Discussion
This thread is all about my Mk5 Golf R32. I'll update it as and when. 
Why did I get an R32?
Odd as it may sound, it all started with a New Year's resolution to check out a health issue I've had for 7 years. After being given the all-clear, I had a new lease of life and decided to live a little.
I've had peformance cars for 15 years, but changed to a company car in 2012. My wife found the company car (Volvo V60 D5 with massive spec) too big, so we bought her an '08 Clio. But, after 18 months, it was clear that having two cars didn't make sense. The Clio did 1,700 miles in that time, had already cost £900 in repairs and its clutch was now dying. So, I decided to:
- Switch the majority of my business miles to rail or hire car;
- End the Volvo lease and sell the Clio;
- Buy one nice mid-size hatchback.
The Golf Mk5 R32 has been on my shortlist when changing cars for the last 5 years. This time, it was an itch that it definitely made sense to scratch. (Although I did also, madly, start looking at 1.4 TSI models with DSG!).
I was also considering a new S3 (I had an 8P S3 Sportback before) or Mk7 Golf GTI, but decided I'd rather not foot that level of depreciation - and set a budget of £15k.
Budget set - what did I buy?
I have a busy job and two small kids, so I didn't have time to find the perfect R32. It made more sense for me to find a solid car, then get some help to get it up to spec!
I found my R32 at a specialist dealer, after looking for a few weeks. It's a September 2008 5-door manual in Steel Grey, with optional leather, armrest and winter packs. It's currently on 45k miles and has 2 previous owners (Volkswagen leasing being the first). It looked good at first glance:
Digging deeper, I was concerned at first to see that the second owner had serviced the car at Kwik Fit, fitted some really rubbish tyres and I wasn't sure the Haldex oil had been done. On the test drive, it also made a drone from the transmission.
What I paid
Working on the principle that dealers prefer to do work to a car than knock money off, I struck a deal to have the following done prior to collection:
- Oil service, MoT, Haldex oil and sort drivetrain drone;
- Full refurb of the wheels at a proper specialist (without diamond lip, because my wife will trash them);
- 4 new Dunlop SportMaxx tyres;
- Paint to the lower NSF bumper;
- 6 months of the RAC's top warranty;
- 1 year's car tax (at £490!!).
That lot cost me £13,027 - plus a bottle of nice wine I gave the salesman for his trouble. I could have got the car for under £12k, but I would then have needed to have done the above anyway.
That still left me a happy £2k under budget...it's the cheapest car I've bought for 9 years. It was also a nice suprise to find that it only cost £80 more than the Clio to insure; £220 for fully comp insurance with 9k miles p/a, including business use!!
I've also bought:
- New OEM aerial, to replace a silly silver aftermarket jobbie;
- VW OEM "R" mats;
- Thule roof rack (new style aero bars);
- Replacement VW bottle opener / drink partition (because I use the drinks holders a lot).
Day 1: first impressions
With all the above done, it was time to collect the R32.
Unbelievably, the Clio's clutch started to die on the journey over, with all sorts of flashing lights coming-up on the dash. I was relieved beyond words when I finally made it to the dealer in one piece (who was simply going to send it to auction anyway).
Jumping into the R32 and driving it the long way home felt good. But before I get to the good bits, there are some downsides apparent:
- It doesn't feel that quick; I've been spoilt by big-turbo cars;
- 285 litres of boot space is going to be a squeeze with 2 kids on holidays; :crazy:
- It still needs some attention to get it up to my usual standards (a detail / correction to the bodywork; and some bits like brake discs are marginal).
Then, there are the good bits... and there are lots of them:
- It has discretion where other hot hatches have swagger. It's grey; and it looks, parks and behaves like a high spec Golf for most of the time;
- Nice spec and great cabin quality;
- It makes a beautiful...and I mean *beautiful*...noise. I've had the windows dropped for most slow speed driving.
There's a certain further quality to the R32 that I'm finding it hard to put into words at this early stage of ownership. Some of my silly word associations that come to mind include: "old money"; "blue cheese"; and "vintage".
This feels like a connoisseur's car - and represents probably my last chance to own a discreet, non-turbo, large-engined hatchback.
Day 2-5: more work
On day 2, I took it to System Clenz in Weston with the instruction to "do what you can to improve it". I've used other detailers before, but I now use Matt despite being 20 miles away because he has an indoor unit (most local detailers are mobile and I don't have off-street parking) and his results have been very good on my other cars.
Looking good to start with:
The car looked clean at this stage, but as I said to Matt, grey is a very forgiving colour and I know he's been working hard to correct some defects.
Some 50/50 shots of his work:
I'm picking up the car later today, so I'll try to get some pics of the finished product.
What's next?
I'm saving thousands per year over running some of the new cars I've had, which should mean that I have some spare cash to keep on top of my R32's needs.
Top of my list:
- Put my private plate on;
- Possible new brake discs and pads all round;
- Investigate whether some essentials need to be done: check spark plugs, air filter etc.
Next order of priority / possible upgrades:
- OEM upgrades: parking sensors, cruise control;
- H&R springs or similar: I'll wait and see on these;
- Possibly a nice head unit / speakers / navigation (I've had these in other cars recently, but they're not a priority);
- Exhaust / air filter: not sure if I need these because the standard noise is already so good.
I'll keep the thread updated as things unfold...
Why did I get an R32?
Odd as it may sound, it all started with a New Year's resolution to check out a health issue I've had for 7 years. After being given the all-clear, I had a new lease of life and decided to live a little.
I've had peformance cars for 15 years, but changed to a company car in 2012. My wife found the company car (Volvo V60 D5 with massive spec) too big, so we bought her an '08 Clio. But, after 18 months, it was clear that having two cars didn't make sense. The Clio did 1,700 miles in that time, had already cost £900 in repairs and its clutch was now dying. So, I decided to:
- Switch the majority of my business miles to rail or hire car;
- End the Volvo lease and sell the Clio;
- Buy one nice mid-size hatchback.
The Golf Mk5 R32 has been on my shortlist when changing cars for the last 5 years. This time, it was an itch that it definitely made sense to scratch. (Although I did also, madly, start looking at 1.4 TSI models with DSG!).
I was also considering a new S3 (I had an 8P S3 Sportback before) or Mk7 Golf GTI, but decided I'd rather not foot that level of depreciation - and set a budget of £15k.
Budget set - what did I buy?
I have a busy job and two small kids, so I didn't have time to find the perfect R32. It made more sense for me to find a solid car, then get some help to get it up to spec!
I found my R32 at a specialist dealer, after looking for a few weeks. It's a September 2008 5-door manual in Steel Grey, with optional leather, armrest and winter packs. It's currently on 45k miles and has 2 previous owners (Volkswagen leasing being the first). It looked good at first glance:
Digging deeper, I was concerned at first to see that the second owner had serviced the car at Kwik Fit, fitted some really rubbish tyres and I wasn't sure the Haldex oil had been done. On the test drive, it also made a drone from the transmission.
What I paid
Working on the principle that dealers prefer to do work to a car than knock money off, I struck a deal to have the following done prior to collection:
- Oil service, MoT, Haldex oil and sort drivetrain drone;
- Full refurb of the wheels at a proper specialist (without diamond lip, because my wife will trash them);
- 4 new Dunlop SportMaxx tyres;
- Paint to the lower NSF bumper;
- 6 months of the RAC's top warranty;
- 1 year's car tax (at £490!!).
That lot cost me £13,027 - plus a bottle of nice wine I gave the salesman for his trouble. I could have got the car for under £12k, but I would then have needed to have done the above anyway.
That still left me a happy £2k under budget...it's the cheapest car I've bought for 9 years. It was also a nice suprise to find that it only cost £80 more than the Clio to insure; £220 for fully comp insurance with 9k miles p/a, including business use!!
I've also bought:
- New OEM aerial, to replace a silly silver aftermarket jobbie;
- VW OEM "R" mats;
- Thule roof rack (new style aero bars);
- Replacement VW bottle opener / drink partition (because I use the drinks holders a lot).
Day 1: first impressions
With all the above done, it was time to collect the R32.
Unbelievably, the Clio's clutch started to die on the journey over, with all sorts of flashing lights coming-up on the dash. I was relieved beyond words when I finally made it to the dealer in one piece (who was simply going to send it to auction anyway).
Jumping into the R32 and driving it the long way home felt good. But before I get to the good bits, there are some downsides apparent:
- It doesn't feel that quick; I've been spoilt by big-turbo cars;
- 285 litres of boot space is going to be a squeeze with 2 kids on holidays; :crazy:
- It still needs some attention to get it up to my usual standards (a detail / correction to the bodywork; and some bits like brake discs are marginal).
Then, there are the good bits... and there are lots of them:
- It has discretion where other hot hatches have swagger. It's grey; and it looks, parks and behaves like a high spec Golf for most of the time;
- Nice spec and great cabin quality;
- It makes a beautiful...and I mean *beautiful*...noise. I've had the windows dropped for most slow speed driving.
There's a certain further quality to the R32 that I'm finding it hard to put into words at this early stage of ownership. Some of my silly word associations that come to mind include: "old money"; "blue cheese"; and "vintage".
This feels like a connoisseur's car - and represents probably my last chance to own a discreet, non-turbo, large-engined hatchback.
Day 2-5: more work
On day 2, I took it to System Clenz in Weston with the instruction to "do what you can to improve it". I've used other detailers before, but I now use Matt despite being 20 miles away because he has an indoor unit (most local detailers are mobile and I don't have off-street parking) and his results have been very good on my other cars.
Looking good to start with:
The car looked clean at this stage, but as I said to Matt, grey is a very forgiving colour and I know he's been working hard to correct some defects.
Some 50/50 shots of his work:
I'm picking up the car later today, so I'll try to get some pics of the finished product.
What's next?
I'm saving thousands per year over running some of the new cars I've had, which should mean that I have some spare cash to keep on top of my R32's needs.
Top of my list:
- Put my private plate on;
- Possible new brake discs and pads all round;
- Investigate whether some essentials need to be done: check spark plugs, air filter etc.
Next order of priority / possible upgrades:
- OEM upgrades: parking sensors, cruise control;
- H&R springs or similar: I'll wait and see on these;
- Possibly a nice head unit / speakers / navigation (I've had these in other cars recently, but they're not a priority);
- Exhaust / air filter: not sure if I need these because the standard noise is already so good.
I'll keep the thread updated as things unfold...
Edited by Basil Hume on Friday 28th February 11:32
I've got one in grey with a non resonated milltek, I love the fact that it looks just like a normal bland golf/passat until I press the loud pedal :-)
I too bought mine with a few issues for about £1500 less than what it would otherwise been worth so had everything sorted and it's been faultless since. Mine is an 06 and was registered less than a week before the RFL went up!
Can't think what I'll eventually replace it with, probably a C63 as there's not many cars that sound as good as the golf.
Was the drone coming from the gearbox? That would worry me if so
I too bought mine with a few issues for about £1500 less than what it would otherwise been worth so had everything sorted and it's been faultless since. Mine is an 06 and was registered less than a week before the RFL went up!
Can't think what I'll eventually replace it with, probably a C63 as there's not many cars that sound as good as the golf.
Was the drone coming from the gearbox? That would worry me if so
Edited by folos on Friday 28th February 12:31
Mine was probably the best allrounder ive had. Hopefully the M135i will match it, but be a bit more fun.
I retrofitted cruise & the Recaros, but it already had literally every other option (bar sunroof), so parking sensors, folding mirrors, satnav, cd changed in armrest, etc etc etc. Only sold it as the steering rack needed doing, & 100k miles + and DSG worried me ...
Can thoroughly recommend a Whiteline Anti-lift kit, AP coilovers & a Haldex controller!!
I retrofitted cruise & the Recaros, but it already had literally every other option (bar sunroof), so parking sensors, folding mirrors, satnav, cd changed in armrest, etc etc etc. Only sold it as the steering rack needed doing, & 100k miles + and DSG worried me ...
Can thoroughly recommend a Whiteline Anti-lift kit, AP coilovers & a Haldex controller!!
Understated is just what I want - perfect in my book. 
The gearbox drone has been "sorted" by way of some mystery work to the gearbox. Quite what it was remains unclear to me and I'll be chasing this and other details up to ensure I've got a full picture. Thankfully, I do have a 6-month warranty that should cover any early surprises...
The gearbox drone has been "sorted" by way of some mystery work to the gearbox. Quite what it was remains unclear to me and I'll be chasing this and other details up to ensure I've got a full picture. Thankfully, I do have a 6-month warranty that should cover any early surprises...
Dave Hedgehog said:
i loved mine to death, kept it for 5 years and 50k miles and it was still making me smile on the last day i drove it
brilliant engine, low down grunt and noise, really shows up how soulless the VAG 4 pots are
not so good mpg and RFL ..
so easy to go sideways in every where
Easy to go sideways?!brilliant engine, low down grunt and noise, really shows up how soulless the VAG 4 pots are
not so good mpg and RFL ..
so easy to go sideways in every where
Looks very nice! Think I'll have to invest money into my paintwork when funds allow in a few months as makes such a difference. Often wonder whether I should have gone R32 instead of 130i, think it's something i;ll have to try in a few years time as that R32 sound is gorgeous even compared to the N52 straight 6.
Dave Hedgehog said:
i loved mine to death, kept it for 5 years and 50k miles and it was still making me smile on the last day i drove it
brilliant engine, low down grunt and noise, really shows up how soulless the VAG 4 pots are
not so good mpg and RFL ..
so easy to go sideways in every where
I'm really struggling for something to replace mine with. I'm after something new, purely to try something new, but nothing compares for the price! It's going to have to take something really special to replace it sub £19K.brilliant engine, low down grunt and noise, really shows up how soulless the VAG 4 pots are
not so good mpg and RFL ..
so easy to go sideways in every where
Mine is also 5dr DSG in steel grey. Enjoy!
First weekend
The kids love the car and especially the noise... Not sure my wife does, but at least it's subtle and easy to drive! I told her "it's not a GTI", which of course is absolutely true.
I've added a few more things to the "to do" list, following a proper read-through of the history and driving it around:
- Definitely needs brake discs and pads;
- Can't see whether brake fluid or spark plugs have ever been done;
- Handbrake is stiff.
I've also ordered:
- Steel Grey touch-up, for odd marks;
- Jazz Blue touch-up, for where brake caliper paint is worn.
I also fitted the Thule "Wing" roof bars. They're wider than on my Volvo V60, which is good because I might be able to get a second bike on them in addition to the roof box.
The kids love the car and especially the noise... Not sure my wife does, but at least it's subtle and easy to drive! I told her "it's not a GTI", which of course is absolutely true.
I've added a few more things to the "to do" list, following a proper read-through of the history and driving it around:
- Definitely needs brake discs and pads;
- Can't see whether brake fluid or spark plugs have ever been done;
- Handbrake is stiff.
I've also ordered:
- Steel Grey touch-up, for odd marks;
- Jazz Blue touch-up, for where brake caliper paint is worn.
I also fitted the Thule "Wing" roof bars. They're wider than on my Volvo V60, which is good because I might be able to get a second bike on them in addition to the roof box.
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