Things to look for on mkv purchase?

[Gene Hunt.]

........as above mine is 05 reg & has all the above. The blue tinted glass always gets loads of comments when it's been parked in the rain or covered in condensation after a night shift.

[crimsonfin]

worth checking that the rear LED brake light works.  recently found out that they commonly fail and can cost up to £400 to repair due to need to rip spoiler off the car !  Also worth asking if cam belt has recently been done.  looking at dealer price of at least £400 to change.

also might be worth trying to get a decent stereo.  my 06 came with the RCD300 single shot cd player (crap!).  you want at least the RCD310 mp3 version (with silver buttons) or the RCD500 multi cd player.  I tried upgrading mine to the RCD510 touch screen SD card MP3 player.  Drained the battery completely as its only compatible with 08 models on - avoid!

enjoy !

[maxp]

  I tried upgrading mine to the RCD510 touch screen SD card MP3 player.  Drained the battery completely as its only compatible with 08 models on - avoid!

Are you definitely sure it wasn't the firmware? The first versions of the RNS510 (all singing dancing sat nav unit etc) had some issues where it would drain the battery, but this could be corrected with a firmware re-flash to a newer software version.

[crimsonfin]

it wasnt the sat nav version it was the rcd510

spent ages looking into the issue and few other people had same issue.  was something to do with the electronics wiring in the car which was changed on 08 models

[ub7rm]

it wasnt the sat nav version it was the rcd510

spent ages looking into the issue and few other people had same issue.  was something to do with the electronics wiring in the car which was changed on 08 models

You need to upgrade the CAN gateway to avoid the problem.  As said a firmware downgrade is an alternative way to solve the problem with the RNS510 so its possible the same solution will work for the RCD 

[ub7rm]

worth checking that the rear LED brake light works.  recently found out that they commonly fail and can cost up to £400 to repair due to need to rip spoiler off the car !  Also worth asking if cam belt has recently been done.  looking at dealer price of at least £400 to change.

also might be worth trying to get a decent stereo.  my 06 came with the RCD300 single shot cd player (crap!).  you want at least the RCD310 mp3 version (with silver buttons) or the RCD500 multi cd player.  I tried upgrading mine to the RCD510 touch screen SD card MP3 player.  Drained the battery completely as its only compatible with 08 models on - avoid!

enjoy !

Easy fix for forty quid 

[Egbutt Wash]

The usual things; full service history, not rough owner (Quintin "Rough people, rough cars), no homemade mods, not an ED30 unless driven by a little old lady (way too many crashed and repaired), not an 05 (catch fire), check DSG is smooth, don't buy a manual (too much risk of an over-revved engine), 5 doors not 3 for easy resale, red colour if possible (safer and less likely to be crashed), no sweaty smell, and finally don't pay a penny more for any of the costly original extras such as xenons, leather seats etc., they are not worth a bean to a secondhander.

Consider a set of secondhand wheels to fit winter tyres.  After a 4wd subaru you will hate the wheel spin and axle tramp when the temperature drops below 6C and your summer tyres just don't work.

Burn the baseball cap.

[ub7rm]

The usual things; full service history, not rough owner (Quintin "Rough people, rough cars), no homemade mods, not an ED30 unless driven by a little old lady (way too many crashed and repaired), not an 05 (catch fire), check DSG is smooth, don't buy a manual (too much risk of an over-revved engine), 5 doors not 3 for easy resale, red colour if possible (safer and less likely to be crashed), no sweaty smell, and finally don't pay a penny more for any of the costly original extras such as xenons, leather seats etc., they are not worth a bean to a secondhander.

Consider a set of secondhand wheels to fit winter tyres.  After a 4wd subaru you will hate the wheel spin and axle tramp when the temperature drops below 6C and your summer tyres just don't work.

Burn the baseball cap.

Its 55 plates that seem to be prone to spontaneous combustion Egbert, keep up 

On that note, this makes for interesting reading ... http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,14440.0.html

[moffspeed]

The usual things; full service history, not rough owner (Quintin "Rough people, rough cars), no homemade mods, not an ED30 unless driven by a little old lady (way too many crashed and repaired), not an 05 (catch fire), check DSG is smooth, don't buy a manual (too much risk of an over-revved engine), 5 doors not 3 for easy resale, red colour if possible (safer and less likely to be crashed), no sweaty smell, and finally don't pay a penny more for any of the costly original extras such as xenons, leather seats etc., they are not worth a bean to a secondhander.

Consider a set of secondhand wheels to fit winter tyres.  After a 4wd subaru you will hate the wheel spin and axle tramp when the temperature drops below 6C and your summer tyres just don't work.

Burn the baseball cap.

Err - totally disagree,   Perhaps predictable response from a 5 door Tornado red DSG owner.  OK, fsh is a no-brainer but otherwise I'd suggest wide of the mark - a) I reckon ED30 ownners are probably even more meticulous about their cars   b) manual cars are equipped with a magical device known as a rev limiter and appeal to those peculiar people (me included) who still enjoy the opportunity to choose a ratio from time to time (and yes - my wife has a Mk6 DSG)   c)  Tornado red doesn't tend to float the boat of the majority of GTI owners  d) are you really suggesting that a car with leather/xenons/sat nav doesn't attract a premium compared to a poverty-spec model.  e) 5 doors v 3 doors is a practicality v aesthetic choice f) not too many '05 plates really catch fire....

[Saint Steve]

I also own all the above. An Edition30 in red (dsg).The Car that Egbert wishes he could afford a year so after he bought his     But wont admit it.