Buying a GTI - DSG or Manual & some other questions!

[toms]

Hi all,

Apologies if this subject has been done to death! Im a newbie here...

So, im looking to buy a GTi, my budget is up to £10k, although i could potentially go to £11k.

From looking in the classifieds, it seems i can get an 05 or 06 plate with about 30-40,000 miles on the clock, which is cool.

The DSG box looks great, however, does it deminish the driving somewhat? It looks magic with the smoothness of the gearchange etc, but im just wondering if id enjoy it more with a manual?

Can anyone recommend what to look for when buying? Whether my budget is realistic or too small etc?

Thanks in advance!

[WhiteGTI]

Welcome to the forum!

What you're going to find on here (and any Golf forum) is that those people who have chosen DSG will stand by DSG for it being able to give a seamless gear shift that is quicker than manual, and the people that have chosen manual will stand by manual because it means that you're more in control of the car etc.

The best piece of advice is to just go and drive both transmissions yourself and decide which suits you, your driving style and the normal driving conditions that you encounter the most.

Have fun!

[prepree]

Welcome to the forum!

What you're going to find on here (and any Golf forum) is that those people who have chosen DSG will stand by DSG for it being able to give a seamless gear shift that is quicker than manual, and the people that have chosen manual will stand by manual because it means that you're more in control of the car etc.

The best piece of advice is to just go and drive both transmissions yourself and decide which suits you, your driving style and the normal driving conditions that you encounter the most.

Have fun!

Also i would say your budget isnt to far off, there are loads of sub 10k cars on auto trader at the moment, what colour are you after as it seem white holds a slight premium but thats down to the buyer/seller!

Hope you find one soon!

[toms]

thanks chaps,

Im after Black really. White is nice, but like you say, commands a premium and ive always preferred the black cars.

I've been looking at trim levels and so on, im confused on "highline" - can anyone confirm what that is?

Thanks again!

[SteveP]

Hello and Welcome, if you try the site search function you will find plenty of info on Highline and Midline dash clusters differences

[edd666999]

id suggest test driving both, remember when driving the dsg think "am i enjoying this because its different and im just going to get bored eventually" i went dsg and am more than happy with my choice, as im sure i would be saying had i bought manual lol.

[bondy]

Hi TOMS,
              I have had my mk5 gti nearly a week and i decided to go for the dsg. I dont regret it one bit so far. It suits me for the type of driving i do most which is more around town and start and stop.

On the way back from picking it up me and a mate decided to have a bit of fun as there were plenty of round abouts and i can say its brilliant.

The best thing to do is to try both and see what you think, its you that has to drive it at the end of the day. Ive always had manual cars so this was a big chance i took and i love it. Gives you the best of both worlds.

The problem i found when trying to find the right car even for 13k is theres alot of sh*t out there so dont rush into anything. You will know its the right one when you found it, listen to your head not your heart.

Good luck finding the right car for you.

[pitch3110]

Wifeys ED30 is a manual and it is great.
With this ilk of car to me it just feels right throwing a lever and it making all the right noises.

My car is a new A4 2.0TDI S-line Multironic and dont get me wrong the auto is great and the manual with the paddle shift is a wiz.
But for spirited drive it does just not seem right. My Bro has a TTS with DSG and we all, father included agree that although great you just miss that something

ta

[k6kny]

The best advice is definately drive both and see how you feel about each. I have always had manual cars and never for a minute thought I would get an auto but when I tried the DSG it was so good and so different to every other auto I had ever driven (my old man likes his autos so I've driven a few) that I decided that it had to be a DSG for me. I've had my GTi just over a year now and I still love the DSG 

If you do decide to get a DSG and you're buying a car around 30-40k miles then it's worthwhile noting that the DSG box requires a service at 40k which is basically an oil change. So if you're buying a 40k+ car make sure it's been done or if it's under 40k you can maybe use it as a bit of leverage on the price of the car.