Mk4 Golf GTI Anniversary - buying tips
Discussion
Hi all,
Im looking to buy a Mk4 GTI anniversary. I have a few questions:
1. What are the common problems associated with them?
2. What are the MPG values for both Diesel and Petrol variants (preferrably real world figures and not the offical VW ones).
3. What are the servicing intervals, and work that is required to be done after a set period of time/millage? How much should i expect to pay for a service?
4. Do they come with HID's as standard, and do all of them have the "black" effect headlights that i have seen on some.
5. What tax band are both the petrol and desiel cars in?
Thankyou,
Agar
Im looking to buy a Mk4 GTI anniversary. I have a few questions:
1. What are the common problems associated with them?
2. What are the MPG values for both Diesel and Petrol variants (preferrably real world figures and not the offical VW ones).
3. What are the servicing intervals, and work that is required to be done after a set period of time/millage? How much should i expect to pay for a service?
4. Do they come with HID's as standard, and do all of them have the "black" effect headlights that i have seen on some.
5. What tax band are both the petrol and desiel cars in?
Thankyou,
Agar
AGAR said:
1. What are the common problems associated with them?
MAF sensors, coilpacks (petrol), cooling fans, rear axle bushesFirst 2 are easy DIY jobs, the axle bushes are a pain so budget on around £250 at around 80k miles
Cooling fans fail on all cars with climate control and is caused by the internal resistor burning out. To check, switch the climate to AUTO and look at the fans. Both should run constantly at low spped. If the don't run at all, or if they run fast intetmittently then they faulty. Replacement at VW can be £400 for the pair. There is a DIY fix which many people have carried out for a more permanent solution. See UK-MKIVS.NET for more info.
Both petrol and diesel should have 6 speed gearboxes.
AGAR said:
3. What are the servicing intervals, and work that is required to be done after a set period of time/millage? How much should i expect to pay for a service?
Oil service very 10k and Inspection service every 20k. In addition, brake fluid & coolant every 40 or 2 years. Plugs every 40k. Cambelts are, I think, every 60k.AGAR said:
4. Do they come with HID's as standard, and do all of them have the "black" effect headlights that i have seen on some.
All Anniversarys have black headlights. They're not xenon or HID as standard, although many people fit a HID kit to then.AGAR said:
2. What are the MPG values for both Diesel and Petrol variants (preferrably real world figures and not the offical VW ones).
My old diesel Anniversary did 47mpg+ no matter how i drove. I know the petrols are a lot lower but it obv depends how you drive it as well. As above, check out www.uk-mkivs.net for more info on both cars. AGAR said:
5. What tax band are both the petrol and diesel cars in?
Diesel - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?deriv=2325...Petrol - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/road-tax/?deriv=2325...
Quite a difference!
Wish i'd never sold my old one. Apart from the cooling fans, it was awesome! Check out the site above and i know you'll find a lot of info. Plus you should find examples for sale on ph classifieds.
Gaz
Vee said:
AGAR said:
1. What are the common problems associated with them?
MAF sensors, coilpacks (petrol), cooling fans, rear axle bushesFirst 2 are easy DIY jobs, the axle bushes are a pain so budget on around £250 at around 80k miles
Cooling fans fail on all cars with climate control and is caused by the internal resistor burning out. To check, switch the climate to AUTO and look at the fans. Both should run constantly at low spped. If the don't run at all, or if they run fast intetmittently then they faulty. Replacement at VW can be £400 for the pair. There is a DIY fix which many people have carried out for a more permanent solution. See UK-MKIVS.NET for more info.
Both petrol and diesel should have 6 speed gearboxes.
AGAR said:
3. What are the servicing intervals, and work that is required to be done after a set period of time/millage? How much should i expect to pay for a service?
Oil service very 10k and Inspection service every 20k. In addition, brake fluid & coolant every 40 or 2 years. Plugs every 40k. Cambelts are, I think, every 60k.AGAR said:
4. Do they come with HID's as standard, and do all of them have the "black" effect headlights that i have seen on some.
All Anniversarys have black headlights. They're not xenon or HID as standard, although many people fit a HID kit to then.Are the servicing intervals for the above the petrol AND diesel intervals?
Thanks
No, VW didn't recall the cars due to the cooling fans. You should be able to get them done under warranty, but that's only if the car's got an extended VW warranty as obviously they're way over 3 years old now and out of the standard warranty.
AGAR said:
Oh and also do these cars come with cruise control?
Thanks
No they didn't come with cruise control. It can be retro fitted though. Thanks
Look out for window regulator, they hold the car door window in place and are made of plastic, over time they break and get brittle with the cold weather. An independent wanted £300 to repair one car door. VW sale a repair kit for about £30, the window regulator are made of metal and are from the Audi A3, you will have to take the car door apart, It not a hard job, but it can be scary taken the door apart for the first time.
AGAR - don't forget to ring a main VW dealership, once you have the registration number, to check the service history with them. It's a handy way of verifying mileage and history with the log book.
I learnt (at considerable cost) that a log book with a full VW service history is not necessarrily all that it appears. Mine was filled with 'main' vw dealer stamps from a dealership that had been bought and their stamps had been changed. Mine were stamped with the old stamps (it was 1999 car, bought in 2005, with a log book full of 1997 stamps.....)
So just be careful out there ok?
I learnt (at considerable cost) that a log book with a full VW service history is not necessarrily all that it appears. Mine was filled with 'main' vw dealer stamps from a dealership that had been bought and their stamps had been changed. Mine were stamped with the old stamps (it was 1999 car, bought in 2005, with a log book full of 1997 stamps.....)
So just be careful out there ok?
Allblackdup said:
No, VW didn't recall the cars due to the cooling fans. You should be able to get them done under warranty, but that's only if the car's got an extended VW warranty as obviously they're way over 3 years old now and out of the standard warranty.
Cruise was an option on the Anni, As for the cooling fans - Try this link mate -AGAR said:
Oh and also do these cars come with cruise control?
Thanks
No they didn't come with cruise control. It can be retro fitted though. Thanks
http://www.nime.co.uk/mk4fans.html
This is the best and most permanant fix.
I average 52mpg in my diesel anni and pay £120 year road tax......bargain
AGAR said:
I knew that you could do that for BMW's but not VW's too - handy!
However, how would VW be able to tell over the phone which stamps had been used? Is there a stamp numbering system in place to differentiate between the different types of stamps you mentioned?
Thanks
I wouldn't have known the history was suspicious if I hadn't mentioned the comparatively low mileage to the VW dealership (the car had been vandalised two days after I bought it so was in for some work). He then looked up the history and hey presto all was confirmed that the mileage on the car bore no relation to what VW had on their system. However, how would VW be able to tell over the phone which stamps had been used? Is there a stamp numbering system in place to differentiate between the different types of stamps you mentioned?
Thanks
So I got the log book out and rang the number printed on the address stamped into my logbook. I got through to a VW Dealership (in Finchley actually) but they answered with a different name to that printed on my logbook. They'd been taken over years ago and I was looking at stamps belonging to the old (defunct) dealership.....
If only I'd known that before I bought her! Lesson learnt I guess but I'm still really bitter about the whole thing. Everytime I look at the car it reminds of what a chump I was.
(the police got involved, we know who did it and where they live but there's f.u.c.k all I can do about it.)
Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:
(the police got involved, we know who did it and where they live but there's f.u.c.k all I can do about it.)
Apart from taking matters into your own hands.Some dark clothing, the cover of darkness, a good alibi and a tin of paint stripper should do it.
Edited by GreatGranny on Thursday 19th June 14:06
Went to see a mates GTI Anniversary last Friday and was very impressed. I have noticed a possible extra option that the anniversary could have been bought with - some seem to have uprated headlamps and headlamp washer units, whereas others dont. Can anyone clarify this for me?
Thankyou.
Thankyou.
I've had my Black TDi Anniversary nearly a year now, still think its fantastic! Can regularly see 58-60mpg opn the drive to work if I take it easy and cruising at 80 leptons sees 52 mpg usually. Even when taking it for a more spirited drive it still clears 45mpg normally! Tax is cheap as already stated!
I've been unlucky enough to experience the window and fan faults. Fortunately I spent a while trawling through ukmkivs.net and other sites and found that VW would in general repair the window free of charge on cars that had full VW history and were under six years old, mine broke just before it was going in for a service and new discs and pads all round (not cheap) so whether they did it free as I was spending a bit anyway I'm not sure!
Sorting the fans are the best part of £400 from a main dealer as said before. I only really properly looked into it after I'd had the work done. There is a massive thread all about the fans problem on ukmkivs again along with a number of different solutions, the one already posted seemed the most professional from what I saw - yet to get one myself though!
Cruise control I think you can get for £70 or so (new wash/wipe stalk with cruise control 'control'), not sure how much fitting would be.
Fantastic car all round in my opinion, plenty of acceleration for any overtakes, nice and quiet on the motorway, seats are really comfortable and it looks great!
ETA: I see you currently drive a 1.1 Fiesta (assuming your profile us up to date), I went from a 1.6 Mk6 Escort to the Anni and was blown away by the difference in everything from the engine to the build quality...you certainly won't regret changing!!
I've been unlucky enough to experience the window and fan faults. Fortunately I spent a while trawling through ukmkivs.net and other sites and found that VW would in general repair the window free of charge on cars that had full VW history and were under six years old, mine broke just before it was going in for a service and new discs and pads all round (not cheap) so whether they did it free as I was spending a bit anyway I'm not sure!
Sorting the fans are the best part of £400 from a main dealer as said before. I only really properly looked into it after I'd had the work done. There is a massive thread all about the fans problem on ukmkivs again along with a number of different solutions, the one already posted seemed the most professional from what I saw - yet to get one myself though!
Cruise control I think you can get for £70 or so (new wash/wipe stalk with cruise control 'control'), not sure how much fitting would be.
Fantastic car all round in my opinion, plenty of acceleration for any overtakes, nice and quiet on the motorway, seats are really comfortable and it looks great!
ETA: I see you currently drive a 1.1 Fiesta (assuming your profile us up to date), I went from a 1.6 Mk6 Escort to the Anni and was blown away by the difference in everything from the engine to the build quality...you certainly won't regret changing!!
Edited by Onz on Monday 23 June 22:40
Hi again all,
Put a deposit down on one on Saturday - very very pleased it the condition of it.
A few questions:
What oil is best for the petrol anniversary engines? The seller said something about there being various versions of the engine, i don't know whether he meant the anniversary engines in particular or just all 1.8T variants - anyone know what the different engines are?
Also are the colour coded door mouldings on the gti anniversary the same as a normal mk4 gti?
Thanks again.
Put a deposit down on one on Saturday - very very pleased it the condition of it.
A few questions:
What oil is best for the petrol anniversary engines? The seller said something about there being various versions of the engine, i don't know whether he meant the anniversary engines in particular or just all 1.8T variants - anyone know what the different engines are?
Also are the colour coded door mouldings on the gti anniversary the same as a normal mk4 gti?
Thanks again.
Anniversary engines are all AUQ (180bhp), KO3s turbo.
Other 1.8T engines are AGU, ARZ and AUM (all 150bhp).
The AUM (is drive-by-wire) comes with the KO3s turbo, which allows it to remap to ~220bhp. As far as I'm aware, the only difference between this and the AUQ in the Anni is the map.
The other two aren't drive-by-wire and come with the KO3 turbo, which doesn't remap as high.
Although, the AGU (not sure about the ARZ) is a stronger engine than the AUM and so can be 'developed' further for more bhp than the AUM.
HTH
Other 1.8T engines are AGU, ARZ and AUM (all 150bhp).
The AUM (is drive-by-wire) comes with the KO3s turbo, which allows it to remap to ~220bhp. As far as I'm aware, the only difference between this and the AUQ in the Anni is the map.
The other two aren't drive-by-wire and come with the KO3 turbo, which doesn't remap as high.
Although, the AGU (not sure about the ARZ) is a stronger engine than the AUM and so can be 'developed' further for more bhp than the AUM.
HTH
Edited by Fuzzy Wuzzy on Tuesday 1st July 14:17
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