3 years with the GTi - thoughts and experiences

[ccaasjf]

I would agree about pricing on the MK6 GTI, I paid 19.4k for a 23k car when I bought mine, import, today this would be nearly 28-29k for basically the same car.

Mixed emotions would sum up the ownership experience, the product is a great product if you get a good one, if you don't you are in the mercy of the dealers and VW customer service and we all know how crap they are!

[DanoGTI]

Gotta say, so far (9 months of ownership) have been nothing but favourable.

The only issue as been warranty bits, such as white worm on caps - sorted.

The BIGGEST problem with VW is the sheer inconsistency between dealers, AND for that matter, departments in those dealerships. There are levels of poor professionalism, incompetence and underhandedness.

Sadly, this does reflect on other dealers. I went through 6 dealers before I found one that I bought my GTI off. Sadly, the Customer service afterwards was very poor.
But my local dealership (not the place I bought the car from), have rubbish sales, but so far, very good service department (until proven wrong)

I have yet to experience VW headquarters, but it can't be any worse than IM (Subaru people).....

Dan

[Chris MKV]

I guess thete is an element of 'luck of the draw' here.  We have had the pirelli for 16 months and I have no complaints I only get rattles from things in the glovebox - none from the car itself.   However I can imagine from the car's ability to rattle contents if you get a bodywork / interior rattle it will be pretty irritating.

The dealer has been great and we bought the 3 year service pack so this is very cheap. It has been relitively economical 31 mpg overall and good on tyres compared with what I expected.  I still smile everytime I walk up to it.

We had a focus last time and that dealer was great to.  When I picked it up (ex demonstrator) I noticed a chip in the windscreen after 2 miles of drivingwhen I turned a corner and the sun hit it. The screen was replaced the next week.  I complained about the mpg and they loaded an updated map and it was then faultless.

I guess that is the problem you have the expereince of one car - if it good you will be pleased if not you don't have any other expereince to take into account - your expereince is poor.

[Gene Hunt.]

Had my 05 GTI 8 months now & after having the cam chain/tensioner replaced never looked back.Best car i've ever owned.

[Egbutt Wash]

Dutch import from Allbrandsnew, April 08.  5 door DSG. £19,300, 6 miles on clock. 
No problems.  Local dealer in Lindale seem OK (they did a good clean of my dog encrusted car during service).
My only gripe is self inflicted, the Goodyear F1's.  They just don't work when it is cold.

The Superchips Bluefin is my indulgence.  Nice to see off Honda Type R's.

[Steve30]

I guess thete is an element of 'luck of the draw' here.  We have had the pirelli for 16 months and I have no complaints I only get rattles from things in the glovebox - none from the car itself.   However I can imagine from the car's ability to rattle contents if you get a bodywork / interior rattle it will be pretty irritating.

The dealer has been great and we bought the 3 year service pack so this is very cheap. It has been relitively economical 31 mpg overall and good on tyres compared with what I expected.  I still smile everytime I walk up to it.

We had a focus last time and that dealer was great to.  When I picked it up (ex demonstrator) I noticed a chip in the windscreen after 2 miles of drivingwhen I turned a corner and the sun hit it. The screen was replaced the next week.  I complained about the mpg and they loaded an updated map and it was then faultless.

I guess that is the problem you have the expereince of one car - if it good you will be pleased if not you don't have any other expereince to take into account - your expereince is poor.

Did your dealer put the map on your pirele?

[Stitch]

Totally agree it's luck of the draw somwtimes but VW know the MK5 build quality isn't up to scratch and I therefore expected a more understanding experience (Lotus were excellent 99.9% of the time on a hand built car!).

I bought my car from a dealer near Exeter (Murray VW in Newton Abbot I think) but live 150 miles away. I took the car to two local dealers who both tried to remedy the problems and couldn't. VW customer service wanted me to try another dealer at which point I refused (did they want me to take the car to every dealer in the Country).

Eventually went to trading standards to try and get help to reject the car but as it wasn't new, my contract was with the dealer not VW UK. The dealer offered to buy the car back at trade (3 months after i'd bought it so would have lost £4k+. I did begin legal action and both TS and my solicitor thought I would win but the initial outlay meant even more financial risk whick i didn't want to take.

The dealer was also awful when I picked the car up - obviously deal was done over the phone and car was described as perfect condition - when i got there, one of the front light lense protectors was crack (they refused to replace until i made a huge fuss). I also stopped for fuel about 1 mile from the dealer and noticed a scratch on the o/s rear passenger door. Called the delaer and they said that I should have spotted it before I drove off the forecourt (it had started to rain so the car was wet). Should have walked away there and then but you live and learn.

[Chris MKV]

Sorry - the pirelli isn't remaped.  THe Ford had an updated ford map installed under warranty.

I do sometimes wonder what a remap on the golf would be like though

Thats a realy poor story about the VW dealer. One of the things that impressed me witht e ford was that when I had issues they sorted it - no fuss.  I hadn't sp[otted the chip on collection but they replaced the whole heated windscreen when I reported it and they brought the cars straight in to update the map when I showed them the fuel figures.  Often you only find out what someone is like when things go wrong - do they sort it or make excuses

[simonkit]

 It's definitely a bit of a nightmare when you end up with a cr*p dealer...I'm yet to put mine to the test as I've only owned the GTI 3 weeks.

 Having owned a few makes/models (Vauxhall, Ford, Citroen, Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai & now VW) I can honestly say that from my experience it's not make specific, I've had cr*p support from nearly all of them at some point, although Suzuki so far have been the best, no problems.

 I'm keeping my fingers crossed I've got a decent GTI & dealer...although already have the passenger door rattle which I've no intention of leaving to the dealer, I'll have a go myself - Dynamatt in hand !!

 Simon