Another one my son came up with. It's really nice, with the 1.8T and about 65k miles on it. I've always liked these cars, but have also shied away from them because from my research VW's in general have reliability issues. But how bad is it? What goes wrong, and when? What do I need to know about this car, good and bad?
The mkIV GTI isnt a terrible car, has some interior quality issues (center arm rest, soft touch peeling ect) at 65K get that timing belt done, now. I have seen several snap and when they do.... your 800$ in just valves(!!!) away from a monster headache. make sure the oil has been changed regularly... if anything else pops into my head I will re post
Edit: expect to replace the coil packs in the near future, along with re-doing the Pcv system. the SAI (secondary air injection) pump and "Combi" valve tend to crap out but you can get them "removed" via after market tune
In reply to tjbell:
To expand a bit, VAG turbo cars are VERY picky about oil and change intervals. IF a previous owner cheaped out on these it can cause problems. If no service records, I'd be leery, or would want a significant price reduction off book value otherwise.
I wish some of the valuation calculators would add "service records" to the equation as it matters on some cars more than others. So far, it seems rare to get a used car from a dealer that includes any service records. Then again, my Audi (bought used from an Acura dealer) did come with a folder of records and the car still died within 100 miles of leaving the lot.
I owned a car exactly like that for 8 years, and 230K miles.. from new. I'd still own it, but it was totaled in January. A couple of thoughts:
Coilpacks: They are/were a weak spot, but there was a recall done on them a couple years ago to fix them. I went through about 12 in 230k, but the last set was installed under recall lasted 3 years.
Cooling system: It has lots of fiddly plastic parts that like to degrade and break over time. Go over to ecstuning.com for a look see on what they are and their cost.
Oiling sytem: The 1.8T's are natorious for sludging, but I think that it mostly in the longitudinal applications. If you're religous with oil changes (I did mine at the factor recommended 5K intervals) with good oil (I used M1 0-40) you'll never have a problem.
Interior: Yes it is prone to the soft touch peeling, but the seats and steering wheel wore much better than expected given the age and mileage and the fact that it was my wifes car for work for 6 of those years. I did have a window regulator replaced under warranty soon after I bought it, and is a problem in the earlier cars.
Things I ended up replacing in 230K. Radiator, all the plastic cooling and PCV bits, about half the oil seals, shocks, RF wheel bearing, 1 set of brake pads, 12 coils, 3 timing belts/water pumps, 1 clutch (clutch didn't need it, thought the RMS was leaking, but it was actually an improperly installed oil pan(by an independent shop on a sludge checkup), 1 set of rear hatch struts, 1 set of balljoints and tie rod ends and shocks, 2 center console latches
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