VW Golf GTi Mk5 Buying Advice - private or dealer

[993kimbo]

Folks,

I'll soon be in the market for a standard 5-door VW Golf Gti Mk5 DSG, coming from a variety of Porsches but heard that this car is superb.

Value and appreciate your opinions which is why I'm posting.

Pricewise, they seem to vary from £5k to 12k depending on mileage and spec.

I wondered what your views were on mileage and price and are there any specific things that should have been done or are likely to cost a lot in the future - ie DSG Service, cam belt etc that I need to look out for.

The Porsches I had always kicked me in the wallet at service time and I can't afford to go there again, hence the change.

Any pointers towards a nice car will be greatly appreciated. Must be DSG, 5-door, standard spec and preferably with 17" wheels.

Many thanks

Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th May 15:32

[bigandclever]

Starter for 10... https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-gui...

[993kimbo]

Thanks very much.

[the-photographer]

Spend 30 mins to 30 hours browsing around

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk

Also, keep an eye on official stock, some dealers will try and off-load their 12 year old part-exs!

http://usedcars.volkswagen.co.uk/en/used-cars/volk... enjoy 12 months peace of mind with the OEM warranty.

Or browsing through, I would pick a car with this level of history

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Edited by the-photographer on Monday 7th May 17:23

[993kimbo]

That's incredibly helpful, thanks very much. I really appreciate the effort spent providing those links.

I had no idea there was even a Mk5 dedicated forum!

Edited by 993kimbo on Monday 7th May 17:41

[JM]

993kimbo said:

- ie DSG Service, cam belt etc that I need to look out for

DSG 'box seervice is every 40,000 miles and costs a bit less than £200 from a VW dealer.

They also do fixed costs for things like timing belt and water pump for about £500.

[993kimbo]

Thank you.

[Belle427]

Cycle the air con on and off a few times and listen for any unusual mechanical noises from the pump.
This fault can be quite expensive to rectify if the pump is on its last legs.

[geeks]

£12K for a MK5?? Christ!

[993kimbo]

Yes I thought that was a lot too!

https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Edited by 993kimbo on Wednesday 9th May 19:26

[the-photographer]

People will try big money for clean ones, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-09-VOLKSWAGEN-GOLF...

[va1o]

I really loved my Mk5 GTI and it's possibly the best all round car I've ever owned, but I think they're getting a little long in the tooth now! If you've got £5-£12k that's comfortably into Mk6 territory, in fact it would even now buy an early Mk7 e.g. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... or https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201... They kept on getting better with the newer versions.

However to answer your question, for an older car I would say buying privately could be better. Much easier this way to tell if the car has been well looked after and get proper evidence of servicing. The DSG 'boxes on all 3 versions need oil changes every 40k which you'll want to ensure has been carried out.

[Trevor555]

Try to find a nice one at a NON Vw dealer.

Chances are they took it in PX at the start of March.

Some dealers will try them on the forecourt for 3 months for a retail sale, then if unsold they'll send them to auction.

So towards the end of May can be a good time to make them an offer, many dealers have a three month stock policy.

I've bought quite a few cars like this, and disposed of a few whilst I was a sales manager for a Renault dealership.

[pinseeker]

Coming from a Porsche? Edition 30 or Pirelli with a remap should bridge the gap nicely sir. Enjoy.

[993kimbo]

Mine was a Cayman 2.7 so I don' think there will be that much difference in performance. Not that I drove it that fast anyway.

Any thoughts on this GTi anyone? All appreciated.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Trevor555]

I'm not sure how durable a DSG would be at that age/mileage.

Anyone?

[kmpowell]

993kimbo said:

Any thoughts on this GTi anyone? All appreciated.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

I would avoid any example that has leather. I had leather in my MK5 R32 and it really was of terrible quality. The pictures of the car you posted above immediately brought back to me how nasty and cheap it felt & looked. If you can also find one with xenons that IMO would be better as they are leagues apart from the standard headlights which were quite frankly terrible.

Edited by kmpowell on Friday 11th May 05:57

[AJB88]

I would look for an Edition 30 personally, why don't you also look at the 240bhp Leon Cupra or Leon Cupra R 265?

[99Chimaera]

I have had two of these car and can honestly say that they are brilliant cars. My first one was a tornado red one with DSG which I adored and it gave me no trouble. The DSG is superb provided it's properly maintained. I currently have a manual Edition 30 which I'm not so fond of. The Edition 30 is quicker than the standard one having a bigger turbo.

[993kimbo]

Thanks,

Re the leather I must admit every picture I've seen of GTi leather interiors look tired and very thin leather, so thanks for that tip.

Re the Edition 30, my son will be on the insurance which is enough already, so we probably couldn't get quoted for that, also the prices seem a lot higher for that model.

Re the Xenons - thanks.

Seems like everything for sale is Up North as well. I'm surprised many dealers expect you to buy the car unseen over the phone and for a charge they will deliver it to you.

I've never bought a car like that.