Worth the risk? GTI TCR

[carbonevo]

Hello guys,
I was speculating on buying a new golf gti TCR ever since it came out. I've owned until recently a golf gti performance 2018 which was brilliant.

However, ever since there was a golf gti TCR I could not put it out of my head. I even made a post on this forum asking whether its worth the change, mind I am not living in the UK anymore which makes things a bit tricky. As where I live (Czech Republic) there's like 5 TCRs total and two of those are for sale.

One of these cars seems like the perfect candidate, it ticks all the boxes I would expect from my new ride (https://auto.bazos.cz/inzerat/132616373/golf-gti-tcr.php)
with one significant drawback however, the owner tuned it into an APR Stage 1 360Hp plus changed some hardware. The car is only 11500 km, which I consider as new.. however I am not sure if the risks are worth it. I am not interested in the tune. 245Hp in my golf was more than plenty. I fear the tune already voided the warranty which the car has for 4 years/120k km
Would really appreciate your thoughts.

I hate the new MK8 gti/cs so that's not an option. Love the MK8 R but its out of budget.

Cheers

[Watts]

You might be better posting this in the MK7 section which should get you more replies.

Personally, I moved from a MK7PP to the TCR but it was a difficult decision as the cost to change was high and I loved my 3dr manual car. But I went for it in the end and the TCR is a great car. DSG is my only issue, not a fan of it, so if you are happy with DSG then that's not an issue. If you are new to it though I would try it first!

Otherwise the engine is a big improvement, much more go particularly at the top end where the IS20 turbos don't go, the interior is a very nice step up and the exterior styling looks more 'GTI' to me. If you are happy with the cost to change and DSG I'd say go for it

However, I wouldn't personally touch a modified car that's still under manufacturer warranty with a barge pole. Too risky, if something goes wrong you may be left high and dry. I would wait for a better car to come along. Can you not cross a border and import? Bound to be more choice in Germany surely?

Good luck!

[carbonevo]

Hello Watts,
Thanks a lot for you comment.
@Dear admins would please be able to move this post to the Mk7 section? I don't think I can.

As for the DSG, yes I am totally fine with it, and aware that it tends to shift despite being in the manual mode. To be honest, I don't drive the car in the high gears often so this never bothered me.

The thing is about the warranty, vw discontinued building TCRs and nowadays most of the offers online come from cars manufactured between 2018 and 2020. Thus some of these cars are already approaching their end of the warranty.
There's plenty of TCRs in Germany, however given the corona situation importing is quite difficult and pricey, also the specs of the car mentioned are near fully loaded. The owner asks 32k euro for the car which in germany sells around 36-38k euro for such a milage and specs.
Also the owner is willing to give a discount if I was serious enough which frankly is being a bit weird as he is kind of selling the car below it's market price. Does it sound fishy? He provided the VIN number and seems nice enough, though.
Difficult situation. 

[fredgroves]

We all love a bargain but that sounds fishy.... and other people must think so too or it would be gone surely?

On the other hand, tuned cars are a red flag to most people.

Sure, most of us on here understand stage 1 is hardly dramatic, but it is an insurance headache..I guess you could get it mapped back to stock but that still leaves warranty issues.

If you don't care about the balance of the warranty, maybe that's ok too.

Which still leaves "why so cheap", there has to be a reason and I doubt its going to be something good.

[Kpow99]

When I was looking to buy I looked at GTI/GTIPP/R and then stumbled upon the TCR!

I hadn't owned a GTI before but always wanted one, had nearly bought about 15 years ago but car I wanted was not yet out and i bought something else brand new.

I test drove all the cars at different dealers to get an idea and feel.  I fell in love with TCR as soon as I saw it, it was so different to all the others I had seen so many of on the road.  On Sunday while I was driving locally I had one GTI driver pull over to let me pass and I slowed down, windows open and he shouted "That car is mint mate, lovely car!" and had the biggest grin on his face, then the other was in a PP and same thing happened, all within 5 mins.

They are rare, I have 3 R's and 2 GTI's along my road and one of the R's is grey and he's just had black trim added like the TCR lol.  R's are good drga racers but the TCR is a much better drive all round imo.  And if you like something different then go for it.

With regards to the remap, I'm getting a Revo stage 1 done this Friday.  yes car is still under warranty but i have some faith in the build quality having driven for nearly a year now that it's going to be fine.  The garage it is being done at haven't had a TCR before but have done over 100 R's and several CS.  Weighing all this up I decided to go for it.  If something happens in last year of warranty I'm in a position to handle it financially so not too worried....plus with what has gone on the last year I'm of the "What the heck" opinion and just want to live and enjoy while I can.  Lost my father last year and then 4 other relatives and 2 of my staff in within 4 week s in Feb this year.  I'm not saying don't be careful but sometimes go with your gut lol  My wife said get the TCR, you'll only regret it if you see one and you don't have one in the future and she was right....again 

I love my car and every time I get in to it I have a smile, even doing school run and especially when other GTI drivers give me a wave or get out of the way to have a better look.  R drivers just sneer and think they are better, of the start yes, but otherwise there are 10's of thousands of them on the road and in my part of the world no other TCR's 

As far as driving it goes, everything the GTI is plus more!  No point trying to sell you on that lol

[Ryan90GTI]

If you're running stage 1 and the shock absorber goes they'll still replace it under warranty - this was the case in my experience anyway.

Now if the engine blows up that would be a different story. Personally I wouldn't let a stage 1 remap put you off, especially from a reputable company. If the guy seems genuine ask him why he's selling, he may have run into financial difficulty and can no longer afford to run the car or whatever.

[Kpow99]

If you're running stage 1 and the shock absorber goes they'll still replace it under warranty - this was the case in my experience anyway.

Now if the engine blows up that would be a different story. Personally I wouldn't let a stage 1 remap put you off, especially from a reputable company. If the guy seems genuine ask him why he's selling, he may have run into financial difficulty and can no longer afford to run the car or whatever.

Good point.  Stage 1 not putting me off, looked at a few and opted for Revo.  I think there has been enough development from Revo with that engine that I'm not too worried myself.  it's a great lump and has so much potential within the current mechanical limits.  Go for it lol

[dobb3r]

A few years back i had an Ed30 gti, really enjoyed it but circumstances changed and jt had to go. For the last 2 years i had been driving a 66 plate Polo GTI, great little car, but as before, circumstances changed and i was able to get another golf.
I thought i would only be able to get a GTI PP but found a 19 plate TCR, DCC, heated screen and 4 year service plan for £26k, car wise its the best decision ive ever made. As others have said, it doesnt really matter what journey you go on, be it the school run or drive to work i absolutely love driving it, makes me smile every time.

Personally I'd hold out for a stock TCR as you just never know. When you get one you'll love the exclusivity, its always nice not having a common car (i know the golf is common but you know what i mean 😉)

[Kpow99]

A few years back i had an Ed30 gti, really enjoyed it but circumstances changed and jt had to go. For the last 2 years i had been driving a 66 plate Polo GTI, great little car, but as before, circumstances changed and i was able to get another golf.
I thought i would only be able to get a GTI PP but found a 19 plate TCR, DCC, heated screen and 4 year service plan for £26k, car wise its the best decision ive ever made. As others have said, it doesnt really matter what journey you go on, be it the school run or drive to work i absolutely love driving it, makes me smile every time.

Personally I'd hold out for a stock TCR as you just never know. When you get one you'll love the exclusivity, its always nice not having a common car (i know the golf is common but you know what i mean 😉)

Very exclusive I think lol, had so many people stop and talk to me and say how nice the grey is.

I make excuses to pop to the shop and have a few extra miles on trip lol but due to certain circumstances I was having to do a 20 mile journey a couple of times a week, one night it took a while longer and ended up doing 50 miles getting home 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣🤣

[Hertsman]

Moved from an R to TCR and it was a really big decision in not moving to another R, but one that have had zero regrets about.

The R and TCR are actually not comparable, they are both great at what they do, its what you want is the actually question.

If you want a super assured on rails, great off the line experience, its the R

If you want something thats still super assured, but a little lighter and agile in the hand then its the GTI MK 7.5 and if you want to keep the R pace, its the 290 BHP TCR.

That pace was the key decision maker for me, did not want to lose that little bit of extra BHP that was used to having in the R

Will say the P Zero on the TCR really manage the get away traction brilliantly, you really have to do something excessive in the dry to have it scrabble at all and even in the damp and wet, you have to really floor it to create any traction light moments.

To this day have not see another on the road, sure will one day, but as rare as rocking horse poop in the wild and as others say thats kind of nice, and as a run out MK 7.5 with the signature pure grey, with the Akrapovic and the added TCR bits of trim and the 90% tints, to me its really the best the MK 7 series can be, the completion of its evolution, with all the nice 7.5 face lift improvements.

Its also a true reflection of the concept TCR that was shown at Worthersee

Loved my GTD, love the R obviously a ton more, but enjoying this TCR just that little bit more for all the little intangibles that make the TCR bundle.

You cannot go wrong really, the GTI PP, R and TCR are great cars, its down to what you really want thats the question, so hopefully enough of us who run one have given you a good idea of what the TCR is to compare,