GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: GTIBug on 25 October 2021, 23:44
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:cry: bear with me.
I have an mk7 GTI. I’ve nurtured her since new from 2015, even through expensive, known manufacturer common faults so I’m probably far too attached.
However, we have an older 12 reg Polo as well which serves as OH’s work run about and is cheap to run (I am too precious to let the GTI be taken out for this purpose). We are looking at potentially adding an MPV to the mix. It’ll take the enormous rear facing car seats in (Alhambra, Carens etc) and long driver legs better that don’t work in the polo or GTI, and I’m less keen on SUVs following test driving, but with reduced annual mileage due to lockdowns, working from home, career breaks and growing family...three cars seems a luxury. Or is it?!?
I’d love to keep the GTI. Despite attractive part ex /wbac offers, I’ve yet to be convinced to part with the GTI. Are three cars on the drive + tax + insurance + maintenance reasonable (if financially viable) ? Or do I love the golf too much? Speak, oh voices of reason
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P.s. first post, but always been here admiring forum chat from afar
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Personal choice we have 6 and work from home. :grin:
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I love my GTI, probably the best car I've owned in 40 years of driving, but as superb as it is, it's still just a car. I've felt like you many times when trading in a beloved motor for a new car, but after a few months (unless the new car turns out to be a dog or a big mistake), then the rose tinted spectacles for the older car gradually diminishes.
Also, with the GTI now being nearly 7 years old, you have to ask yourself the question if you can afford not just tax, insurance, fuel etc on the GTI as a 3rd car, but also any large repair bills which might be due on a car of such an age ? If you are cash rich and can afford it then keep it, why not, but if like most of us, it's more a sentimental attachment than anything else, then sell it.
With the cost of motoring rising (fuel, insurance etc), unless you get pretty good use out of it as a 3rd car, then it's just a pretty paperweight. Just my thoughts of course, YMMV.
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Everything is a luxury really, you don't need a 4k TV when a 1080p does the same job, don't need a GTI when there's a 1.0 tsi etc. If you can justify that a third car meets your current needs and circumstances, then it's as good a reason as any, however with the current inflated car market it would put me off unless it was something very special like an E46 M3 that you can't buy anymore.
I'm assuming the MPV is the suggested car because of kids? I'm curious though you said you tried SUV's and don't like them, presumably because you want something that drives like a car. Would an estate (Skoda Octavia, Audi A4 Avant, BMW 3 Series Touring etc) not make more sense from that point of view than a MPV?
If the OH could drive a bigger car daily with no issues eg just as handy parked, given insurance premiums the way they are it makes more sense to change the polo than a to buy a third car.
That being said we have a third car in the form of a £2k Honda Accord 2.2 Estate, which gets used a lot and is brilliant for all the dirty jobs.
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I’d do as @willni suggests; sell the Polo, keep the GTI and get a large estate car.
I’ve never really bought into the MPV / SUV thing and they probably don’t offer much more than a conventional large estate car, other than a bit more headroom.
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Have you had the water pump and the heater matrix die yet on the GTI?
Both of those were my worries about keeping my Mk7 for a long time...
About 800 quid for the water pump and 1500 for the heater matrix...
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MPVs and SUVs are completely different types of car that appeal to completely different types of buyer.
I have an Alhambra. Masses of room for a family of 6 to go on long touring holidays, swallows anything you may wish to take to the tip ( much more than any estate), and huge flexibility.
You can't do that in any SUV, nor any estate car for that matter.
As for OPs dilemma, I would think very carefully before selling the golf. It is a special car- in terms of how well suited it is for its intended purpose and how enjoyable it is to drive.
I really wouldn't sell it unless you have to free up the money or you have nowhere to keep it.
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Have you had the water pump and the heater matrix die yet on the GTI?
Both of those were my worries about keeping my Mk7 for a long time...
About 800 quid for the water pump and 1500 for the heater matrix...
Heater Matrix is a simple fix though remove the silica bag and change the coolant more often.
Friend got hit with the Water pump though had 3 of them go in a few months, luckily all were warranted.
MPVs and SUVs are completely different types of car that appeal to completely different types of buyer.
I have an Alhambra. Masses of room for a family of 6 to go on long touring holidays, swallows anything you may wish to take to the tip ( much more than any estate), and huge flexibility.
You can't do that in any SUV, nor any estate car for that matter.
But how often do you go on long touring holidays or go to the dump? It's the same as people buying Range Rover's, Tiguan's etc and saying it can go off-road, but how often does it? You're better off buying something for how you will use it for 95% of the time rather than the 5%.
I'd look at what people with company cars that do large distances everyday use, which tends to be Passat Estates, 3 series etc.
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Have you had the water pump and the heater matrix die yet on the GTI?
Both of those were my worries about keeping my Mk7 for a long time...
About 800 quid for the water pump and 1500 for the heater matrix...
Perhaps I have been lucky but no significant expenditure on my much cherished 2010 mk6 gti until the last month. Clutch and DMF replaced and first new front pads but not discs at 88k miles. There are always worries but frequently cheaper to repair than buying and selling especially if the history is known from new.
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Im not a subscribe myself to the change incase something fails club and keep paying out £300 a month for the latest model when after a few months of saving those payments it would cover any suprise maintenance costs from an independent garage anyway, but thats just me.
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MPVs and SUVs are completely different types of car that appeal to completely different types of buyer.
I have an Alhambra. Masses of room for a family of 6 to go on long touring holidays, swallows anything you may wish to take to the tip ( much more than any estate), and huge flexibility.
You can't do that in any SUV, nor any estate car for that matter.
But how often do you go on long touring holidays or go to the dump? It's the same as people buying Range Rover's, Tiguan's etc and saying it can go off-road, but how often does it? You're better off buying something for how you will use it for 95% of the time rather than the 5%.
I'd look at what people with company cars that do large distances everyday use, which tends to be Passat Estates, 3 series etc.
The car you buy must do whatever you need it to do, even if that need is only occasional.
So if you need a car that has to take the family once a year to France/Italy, then it must be able to do that.
Not the same as saying "my car can do something... though i'll never use it for that"
But you're right in suggesting that no car does everything well- so buy something that works well most of the time.
That's also why you can make a perfectly good case for having many cars in a household- and why OP's question is an interesting one.
Keep the golf!
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Im not a subscribe myself to the change incase something fails club and keep paying out £300 a month for the latest model when after a few months of saving those payments it would cover any suprise maintenance costs from an independent garage anyway, but thats just me.
Not just you. I agree completely.
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Im not a subscribe myself to the change incase something fails club and keep paying out £300 a month for the latest model when after a few months of saving those payments it would cover any suprise maintenance costs from an independent garage anyway, but thats just me.
Depends on whether its your transport you need for work or not... I can't afford the downtime, so pay to have a car that should work every time i turn the key (well, press the start button now)
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I'd be inclined (as previously suggested), to keep the GTI and lose the Polo. I know it means the other half knocking around in it, and it's not as cheap to run. But the GTI is the perfect everyday performance car and having it as the second car seems a good compromise. If you still want access to something fun and engaging when the mood takes you.
You own a GTI, you're on a car forum, so there's definitely some petrol in your veins. If my only choice of motors was an cooking model Polo and a MPV, I would be a sad man.
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Im not a subscribe myself to the change incase something fails club and keep paying out £300 a month for the latest model when after a few months of saving those payments it would cover any suprise maintenance costs from an independent garage anyway, but thats just me.
Depends on whether its your transport you need for work or not... I can't afford the downtime, so pay to have a car that should work every time i turn the key (well, press the start button now)
Our Toyota didnt start within weeks of getting it due to the battery. Never not had the leon start in 16 yrs of using it to commute or visiting clients. Brand new cars within the first few years of ownership having issues or niggles are the ones that have caused us inconvenience with visiting dealers multiple times for diagnostics then multiple fix attempt visits wasting our time which actually costs us money due to time away from working. I dread when we get a new car because more often then not it causes us inconvenience this way.
For years now I've worked on if it works why change it. My own personal experience is we always have downtime with new cars and very little with ones we already own. Other people including family do it differently each to their own and all that.
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I'd be inclined (as previously suggested), to keep the GTI and lose the Polo. I know it means the other half knocking around in it, and it's not as cheap to run. But the GTI is the perfect everyday performance car and having it as the second car seems a good compromise. If you still want access to something fun and engaging when the mood takes you.
You own a GTI, you're on a car forum, so there's definitely some petrol in your veins. If my only choice of motors was an cooking model Polo and a MPV, I would be a sad man.
Another vote for this.
If you are asking the question here you already know you want to keep it or it would have gone already.
Therefore either get the other half a car the size the family needs or give her the GTI. Time for you to sit her down and have the talk .
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With my dreadful track record of buying and selling cars on a whim I’d be the last person to listen to but…
The option of selling the car right now would have its attractions. Decent market value and avoiding potentially expensive maintenance costs if you have the misfortune to suffer some common issues.
But there are things about the GTI that will have gotten under your skin. Not just its looks and performance. The little things such as the driving position and general tautness and stability of the chassis and steering even when just pootling around. Those little characterful bits of trim everywhere that help make the car what it is. Even those little plaudits about the car you get from time to time from people when they see you get out of the GTI. These things add up and will make you miss the car in far more ways than you’d ever have imagined.
Instead you’ll climb into a soulless box each day, which you might appreciate for its practicality but there will just be that nagging feeling all the time that this isn’t “you”.
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Hey folks - thank you for the well thought through and candid replies. What a decent crowd! I’m scouring other car forums in my car search and find others can’t match this on friendliness and being informative.
I’m not ready to let go of the GTI just yet. We are not cash rich by any means, and now with two kids, I am wrestling with the idea of keeping her on a practical (boring) level. However, in six to twelve months time I might change mind (unless someone else chips in sooner with a major showstopper!). In the meantime, we’ll get a good deal selling the old 12 reg (but sturdy) Polo and getting a mid range diesel Korean carrier with a remaining 3.5y warranty. I couldn’t face trading in a GTI for that ...would be heartbreaking! Plan in two years may be to get a nice spec Skoda Superb estate if on two incomes but tempted to move towards Japanese as fed up of Vag recurring issues even as generations evolve.
Golf has only 20k on the clock, been driven well and with care. Timing belt and pump not changed (risky, I’m aware), but had the manifold flaps go, seal speaker and tailgate grommet leak damage (had to strip the car interiors to dry :cry:), new AGM battery fitted. Most of that over 2020-21 as she’s been great otherwise up until lockdown mk1. It’s just such a fun drive. No mods or remaps and I’ve had the coolant housing and thermostat checked for leaks (looking good) as part of the mani changeout, and inlet valves cleaned. Any urgent TLC I should be looking to do over the next 6-12 months if I keep her?
Thanks again.
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I’ll try to get round to replying to some of the more specific q’s that followed my OP
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Good to hear you're keeping it. Don't worry about the timing belt, it's a chain, and so far they don't seem to have the issues they had in the MK6.
If you're thinking about a Superb for the added practicality, don't discount the Octavia vRS. Estate or hatch, it's 90-95% of what your GTI offers but with a cavernous boot and slightly longer wheelbase.
The Superb is a very plush, really nice and refined. But even the 280hp 4wd one isn't going to offer any driving thrills IMO. It's a jet propelled sofa, not an engaging drivers car.