Help re buying Mk 5 or Mk 6 Gti DSG

[gaosc]

Hi everyone

I hope that you can give us some advice....

My wife is looking to buy a 5 door Gti (DSG), and has a budget of about £9-£10K. She is pondering to either get a Mk 5, or possibly to get a high mileage Mk 6. So the question is, which would be the better buy?

She prefers the Mk 6, and we have seen a nice one but of course it has a very high mileage (125K), although it does have a full VW service history and has had the timing chain and top end done as it went. If she goes for a Mk 5, it will have much lower mileage, but she is then getting what I presume is a less refined car (?).

What do you all think? Is 125K miles for a Mk 6 of any concern? Apart form the timing chain, should we look for anything else that should have been done, or will need doing?

And with a Mk 5, what do we need to look for? I understand that the cambelts need doing at 60K miles or 5 years? Anything else to look out for?

Any advice/thoughts that you can give us to help make a decision will be much appreciated     

[th3_f15t]

Personally, I'd avoid that mk6 if it's had some serious cam chain work just going on instinct. Mileage and full history don't paint even half the story with a car, I've seen low mileage cars being problems while 140K+ cars being no problem. It's all down to how they have been driven and looked after.

The mk6 is essentially a mk5 underneath with mainly cosmetic differences, but you'll be within mk5 Edition 30 territory with that budget so something to think about. As for common issues;

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,44709.0.html

Everything you need to know when inspecting a car for buying. The only real thing is to go out and test drive them and see which you prefer as I can sit here all day and praise the mk5 over the mk6 but it's personal preference.

[J400uk]

For that money I'd probably go for a Mk6. You will be restricted to early/ high mileage cars but if you buy something with a good service history that's been well  looked after you should be Ok. Its good if its had work done on the timing chain as that means it shouldn't fail again. Seems to be quite a common issue with the early cars.

The Mk5 GTI is a brilliant car but its now a decade old and starting to feel slightly dated. The Mk6 feels notably more modern and will last you longer.