Just in the process of buying a MK6 GTI from a main dealer and have already agreed to the sale before I came across this. It will come with 2-years VW approved warranty.
Obviously this thread worries me a little, since this car is a big investment for me. I've not read every single page, but enough to understand the main issues, I hope!
The car I'm buying is registered late 2010, so I'm hoping it has at least the 1st revision tensioner fitted. That said, I'll be looking to replace it pretty quickly for peace of mind (and because me and the girlfriend will be going on holiday on the continent in May, which is 2500-mile round trip and I don't want the chance of a major failure during that.
Can I just ask whether it's always enough to replace the tensioner? When I asked my mate who's also my usual mechanic, he queried whether people usually change the belt and guides too, as they would be his instinct. Would there be any indication of when to do the whole job - do you ever get wear on the chain or stretching? I get very much mates rates on labour and also have a friendly VW parts guy (I've bought so much VW/Audi parts from him over the years I get a discount).
[edit: is it worth doing the mesh strainer and magnetic plug I noticed on one of the thread pages? Anything else I've missed which might be worth doing 'while you're in there'?
Do you think I should just get the whole job done and then not worry?