GTI - most expensive car to run ever - (money pit)

[jamma]

Thought I would post this as owned car 2.5 years now and its by far the most expensive car ever to run , spent more money in 2 years on this car than I have on my previous car (porsche 996) in 6 years.


Ok I love the car yes but the amount of things that have gone wrong is unreal.
last year new exhaust - 990 quid fitted by VW poole
Last year needed new front suspension, cant remember cost but it was around 600 IIRC from JKM
6 months ago needed new boot mechanism, that was 360 fitted from VW poole
3 months ago new cat back - 630 quid - miltek fitted by AMD ( so for fully system its cost me 1620 quid and thats more then full sports system on my Porsche)
Last month new electrics in car and new battery  - 980 quid fitted by VW poole, they had car 6 weeks to fix mirrors also as new electrics caused mirrors to fold out at opposite directions.
they also had to refund me money for losing my map and also petrol money to go get it reflashed.  Also the guy there said to me I thought you had it mapped when I drove it, he said he had a rocco in a  few weeks back pushing 400 bhp, I had a good go in that !!! so if you think these vw dealers dont rip you off or take your car for a thrash think again !!
Next week new cambelt and thermostat. 340 fitted by local VW friend
I bought at 47,000 miles and now has 107,000 so half way through my 3rd set of tyres too.
When I first got car I sent it back at least 6 times for various probs, dv valve , seals etc

I will think of a few more things soon !!

[Marc-5-GTI]

Still cheaper than a girlfriend 

[jbenekeorr]

It seems like it's luck of the draw with cars - even these days. You've obviously got an unlucky one!

My previous car (Mk4 Golf V5) was utterly terrible, it never worked .. Ever!
By contrast, my godfather has an a4 which he bought new and has done 206k in and he says it's only ever had normal consumables and 1 clutch. Same car group, totally different stories.

My Mk5 has been perfect so far ... But there's still plenty of time for that to change

[nigw]

Sounds like you've been unlucky with your particular car, but also that you need to find a local specialist! £360 for a boot mechanism?!

The 'friend' rate for cambelt and waterpump sounds ok, but it's in line with a garage price, so not "mates rates" as such.

[richtung]

Was there a particular reason for using the VW dealerships to carry out most of the work? As mentioned, using independent specialists would have easily reduced the repair bills by a fair amount.

As mentioned, £340 for cambelt is pretty standard for most specialist (with Water pump) Will you friend be giving you a proper invoice as proof of the work being carried out (having the future sale of the car in mind).

Rich

[Simon_2.0t]

Sounds like just unlucky with problems.

How comes bought a brand new VW exhaust, then less than 6mths later fitted a uprated one? Could have saved a few ££s just going straight to the aftermarket one.

Plus sound like main things done now, so doubt will need doing again. You could keep it for anoither 2.5 with just basics needing doing (service, etc) 

Si

[jamma]

Sounds like you've been unlucky with your particular car, but also that you need to find a local specialist! £360 for a boot mechanism?!

The 'friend' rate for cambelt and waterpump sounds ok, but it's in line with a garage price, so not "mates rates" as such.

no its not , its 480 for a cambelt, water pump and thermostat from a vw indy and a lot higher from a dealer. 340 all in is good.

its usually 400 for just cambelt.water pump but I am having thermostat done too

[jamma]

Was there a particular reason for using the VW dealerships to carry out most of the work? As mentioned, using independent specialists would have easily reduced the repair bills by a fair amount.

As mentioned, £340 for cambelt is pretty standard for most specialist (with Water pump) Will you friend be giving you a proper invoice as proof of the work being carried out (having the future sale of the car in mind).

Rich

I am having thermostat done as well though - yes I will go indy route always now - wonder what will break next

[jamma]

Sounds like just unlucky with problems.

How comes bought a brand new VW exhaust, then less than 6mths later fitted a uprated one? Could have saved a few ££s just going straight to the aftermarket one.

Plus sound like main things done now, so doubt will need doing again. You could keep it for anoither 2.5 with just basics needing doing (service, etc) 

Si

I didnt, I bought the downpipe last year and the cat back this year.

[jamma]

May as well keep the car as its all new , plus dealer stuff has 2 year warranty on it

[Scottymon]

They aren't reliable cars, as much as VW would like you to believe they are.  I had 2 tuned SAAB Aero's which are crap by those who think they know about cars, and they were waaay more reliable.  A lot of people on here have low mileage examples, or replace bits such as wheels/suspension etc. before they have chance to do one.

So far I've replaced... drum roll please, Throttle body, Cruise control, Alternator, Window switches, Drivers lock mechanism, All wheels corroded, boot corroded, wheel arches corroded, stalk, drop links, wishbones,  Alarm siren, CV joint, intercooler hose, PCV, coil packs, more DV's than I can count, front wiper motor, rear wiper motor, rear badge corroded, rear calipers seized, cam follower (albeit preventative), gear linkage... and more that I've forgotten no doubt... if I'd gone to VW like you, I could have bought a 996, but alas I've muddled through it all myself as DIY's.

Edit, to add more bits I've replaced.

[SRC]

I'm not going to tempt fate by replying to this post.






Oh b*gger. 

[Frodo-anni]

Sounds like you've been unlucky with your particular car, but also that you need to find a local specialist! £360 for a boot mechanism?!

The 'friend' rate for cambelt and waterpump sounds ok, but it's in line with a garage price, so not "mates rates" as such.

no its not , its 480 for a cambelt, water pump and thermostat from a vw indy and a lot higher from a dealer. 340 all in is good.

its usually 400 for just cambelt.water pump but I am having thermostat done too

Just paid £400 all in for cambelt, waterpump tensioners etc... at VW main dealer 

[JoeDarKa]

I sh*t the turbo on mine and thats it. Nothing else than services, mots and mods 

[Scottymon]

I sh*t the turbo on mine and thats it. Nothing else than services, mots and mods  

Looks like you replaced your wheels, boot badge, suspension... so there's 3 areas that didn't have to be replaced that would probably need attention.   How are the sills and arches holding up?