Fabia VRS (MK1) to Golf MKV GTi
Fabia VRS (MK1) to Golf MKV GTi
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Discussion

bonesX

Original Poster:

902 posts

210 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
After 6 months of VRS ownership woes I am needing a change, and was considering a MK5 Golf petrol GTi, either a std, or ED30

I'm hoping the switch will prove less of a headache, as 'there's less to go wrong with a petrol'. Is this fair to say of the Golf?

Triumph Man

9,615 posts

198 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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Out of all of them, I would go for the Golf. An STD as an ownership prospect is not good, or are you saying a Golf is comparable to having an STD?

Motorrad

6,811 posts

217 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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MK5 GTi needs to be run on 98 Ron to achieve expected power/economy. Factor that in. Also the A/C seems to fail on a regular basis. Let's not talk about DSG and possible bork/extra service costs.

Chicane-UK

3,861 posts

215 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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Depending on your budget, you might want to consider a MK2 Octavia VRS (unless you're dead set on not owning ANY kind of Skoda any more) - when I was looking to buy earlier this year, for 7k I could only find REALLY leggy / crappy examples of the Golf GTI but got a pretty decent Octavia VRS instead.

bonesX

Original Poster:

902 posts

210 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
How will the Golf be more expensive to run? Are you talking mpg only? If so that's OK as my commute is short (another reason to go petrol)

Yeah, the Octavia is a big car which I'm not a fan of

Seems my vRS has a combination of being slightly unlucky, and suffering all the normal VAG woes all at once (wont bore you with the list, but it has been big money)

Bitzer

4,552 posts

198 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
I've run a MK5 GTI for the past 15 months and 20k miles. Long term average of 35 mpg, helped by a 58 mile commute each way. In this time I've had to replace the rear drop links and front suspension bushes, along the air con compressor - which is very common according to the Internet.

Mine is now on 85k, but has worn its miles well, no rattles or any real wear on the seats. As said above, find a good independent to avoid the VW main dealer network.

I personally find no difference in using 98 RON over 95.

If you can find a good ED30 then I'd get one of those as the running costs are almost identical for an extra 30 bhp. Plus they remap to 300 BHP if you wish.

We also had a 2.0T A4 and had no issues in 30k and nearly 3 years.

Edited by Bitzer on Wednesday 12th December 18:37

Mafioso

2,411 posts

244 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
bonesX said:
Seems my vRS has a combination of being slightly unlucky, and suffering all the normal VAG woes all at once (wont bore you with the list, but it has been big money)
As an owner I'd appreciate it if you did please as mine's not put a foot wrong in 3 years and 20,000 miles and, more recently, a remap *touch wood*.

Regarding the big money, if you've already spent it getting it back in good form, why then get rid?

bonesX

Original Poster:

902 posts

210 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
Console bushings, brake servo vacuum pipe split, turbo (twice, first during 1st yr of life, 2nd 2 months into my ownership), incorrect oil fitted following turbo change, turbo flexi failure (limp home), EGR valve, turbo air pipe popping off after timing belt change (limp home), arb bushings, rear door seals, burst front tyre in pothole last week, now the cold weather's here it wont get up to temperature... DMF will need changing soon I guess.

Car's a 06 and has now covered 45K miles

bonesX

Original Poster:

902 posts

210 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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VolvoT5

4,155 posts

204 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
I've had two SEATS with the VAG 1.9tdi engine... one was great the other has just been problem after problem like the OP describes.

So many of the VAG cars of that age have that engine, so I reckon there must be a fair few 'friday afternoon / monday morning' cars floating about.

I too will be going back to petrol for my next car......

Deerfoot

5,250 posts

214 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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bonesX said:
Console bushings, brake servo vacuum pipe split, turbo (twice, first during 1st yr of life, 2nd 2 months into my ownership), incorrect oil fitted following turbo change, turbo flexi failure (limp home), EGR valve, turbo air pipe popping off after timing belt change (limp home), arb bushings, rear door seals, burst front tyre in pothole last week, now the cold weather's here it wont get up to temperature... DMF will need changing soon I guess.

Car's a 06 and has now covered 45K miles
Interesting. I have a Polo GT 130 which is essentially the twin of the Fabia VRS.

Mine is an 05 with 80,000 miles on it. I bought it at 41,000 miles and have owned it for around 30 months.

Apart from console bushes and a clogged up EGR valve (which only gave trouble a few months after my commute reduced from 50 miles each way to 10) it`s been pretty good.

I too am looking at swapping it shortly but still can`t for the life of me decide what to replace it with. I`ve looked at various Golf GTIs but they`re all quite baggy for the budget I have in mind (around 5,500-6,000).

A few of the faults you`ve listed are down to bad luck (pothole strike) or poor maintenance (incorrect oil added etc).

bga

8,134 posts

281 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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Motorrad said:
MK5 GTi needs to be run on 98 Ron to achieve expected power/economy. Factor that in. Also the A/C seems to fail on a regular basis. Let's not talk about DSG and possible bork/extra service costs.
When I use 98 in mine I get a a few extra mpg and no discernible increase in power.

Mafioso

2,411 posts

244 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
bonesX said:
DMF will need changing soon I guess.

Car's a 06 and has now covered 45K miles
Unfortunate, but, as has been said, you can't blame some of that on the car. The Fabia VRS doesn't have a DMF btw. smile

bonesX

Original Poster:

902 posts

210 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
quotequote all
Some of it is just bad luck (wrong oil was the dealer btw), but there seems so many compared to other cars. I'm wanting to know if the GTi is better