DOs and DON'Ts WHEN BUYING Mark5GTI

[Scottymon]

DON'T buy one. They're sh*te and break all time.

DO buy a nice mk2.

you must have bought a sh*tter then, no offence to you mate.

Nah, they aren't a "particularly" reliable car --- there's a LONG list of things that go.

Here's what I've replaced from 60k to 130k not including maintenance of course.

Front and Rear Wiper motors
Cruise Control Switch
Front Arches
Rear Boot badge
All Wheels
Both wishbones and ARB
Exhaust
Throttle Body
Alternator
Window Motor
Calipers all round
Diverter Valve/s

more that I've forgotten about.

And now VCDS is showing errors for Steering Angle sensor / ABS issue / A-C problem and another diverter valve split.  As soon as it's patched up it's going for sure this time.

When I'm not fixing it, they are a nice car, lol.

[xjay1337]

You've had to replace all wheels due to....?

Mk5s are pretty reliable, never left me stranded in 4 years of ownership. They have faults like any other car but it's luck of the draw

on my old tdi from 99k to 150k it had the following replaced

Items marked with ** indicate I believe they are wear and tear components and not really something you can say was replaced cause the car was unreliable or anything


alternator**
front wishbone bushes**
fuel temperature sensor
DMF/Clutch**
one rusty front wing


considering it was mapped within 3k of me buying it and eventually big turbo kit'd i think that's not bad at all really.

on my gti from 87k to 108k i've had the following

front wishbone bushes **
pick up pipe blocked
diverter valve**
cam follower
both front wings rust
boot badge rust



to be fair nothing excessive..

[Dj.Duffa]

Right.... Thing is most of the things you list are wear and tear and well a mk5 has more to go wrong compared to a mk2 haha

[Wooosh]

BUY one all day long and ruin super cars on dual carriage ways.

DONT buy a black one as its a slut to keep clean

 

Upsetting super car owners so much they get embarrassed to even look at you when they finally catch up and go past your side.

[J400uk]

Try not to buy something that needs a whole load of maintenance doing at once because the previous owner has skimped. If it needs say a belt change, pads/ disks, DSG oil and new tyres that lot could easily set you back £1k.

Try and find something that someone has kept for a while and had all the work needed as and when required.

Parts like the diverter valve aren't worth worrying about as it's so cheap, just assume it needs doing.

[Deago]

Just don't start making any mods. I'll just lower it a bit and put some wheels on.... Bye bye cash! 

[Scottymon]

You've had to replace all wheels due to....?

Corrosion of the wheels, like the centre caps and rear badge, most of the car is prone to rust or corrosion; wings / sills / boot, meh - this is what winds me up most about the car, other things can be overlooked I guess, if you're an enthusiast.
Replacing the wheels didn't cost a lot more than a Professional Refurb. - Huffs on eBay and used the old ones for winters.

Coupled with Throttle bodies / Cam followers / Electrical issues you just cannot say it's "particularly" Reliable; just OK.

An average car buyer would've been seriously pissed off with the bills on this motor if they had to go to VW for them. For example Throttle Body cost me £100 (Rev Q) and fitted myself, how much is that at VW, £500 fitted?  And then let's not talk about the preventative maintenance of the Cam Follower which most VW garages won't even acknowledge, yet there's been lunched engines from them failing.

Split DV's, Coilpack failures ... yawn... most are small'ish problems but when you add them up it really takes the shine off the motor; it's just something else that needs replacing.

[Frenzy]

so tell me which cars don't have common faults and i'll add them to the list for the next car i buy 

[Scottymon]

so tell me which cars don't have common faults and i'll add them to the list for the next car i buy 

Common faults being Rusty Wings, Sills and boot, Corroded Alloys and badges, Cam follower, PCV, Coil Packs... ...

Had an unreliable SAAB 9-5 Aero from 40k to 130k which required a wheel bearing outside normal maintenance

[J400uk]

Thing is though for the same money as what these cost there is literally nothing else I'd rather be driving. Even with its common faults the Mk5 GTi is a stunning all rounder

[Scottymon]

All personal preference.  They are OK, showing there age now though, a 2004 designed car - nothing special in 2014. 

If it wasn't for the K04 Ed's/Pirellis with the ability to grab 350+bhp (christ don't forget to replace the brakes and suspension first, and full exhaust, HPFP, Clutch for manual, S2+ map, 98+ octane motion lotion diet, blah.) out of them people would have moved on well before now.

[Tortaruga]

^^ It's a 10 year old car, but it's still not that bad looking. It's just a bit bubbly compared to the current sharper trend.

I can understand your frustration with that list of issues. I've just had a dipped bulb fail which is the first fault in over 2 years of ownership. Hopefully my sump doesn't fall off tomorrow now that I've posted that comment. 

[rich83]

Thing is though for the same money as what these cost there is literally nothing else I'd rather be driving. Even with its common faults the Mk5 GTi is a stunning all rounder

Amen to that. That day mine stops making me giggle us that day it is sold.... Can't see it happening for a while.