Author Topic: Potential gti buyer - advice  (Read 4441 times)

Offline Thomson_adam

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Potential gti buyer - advice
« on: 16 June 2020, 19:59 »
Hello
I am looking at getting an early mk6 gti and have a budget of around 10k

I have seen a couple online but unfortunately they don’t tick all of the boxes.
I was wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on what to compromise

I have seen a 2011, 3 door , Dsg
It doesn’t have the leather seats , heated seats ,parking camera or xenon lights.

Are the leather seats a must ? I have them in my Audi A3 and they are lovely.
xenons - can these be retrofitted and at what cost?

Offline barrym381

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #1 on: 16 June 2020, 21:00 »
If all those extras are a must hold out or you might be lucky and find an early mk7 for your budget but it won’t have all the extras

Offline Thomson_adam

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #2 on: 17 June 2020, 08:10 »
What are people’s opinions on the leather seats .... are the cloth ones just as nice ?
I am struggling to find anything for less than £10k with miles below 70k

Offline barrym381

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #3 on: 17 June 2020, 08:51 »
What are people’s opinions on the leather seats .... are the cloth ones just as nice ?
I am struggling to find anything for less than £10k with miles below 70k

For us leather seats are a must with the kids and dog makes cleaning up easier and the bonus of heated seats comes in handy at 4am in winter  :grin:


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202006150141392?onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&radius=1500&year-to=2020&aggregatedTrim=GTI&advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=g115qr&model=GOLF&year-from=2013&seller-type=private&make=VOLKSWAGEN&sort=price-asc&page=1

Offline SRGTD

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #4 on: 17 June 2020, 12:26 »
@Thomson_adam; I think that if I was considering buying a mk6 GTI with a budget of £10k, most cars fitting your budget are likely to be around 9-10 years old so I’d consider the overall condition and the existence of a comprehensive service and maintenance history more important than specific items of equipment. Also it’s important to check that the timing chain tensioner has been replaced with the latest (third revision) version - have a look at the ‘timing chain failure list’ sticky at the top of the mk6 forum board if you’re not aware of the tensioner issues.

IMO the leather used by VW for the optional leather seats in the mk6 Golf wasn’t very good quality and was very prone to creasing and sagging. That would play havoc with my car OCD :grin: as I don’t like my car seats to have that saggy, lived-in look. I had a mk6 GTD with the standard cloth seats - the same as those fitted as standard in the GTI apart from the colour. I thought they were excellent - some of the best seats in any car I’ve owned. I know the tartan cloth is a bit ‘marmite’, but I really liked them.

Xenon headlamps were an expensive extra cost option on the mk6 GTI; they cost in excess of £1,000 and because of the cost, relatively few cars had them. So you may struggle to find a car with these fitted.

Headlamp bulbs can be upgraded and a reversing camera can be retro-fitted. Bear in mind that if you find a car without a reversing camera and it’s got the standard fit (small screen display) RCD310 radio/CD player, it’ll need to be upgraded to either of the optional RCD510 or RNS510 units. The optional units have the larger screen that’s required for the reversing camera display.

Good luck with your search.
2020 Polo GTI Plus; Pure White, DSG (because they all are)
Gone but not forgotten;
2016 Polo GTI; Blue Silk
2011 mk6 Golf GTD; Carbon Grey
2007 mk5 Golf GT (2.0 170bhp TDI version); Deep Black Pearl
2002  mk4 Golf GTI (the 150 bhp diesel version); Deep Black Pearl

Offline Thomson_adam

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #5 on: 17 June 2020, 19:13 »
Thanks for everyone’s reply
I have managed to find two
One is private and sounds like it has been well looked after , full service history , it’s had a remap and been Machine polished. The only issue is it lacks most of the options I would want.

Another I have found is from a garage that is on autotrader and eBay but has no reviews
This car has nearly all of the options I was looking for though


Offline dubber36

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #7 on: 18 June 2020, 13:58 »
As for headlights, there are some really good aftermarket ones that can be easily fitted. They are designed to take H7 Halogen bulbs, but legalities aside, can be fitted with LEDs or HIDs. You won't get the auto leveling and cornering functions of the full OEM setup, but you will get 90% of the performance at a fraction of the cost.

https://www.xenonbulbs.co.uk/Accessories/Lamps/vw-golf-mk6-Bixenon-headlamps
Red Mk6 gone replaced with a white Mk7 which has gone too. Green Mk2 here to stay.


Offline SRGTD

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Re: Potential gti buyer - advice
« Reply #9 on: 18 June 2020, 15:44 »
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-GTI-MK6/174320348500?hash=item28964d6d54:g:tysAAOSwxjRe6m2A

That looks good. Lots of history which is a good sign. It’s got the smaller powder coated alloys, so no issues with white worm corrosion, upgraded stereo (RCD510) and it’s also got the rare xenon headlamps.

2020 Polo GTI Plus; Pure White, DSG (because they all are)
Gone but not forgotten;
2016 Polo GTI; Blue Silk
2011 mk6 Golf GTD; Carbon Grey
2007 mk5 Golf GT (2.0 170bhp TDI version); Deep Black Pearl
2002  mk4 Golf GTI (the 150 bhp diesel version); Deep Black Pearl