My MKV Golf GTI

[Madness60]

Looks a good one.

So many rubbish ones out there...

Any rust on the top of the wheel arches?

Does the air con work, as in blow cold dry air, many of them have compressor problems. Mine did but now its lovely.

[scrambler95]

Youve got a bargain their no way does it look the mileage its done, always liked the mk5 gti

[MrBarry123]

Provided it doesn't kill itself in the next couple of months, that's a hell of a lot of car for the money - great job OP.

[va1o]

Yeah looks a top buy for the money. I bought one around this time 3 years ago but sadly only kept for a few months as a new job meant I had to swap for a diesel. Still the best all round car I've ever owned, really not sure what I can buy next to get as much enjoyment from.

[p4cks]

Good news and bad news.

Good news - managed to get a brand new PCV valve for £25 (about half the normal price) so will fit that this weekend if it doesn't snow.

Bad news - Trying to remove the transponder chip from the only key to replace it into a new key fob and stupidly managed to break it, deeming the car immobile. Got a mobile locksmith out and he programmed a new transponder for £80.

[xjay1337]

Good price that. So many people pay like £300

[p4cks]

xjay1337 said:

Good price that. So many people pay like £300

He said he could supply, cut and programme a new key fob for £100.

The £80 in this instance was just for the transponder inside the key... The blade, housing and circuit board were the original ones.

[Grant20V]

Lovely bit of car for that money.

Definitely look at the cam follower as mentioned and pick up pipe.

[p4cks]

So then I fitted my PCV valve and one of the hoses disintegrated so I've had to order a new one. Quick fix involved duct tape wrapped tight around it which seems to have done the trick until the new one arrives.

Damn it!

[LankyLegoHead]

I keep saying this, but my MK5 GTI was probably the best car I've ever owned.

No doubt even at that mileage the engine is as sweet as a nut. Enjoy it sir!

[IanCress]

This car looks great, especially the interior. It literally looks like its done half the mileage.

I'm looking for a cheapish runaround with a budget of up to £3.5k. Keep noticing the occasional GTi popping up in my searches but always wrote them off as being thrashed. After seeing this post I might look a bit more closely. Same goes for the Leon FR.

Edited by IanCress on Thursday 26th January 21:31

[HJMS123]

IanCress said:

This car looks great, especially the interior. It literally looks like its done half the mileage.

I'm looking for a cheapish runaround with a budget of up to £3.5k. Keep noticing the occasional GTi popping up in my searches but always wrote them off as being thrashed. After seeing this post I might look a bit more closely. Same goes for the Leon FR.

Edited by IanCress on Thursday 26th January 21:31

Most around this price are lemons tbf but OP has done very well.

The FRs are generally a couple of grand cheaper than the GTI so you should get a few decent ones within budget

[p4cks]

Was hoping that some bits would arrive by this weekend so I can do some work on it, namely a new charcoal canister breather hose to try and combat the inconsistently illuminated EML showing a 'P0441 EVAP Emission Control Sys: Incorrect Flow' but alas it didn't turn up.

So I gave it a polish.

For those interested these were the ingredients I used:
1 x Eastern European hand wash
Poorboys Black hole polish
Autoglym HD wax
Meguiars Endurance tyre gel




According to my Excel spreadsheet it stands me at £3,036.66 which I feel is bloody good VFM. As I've said I'm not planning to spend any unnecessary money on it but having said that if it needs something fixed it'll be fixed. Doing a polish is a great opportunity to get acquainted with the paintwork and it's got a few blemishes which is as expected for the mileage. There's even bare metal on the bootlid and surprisingly it's not rusted whatsoever, the paint VW applied is superb and very hard wearing.

Jobs planned:
Fit that bloody breather hose
Fit that hose from the PCV valve
Fit a new cam follower (preventative action)
Fit a new diverter valve (preventative action)
Following the viewing of a few YouTube videos - have a crack at refurbishing the wheels

[Alfa Pete]

That looks a really nice example. I've been looking at similar cars on autotrader and most at that price are tatty or badly modified.

I think the mk5 is still the nicest looking GTI. Mk6 and mk7 nice but frumpier.I'd like to get a good one to keep my mk7 GTD company.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

I'm on the lookout for something a bit roomier than our Mini for the missus to use at the minute and I keep coming back to a mk5 GTI. DSG is a must for us and theres a fair few around between 3 and 5 grand which on the face of it all look very similar in terms of miles. I need to go and take a look at a few armed with a buyers guide but overall they seem pretty solid. Definitely going to budget for doing all those little jobs already mentioned.

[p4cks]

Yep they're great value for money, and it's good to budget for those necessary preventive jobs that have been mentioned (PCV valve, diverter valve, oil pick up thingamajig, cam follower) as they're all relatively cheap fixes.

I've done the PCV valve and I'm planning on doing the others soon too.

[kayzee]

Nice one I test drove one @ £3,000 back in 2015 mind you it did have 185k miles! Was a really nice drive, but I was after a proper, proper bargain and couldn't get the guy down to the right price so left it. Will definitely try again though as I feel it's an itch I've got to scratch!

[IanCress]

One has just appeared on Autotrader for £2800. 190k miles though! I'm not that brave.

[turboflutter]

Cracking car! Been having a glance at them myself, I quite fancy a DSG equipped car for a bit of a change but don't know if I'm brave enough for that..

We've got the 2.0tfsi in our B7 A4, covered nearly 30k in the last 18 months and its been great. Decent power and torque throughout, very impressive on fuel for what it is, a bit rattly at idle as they are but really pulls well and smoothly through the revs. Upped oil to 5w40 oem spec quantum platinum on 8-10k changes and that seemed to manage the consumption a lot better, PCV replacement on the list next.

I know if I got one I'd end up modifying it and it'd soon become a rather costly venture, defeating the whole concept of the bargain factor and my requirement of needing something more sensible/practical than I have now, unfortunately.

[bstw]

What are the symptoms of a failing PCV and did you notice any difference after it was replaced?