Thinking of a GTI

[dansmith180]

Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.

[Grigaaa]

I've had quicker and more expensive cars but the golf is a great car. For the money I paid I don't think I could have got a better car. Well chuffed


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[garrardrj]

Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.

Very sweeping statement and to say dealership history doesn't mean anything is not true , is it .

Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ? So the same could be said of them ? The garage i take my other cars to is an independent , the owner never works on any of the cars , he employs 11 people . He cannot check everyones work can he ?

[dansmith180]

Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.

Very sweeping statement and to say dealership history doesn't mean anything is not true , is it .

Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ? So the same could be said of them ? The garage i take my other cars to is an independent , the owner never works on any of the cars , he employs 11 people . He cannot check everyones work can he ?

That is true, and I don't mean to say that all dealership work is substandard, what I mean is that some people rate a VW service history over and independent history as if it is somehow better but 95% of the time it's not, it's the same or worse than and independent history it just means you paid too much money for the work.

[flashp]

Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.

Very sweeping statement and to say dealership history doesn't mean anything is not true , is it .

Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ? So the same could be said of them ? The garage i take my other cars to is an independent , the owner never works on any of the cars , he employs 11 people . He cannot check everyones work can he ?

It is a sweeping statement and in a great many cases it does apply. When you buy a new/used vehicle one usually experiences a sense of wanting to do the best for the car and this may include main dealer servicing. Main dealer servicing means something to many and equally nothing to some. After Peter Cooper sold me mine it went to JKM the next day for an appraisal at which several faulty/broken items were identified that I would never have known of otherwise. Successful warranty claims were made against Peter Cooper for these items. This attitude to vehicle care is prevalent here, you can regularly read posts regarding individuals carrying out works ahead of service schedule regardless of cost.

To counter your other statement which is equally sweeping, Jim (co-owner with his sister) is hands on, he usually looks after mine himself. Those that know JKM will recognise the value of a sheaf of invoices from them accounting for vehicle history. I won't claim that it adds provenance but it should inspire confidence in a prospective buyer.

Main dealer metrics for completing work are speed usually. This would be why Peter Cooper don't even remove a road wheel when servicing (including brake fluid change) unless pads need changing. This would also be why I needed a 5 foot extension bar and 3 hours to undo all my wheel bolts to fit winter wheels. All my bolt threads were destroyed and these were also replaced under warranty.

I get better service and save around £35/hour in labour by using JKM. 

[Matthewsimone]

My car has full Vw service history by the 1 owner i bought it from few weeks back but thats where it ends for my Gti as will now always be serviced/repaired by myself or my best friend who is a Bmw and Vag specialist!
Few reasons for this but just to mention a few would be price and quality of workmanship plus im a mechanical engineer anyway so not shy round the spanners myself which is always handy!

Personally I wont let anyone work on my car unless I believe they will treat the vehicle like its there own and im affraid No Vw dealership will do that

Just my 0.02p worth anyway 

[dansmith180]

My car has full Vw service history by the 1 owner i bought it from few weeks back but thats where it ends for my Gti as will now always be serviced/repaired by myself or my best friend who is a Bmw and Vag specialist!
Few reasons for this but just to mention a few would be price and quality of workmanship plus im a mechanical engineer anyway so not shy round the spanners myself which is always handy!

Personally I wont let anyone work on my car unless I believe they will treat the vehicle like its there own and im affraid No Vw dealership will do that

Just my 0.02p worth anyway 

 

[garrardrj]

Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.

Very sweeping statement and to say dealership history doesn't mean anything is not true , is it .

Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ? So the same could be said of them ? The garage i take my other cars to is an independent , the owner never works on any of the cars , he employs 11 people . He cannot check everyones work can he ?

It is a sweeping statement and in a great many cases it does apply. When you buy a new/used vehicle one usually experiences a sense of wanting to do the best for the car and this may include main dealer servicing. Main dealer servicing means something to many and equally nothing to some. After Peter Cooper sold me mine it went to JKM the next day for an appraisal at which several faulty/broken items were identified that I would never have known of otherwise. Successful warranty claims were made against Peter Cooper for these items. This attitude to vehicle care is prevalent here, you can regularly read posts regarding individuals carrying out works ahead of service schedule regardless of cost.

To counter your other statement which is equally sweeping, Jim (co-owner with his sister) is hands on, he usually looks after mine himself. Those that know JKM will recognise the value of a sheaf of invoices from them accounting for vehicle history. I won't claim that it adds provenance but it should inspire confidence in a prospective buyer.

Main dealer metrics for completing work are speed usually. This would be why Peter Cooper don't even remove a road wheel when servicing (including brake fluid change) unless pads need changing. This would also be why I needed a 5 foot extension bar and 3 hours to undo all my wheel bolts to fit winter wheels. All my bolt threads were destroyed and these were also replaced under warranty.

I get better service and save around £35/hour in labour by using JKM. 

I don't think i said anything sweeping , i said that Independents could be the same and hence the " So the same could be said of them ? " note the word "Could" .

[flashp]

I thought this was sweeping 'Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ?' since you haven't suggested that it's possible that some will have the owner working in the workshop thus exerting some control directly over quality and workmanship. Indies often have to work harder to protect their reputation.

It's impossible to generalize regarding this, it's down to the people as well as the business practices.

I accept that independents could indeed be the same or worse.  It depends who you have locally available I guess. I'm lucky and this why whatever I buy in the future it will be VAG group.

[numec]

I would consider looking around mate, it took be a couple of stressful months to find my GTI, I'm very impatient and didn't want to wait more than 2 weeks.

looked at quite a few before I brought mine, some had some bad bodywork, some low on power, higher mileage, no cambelt replacement (94k) things was getting worse.

I then found one for £6k, 59,000 miles on the clock, FSH, good tyres all round and only 1 tiny tiny scratch on rear bumper... took me a few mins to actually see it after the matey boy pointed it out lol.

anyway, my mate also brought one around the same time and paid 7k for his, he got his on finance similar spec to mine, 64k on the clock.

shop around mate, so far me and him have had no trouble with ours I read a lot before I brought mine and engines are suppose to be bullet proof.

What year and spec did you get in the end with £6k price?

[sumtingwong]

Hi Lads,

I didnt end up getting the GTi, instead I bought an R32 lol.

I fell in love with it when I saw it, low miles too: http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,87931.0.html

[flashp]

Beautiful looking car, I can see the attraction! 

[Matthewsimone]

Lovely car
I really wanted a R32 but couldn't stomach the £500 road tax as thats twice my annual insurance costs 
Can get a early 55 plate R32 which falls into same tax bracket as Gti but they rare as hens teeth and inflated prices for an older car etc
Enjoy mate

[muff1991]

I would consider looking around mate, it took be a couple of stressful months to find my GTI, I'm very impatient and didn't want to wait more than 2 weeks.

looked at quite a few before I brought mine, some had some bad bodywork, some low on power, higher mileage, no cambelt replacement (94k) things was getting worse.

I then found one for £6k, 59,000 miles on the clock, FSH, good tyres all round and only 1 tiny tiny scratch on rear bumper... took me a few mins to actually see it after the matey boy pointed it out lol.

anyway, my mate also brought one around the same time and paid 7k for his, he got his on finance similar spec to mine, 64k on the clock.

shop around mate, so far me and him have had no trouble with ours I read a lot before I brought mine and engines are suppose to be bullet proof.

What year and spec did you get in the end with £6k price?

got pretty much the normal spec I think, has cruise control, highline clocks, stereo from mk6 GTI