2005 GTI to buy or not?

[crashdesk]

HI,

Again, some advice needed.

I spotted a GTI going for £9000. 35,000 miles on the clock. Can you take a look at a couple of pics and let me know your thoughts.

https://skitch.com/clintonbeattie/frsnx/img-0319.jpg (what is that white worm type stuff on the badge? Does this happen on all years of manufacture?)
https://skitch.com/clintonbeattie/frsns/img-0316.jpg (this years plate on 2005 car. Is this norm?)
https://skitch.com/clintonbeattie/frsn4/img-0317.jpg (not full service history)
https://skitch.com/clintonbeattie/frsn9/img-0318.jpg (not full service history)

The front wheel arches are bubbling slightly on the underside but as I posted in another thread, that seems to be the norm.

Thanks for any advice.

[chowgar]

bit hard mate you havn't posted any real pics of the car or the spec...

[dmac1969]

The Whiteworm on the badge is normal , it will happen to all MkVs eventually , a Mk6 Boot handle will sort it. That reg plate is a Northern Irish (ie cheap!) private plate. Have you got any pics of the car as a whole? Price its up for?

[crashdesk]

Sorry. No more pics. May go see it tomorrow. Completely standard 5 door. Red with black trim and bumpers. Same as this without the MFSW and is 3000 cheaper...http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201122389274414/sort/priceasc/usedcars/transmission/manual/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/model/golf/make/volkswagen/page/1/radius/60/keywords/gti/postcode/bt69dx/saved-search-id/2c9296263001fe3501300c81906b003f?logcode=p

"a Mk6 Boot handle will sort it" Easy to fit?

"That reg plate is a Northern Irish (ie cheap!) private plate" Is this a bad thing?

Going to sound like a total nob but what is a good number plate?

[dmac1969]

Go and see it , and drive it , maybe try and get £500 or so knocked off if you can?

[crashdesk]

Test driving tomorrow night.

With regards to the rear badge. If this happens to all MK5 GTIs is this something I should totally ignore as I am looking for a perfect looking GTI. Say I buy a 2007 model, the same thing will happen so why not go for the 2005 model?

[mb]

My car is a 2006 and I didn't have that type of badge fitted. I'm sure I've read that VW changed the badge design at some point due to white worm problems. My Dad has a 2005 Passat and that is suffering from it too.

I've fitted the rear view camera to mine now and recently sold my old badge so you can see what I did have fitted here:

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,30169.0.html

[crashdesk]

Thanks. Do the standard 17" alloys suffer form white worm?

[Kalpsn2000]

The Whiteworm on the badge is normal , it will happen to all MkVs eventually , a Mk6 Boot handle will sort it. That reg plate is a Northern Irish (ie cheap!) private plate. Have you got any pics of the car as a whole? Price its up for?

This only happens to the early Mk5's. As mentioned by mb the design was changed at some point in 2006 to prevent this from happening.

The flat badges suffer from this. The newer 3D style badges don't suffer from this.

[Kalpsn2000]

Thanks. Do the standard 17" alloys suffer form white worm?

No as they are powder coated. The white worm only affects the diamond cut 18" monza 2's.

Although the VW centre caps can suffer from whiteworm, but these are pretty cheap to replace.

[dmac1969]

The Whiteworm on the badge is normal , it will happen to all MkVs eventually , a Mk6 Boot handle will sort it. That reg plate is a Northern Irish (ie cheap!) private plate. Have you got any pics of the car as a whole? Price its up for?

This only happens to the early Mk5's. As mentioned by mb the design was changed at some point in 2006 to prevent this from happening.

The flat badges suffer from this. The newer 3D style badges don't suffer from this.

Thanks for the info , I was unnaware that VW had changed the spec of the badge during the Mk5 run , I always thought any Mk5 with a '3D' badge had been retro fitted with a Mk6 one!! I take it to get one you have to buy the whole hatch opening mechanism though?

[RedRobin]

Thanks. Do the standard 17" alloys suffer form white worm?

No as they are powder coated. The white worm only affects the diamond cut 18" monza 2's.

Although the VW centre caps can suffer from whiteworm, but these are pretty cheap to replace.

....VW centre caps were £5 each when I last looked a while ago, so not that cheap for a set - They really shouldn't get whiteworm at all 

All about the dreaded 'whiteworm':  http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,726.0.html

[crashdesk]

Okay. So is it easy/cheap to replace teh boot badge as that is the only bad thing on the GTI and would be the main thing that would put me off. 5 door, 35,000 miles on clock and paintwork in good nick. It really is a good price I think £9000

[mb]

I would say that changing the badge is pretty straight forward. When I fitted the reverse camera badge, there is a bit of modification to get it to fit, so the newer 3d type badge should be a straight swap.

[dp2]

Thanks. Do the standard 17" alloys suffer form white worm?

No as they are powder coated. The white worm only affects the diamond cut 18" monza 2's.

Although the VW centre caps can suffer from whiteworm, but these are pretty cheap to replace.

....VW centre caps were £5 each when I last looked a while ago, so not that cheap for a set - They really shouldn't get whiteworm at all 

All about the dreaded 'whiteworm':  http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,726.0.html

Are the centre caps a standard size?