What would you do?

[Dooge]

Hey all,

I have recently joined the forum as I have decided I would like either a mk5 or mk6 GTI. I dont have a budget yet but up to £6k seems probable. Ive driven a friends slightly modifed mk5 and loved it.

Question is, what would you go for? A tidy lowish mileage later mk5 or an entry level early mk6?

I am looking at 5 door cars, I would like a manual, tartan interior, cruise control, xenons, multi function wheel and winter pack (for heated seats) in blue, silver or grey. Very few cars seem to hit this spec. I know xenons and cruise can be retrofitted (2006+ cars for retrofitting cruise?) And to a certain degree heated seats but its easier if its just there. Im not against retrofitting a tartan interior into a car that had leather, especially as a mk6 seems to be plug and play with wiring.

Or a mk6 which from what I understand has basically all of the above as standard except xenons and has a generally nicer and fresher interior.

Mk5's at £6k seem to be around 70k miles and tidy, looked after examples, however age is still a factor so more likely to have rust wings, bootlids and the interior is a bit bland.
Mk6's at this price tend to be over 100k, base spec (doesnt worry me) but worried about paying through the backside for chain and tensioner due to tensioner design flaws. Plus at 100k cars often soon need bushes, shocks, etc. And mk6's are alot rarer than mk5's.

I am not against doing work myself, for example, changing interior bits that may have worn out as its a car I will hopefully keep for awhile yet.

What would you do?

[amanda]

I have driven (own a mk5 gti) mk5-8 and my personal preference is the old mk5 as it’s more of a drivers car and it doesn’t tell you how to drive it ie stop start, change gear etc😎
My advice would be to drive all and then decide because what suits one person doesn’t suit another 

[The Red Warrior]

Don’t get a standard mk5. At least get an edition 30 or a pirelli edition (although I realise the pirelli won’t have the tartan).

[Dooge]

Thanks for the reply Amanda.

Comparing the two in terms of how they drive makes sense. Part of the problem is getting to drive a mk6. Theres few for sale and I am miles from anything for sale, part of the problem of being based in Devon. I did ask on the forum if there was someone local who I could travel to and have a look but I had no responses. I dont have the time to travel 3+ hours to have a look on the chance its not really what I am after.

I do want a drivers cars, just something not as track orientated as my current Renault Clio 197 which has an unforgiving ride. The capability of more power and 5 doors is a definite plus.

Thanks Warrior, I have seen a lot of 'standard' GTI's around. I have seen a few with of the options I wanted but I can see ED30's are pretty well specced and I have always loved the BBS CH's. Ive seen a few ED30's with moon miles within budget but not keen on buying something that has more than 130k. Not keen on Pirelli's. Both however are collectible and although I dont plan to go for big power (I say that now) having a K04 as standard would be make extracting more power in the future far easier.

I have seen this which I really like the look of. Not keen on the mileage and leather but the condition looks fantastic.

 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113847459761

[loop]

Thanks for the reply Amanda.

Comparing the two in terms of how they drive makes sense. Part of the problem is getting to drive a mk6. Theres few for sale and I am miles from anything for sale, part of the problem of being based in Devon. I did ask on the forum if there was someone local who I could travel to and have a look but I had no responses. I dont have the time to travel 3+ hours to have a look on the chance its not really what I am after.

I do want a drivers cars, just something not as track orientated as my current Renault Clio 197 which has an unforgiving ride. The capability of more power and 5 doors is a definite plus.

Thanks Warrior, I have seen a lot of 'standard' GTI's around. I have seen a few with of the options I wanted but I can see ED30's are pretty well specced and I have always loved the BBS CH's. Ive seen a few ED30's with moon miles within budget but not keen on buying something that has more than 130k. Not keen on Pirelli's. Both however are collectible and although I dont plan to go for big power (I say that now) having a K04 as standard would be make extracting more power in the future far easier.

I have seen this which I really like the look of. Not keen on the mileage and leather but the condition looks fantastic.

 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113847459761

Nice colour that one!
I like the leather seats personally. I think it has most of the extras you want, and well looked after. Mileage a little above average, but not crazy high. Could be ok to own for a couple of years? Price is sensible too.

Note though that the cambelt is due to be replaced again on mileage as I believe they are meant to be changed every 40k Miles.


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[Dooge]

Thanks for the reply Amanda.

Comparing the two in terms of how they drive makes sense. Part of the problem is getting to drive a mk6. Theres few for sale and I am miles from anything for sale, part of the problem of being based in Devon. I did ask on the forum if there was someone local who I could travel to and have a look but I had no responses. I dont have the time to travel 3+ hours to have a look on the chance its not really what I am after.

I do want a drivers cars, just something not as track orientated as my current Renault Clio 197 which has an unforgiving ride. The capability of more power and 5 doors is a definite plus.

Thanks Warrior, I have seen a lot of 'standard' GTI's around. I have seen a few with of the options I wanted but I can see ED30's are pretty well specced and I have always loved the BBS CH's. Ive seen a few ED30's with moon miles within budget but not keen on buying something that has more than 130k. Not keen on Pirelli's. Both however are collectible and although I dont plan to go for big power (I say that now) having a K04 as standard would be make extracting more power in the future far easier.

I have seen this which I really like the look of. Not keen on the mileage and leather but the condition looks fantastic.

 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113847459761

Nice colour that one!
I like the leather seats personally. I think it has most of the extras you want, and well looked after. Mileage a little above average, but not crazy high. Could be ok to own for a couple of years? Price is sensible too.

Note though that the cambelt is due to be replaced again on mileage as I believe they are meant to be changed every 40k Miles.


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Thanks very much Loop, it appears to be a colour that doesnt come up often on the mk5's (but seen similar on a few mk6's) and yeh, Id say it meets my spec. Im not worried about mileage if its looked after. My 2nd car was a 146k VW Bora PD115, it had 176k on when I sold it and I also had a 121k BMW which was on 147k when I sold it.

Im not in a position to sell my Clio right now (a few weeks it'll be up) so it might sell in the meantime.

Im getting conflicting information about the cambelt. My friend with his mk5 reckons 60k and said his original service schedule mentions that. Has it changed to every 40k?

[loop]

Thanks for the reply Amanda.

Comparing the two in terms of how they drive makes sense. Part of the problem is getting to drive a mk6. Theres few for sale and I am miles from anything for sale, part of the problem of being based in Devon. I did ask on the forum if there was someone local who I could travel to and have a look but I had no responses. I dont have the time to travel 3+ hours to have a look on the chance its not really what I am after.

I do want a drivers cars, just something not as track orientated as my current Renault Clio 197 which has an unforgiving ride. The capability of more power and 5 doors is a definite plus.

Thanks Warrior, I have seen a lot of 'standard' GTI's around. I have seen a few with of the options I wanted but I can see ED30's are pretty well specced and I have always loved the BBS CH's. Ive seen a few ED30's with moon miles within budget but not keen on buying something that has more than 130k. Not keen on Pirelli's. Both however are collectible and although I dont plan to go for big power (I say that now) having a K04 as standard would be make extracting more power in the future far easier.

I have seen this which I really like the look of. Not keen on the mileage and leather but the condition looks fantastic.

 https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F113847459761

Nice colour that one!
I like the leather seats personally. I think it has most of the extras you want, and well looked after. Mileage a little above average, but not crazy high. Could be ok to own for a couple of years? Price is sensible too.

Note though that the cambelt is due to be replaced again on mileage as I believe they are meant to be changed every 40k Miles.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks very much Loop, it appears to be a colour that doesnt come up often on the mk5's (but seen similar on a few mk6's) and yeh, Id say it meets my spec. Im not worried about mileage if its looked after. My 2nd car was a 146k VW Bora PD115, it had 176k on when I sold it and I also had a 121k BMW which was on 147k when I sold it.

Im not in a position to sell my Clio right now (a few weeks it'll be up) so it might sell in the meantime.

Im getting conflicting information about the cambelt. My friend with his mk5 reckons 60k and said his original service schedule mentions that. Has it changed to every 40k?

Yes I believe the current guidance is every 40k or 4 years, whichever comes first.

This has had 2 changes already so I think you’d be very unlucky for it to suddenly go.
I did my first cambelt change on about 80k as the handbook said 100k, (and no record of previous owners having changed it). But VW’s guidance has changed since the handbooks were written!
The belt was still fine but the tensioner part was worn I believe.


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[amanda]

I always change cam belt and water pump at 40,000mls

[Dogma]

Every 40 Thousand miles or every six years.

[muff1991]

I was too in the same position.. shall I buy a mk5 or mk6???? After previously owning a mk5 I knew all I needed to know on the drivability and ownership of one. And after reading all about the mk6 i couldn’t justify the extra cash for essentially a different bumper set up. (I knows theres a couple of differences) but virtually the same car. So I picked up a mk5 for 2.8k with 140k on the clock.. fairly well looked after etc and was more than happy to put a bit of maintenance and preventative maintenance into it. Currently very happy with it but often wonder if I should have got the eddie as eventually I think I’m going to go down the K04 route. So cost wise I may have well have just got an Eddie. So something to think about if you want to take your power further.
I always thought the cambelt was 60k or 4 years. But every 40k is more than sufficient to be cautious and caring.
I hope you find the one you’re looking for :-)


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[G-olf]

Hi,

I have and ed30 which i've not had long. I bought it as a keeper but due to a change in work circumstances it may have to go 

Let me know if you may have been interested.
I cant send PMs anymore because I lost my registration details from here previous so had to start again

[Dooge]

Thanks for the replies guys. 40k it is, I thought 80k was quite long, 60k is fairly average for a cambelt. My Clio cambelt is 52k or every 5 years. 40k is low but better to be careful and might give me a bargaining chip for the one above. What is the cost for changing one? Waterpump every other change?

Thanks Muff, I like the refined interior from the mk6 especially and the better spec as standard. But I think buying a good condition car is better than a high mileage dog.

Whats the spec G-olf? You can email me on dooge_uk@yahoo.com if thats easier.

[Chris_R]

Cambelt including waterpump etc cost me £375 from a local VW/Seat specialist two years ago. £549 from main dealer.

[loop]

I see the car you were looking at on eBay has sold OP, did you buy it?


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[Dooge]

I see the car you were looking at on eBay has sold OP, did you buy it?


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Unfortunately not! I would much rather sell my existing car but I haven't had alot of interest in it so far.

Saying that I would have to top up my own money with a small loan for anything more than a few thousand so I am wondering whether to just bite the bullet. Its bad timing on my part as I am getting married in 3 weeks time so haven't got the time to be driving around looking at potential new cars 

Hi,

I have and ed30 which i've not had long. I bought it as a keeper but due to a change in work circumstances it may have to go 

Let me know if you may have been interested.
I cant send PMs anymore because I lost my registration details from here previous so had to start again

I will still be interested G-olf