI/ED30 - advise pls

[Hulk]

Hi,

i am looking at buying a GTI or maybe an ED30 if possible.

Has to be a DSG, but i keep seeing high mileage (90k+) for the price range I'm looking at. I won't be doing a lot of miles, but I've never bought a car with this much mileage.

What should i be looking for? and if i buy what is recommended to be changed ASAP for peace of mind?

Also with the DSG, what the service interval on those?

Thanks

[Ads22]

Not a DSG owner myself but own a higher mileage mk5. How high a mileage are we talking - as many will most likely agree, go on service history. A lot of GTis are now at the 100k + mileage mark which is normal for this age.
Ideally you want one with regular oil changes. Make sure the cam follower and cambelt have been replaced at the correct intervals! I went for a mk5 with good service history but found out the hard way when I discovered the cam follower had worn through causing damage to the fuel pump and inlet camshaft! Expensive fix!
Ideally a gti with annual service history from a decent inspendant or a specialist is what you want.
Also look out for seized calipers, torn turbo diverter valve seals (lack of boost) and rust around front wherl arches. All common issues but fairly easy fixes.
The interior can become quite worn due to the soft touch plastics - theres a lot of good second hand parts available at cheap prices. Switches and seat side bolsters seem to wear the quickest.
Other than those things check for the usual things.
I found its best to avoid anything below £3000, between £3-4000 maybe expect to do some maintenance and the nearer to £5k gets you a lower mileage clean example or an Edition 30!

[shoaybmakda]

Mines on 136k and drives as if it's done half of that. DSG box is spot on and pulls brilliantly. I don't thrash my car but if i need to overtake on the motorway its effortless.

I would never switch back to a manual. I guess it depends how the car has been looked after and serviced correctly and had the right oil etc used

[probedb]

Make sure the timing chain and adjustor have been done too! Also go for a run and make sure it gets up to temp to make sure the thermostat is working correctly. A couple of things that I've found out having just bought one on 140k.

[DavGTI]

Take a look in the for sale section of this site. There is some ed30s in there that may be in your price range which already have most of the common issues sorted.

[Frodo-anni]

As your looking at DSG then ensure dsg oil/filter change every 40k is vitally important.

Routine annual servicing, or 10k, cam follower change, dv, Pcv and breather pipe are all worth changing at that sort of miles.

Routine wear & tear at that age/miles.

[Hulk]

Thanks for the replies.

I've seen an ED30 for £7.5k, just over 90k on the clock.

The cam follower - how often does that need changing? or should be changed at?

I called up, and the seller said cam belt had been changed, along with DSG gearbox. Im gonna ask to see the service history when i go to see it.

Most of the other things highlighted, are not bad to change, however little bit concerned about the cam follower, that sounds like it could be hiding problems behind it, if not changed at the right time.

Will update once i view the car this weekend.

[Golfman16]

First of all take a long hard look at your bank account !!! because it will never be in the black again , worse to upkeep than a victorian terraced house with damp !!!!!

[Dave_M]

Hi

I bought an Ed30 3 months ago to do a 110 mile daily commute. It’s dsg and had done 97k miles.  I’ve since added over 5k miles and the only money I’ve spent on it was a set of new tyres that I knew were needed when I bought it (oh, and Petrol 🙄).  Feels like it’s done half the mileage and is a really nice drive.

Only bought it as a stop gap but seriously tempted to hang onto it.

Dave

[Tazocin]

I was in a similar position 3 yrs ago when I got my 07 Ed30 DSG. Was 6.5k in the end which was (I think) not a bad price on 90k miles and I figured I could afford to gamble a bit on this as it was (relatively) cheap and I could pay it off without a big loan/finance.

Check the DSG has been serviced every 40k miles - when you are pulling away and in low gears it should be smooth and not jerky. Check reverse as well at low speed. The car will move on its own anyway (if youve not driven automatics before it can feel weird) but when you put a bit of throttle on it should smoothly pull. Try a few test starts in 1st and accelerate to second gear.

I changed my cam follower on 95k miles - was nearly flawless. Now I'm stage 2+ I change it every 5k miles but stock doesnt seem too cruel on the follower. Do check if its a stock car or one thats been put back to stock. There is a big difference.

Front arch rust. All mk5 golfs rust in the arches - VW will sometimes replace/respray these for free as it is a recognised fault. Ask if this has been done/check for rust. Rusting on the boot near the handle and on the sill near the front arch is also common. These are much harder to get replaced free/discounted.

The engine sounds a bit dieselly. Look for a cpl of videos of cam chain/cam chain tensioner noise. Its a sharp tappy sound which is slightly different from the direct injection sound of the engine. Its subtle and not easy to differentiate unless you've driven the car for a while and suddenly notice the difference. Again, these will wear out eventually and need replacing. My car is currently 130k miles and I'm getting it done soon as I think its on the way out

Look at the tyres. Michelins/Goodyear etc show someone who has invested in the car. A 230bhp car on ditchfinders is less likely to have had money spent on it for maintenence and servicing (a generalisation I know but there we go.)

Check the engine cover is on the car. If it isnt its probably been modified and returned to stock. Ask why it isnt there. If it isnt there check the HPFP hasnt got a snapped top sensor.

Check for white smoke on startup and revving or when turbo is engaged.

Turn steering wheel full lock one way to other. Clunks at the extremes could suggest a need for a new rack or problems with tiebars etc

I'm afraid at the end of the day it is a bit of a gamble. I have never enjoyed a car as much as my Ed30 and have fully modified it to 2+ and completed most suspension handling mods as well. Ive done most of them myself and enjoyed working on the car the whole time (except removing top mounts and front damps from cups. They can go f**k themselves). The forum here is pretty helpful and guides on mk5 are plentiful if you do want to do some work on the car yourself. I'm sure I've made the odd mistake or missed the odd useful point but I think basically, for 6-7k you wont get a better car for your money. If you service it on time and ask about problems or faults on here you can catch most stuff before it becomes a big expensive problem. Even brand new cars  can suffer component failure, theres no way to budget for that but dont let 90k miles put you off, these engines have to be safe so they tend to have a good amount of redundancy built into them.

[pudding]

First of all take a long hard look at your bank account !!! because it will never be in the black again , worse to upkeep than a victorian terraced house with damp !!!!!

  

Seriously though, MK5s are tanks.  There is nothing on them that I would consider a bank buster unless the car is very obviously a beater on first glance.

Manuals - strong as an Ox.  Needs a clutch if you push the torque up with a remap.  Standard.

DSG - the physical gears and clutch packs = bomb proof.   If you need a mechatronics unit because of slack previous owner maintenance, well, stump up a grand and you're golden again.   For a performance German car, a grand is peanuts imo.

The electronics - apart from the alarm module - are solid as Edwardian mansions.  Any issues there will be down to previous owner stereo and accessory installs. Badly coded can gateway upragdes and what not.  Door and boot modules can go, but they've since been updated.  The newest boot module for example, latches/unlatches twice as fast as the original, so if it goes - yay, time to upgrade 

The chassis - epic.  What the MK5 is all about.  Apart from the William SHATner standard console bushes and standard springs that like to bust a pig tails, it's all very tough.  No worries there.

Rusty wings - no biggy.  Get them replaced by VW if they're starting to rot.  If you're outside the 12 year warranty period, the wings are cheap from VW.

The only 'quality' issue I have noticed on the MK5 is the interior.  If previous hack job bodgers have been in there and pulled it apart, that's where the rattles come from, otherwise it's solid.

Buy on condition.  Mileage is irrelevant.  I've seen 50K MK5s that are shabbier than 150K examples.  It's all down to the previous owners.

One final piece of advice - Walk away from any car that is sitting on Chinese ditch finders.  It speaks volumes through a megaphone on max volume about the car's standard of upkeep.   VW fitted either Pilot Sports or Conti Sports to these cars as standard - so if it's riding on 'EggsNow ChunkyFun IceySkateboard' tyres, swerve it.

[Hulk]

the one i was planning to go see this weekend has been sold!

never mind, will have to wait till another one i like pops up.

thanks for the all the info so far, def helping me look for the a good one!

[Golfman16]

First of all take a long hard look at your bank account !!! because it will never be in the black again , worse to upkeep than a victorian terraced house with damp !!!!!

  

Seriously though, MK5s are tanks.  There is nothing on them that I would consider a bank buster unless the car is very obviously a beater on first glance.

Manuals - strong as an Ox.  Needs a clutch if you push the torque up with a remap.  Standard.

DSG - the physical gears and clutch packs = bomb proof.   If you need a mechatronics unit because of slack previous owner maintenance, well, stump up a grand and you're golden again.   For a performance German car, a grand is peanuts imo.

The electronics - apart from the alarm module - are solid as Edwardian mansions.  Any issues there will be down to previous owner stereo and accessory installs. Badly coded can gateway upragdes and what not.  Door and boot modules can go, but they've since been updated.  The newest boot module for example, latches/unlatches twice as fast as the original, so if it goes - yay, time to upgrade 

The chassis - epic.  What the MK5 is all about.  Apart from the William SHATner standard console bushes and standard springs that like to bust a pig tails, it's all very tough.  No worries there.

Rusty wings - no biggy.  Get them replaced by VW if they're starting to rot.  If you're outside the 12 year warranty period, the wings are cheap from VW.

The only 'quality' issue I have noticed on the MK5 is the interior.  If previous hack job bodgers have been in there and pulled it apart, that's where the rattles come from, otherwise it's solid.

Buy on condition.  Mileage is irrelevant.  I've seen 50K MK5s that are shabbier than 150K examples.  It's all down to the previous owners.

One final piece of advice - Walk away from any car that is sitting on Chinese ditch finders.  It speaks volumes through a megaphone on max volume about the car's standard of upkeep.   VW fitted either Pilot Sports or Conti Sports to these cars as standard - so if it's riding on 'EggsNow ChunkyFun IceySkateboard' tyres, swerve it.

Loving the Chinese ditch finder names ,as my son once said and i quote "Dad buy cheap n youll buy twice"