14 month old used UK or new import gti?

[Emeye]

Hi,

This is my first post and I hope you don't mind helping me as I've decided I really want a Golf GTI, but.....

I found this forum after it was referenced on pistonheads in response to my search for help on buying an import gti.

I managed to find a 14months old UK 3dr Silver GTI, standard spec with 19,000miles, for £16,500 at a main dealer whch seemed a good price, but... (again) the car is at the other end of the country and it had an odd tyre with only 4mm tread left on the others, was due a service and I was having to go off the salesmens descriptions cos I can't just nip down for a look. They say the car is so cheap so they will only do me 6 months tax, and won't do the service or sort the mismatched tyre.

I found some imports advertised at various supermarkets which seemed a real bargain, but their salesmen were always vague about whether they were full UK spec, and after reading some posts on here it looks like my suspicions about some of these imports may have been justified. I looked at one of these supermarket imports today - a 5dr silver one for £17,999 + £170ish extra for "on the road" costs, and it seemed ok, but again the salesman was "vague" and seemed more interested in selling me "diamond interior and exterior protection treatment" than confirming the car's spec was totally UK.

I need a car quite quickly, so should I go for the used gti which may cost me £500 for tyres and £180 for a service very soon or should I track down a reputable importer? Both cars will have about 2 years warranty, but after 3 years the used one will be 4 years old and have possibly 80,000miles on the clock, whereas an import would only have 60k miles in 3 years.

I'm probably expecting to spend an extra £1000  on a brand new std import over the uk car.

It's either that or a brand new uk metallic SEAT Leon 2.0T FR which has more kit than the Golf for only £16,200 from a SEAT main dealer. 

HELP! - I don't really want a SEAT (even though my old shape Leon Cupra was an amazing car, if a bit yellow) 

Cheers.

[Phil mcavity]

Forget the leon, i test drove the FR leon and the altea FR and they drove ok,nowhere near as good as the GTi,and were absolute pants inside, crap fit and finish, and had more rattles then a toddler.Have a good think about what to do ,personally i would get a car with as many extras, cus theres nothing worse seeing another GTi with more extras fitted, cus it will eat away in your mind forever and a day. There are hundreds of 2nd hand nearly new GTi's on Vws own website, and are real bargains.have a Look. Thats how i got mine, a real bargain with all the toys which save me £6000 at new dealer price
HTH

www.volkswagen.co.uk

[GreyTornado]

yeah stick with the GTI route... i got my 55 GTI for £17,995 with 11,000k on the clock... loads of extras and 12 mnth warranty... all from a main dealer. well worth shopping around mate... you'll find the right one with your name written on it 

[phil1101]

Fair comment, I had to compromise on the 18" wheels (since purchased) but found a 8500 mile DSG Golf with leather and cruise for under £19 K, colour was not my first choice but still acceptable, full uk car with
2 years warranty left, be patient and go the Golf route

[NORTHERNER]

I went down the second hand market... 2 year old Golf Gti in Tornado Red (only one previous owner) with:

*19inch BBS Alloys with two new tyres on the front and rear tyres good for another 3-4k miles
*Body Coloured rear bumper (very well done!) and inspiring me to have the skirts and chin spoiler done
*Leather
*Sunroof
*6 CD Changer
*Xenons
*Rear tinted windows

With 25,900 on the clock & FSH (last serviced in March) and 11 months VW warranty left.

Got this for £15,000 from a Private Seller...

I was comfortable buying private due to the VW warranty left on the car.

Speccing the car up on VW website I reckon I saved £9,500 from the list price of a brand new one.

OK, the interior needs a good clean, I need some new footmatts and there is a bit of wear on the drivers side leather seat (lateral support) - but a £50 valet, leather treatement and some GTi matts off Ebay should put it back to looking perfect!!

[KentBladeboy]

Yep same here bought my late 05 Plate at 12 months old 13Kmiles, from a VAG main dealer, list up with all the bells was £29600, paid £20500, gave me £13500 for a 30month old Mk5 GT TDI 2litre with 39K on the clock, just pity the poor sucker who bought it new, probably only got around £19k for his 12 months fun.
It was the main spec I was looking for with more toys than I would have optioned, but saved me the 4 to 5 month wait the local stealers were quoting.
Had to drive half way up England to get it, but cut the deal and drove it back the same day.....some stealers do want to trade in the real world, you just have to find one, thats the hard bit. They even agreed in principle the px on the TDI subject to my telephone description being accurate, top guys in the end.
And I blagged 12 months tax and a full tank of V power

[Emeye]

Thanks for the feedback  - I'm not too worried about extras, the basic GTI has pretty much everything I'd want as std, apart from maybe an armrest, but I think I can live without that.

To be honest I'm trying to keep the cost down and get the newest car as possible - we're moving to a house that needs plenty of work so that will be swallowing plenty of our cash!

The favourite car (so far) that I've found on the web is a 2yr old (July 2005 05 plate) 23k miles Red 3dr for £15k at a car supermarket. All it has extra is heated seats.

I must admit I've been tempted by a brand new Import for £18k now I've found a decent importer, and I've also found a 1 yr old (2006 56) 5dr Red gti with 3k miles, grey leather, 18" alloy and heated seats for just under £17k, but I'm a bit sus about the low mileage and the fact it's being sold by a trader from home!

I'm going to be doing 20k miles a year, so I need to look at the residules I guess.

Damn I'm useless at making these decisions, it's a lot of money to spend  - atleast I know I want a Golf gti, but I need a car quite quickly....

[TheReflex]

You need the 18" Monzas. You will regret it big style if you don't get a car with them on and it will cost you 1K+ to upgrade later. An 18k new import ( as long as it's UK spec ) makes more sense than a 2 year old UK car . It will have an extra years warranty over the UK car and if you keep it over 3 years will be pretty much worth the same as a similar aged UK car when you come to sell it.

[NORTHERNER]

Emeye - my advice is to buy private... ass long as you have some manuafcturers warranty and run a HPi check you are fine... cheaper than dealer.
As per my previous posts for 15k I got 05 Red Gti with 26k on the clock and FSH with:

Upgrade Alloys
Leather
6 CD
Xenons
Sunroof

Car isn't in "showroom" condition.. few interior marks, but nothing that will not clean up, leather needs a bit of treatment but will be back to perfect after a clean.

just my tuppence worth

[Emeye]

You need the 18" Monzas. You will regret it big style if you don't get a car with them on and it will cost you 1K+ to upgrade later. An 18k new import ( as long as it's UK spec ) makes more sense than a 2 year old UK car . It will have an extra years warranty over the UK car and if you keep it over 3 years will be pretty much worth the same as a similar aged UK car when you come to sell it.

Don't you get a 3 year warranty with a new uk car and 2 years with an Import?

My thinking was the 1 year old UK gti and the new import would have the same warranty.

I'm struggling to find a decent private car for sensible money.

Cheers.