Early Mk5 Golf GTI??

[LoftyUK]

Anyone know much about these? I always wanted one but never quite bought one. Now they're only about £2k in some cases. How problematic can I expect one to be though?? Thanks

[steve-5snwi]

2k is the bottle of the pile, i would be checking the clutch and listening out for knocking from the engine. Then the divertor valve and fuel cam follower should be classed as consumables, well the revised DV should be ok. Then check for regular servicing and cambelt change.

[johnnyBv8]

I had one as a daily runaround 3 or 4 years ago, and have just bought another one for the same purpose (a late model 2008/58). They're a great car - nice to drive, fairly quick and well put together. I think the leather interior makes them feel/look a lot better, but plenty of people like the tartan trim. Plenty of buyer's guides online on what to look out for - including cambelt/water pump and rusting wings.

They seem to handle 150k+ miles well, but personally I wouldn't touch one at £2k - it's right at the bottom of prices and will be leggy and ropey. You need to spend £3.5k to get a good one really.

[MildRelish]

Been after a later one of these myself (08) but been put off by the so called tapping/noisiness from the FSI engine. Definitely don't want to have something sounding like my old Corsa.

[johnnyBv8]

MildRelish said:

Been after a later one of these myself (08) but been put off by the so called tapping/noisiness from the FSI engine. Definitely don't want to have something sounding like my old Corsa.

You can hear this aspect of the direct injection engine slightly if you're standing looking over the engine, but beyond this it's not noticeable (or shouldn't be). For whatever reason the tickover on my 2008 car is a fair bit quieter than my old 2005 (the 2005 one was actually lower miles at the time), but neither was noticeable particularly.

[MildRelish]

johnnyBv8 said:

You can hear this aspect of the direct injection engine slightly if you're standing looking over the engine, but beyond this it's not noticeable (or shouldn't be). For whatever reason the tickover on my 2008 car is a fair bit quieter than my old 2005 (the 2005 one was actually lower miles at the time), but neither was noticeable particularly.

That's good to hear. I haven't actually test drove one yet. Waiting for one to come up local, 08 plate, 3 door, manual, alcantara, < 60K miles, 1 prev. keeper, well serviced, but it's proving harder than I thought.

Edited by MildRelish on Wednesday 5th July 16:15

[johnnyBv8]

They only come as fabric or leather interiors. Yeah will be hard to find many sub 60k miles, but they're pretty robust cars so if you relaxed this slightly (to sub 70k?) you might have a fair bit more choice. Mine is 1 previous owner, FVWSH and on 105k miles.

[MildRelish]

johnnyBv8 said:

They only come as fabric or leather interiors. Yeah will be hard to find many sub 60k miles, but they're pretty robust cars so if you relaxed this slightly (to sub 70k?) you might have a fair bit more choice. Mine is 1 previous owner, FVWSH and on 105k miles.

Yeah say if it's got main dealer stamps every year then I don't mind higher mileage. Just think it'd be easier to sell in a year or so with low mileage.

[StoatInACoat]

All hot hatches around that kind of age at the bottom end of the market are going to be a massive risk. Cars that by their nature are thrashed and expensive to fix vs cost to buy and there's a lot of really knackered basket cases around that are going to cost more than the purchase price to put right. An Octavia VRS is a really good shout as probably less likely to have been caned and are incredibly cheap for a practical, quickish car. Early Civic Type R's (EP3?) and Clio 172/182's are around that sort of money and are stronger and simpler than the last generation of snot hatches.

Don't for Gods sake buy a Megane 225 for 2k unless you enjoy spending money and silently weeping into your Tesco Value beans on toast.

[BobToc]

I've a black three door, leather interior, unmodded, two owners, 30k miles \o/

Has awful white worm on the wheels though.

[StoatInACoat]

It's a difficult budget I think. I'd probably look at the following:

Civic Type R
Clio 172/182
306 GTI6 (I always suggest this but you'll never find a good one now)
208 GTI 180
Leon Cupra
Focus ST170
Fiesta ST150
Alfa 147
Accord Type R but good luck finding one that isn't a pile of rust. They're still cheap and brilliant but I gave up looking for a good one some time ago.

Or just buy this and ignore the mileage. What a bargain:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[Jimmy Recard]

About 18 months ago I had a £3800 budget for a mk5 Golf GTI and didn't find a good one at that price (I went to see a few).

I ended up buying an Astra SRi Turbo 200 for a few grand less as a result. I really like the mk5 GTI, but they're just more money than I think they're really worth compared to the competition.