New to this section

[Hertsman]

Have been on these forums since 2013 on the MK 7 section, when ran a GTD for 3 years, and then an R, and presently a TCR, and did not think would be on the MK 6, but here we are 😊
 
Wife has been wanting to change her Audi A1 Black Edition 185BHP for quite a while now, and as we have always wanted a ‘new’ classic GTI we have just p/x the Audi for a MK 6 2012 (Sept) Candy White, 3 Door, Glendale Wheels, GTI 58,000 miles, from a dealer network, which has full VW History with evidence to oil change every year without fail, and with last service at 57,000 miles and 12 month dealer direct warranty on all major components.
 
The change was pretty nominal, more to ensure it was worth dealers while, so think we all walked away feeling balance was right, and stopped ourselves spending £16000 by not reaching for the TCR.
 
GTI is in really good condition, definitely looked after, and the Candy White, 3 Door, Privacy Glass and the Glendale combination, definitely ticks the looks box.
 
It’s the second car, and will only average 2.500 > 3000 miles a year now, of which there will be enough runs to get car up to temperature for good distance, and we will keep up the full VW Service Schedule and likely will run indefinitely.
 
One question on the DSG Oil, as stated there is evidence of changes, with last one Sept 2021 at 51,000 miles with Brake Fluid, Spark Plugs Sept 2020 47,000 miles, and last AC service was 5 years ago.
 
Have mind to have all these done next service, August 2023, at about 61,500 miles, thoughts? 
 
Used Carista to enable the needle sweep, digital speedometer and the fog light cornering lights, was unsuccessful on dipping mirrors, which there was a setting for, but seats are electric lumbar and not full electric which is the requirement, and optical visualisation was not there as an option, so imagine it's because not have park pilot module even though it has rear sensors, so we will have to settle for only the sound coming from the rear sensors, which is fine, but would have been a nice to have. The digital speedo was the must have, so good to have ticked that  Anything else that’s a must have that feel missed?
 
Also did a scan, and zero faults which was nice to see, as was expecting a couple of minors at least. The previous owner left a VW data plug in it, so signed up to that on We Connect. Am used to the connected services as use WE App on my TCR, but any thoughts on the data plug in general, useful, intrusive? 

That’s about it, really surprised how much pull it has, effortless and quiet on motorway for 80 mile trip and expecting firm ride, but really good also, though imagine new tyres help that, and dare say feels more solid than my TCR, quite like it to be honest. TCR is off soon, so good to stay in GTI family 

[Snoopy]

  nice spec. 
Does it have the folding mirrors off the switch on the door.. If not it won't have the option for the dipping side mirror.

[SRGTD]

@Hertsman; that’s one nice looking mk6 GTI. Seeing your pictures makes me feel a little nostalgic for my mk6 GTD which I think was my favourite out of the five VW’s I’ve owned.

It’s a shame yours doesn’t have the optional xenon headlamps; they are quite rare - probably because they were quite an expensive extra cost option on the mk6 GTI and GTD. I did have them on my mk6 GTD and IMHO speccing them was money well spent. 

I was given a data plug with my current car and after initially loading the app on my phone and using it for a few days, I unplugged it and haven’t used it since as I didn’t really think it added much value. I don’t need an app to tell me such things as when my next service is due (I have it diarised on my phone), where I’ve parked my car (I’m not senile yet ) or what my fuel consumption is (I can get reasonably accurate  mpg figures from the car’s fuel computer if I want that info).

Enjoy your new classic GTI and I look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

[joe6]

Good looking car and low mileage. Had our 2010 gti from new and still enjoy it. Think the seats are the most comfortable of any gti. Not had any real issues with it except intake manifold which was replaced but that is about it. Since it is a keeper it is worth checking for rust on the rear suspension arms particularly offside which seems to get a lot of wear and under the front wheel arch liners where the noise insulating sponge is stuck to the body panel and can trap moisture. Not had a problem with the latter but some have. Generally rust free though. Hope it is issue free.)

[Hertsman]

nice spec. 
Does it have the folding mirrors off the switch on the door.. If not it won't have the option for the dipping side mirror.

It does not, so was never hopeful the dipping mirror would work, and apparently you have to have memory seats and it only has electric lumbar - just a nice to have, they flip in easily and you can get the left mirror into such a position that you can use for normal driving and just lean up when reverse.

We had option to buy my outgoing lease, the TCR, but even if cheaper than VW forecourts, what they wanted was silly money that would stretch us for what would be 2nd car duties for next 3 years given have a 128Ti arriving in December on company lease.

So brief was to spend little to no money in exchanging wife Audi A1 Black Edition S Line 185BHP, and to strictly stick to that, so that excluded the ED35 out there, which were pushing MK 7 R money and many of the GTI saw were either high mileage, of suspect provenance of imported and the variety of options on them varied immensely, so the decision was to start at the car itself with the best history, assurances and that met the 3 Door Glendale or Watkins Glen wheel criteria.

So we knew we were always going to fall short somewhere on convenience features, but given the 2nd car profile its been mainly bought for the drive experience and having abandoned my TCR for last 3 days, this MK 6 is a real pleasure to drive, came back home last night on 20 mile motorway blast and she really pulls, is super smooth on the ground and feels solid in the hand, no feeling of looseness at all, and its a lovely, well lit interior in the red, and the dials! have realised that like dials far more than the media screens, jumped into the TCR today and it was like meh, obviously more capable, but more sterile experience.

Some of us grew up in 80's and there was none of these features, my escort RS2000 was all about the driving experience, and remember loving that car and gutted never wrapped it in cotton wool and garaged to drive about in now, but stupid young me swapped it for an MG Midget as always wanted one of them also, which was ok, fun with roof down, but was soon back to Escorts and XR3i and then family came, and all fun stopped,  and it was a Sierra, Orion and Bora, before could start back towards more pleasing cars. But none of them had any really bells and whistles, radio, tape deck, and that's about it 

As can see us keeping this indefinitely, would maybe interested in the future retrofitting the VW parking and the LED lights, and even folding, but not myself, so is there any trusted retrofitters on the forum?

But for now, its all about the driving experience, and its top notch, and would say preferring it to the MK 7, the interior feels more surrounding, and car feels more solid and planted and given driving a 290BHP presently, the pull never really feels 80BPH short, pulls really hard and smoothly.

[Hertsman]

@Hertsman; that’s one nice looking mk6 GTI. Seeing your pictures makes me feel a little nostalgic for my mk6 GTD which I think was my favourite out of the five VW’s I’ve owned.

It’s a shame yours doesn’t have the optional xenon headlamps; they are quite rare - probably because they were quite an expensive extra cost option on the mk6 GTI and GTD. I did have them on my mk6 GTD and IMHO speccing them was money well spent. 

I was given a data plug with my current car and after initially loading the app on my phone and using it for a few days, I unplugged it and haven’t used it since as I didn’t really think it added much value. I don’t need an app to tell me such things as when my next service is due (I have it diarised on my phone), where I’ve parked my car (I’m not senile yet ) or what my fuel consumption is (I can get reasonably accurate  mpg figures from the car’s fuel computer if I want that info).

Enjoy your new classic GTI and I look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

See my reply to Snoopy, would have loved the Xenon, but any decent ED35 is MK 7 Golf R money, and amongst the rest of the GTI population, the options and quality of car vary hugely, so we focused on cleanest car mechanically we could find with best assurances and accepted we would lose some convenience features in process.

Our main car will always have the bells and whistles options, which my current TCR has and as will the incoming 128Ti, so for the 2nd car duties of local town hopping and occasional longer run its the driving experience that's main thing.

With regards the data plug, already gone, as like you said, not add anything not know, and so benefit does not outweigh the intrusive aspects.

[Hertsman]

Good looking car and low mileage. Had our 2010 gti from new and still enjoy it. Think the seats are the most comfortable of any gti. Not had any real issues with it except intake manifold which was replaced but that is about it. Since it is a keeper it is worth checking for rust on the rear suspension arms particularly offside which seems to get a lot of wear and under the front wheel arch liners where the noise insulating sponge is stuck to the body panel and can trap moisture. Not had a problem with the latter but some have. Generally rust free though. Hope it is issue free.)

It has a year on year service history at same main dealer, and has not had a single notification on any MOT, and from all seen, its been incredibly well looked after, if not know it was a 10 year car, you would think just come off forecourt new.

We will keep up the full dealership servicing and with it likely only doing a max 3000 miles a year from now on, it should be a 10 year keeper at least.

Have made a note of what you have stated, and put into service book to remind me to ask for an inspection at the next service and MOT

[Bluto]

Looks a very clean and well maintained Mk6 you've got there Hertsman.  Do like the look of the Glendale wheels.  I'm sure it'll bring you many miles of enjoyable driving.  Like joe6 mine's had a couple of inlet manifold issues, and timing chain tensioner, but as yours is a 2012 model year I expect that car will be on the latest tensioner revision.

I have the VW data plug, but after the inital novelty haven't really used it.  I think the Mk6 appears more limited in what it has available via data plug features than maybe a Mk7 or Mk8.  Found it a faff to open the app to get fuel consumption when it's there on the Display Information System on the dash.  Granted I found the battery voltage handy when working out if my battery was on the way out.  But other than that not really used it.

[Hertsman]

Looks a very clean and well maintained Mk6 you've got there Hertsman.  Do like the look of the Glendale wheels.  I'm sure it'll bring you many miles of enjoyable driving.  Like joe6 mine's had a couple of inlet manifold issues, and timing chain tensioner, but as yours is a 2012 model year I expect that car will be on the latest tensioner revision.

I have the VW data plug, but after the inital novelty haven't really used it.  I think the Mk6 appears more limited in what it has available via data plug features than maybe a Mk7 or Mk8.  Found it a faff to open the app to get fuel consumption when it's there on the Display Information System on the dash.  Granted I found the battery voltage handy when working out if my battery was on the way out.  But other than that not really used it.

This forum was invaluable in the search, as read all through the timing chain and tensioner sticky and was main reason overlooked quite a few GTI and stuck to as late 2012 as could find, so hopefully with its good year on year maintenance and regular oil changes and relatively low mileage and lower mileage to come, something to not feel too concerned about, though will ask for the cam reading at next service to see how within limits it is.

Expect to spend some money on it at some point but could have spent £1000's more chasing something newer, and still had potential problems, so its a good financial decision to not do that chase really.

Good point on the battery, useful to know its healthy and if have battery issues, may plug it in, but data plug is too big brother over benefits so already unplugged

[Bluto]

Good point on the battery, useful to know its healthy and if have battery issues, may plug it in, but data plug is too big brother over benefits so already unplugged

Well the 'volunteering' of extra data to the Volkswagen mothership e.g. driving locations, routes, speeds etc was another reason why my data plug has grown cobwebs in usage.   I too was of the big brother opinion.  I'm a typical Gen X in that regard.