Re: PH Blog: Golf GTD eight years apart
Discussion
pSyCoSiS said:
You said that all so perfectly!
330d / 530d (if you need the extra space) is the way forward. One of the best powerplants ever made.
Plus, you get so many common issues with those VAGS..
On the MK4 Golfs for example:
Faulty front & rear wiper motors / weak gearboxes / dodgy window regulators / clutches / dual mass flywheels, etc.
I know this from experience, as my sister had one, as did a good friend of mine. None achieved brilliant fuel economy either...
My last Mk4 was in the family for over 7 years, in which time bar usual maintenance stuff it needed an airflow meter, front wishbones, window clips on the front passenger window regulator (an improved design that cost 15 quid and was easy to fit yourself), and one front spring.330d / 530d (if you need the extra space) is the way forward. One of the best powerplants ever made.
Plus, you get so many common issues with those VAGS..
On the MK4 Golfs for example:
Faulty front & rear wiper motors / weak gearboxes / dodgy window regulators / clutches / dual mass flywheels, etc.
I know this from experience, as my sister had one, as did a good friend of mine. None achieved brilliant fuel economy either...
Other than that it was exemplary and did a genuine, (as in worked out by brimming it rather than trusting the fool computer) 67mpg the last long trip I did in it.
It now lives with a friend who has had no problems with it to date other than he had to replace the battery during the recent cold snap, but then 11 years service from one of those is not exactly poor.
Another friend recently broke up his 2002 Mk4 130 because at 347,000 miles, (and still on the original engine and turbo), it was worth more in bits than to sell on as a whole, regardless of the fact it drove perfectly.
I've just googled '530D problems' and E39 wise there are many including a weak cooling system, swirl flaps which can come away of their own freewill and enter the engine to do untold damage, headlight adjusters that fail and... window regulators, and it is not unheard of for there to be issues with the turbo and injectors, either.
(We won't mention the nikasil / VANOS issues the petrol E39s can suffer from.)
So in short, all cars have their known problems - the Mk4 Golf is no worse than anything else not least the 530D, but hey, it's not fashionable to bash the latter like it is the former. ;-)
Edited by SteveC123 on Thursday 15th March 12:35
Edited by SteveC123 on Thursday 15th March 12:35
There is a definate fashion to be a VAG basher on here!
I am no VW fan boy, but look at the GTD objectively and there isn't much better if you want something that balances understated / discreet quality, with a bit of poke and decent fuel economy. Its not "fast" by any means, however its plenty swift enough for day to day use and has a feeling of quality that matches its high(ish) price new.
As for economy claims, VW suggest it should be getting 43mpg urban and 55mpg combined and they are fairly accurate. I am sure if you drive it like you stole it you could get it down to low thirties, but nothing ( Bavarian or otherwise ) is going to get close to the claimed figures if you do that!
Since its easy to say whatever you feel like on t'internet have added some evidence below, first pic is the overall avg i achieve - its almost entirely urban, with lots of stop / start in traffic. The second was todays avg, a mix of about 150 miles, City, A / B road and motorway. This was achieved with little, or no effort on my part. Have roofbars and bike rack permanently on the top and use cruise control whenever possible. If i did away with the bars and cruise control another 10% should be fairly easy to obtain.
I am no VW fan boy, but look at the GTD objectively and there isn't much better if you want something that balances understated / discreet quality, with a bit of poke and decent fuel economy. Its not "fast" by any means, however its plenty swift enough for day to day use and has a feeling of quality that matches its high(ish) price new.
As for economy claims, VW suggest it should be getting 43mpg urban and 55mpg combined and they are fairly accurate. I am sure if you drive it like you stole it you could get it down to low thirties, but nothing ( Bavarian or otherwise ) is going to get close to the claimed figures if you do that!
Since its easy to say whatever you feel like on t'internet have added some evidence below, first pic is the overall avg i achieve - its almost entirely urban, with lots of stop / start in traffic. The second was todays avg, a mix of about 150 miles, City, A / B road and motorway. This was achieved with little, or no effort on my part. Have roofbars and bike rack permanently on the top and use cruise control whenever possible. If i did away with the bars and cruise control another 10% should be fairly easy to obtain.
Raoul Duke said:
There is a definate fashion to be a VAG basher on here!
I am no VW fan boy, but look at the GTD objectively and there isn't much better if you want something that balances understated / discreet quality, with a bit of poke and decent fuel economy. Its not "fast" by any means, however its plenty swift enough for day to day use and has a feeling of quality that matches its high(ish) price new.
As for economy claims, VW suggest it should be getting 43mpg urban and 55mpg combined and they are fairly accurate. I am sure if you drive it like you stole it you could get it down to low thirties, but nothing ( Bavarian or otherwise ) is going to get close to the claimed figures if you do that!
Since its easy to say whatever you feel like on t'internet have added some evidence below, first pic is the overall avg i achieve - its almost entirely urban, with lots of stop / start in traffic. The second was todays avg, a mix of about 150 miles, City, A / B road and motorway. This was achieved with little, or no effort on my part. Have roofbars and bike rack permanently on the top and use cruise control whenever possible. If i did away with the bars and cruise control another 10% should be fairly easy to obtain.
Nice to read a sensible post that reflects my own experience of this car. There's a lot of hate directed at golfs and alot I feel is unjustified. Sure it s not the car most people dream of but is a golf really that worse than the majority of its rivals? Ok so it's not the most exciting car available but as the previous poster said it's understated and more than pokey enough for daily use plus the fuel economy means you don't have to remortgage the house to run it. It would be lovely if we could all afford to own and run TVRs but the reality is we can't and I don't think it's fair to condemn others on choosing something you wouldn't. Some people don't like TVRs for example! Anyway, for what it's worth I like my GT TDI it is discreet, comfy, very well equipped and I enjoy the surge you get on acceleration. It also gets the fat end of 600 miles out of a tank and will average mid to high 50s on the run into work. If you don't like golfs none of this will convince you to change your mind but I like mine and that's all that matters!! I am no VW fan boy, but look at the GTD objectively and there isn't much better if you want something that balances understated / discreet quality, with a bit of poke and decent fuel economy. Its not "fast" by any means, however its plenty swift enough for day to day use and has a feeling of quality that matches its high(ish) price new.
As for economy claims, VW suggest it should be getting 43mpg urban and 55mpg combined and they are fairly accurate. I am sure if you drive it like you stole it you could get it down to low thirties, but nothing ( Bavarian or otherwise ) is going to get close to the claimed figures if you do that!
Since its easy to say whatever you feel like on t'internet have added some evidence below, first pic is the overall avg i achieve - its almost entirely urban, with lots of stop / start in traffic. The second was todays avg, a mix of about 150 miles, City, A / B road and motorway. This was achieved with little, or no effort on my part. Have roofbars and bike rack permanently on the top and use cruise control whenever possible. If i did away with the bars and cruise control another 10% should be fairly easy to obtain.
It seems that a fair few of the comparisons are made with 6-cylinder BMW diesels. Thats hardly fair as the Golf has never been marketed against one of these. Buy new and the beloved 6-cylinder BMW would cost you 000's more, yes its better - no one is going to sensibly argue otherwise - but we should be comparing apples with apples!
However stop to think about the fact that people are drawing these comparisons, and you start to realise that perhaps the Golf punches above its weight.
However stop to think about the fact that people are drawing these comparisons, and you start to realise that perhaps the Golf punches above its weight.
Raoul Duke said:
It seems that a fair few of the comparisons are made with 6-cylinder BMW diesels. Thats hardly fair as the Golf has never been marketed against one of these. Buy new and the beloved 6-cylinder BMW would cost you 000's more, yes its better - no one is going to sensibly argue otherwise - but we should be comparing apples with apples!
However stop to think about the fact that people are drawing these comparisons, and you start to realise that perhaps the Golf punches above its weight.
However stop to think about the fact that people are drawing these comparisons, and you start to realise that perhaps the Golf punches above its weight.
- ding*
Nice cars too - a friend has a 320d (which has just had to have a new turbo), and it's a nice place to sit but I'm not so sure I'd have one given the major failures these can suffer with.
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