MK5 Golf GTI

All Things Mk5 => Mk5 General Area => Topic started by: mazza on November 06, 2012, 10:48:45 pm

Title: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: mazza on November 06, 2012, 10:48:45 pm
Hi there,

Ive been looking for a GTI 3 door in black for around 6k but all the ones ive found are either 7k and over or a million miles away from me apart from one close to me which is a 2004 with 85k miles and history for 6k, i have read somewhere to avoid 2004 cars, is this true, any reason for this, any comments appreciated, cheers
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: chrisr763 on November 06, 2012, 11:05:11 pm
I have mot heard of these 2004 GTI roumors. My advice to you would be, drive the car, make sure you are 100% happy with it, all the paintwork is up to your standard and haggle go from there!  :P Remember anything you find is a bargaining tool. If it feels too good to be true walk away. Check the history and when cam belt / water pump were last changed

Hope this helped a bit!
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: mazza on November 06, 2012, 11:20:47 pm
Thanks for that...its a dealer so you know what they are like when it comes to haggling!   Is it me or are gti prices a bit too high at the moment?

Also how do you guys find the quality of the dash/plastics used?  cheers
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: felix! on November 06, 2012, 11:22:02 pm
test drive, take a mechanic to check it over thoroughly
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: chrisr763 on November 06, 2012, 11:26:29 pm
Thanks for that...its a dealer so you know what they are like when it comes to haggling!   Is it me or are gti prices a bit too high at the moment?

Also how do you guys find the quality of the dash/plastics used?  cheers

Haha! Having watched the prices of GTI's recently. I feel they are dropping, but could be mistaken.

The dash plastics are great IMO. Very few scratches in mine, and one small niggle, on the dash somewhere near the centre vents there is a slight rubbing noice where two bits of plastic touch. Doesnt really bother me, most cars wont have it I suppose and could probably easily be fixed!
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: Mk5 GTian on November 07, 2012, 05:24:35 am

If in doubt, book an AA/RAC Inspection. Well worth it for peace of mind. As said above, the cambelt and water pump must have been changed with this age and mileage, so make sure that's been done and if not, get them to do it or knock 400 quid off the price.

Make sure the service history is full, and check tyre treads as well. If these are low, get them to change them. It's reasonable to get them to pay for mid-range, but what I did when I bought mine was pay the difference in price between mid-range and premium, so they put Pirelli P Zero Rosso's on.

The other thing to do is an extensive test drive, going hard around roundabouts and into corners, so you can hear any creaks or bumps or clanging noises coming from the suspension. Also, do some quite brisk 3 point turns. This will highlight any knocking noises coming from the steering rack or suspension. I had some issues with these things with my first Mk5 GTi as I didn't do this kind of test drive. My current car is like new, no noises whatsoever, and from experience I established this before I bought the car.

Check the sills and arches for signs of corrosion. If there is no accident damage, this can be done under VW warranty if you find any.

Hope this helps mate  :happy2:
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 07, 2012, 07:14:54 am
I've been looking around at prices recently and I feel they have deffo dropped quite a bit in the last 12 months, you can easily pick up a 08 car for the same or less than I paid for my 05 18mths ago. It's probably due to the mk6 being more readily available 2nd hand and pushing prices down, I'd expect prices on mk5's to plumit once the mk7 arives.
If its a sound car I'd say £6k is a good price especially from a dealer.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: brookesb32 on November 07, 2012, 07:27:18 am
Thanks for that...its a dealer so you know what they are like when it comes to haggling!   Is it me or are gti prices a bit too high at the moment?[b/]

Also how do you guys find the quality of the dash/plastics used?  cheers

To be honest £6k even for an early model sounds rather good value to me - for what is a pretty well specced and well built car even in bog standard GTI form. If it is a dealer post the link and any number of us on here can tell you some of the extras it may have (that the dealer may jot have mentioned) just by looking at it  :happy2:
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: chrisr763 on November 07, 2012, 07:40:07 am
I would thoroughly test the brakes too, when looking for mine a found a few that just drove pretty much straight on and slowed down a little, not what you want or expect. Good luck!
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: diesel junior on November 07, 2012, 08:11:06 am
6k from a dealer? Sounds good to me and all the above advice is spot on imo, aa/rac test is £200 well spent, it's a great car mate go for it!
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: TurboTrev on November 07, 2012, 08:48:40 am
Yes as mentioned above, I seem to remember a steering rack (or similar) issue with the very early MK5 GTIs when the car was on full lock?  I'm sure loads of GTIs had this part changed under warranty - check with the dealer to see it it was replaced on this car.  If not, drive it round a car park on full lock and listen for creaking or odd noises.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: mazza on November 07, 2012, 04:30:36 pm
Like to thank all you guys for your advice, this forum is great!!! :happy2:

Im not a mechanic but i know a fair bit about cars so i will def give it a good test drive if i do go and see it.

Also one other question i had was did the dash come in either black or grey or both?

Here is the link, see what you think

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201244490839910/sort/locasc/usedcars/price-from/5000/colour/black/model/golf/make/volkswagen/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/keywords/gti/page/1/radius/100/postcode/nr323jx?logcode=p

cheers

Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: chrisr763 on November 07, 2012, 05:01:57 pm
Car looks like a steal ,, Paint and interior look lovely  :ashamed: :party:
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: GTI5 on November 07, 2012, 05:39:11 pm
Some good advice on here - keep an eye out for excessive front end play especially on a car with this mileage...it would be interesting to see what the condition of the lower control arm bushings were.

I think for a little more you could get a much higher spec model, this will cut down on the list of add ons later on.

Have you considered a DSG model?

If you can buy with some warranty then you could test the car and then get it scanned for faults on site after a test drive or elsewhere after purchasing and would have some protection from any 'unexpected' bills.

MK5 are dropping quite quickly in used price.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 07, 2012, 06:43:32 pm
Like to thank all you guys for your advice, this forum is great!!! :happy2:

Im not a mechanic but i know a fair bit about cars so i will def give it a good test drive if i do go and see it.

Also one other question i had was did the dash come in either black or grey or both?

Here is the link, see what you think

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201244490839910/sort/locasc/usedcars/price-from/5000/colour/black/model/golf/make/volkswagen/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/keywords/gti/page/1/radius/100/postcode/nr323jx?logcode=p

cheers



Dash came in grey only.
Like someone else said, look thoroughly at front wheel arch paint for any signs of rust appearing. Also check in and around the bottom of where the boot badge opens. These are known faults to VW and common places for rust that lots of people are getting fixed under rust warranties.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: foggy3061 on November 07, 2012, 06:59:36 pm
From the advert, that looks like a nice example, definitely worth a look!
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: mazza on November 07, 2012, 11:35:52 pm
Cheers!  maybe i should pay a bit more to get more options....theres not many cars near me in suffolk and will have to sell mine first, shame as ive spent near 1k on it only a month ago.  might go and see the one in the advert on the weekend if its still there
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: Gazza747 on November 08, 2012, 03:42:26 pm
Looks ok to me.

I think the early GTi had a grey steering wheel, later have black.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 08, 2012, 06:05:52 pm
Looks ok to me.

I think the early GTi had a grey steering wheel, later have black.

Nope, always been black! A very well worn old wheel might have lost some of it's colour over time giving that appearance though.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: Gazza747 on November 08, 2012, 09:42:28 pm
Looks ok to me.

I think the early GTi had a grey steering wheel, later have black.

Nope, always been black! A very well worn old wheel might have lost some of it's colour over time giving that appearance though.

I've just done a quick search, seems there was a grey wheel and possibly grey interior on early cars.

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,43303.0.html (http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,43303.0.html)
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 09, 2012, 05:34:20 pm
Looks ok to me.

I think the early GTi had a grey steering wheel, later have black.

Nope, always been black! A very well worn old wheel might have lost some of it's colour over time giving that appearance though.

I've just done a quick search, seems there was a grey wheel and possibly grey interior on early cars.

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,43303.0.html (http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,43303.0.html)

Hmmm strange. My original 05 GTI has a black wheel. The interior is indeed grey, but I wouldn't say the wheel is. I suppose the plastic part in the middle could be a dark grey, but the leather is black really.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 09, 2012, 09:56:35 pm
My 05 with leather is all grey, seats, wheel and dash.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 10, 2012, 09:56:32 pm
My 05 with leather is all grey, seats, wheel and dash.

Maybe the grey wheel only came with the leather seats then. I've got the fabric seats and my wheel is defo black.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 11, 2012, 08:52:56 am
Someone the other day referred to my interior as looking a bit like the Spitting Image dummy of John Major. :fighting:


Needless to say they wont be getting a lift from me again.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: Digger3 on November 11, 2012, 06:47:32 pm
Yes Grey leather S/Wheel until 06, regardless of leather or fabric seat option...

The 54 and 05 plates, also had a ally ashtray cover to match the door and dash trim inserts...
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 11, 2012, 09:25:10 pm
Yes Grey leather S/Wheel until 06, regardless of leather or fabric seat option...

The 54 and 05 plates, also had a ally ashtray cover to match the door and dash trim inserts...

Not trying to be funny, but my 05 plate has a black leather steering wheel and it also doesn't have an ally ashtray cover either! It's not actually even an ashtray at all in mine, just a storage compartment.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: ianv5 on November 12, 2012, 05:51:40 am
Yes Grey leather S/Wheel until 06, regardless of leather or fabric seat option...

The 54 and 05 plates, also had a ally ashtray cover to match the door and dash trim inserts...

Not trying to be funny, but my 05 plate has a black leather steering wheel and it also doesn't have an ally ashtray cover either! It's not actually even an ashtray at all in mine, just a storage compartment.

Same here on my 2005 Gti :happy2:
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 12, 2012, 07:03:05 am
Grey wheel goes with the leather as IIRC all the cloth interior cars I looked at had a black one, also think the ally ash tray cover was an extra.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: sandancer on November 12, 2012, 07:15:36 am
 My 55 plate has dark grey leather with a black steering wheel.......
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 12, 2012, 07:19:55 am
My 55 plate has dark grey leather with a black steering wheel.......

Can of worms well and truly open now............
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: Sir_dave on November 12, 2012, 09:16:16 am
Car looks like a steal ,, Paint and interior look lovely  :ashamed: :party:

Really? Id say that the drivers side rear 3/4 and the door are a completely different colour!!

Personally, id certainly go and have a look, if only to get a feel for the car, & confirm whether the above is a major issue or whether its just poor photography. Depending on history etc, id then offer £5500, expecting to pay £5750, perhaps including 6 months tax.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: DanGB on November 12, 2012, 11:33:40 am
Slightly off topic but useful none the less, I see the car was registered on the 15/12/2004. It was my understanding GTI's were introduced in 2005, but obviously not. When were the first ones on the road?
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: mazza on November 12, 2012, 11:58:24 am
Cars been sold now, cant really be sure about the colour not matching from the photos as theres quite a lot of light reflection. 
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: swgti on November 12, 2012, 01:56:11 pm
Slightly off topic but useful none the less, I see the car was registered on the 15/12/2004. It was my understanding GTI's were introduced in 2005, but obviously not. When were the first ones on the road?

There's a laser blue near here thats a 54 plate so could easily be a Sep - Dec 04 car.
Title: Re: 2004 GTI any good?
Post by: homesqueeze on November 12, 2012, 07:59:12 pm
My 55 plate has dark grey leather with a black steering wheel.......

Can of worms well and truly open now............

^^^Haha, love it!  :laugh:

Actually glad I don't have the ally ashtray cover, it looks kind of wrong!