What to do with my 120k MK7...?

[MrJollygood]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a few opinions on what to do with my MK7 GTi PP.

It's an early 2013 car. I've had it since about 40k and it's just hot 120k. It's my daily driver, covering the 60 mile round trip to the office and back every  day.

It's been one of the best cars I've owned, very easy to live with every day, quick enough for a back road blast and apart from a few small things has been pretty faultless despite having a tough life.

It's just had it's annual MOT - it passed but with quite a few advisories;

There's three oil leaks. Timing cover gasket, sump gasket and lower timing chain cover (this is the worst one - quite an expensive job to change it apparently)

As well as the above, three of the DCC shocks are leaking and need replacing.

They've advised that while everything is off, because of the mileage, it might be worthwhile doing the timing chain at the same time (I know these are supposedly for the life of the car, but at 120k it's probably a sensible idea)

Do I spend the money (awaiting a quote, but can't imagine it's going to be insignificant) and get it back to a reliable state and hope for many more miles of trouble free motoring and run it into the ground, or cut my losses and replace it without spending on it.

Any thoughts?

[willni]

In the UK we have a fear of 100k+ miles, but elsewhere in Europe and the USA that's just breaking in! In my experience cars start to go wrong 80-100k miles but once you're past 100k they're fine. Going off Autotrader adverts the car is circa £8k-£9k private sale, so the cost of change is £ xxxx depending on what you want to change to.

Personally if you still like the car I'd keep it going!

With regard to the DCC, if you love it then you can get new shocks, but if you're not fussed change them out the standard shocks and save yourself a bit of money there, I think they're £250+ a pop.

Timing Chain - Are they not 100k miles to change? Typically with the VR6's you can get 90-130k out of them but it's best the get a read of the slack on them, not sure if this is a thing for 4 cylinders though.

[Carbon VW]

As per VW Ireland anyway there is no set interval for timing chain replacement but you can check some values on VCDS or similar to check for stretch. But as tech says, while you’re in there I would change it.

[MrJollygood]

Yeah, used the DCC once for a trackday then just left it as is, so will definitely replace with standard shocks
had a pair of DCCs replaced circa 45k and it cost a small fortune.

Waiting to see what the garage quotes me for all the work...😬

[MrJollygood]

Agree with the thought that everyone in the UK hates a high miler though. I think it's partly because no-one maintains their own cars anymore and because cars are white goods for most people these days. Swapped out like a mobile phone for a new one after three years.

[SRGTD]

Agree with the thought that everyone in the UK hates a high miler though. I think it's partly because no-one maintains their own cars anymore and because cars are white goods for most people these days. Swapped out like a mobile phone for a new one after three years.

Agree. The salesperson I dealt with when I bought my current car in 2020 has contacted me twice this year trying to get me buy a new car. I won’t be doing so though - current car is 38 months old with less than 14k miles on the clock so should have plenty of life left in it 🙂.

[willni]

It's a chore to change a car you like every couple of years to keep the value up, but it's easier to change more frequently for lower a lower cost to change.

For example changing to another newer 2018 GTI with 40k miles it's roughly a cost to change of £8-10k, for what is the same if not a lesser car (if it doesn't have PP & Options). Which is a large jump and something you'd need to bare in mind.

So the question is do you keep driving the car and pay maintenance costs and later down the line pay £15k+ to change, or stomach the cost to change now and pay £8-10k? No one else can answer that one for you unfortunately.

[MrJollygood]

Yep...it's a tricky one. Paying 8-10k to have a newer version of the same car doesn't make much sense. Especially as mine is a launch year car and fully loaded (ACC, rev camera, DCC, performance pack etc) Trying to match the spec is hard.

Erring on the side of take the hit, get it fixed up and hopefully get a few more years out of it before needing to replace it...

[Agreeable Slick]

It's a chore to change a car you like every couple of years to keep the value up, but it's easier to change more frequently for lower a lower cost to change.

For example changing to another newer 2018 GTI with 40k miles it's roughly a cost to change of £8-10k, for what is the same if not a lesser car (if it doesn't have PP & Options). Which is a large jump and something you'd need to bare in mind.

So the question is do you keep driving the car and pay maintenance costs and later down the line pay £15k+ to change, or stomach the cost to change now and pay £8-10k? No one else can answer that one for you unfortunately.

Probably the most logical answer, and an approach I take as well.

I don't lease vehicles because I like to keep them for a while, and I'm not as fussed by keeping up with incremental updates every couple of years. That being said I am in a similar position to you in that I've got my mk7 PP up for sale now having owned it for 7 years, and I'm not selling because I'm bored, but because my life has changed so now I need something to carry those needs.

If it's a vehicle you love and have no real driver to sell and don't mind the maintenance costs (which lets be honest are generally low on these cars) then I would recommend to keep it and start putting some money aside to build a pot for when you do need to get it replaced.

[GolfTi]

Keeping mine.

10 yrs old and nearly 100k, had it from new so my choice of spec.
Just had the DCC shocks replaced otherwise no issues.

Still love it to bits.