Buying advice

[jdoubleu]

Hopefully not breaking any forum rules here.

Looking at buying a manual MK6 or MK7 (already posted a "wanted" request). Have seen this MK6 up for sale - any advice/recommendations? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405139658869

I went to see a similarly low mileage example this weekend, having been told it was mint without any marks. Well... it had several deep scratches and a couple of dings on it so turned out to be an annoying waste of time.

[Nino]

Giving you my utmost and honest opinion here, that car is seriously over priced.

Ok, I get it, the mileage has attracted you but 12.5k for a normal GTi, in a common colour, Just no.

• It is a very basic model with only having parking sensors as the optional extras and maybe the winter pack
• The bottle opener is missing which is shocking for such a "low mileage example"
• Rear cup holder looks broken or it could just be not closed (common issue on these)
• Boot has got more marks on the plasict black trim onit than I would expect to see from such a "low mileage example"
• Headliner is sagging - Look buy the sunglasses holder
• Add is only showing you one wheel, which likely means thats the best of the bunch and it has odd tyres and the tyre fitted was from week 40 in 2015 so is a 9 year old tyre
• Ad states, 33,500, Writeup says 34k and clocks show 33.519 Inconsistances like this are not hard to get right, minor detail but bugs the hell out of me.
• MOT History shows the car hasn't been kept up with keeping Tyres and discs in good order, shows you the type of owner.
• The Wear on the drivers seat bolster and lower bolster has me questioning if the mileage is genuine or if the owner was clocking it back between MOTs to keep the re-sale value high - Just a thought.

First bit of advice I will give you is step away from getting hung up on buying a low mileage example.
Take the one above as an example, for a car at this mileage, I would expect it to be close to showroom condition, my Ed35 is on 77K and knocks socks off it. It states it has FSH so I would expect it to have 14-15 Stamps in the book given the age of it and proof of the timing chain and water pump being replaced due to age.

I am speaking from experience. I am not saying go and buy a 200k+ example but low mileage cars are sometimes more hassle that they are worth;

• Cars that are not used and parked up break, lines, pipes get brittle etc.
• Sometimes you find people don't service them for years, leave them parked and think because they are not being used, you don't have to service them. This is wrong, oil have a shelve life and once oil is in the engine and has been upto temp, it will only last 12 months.
• Cars that have not been serviced correctly are not eligable for any warranty issues with the manufacturer
• Cars that are lower mileage are normally only used for short journeys which isn't great as you get alot of carbon build up, again this isn't always the case but its more towards this than not

As I said above, this car is 100% in my opinion not worth the 12.5k price tag in any way shape of form.

So coming from owning a MK7 GTD, and knowing many that have had the MK7 GTi, I can tell you at the MK6 platform, in my opinion is the better platform for reliability, for exterior looks, too althought I appreiate that is my opinion on the exterior, for Reliability however, the MK6 is only better than the MK7 if you get the Edition 35 GTi and not the normal GTi, short version, the normal GTi comes with a different engine that is chain driven not belt and is prone to failure. The Ed35 engine is a better more reliable engine, has the Ko4 Turbo and is belt driven.

The MK7 main issues include the blocked Heater matrix, I had this in my GTD and two people I know had this with their GTi, all mileage under 50k and between 65-68 plates, If not covered under Warranty, your looking at 1.3k + VAT - Thermosat housing and waterpump (comes as one unit I think in the MK7) £1000+ to replace and will break again, (design fault).

Only Downside to the MK6 platform and even finding a good ED35 is finding one that hasn't been remapped and messed with. I was lucky, I found mine at my local VW but I also paid 14k.

This Video explains it perfectly why I think the ED35 is the better option.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nl8-ZR532s&t=17s

To close, if you have the budget, I urge you to get a MK6 GTi Edtion 35, only downside is, only 671 came out in the UK, 335 of them were Manual and 336 were DSG so finding one won't be easy.

Hope this helps.

[david25]

If you are spending over £10,000 there is one MK6 in the used cars at vw.co.uk this will have a good warranty at least

[david25]

The MK7 main issues include the blocked Heater matrix, I had this in my GTD and two people I know had this with their GTi, all mileage under 50k and between 65-68 plates, If not covered under Warranty, your looking at 1.3k + VAT - Thermosat housing and waterpump (comes as one unit I think in the MK7) £1000+ to replace and will break again, (design fault).

Major thread diversion, what's the typical mileage for the thermostat housing to start to leak and there is no updated part so it will happen again?

[Nino]

The MK7 main issues include the blocked Heater matrix, I had this in my GTD and two people I know had this with their GTi, all mileage under 50k and between 65-68 plates, If not covered under Warranty, your looking at 1.3k + VAT - Thermosat housing and waterpump (comes as one unit I think in the MK7) £1000+ to replace and will break again, (design fault).

Major thread diversion, what's the typical mileage for the thermostat housing to start to leak and there is no updated part so it will happen again?

From what I have seen/heard they can go from anywhere as closed to 60k mileage and haven't seen any revised part to stop it - its a similar thing to the BMW twin turbo in the 3 series, you can get the turbos replaced but they will break again as the design is too weak.

[david25]

The MK7 main issues include the blocked Heater matrix, I had this in my GTD and two people I know had this with their GTi, all mileage under 50k and between 65-68 plates, If not covered under Warranty, your looking at 1.3k + VAT - Thermosat housing and waterpump (comes as one unit I think in the MK7) £1000+ to replace and will break again, (design fault).

Major thread diversion, what's the typical mileage for the thermostat housing to start to leak and there is no updated part so it will happen again?

From what I have seen/heard they can go from anywhere as closed to 60k mileage and haven't seen any revised part to stop it - its a similar thing to the BMW twin turbo in the 3 series, you can get the turbos replaced but they will break again as the design is too weak.

Thanks, I'll need a warranty even a third party one if I ever get a MK7, £1000 is a big bill.

[Nino]

The MK7 main issues include the blocked Heater matrix, I had this in my GTD and two people I know had this with their GTi, all mileage under 50k and between 65-68 plates, If not covered under Warranty, your looking at 1.3k + VAT - Thermosat housing and waterpump (comes as one unit I think in the MK7) £1000+ to replace and will break again, (design fault).

Major thread diversion, what's the typical mileage for the thermostat housing to start to leak and there is no updated part so it will happen again?

From what I have seen/heard they can go from anywhere as closed to 60k mileage and haven't seen any revised part to stop it - its a similar thing to the BMW twin turbo in the 3 series, you can get the turbos replaced but they will break again as the design is too weak.

Thanks, I'll need a warranty even a third party one if I ever get a MK7, £1000 is a big bill.

Take a read here.
https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=288428.0

[jdoubleu]

If you are spending over £10,000 there is one MK6 in the used cars at vw.co.uk this will have a good warranty at least

Good shout on that one thank you - it doesn't seem that is listed anywhere other than VW directly... I have just called the dealer who is going to send me further details.

[Snoopy]

I think Nino has pointed out a few things. Of note is alot of low mileage ones often turn out to be Jap imports not that I think this one is but watch out for it. I may not agree with everything  Nino says but that maybe because i own 16k Mile one ive owned from new. 
Always watch out for the common issues even on low mileage examples as miles doesn't mean it won't have one of the common issues.
PVC failure: ruff idle, oil leaks between gearbox and engine, cam cover oil leak.
Rear main seal (crank seal): fail due to excess pressure cause by pcv valve failure. Oil leak gearbox.
Mecatronic failure: non smooth gear changing,
DMF: noise from gearbox.
Timing chain tensioner/ chain: listen for rattles on start up. Also  check its had updated tensioner as earlier ones are weak.
Water pump: check water level above min, check for water leak near pump.
Air con pump: wer noise when ac on, pumps die if not recharged regular.
N80 valve: ruff idle,
Diverter valve: stepped power delivery due to air leaks.
Headliner sagging: Due to age the glue gives up.
Bonnet sound proofing: sagging due to age.
Rust: front wings and sills, due to foam in the wings holding water.
Water in footwells: Door inner panel seal fails causing water to enter into the car.
Intake manifold fail: causes engine light and ruff running.
Injector failure: ruff running a d poor fuel economy.
Coil packs: slight misfire often no engine light.
Stating issues: often the ecu supply relays starting to fail they know issue on cars over 5yrs old.
There's more but that's enough to be going  on with

[jdoubleu]

Thanks for all the useful info.

I have decided to go see the approved used VW that David pointed me towards. I have to say, having looked quite a lot over the last few weeks, that seems a decent value proposition for what I am interested in. I've been quite disappointed by the ratio of auto to manuals... I guess most first time buyers of a brand new shiny GTI wanted the comfort of the auto (which I totally understand).

The one I am now looking at has full VWSH and is being sold fully approved used and comes with the associated warranty. I'm well aware these don't cover everything but it does give some peace of mind over a private seller or even a random used car trader. Fingers crossed it's as good in person.