Unlucky Week...

[pgibson007]

Hi All,

After 6 months of trouble free ownership I've managed to chip a wheel on a kerb, scratched the back bumper when a dog (not mine) jumped up at the car and i've cracked the front number plate surround all in the last week.  Does anyone know if the number plate surround is an easy swap?  Looks like a couple of plastic rivets holding it on.  Going to price one at the dealer tomorrow. My poor GTI must hate me this week!

[Exonian]

If it comes in threes then hopefully you've had your share of car woes for a good while.

The number plate surround is a fairly cheap and simple fix. I needed one for my last car (mk7 GTI PP) when I got backed into, cracking the surround and honeycomb grille.

[Watts]

Hi All,

After 6 months of trouble free ownership I've managed to chip a wheel on a kerb, scratched the back bumper when a dog (not mine) jumped up at the car and i've cracked the front number plate surround all in the last week.  Does anyone know if the number plate surround is an easy swap?  Looks like a couple of plastic rivets holding it on.  Going to price one at the dealer tomorrow. My poor GTI must hate me this week!

Bugger! You've done very well though to last that long! Had mine just over a year now, have one undamaged wheel left and have dented a front wing whilst not concentrating during parking. That needed a respray Is your wheel bad or does it just seem bad as it's the first one to be damaged? I'm leaving mine another year or so before getting any refurbed as they will get marked again, it's inevitable Will the bumper scratch polish out?

Now you've joined the forum, first of all, hello Second, why not add your car's spec to your signature, comes in handy! Third, some pictures are always welcome! You'll find lots of helpful knowledgeable people on here so well worth joining in.

[Eccie]

I found the number plate surrounding a bit of a pain to remove, the plastic plugs didn't come out easy and I chewed them up a bit I prefer the look without it, so just have my pressed plate on the front now.

[pgibson007]

Thanks all - checked price at the dealer and its 20 quid for the surround and plastic rivets so I'll swap it out this weekend.  My wheel wasn't too bad, couple of small chips that I've cleaned out and lacquered to help stop any corrosion.  Winter wheels going on soon. 

6 months in and love the car.  Dare I say it but I prefer it to the manual Mk7 R I had before it.

[Exonian]

Dare I say it but I prefer it to the manual Mk7 R I had before it.

Now there's an interesting opinion.
What is it that you prefer?
And why did you go from R to GTI?

[pgibson007]

The R was a great car but I have a dodgy back and started to struggle with the clutch so had to get rid.  Couldn't stretch to a DSG replacement as all those cheap R deals that were going around for a while had finished.

I prefer the look of the GTI to the R and it's quick enough for me.  Sometimes you just get a feel for a car and the GTI is more me than the R was.  I'll miss the 4WD in winter though!

[Exonian]

The GTI is definitely prettier! I don't have a particular preference to either car's styling as I also quite like the R's understated menace.
I'd probably get shot for this on the R forum but I do think the GTI PP actually handles better than the R and pulls better at low speed (manual car, the DSG will mask this).
But there's no getting away from the extra turn of speed the R has over 4000 rpm plus better off the line traction.
If you don't use high revs very often then the GTI is the better bet possibly as it's loads better on fuel and the PP diff makes wheel-spin a rare event unless you have both wheels pointing dead straight ahead.

The GTI has unfortunately become a very underrated car, it performs way better than the horsepower would suggest.