Mk5 Golf GTi

[S798]

I'm not sure how I missed these in my car hunt, but I've just come across them.

Seems like £6-7k will get me a 2005-2007 Mk5 GTi with sensible (60-70k) miles.

Quite an appealing package; 200bhp, enough performance for every day driving, 30mpg (?) average fuel consumption, decent specification and a good looking but ultimately invisible exterior.

What is there to know about buying one of these? I'm quite tempted by the DSG box as the auto would be great for the traffic clogged part of my commute, but manual would allow me to have some fun in the car when I wanted. Slightly concerned about the gearbox reliability, although I have read it is quite bombproof provided the oil changes have been done. It does seem like the DSG equipped cars are a little cheaper compared to the manuals.

Anything else important to know?

[Bungleaio]

Lad at work had one of these and I was very impressed by it.

I don't know anything specific about buying them but I should imagine if the DSG box goes wrong it won't be cheap to fix.

[anthonysjb]

a £500 remap gets you 250bhp, it's a truly great car

[Feraz]

1-2k more and you could get yourself an R32

[anthonysjb]

Feraz said:

1-2k more and you could get yourself an R32

Arguably worse than a remapped GTI, heavier, less economical and the same BHP.

[CharlesAL]

Tax on the R32 can get quite ridiculous.

Had a GTI mk5 for about a month now, seriously good. I knew it would be thirsty but it is a bit worse than I expected. 79000 mile 56 plate for £7k.

Edited by CharlesAL on Wednesday 1st January 19:20

Edited by CharlesAL on Wednesday 1st January 19:21

[folos]

anthonysjb said:

Arguably worse than a remapped GTI, heavier, less economical and the same BHP.

Vastly better engine though. And noise.

[S798]

Thanks chaps. I've found plenty for between £6-7k, both 3 and 5 door, manual and DSG.

Do all the DSG cars come with flappy paddles? Some adverts specify that they do, but other cars don't appear to have them. Was it an option?

What are the running/servicing/maintenance costs like? Autotrader suggests 35mpg average, but I suspect it'd be nearer 30. I do about 80% dual carriageway / 20% town. I would need to find a good independent VW specialist in the south east - any recommendations? I'm in West Sussex.

Next step is to find a local garage and test drive a DSG vs a manual. See which I prefer.

Not really interested in the R32.

[LordHaveMurci]

Owned a 2005 manual about 4 years ago, kept it for 9 months compared to my average of 4 years on most cars.

It is the consummate all rounder, good at most things, great at none & just didn't excite me. If I could have afforded to I would have let the OH have it when I bought my 996 but she would have trashed it anyway!

[va1o]

Great all rounders and on you're budget you should be able find a nice one. GTI specific weak points include coilpacks (fixed FOC under a recall) and the diverter valve. Then it's just the general MK5 issues to look for like ESP failure. The DSG is best but needs a fluid change every 40k.

Also look out for foreign imports as the spec can be a bit funny, e.g. missing aircon. Some of these got registered in 07 even though they we're built in 05 as sat around in storage

It's one of those cars that really isn't beaten by anything else in its category, hence values remain firm

[Willy Nilly]

CharlesAL said:

Tax on the R32 can get quite ridiculous.

Had a GTI mk5 for about a month now, seriously good. I knew it would be thirsty but it is a bit worse than I expected. 79000 mile 56 plate for £7k.

Edited by CharlesAL on Wednesday 1st January 19:20

Edited by CharlesAL on Wednesday 1st January 19:21

it has 200hp and they need feeding, what did you expect? A really good 200hp diesel would need circa 40 litres an hour when it's wide open

[SBN]

Had the manual Gti and I really loved it

Personally steer clear of the dsg as they can be very expensive when they go wrong. Look up clutch pack dsg or mechatronic dsg. Literally can be £xxxx's to fix.

I have a dsg at the moment (with warranty ) and in heavy traffic they can be very jerky as you need to be patient when you let off the brake to let the clutch engage and then apply some throttle. If you get the timing off it will bang forward like when you first started driving it's quite annoying!

Get the manual the gear box is great and then you only have to worry about cool pack failure (cheap fix)

[aspirated]

Get a B7 A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro instead. Same engine and unassuming exterior, but also with full time 4WD.

Here's an auto example;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

[anonymous-user]

aspirated said:

Get a B7 A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro instead. Same engine and unassuming exterior, but also with full time 4WD.

Here's an auto example;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Lol, don't be daft!

[aspirated]

andrewparker said:

aspirated said:

Get a B7 A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro instead. Same engine and unassuming exterior, but also with full time 4WD.

Here's an auto example;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Lol, don't be daft!

Care to elaborate?

[Krikkit]

aspirated said:

Get a B7 A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro instead. Same engine and unassuming exterior, but also with full time 4WD.

Here's an auto example;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Over a second slower to 60mph, much bigger and less practical than the Golf. Plus you pay the economy penalty of carrying 4WD around all the time. No thanks!

[ManOpener]

folos said:

anthonysjb said:

Arguably worse than a remapped GTI, heavier, less economical and the same BHP.

Vastly better engine though. And noise.

Better noise, sure. But for a mediocre increase in straight-line performance and some N/A charm, plus that noise, you end up with a car that's less economic, less reliable, less entertaining to drive and probably slower in the real world whilst being simultaneously more expensive in every conceivable way.

The R32 front end and mutli-spoke wheels look awful, too.

As others have said, the Mk5 GTI is tough to beat as an all-rounder. I've got the same chassis and engine in Seat Leon form and, aside from the fact it enjoyed a bit of a drink (31mpg average so far, though I do like a good back-roads blast at the weekends- that's all super as well as they run a bit rough on standard 95) and some of the minor niggles that people have already mentioned (diverter valve, AC compressor which wasn't mentioned but tend to fail more than they should at a not insubstantial ~£500 cost) I've absolutely loved it.

Not driven a DSG (mine's a manual) but the spec I'd want would include Xenons, heated seats and cruise but not a great deal else. Not a big fan of the 18"s as I found the ride quality in 18" cars much worse than the 17"s and understandably tyres are more expensive too. The VW multimedia nav unit, though it looks decent, is pretty useless (can't take full postcodes, for instance) so I'd probably just get one with the standard single-disc dash-mounted CD/radio and then buy a Parrot Asteroid and fit that- that's what I'm intending to do to mine.

Edited by ManOpener on Wednesday 1st January 20:55

[Maracus]

Krikkit said:

aspirated said:

Get a B7 A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro instead. Same engine and unassuming exterior, but also with full time 4WD.

Here's an auto example;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

Over a second slower to 60mph, much bigger and less practical than the Golf. Plus you pay the economy penalty of carrying 4WD around all the time. No thanks!

I've had both and the B7 A4 2.0T is not in the same league as the MK5, the two don't compare at all. The Golf is a lot more spiritely and handles far better.

For the OP:

Mid 30s is easily achievable on your 80/20 commute. I used to do 120 miles a day and 36/37 was the norm in steady traffic.

Check the aircon works as the compressors are prone to failure.
Cambelt every 75k or 5 years.
Check for suspension rattles as they are prone to needing a refresh at 70/80k.
Some owners report rattley interiors, mine was solid for the 18 months I had it.
18" Monzas are diamond cut and can suffer from white worm if kerbed.
Mine had Xenons, heated seats and 18" wheels, personally I prefer the larger wheels, and Xenons are worth seeking out.

I wish I'd kept it

Edited by Maracus on Wednesday 1st January 20:52

[ratty6464]

We had a 3dr mk5 manual for a couple of years. Great car. I thought it was excellent on fuel considering - on a long run on cruise at a reasonable speed you could get 40mpg.

They go pretty well and are fun to drive. Not excellent but as people say a practicle all rounder.

Leather heated seats are good, personally I'd want an upgraded stereo.

[va1o]

ratty6464 said:

personally I'd want an upgraded stereo.

The newer generation radios from the Golf Mk6 are a very easy retrofit, especially on 08MY cars with the updated canbus gateway. RCD 510 lifts the interior nicely with its large colour touchscreen and can be had for as little as £100 on eBay



E.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unused-RCD510-Car-radio-...