High mileage Golf GTD or...?

[Timoo]

Hi all,

Currently driving a 2001 VW Golf 1.6 with 170k miles on the clock and have decided it's time for a new car.

Would love to stick to a golf and only heard great things about them, seem like very robust cars that are reliable however I am also open to other options. My budget is around £10-11k at the top end therefore have been looking at cars from 2014 onwards, ideally don't want anything older then that.

The main two cars I have been looking at is a Golf GTD and a 2.0 TDI GT however I am leaning towards the GTD purely because it has more of a 'wow' factor. However my dilemma is with my budget only really being able to afford a high mileage 2014 GTD with 80k+ miles on the clock (this would be from an approved VW dealer with Das WeltAuto used car warranty).

For the same price, there are also 2015 2.0 TDI GT's with much lower milage at around ~35k and would be a year or even two newer. Would I be better off going for this or are there generally not many problems that come with buying a higher mileage diesel?

Thanks

[Timoo]

Cylon2007 said:

80k miles is not really high especially for diesel however if you can get (effectively) the same car but 2 years newer with half the miles why would you not? OK so it's not as 'showy' as the GTD but it does the same job.

Thanks for your reply.

This is exactly what I've been thinking as well as the TDI seems to perform very similarly in terms of 0-60 etc with only 34 less bhp, I could also possibly look at a stage 1 remap taking the TDI to close to 200 as well.

However despite this I still keep swaying back to the GTD for some reason so thought I would get some opinions from here to try and convince me otherwise.

[Timoo]

Thanks for all the replies especially ZX10 suggestions which I will definitely be taking a good look at.

No matter which car I buy I will definitely be looking thoroughly through both the mot and service history and making sure that the car is bought without any issues and I'm aware of any work that may need to be carried out in the immediate future.

The main concern is the likelihood of issues arising on a car with 90k+ milage, I know it can vary given the situation but surely on a car with 90k milage vs a car with 30k, then the former is more likely to have unexpected issues arise with it?

I should also mention I wouldn't be getting any DSG versions.

[Timoo]

Mr Tidy said:

On the same theme, how about a diesel Skoda Octavia VRs that is also fundamentally the same car?

Or maybe a BMW 125d - it's a bit more powerful than the VAG diesel options.

Personally not so keen on the Leon, however the Ocatavia vRS I definitely am. The only doubt I’d have again with getting one is that my budget would only allow for a higher mileage one again in the region of 70k+ miles.

I should also mention I wouldn’t be opposed to petrol options if anyone has any suggestions, particularly been looking at a 320i.

[Timoo]

Mr Tidy said:

If petrol is an option I'd avoid a 320i!

My BMW Indy recommended straight 6 petrols, so I've stuck with them for the last 5 years or so.

I wouldn't get too hung up on mileage - I had a 325i that had done 139K when I sold it but it still drove as new.

But I needed a bit more grunt so I got a 330i that had done 108K.

Whats the reasoning for avoiding the 320i? Guessing 320d shares the same opinion?

Unfortunately any 5-6 year old straight 6 models are way out my budget so I can't really look at any of them.

[Timoo]

Mr Tidy said:

The 320i had the N46 engine from 2005 to 2011 and seems prone to cam-chain tensioner issues, as well as stretched chains.

The 320d from 2007 to 2011 used the N47 engine, which also suffers from cam-chain issues. And as BMW fitted them to the back of the engine it's an engine out job if they need attention.

But to be fair they sold loads of them, and you only read about the ones that have problems so you could be OK.

Personally I just felt more comfortable going a bit older so a 6 cylinder one was in budget - plus it sounds better!

Thanks, what about the post 2012 320's as it would be a 2014/15 that I would be looking at if I were to get a 320i/d?