What to look for.

[Gregry254]

Hi Folks

I am going to test drive an 06 polo GTI with 74k miles this afternoon. What are the common things I should be looking out for here? Any weak points?

I also noticed from the pictures that the car has been modified (at least visually) what are the common mods I should check for? might even be able to get a better price if I can blag its been modified, but in reality it saves me doing it at a later date

What the services like for these? when is the cam belt meant to be done? Anything else that needs done at certain times/miles?

Here is the car, if anyone can give some feedback I would appreciate it.

http://www.arnoldclark.com/used-cars/vo ... rndy-3184/

[Gregry254]

Just realised this should be in the "MKVII Polo (inc New Polo GTi!)" is there a way for me to move it?

[alexperkins]

I meant to move this earlier for you....and forgot! All moved now

[Dom_]

Early models (06/56) suffered gearbox problems, if you drive it check for grinding when shifting from 1st to 2nd at high revs, it can be an expensive repair if it does need doing. Cambelt is something like 4 years or40/60?k(I think), so it should have been done at least once by now.

Has it just been lowered? Find out if it's on coilovers then give them a good look over, give it a test drive and listen out for any knocks and bangs, front suspension bushes are so common on the Polo, you will feel the steering wheel twitch under acceleration and braking, also look for strange front tyre wear. Looks like someone has changed the front badge and also change the front grills for honeycombs.

As long it's been serviced with the right oils at the right time it should be fine, just go over it the best you can and look out for dodgy bodywork or signs of body repairs. It looks to be well specced, so could be a good buy

[adzpz]

Gearbox crunching won't become evident until it is fully warmed up - can be a simple case of a gearbox oil change to a syncromesh specific oil.
Top mounts cause a creaking / squeaking at slow speed if worn.

[Gregry254]

Went and test drove it tonight... and put down a deposit

The traction control is goosed and there is a vibrating/knocking/feedback feeling from the steering wheel but that will be sorted for me before I get it.

I couldn't see any obvious mods under the bonnet, is there anything I should be looking for? checked the intake pipe and it is the PD120? (the smaller, standard one) not sure where to check for a dump valve? or any of the other common mods.

It appears to be lowered but he wasn't sure, I can't tell from the pictures because I am not familiar with the car. I am going back to see it in the light tomorrow so will have another look then. Hopefully armed with questions to ask. It feels firmer than my civic but when I went over a deep bump the car seemed to bounce back quite a lot, what should I be looking at there?

There is a 2 month warranty with it where they will fix just about anything, including turbo and the syncromesh if that is gone.

One thing I did notice is that first gear sounded a little odd to me, it was a higher pitch than normal, the guy said it was just the turbo and its normal but I am not 100%. What is your 1st like compared to the rest?

It seemed to pull ok in every other gear, feels more like 150bhp than 200bhp to me (my civic was 140 then remapped to 192) so I guess that means a remap is on the table for me lol

But spec wise it looks really good, auto dimming rear view, parking sensors, heated leather seats and a weird voice only nav? not too keen on that but its a free bonus.

[adzpz]

How do you know the traction control is broken?

Gearbox noise doesn't sound right to me - you probably need to drive it hard for a good 20mins to get a fair assesment of the gearbox condition.

Definitely looks lowered to me - the GTI sits higher than that standard.

Also a little thing but the cup holder is silver in my wife's GTi

Ultimately for the spec and having a guarantee I would go for it as it is cheap IMO.

[blazeguarder]

Mine doesn't sound particularly different in first, as said you might want to take another test drive to be sure. As said the cupholder is wrong and an easy fix as well since it just unclips. With regards to the lowering - it's a bit strange. It does look like it may have been lowered from those photos, but mine seems to sit a bit lower than in other photo's that I've seen and it's on standard suspension.

Definitely make sure that the traction control is sorted, as that's an expensive fix. What's actually wrong with it? If it's just off and can't be turned on then it could be an ABS issue... Also make sure that the parking sensors actually work, and beep once when you go into reverse, and that you actually do have a dimming mirror, as lots of people say that their cars do when they don't actually have one.

Other than that, it looks like it could be a good buy. The only exterior mod that I can see is the honeycomb grilles which is common anyway, and that nav unit means you have the fancy computer screen in between the dials which is pretty fun to play with as well. If it all looks standard (black hoses, black plastic, VW logos on parts) then it most likely is. No FMIC fitted as you'd be able to see that through the centre grille.

Good luck!

[Gregry254]

I took it out again and first gear does sound different, I am not sure what it is, they are still saying it is fine so once I take delivery of it I will take it by the VW dealer across the road and ask them If it is something it will be covered in the first 2 months anyway. One more noise I found was a loud squealing noise from the back left when turning left, could just be the brakes but they are gonna get that fixed too ... this could cost them a fair bit haha

The traction control button says "off" and won't go on and there is a car skidding on the dash. They didn't say what it could be, but that it will be fixed before I get it.

I didn't get a chance to see the mirror dim but it has as little green light under it and seems to be another light to the right of that?

I heard it beep once when put into reverse but I didn't reverse next to anything to hear them working. If there is anything wrong with it though it should be covered under the 2 months?

I take it the cup holders can break easily? maybe the last owner broke it and just bought a black one? I played with it and it seems to function OK anyway.

What all can the screen between the dials do? I managed to cycle mpg, miles to empty, average speed things like that. There was buttons on both stalks but I don't know what the ones on the left do, they were set and reset I think? If I was to swap out the stereo for an after market one should the computer in the middle still work?

Cheers for all the help guys, getting the car on the 15th ... can't wait for the last 3 years I have had turbo diesels and the noise the GTI makes is soooooooo much nicer!!!

[blazeguarder]

If you've got buttons on the left stalk then cruise control has been retrofitted at some point. It wasn't actually an option but can be easily retrofitted with genuine parts. The cupholders do seem to have a habit of falling apart, but they are easily replaced.


Interesting stuff about the TC though. Is the light always on or does it come on when you've been driving for a while?

Mirror and parking sensors seem to be working then. The screen in the middle just lets you cycle through the on board computer readings, whereas they would normally be in the clock screen. If you change head unit then it'll still work but you won't be able to see the radio station in the top of the display.

[Gregry254]

Thats another added bonus then! Although I have had it in my Civic for the last 2.5 years and used it probably 3 times haha

Yeah the light is on from the moment you turn the key. Im not too worried about it so long as they do fix it

I can't wait to get my hands on it now! Already considering a cheeky remap. I would be hoping for about 200bhp, from what I have read that is a stage 1 with no extra mods needed?

[Gregry254]

Well it turns out the noise I heard in 1st is actually gearbox whine, I found a video on youtube with the noise in it and spoke to the guy that uploaded it.



I spoke to Arnold Clark this morning expecting a big FU but he said they will get that fixed too, and if it means a new gearbox I will just have to wait a little longer for the car ... I am pretty happy with that

[Ben90]

I would be hoping for about 200bhp, from what I have read that is a stage 1 with no extra mods needed?

Yep, a stage one will get you to 200bhp, or at least very very close. If you get a couple of small mods before the map it will increase your chances of getting there. YOu could get a pd160 intake and a cotton panel filter, or a ITG/BMC cone kit perhaps, then get a custom map on a dyno to get the improvements from the mods.

[Gregry254]

Just looking at the advert again it looks like I have headlight washers?

Do these come on when I do the front window? or is there a separate control somewhere?

[Ben90]

That also means it should have heated seats as part of the winter pack Really good for leather, and just in time too!

If the system is the same as my friends mk4 golf, the headlight washers automatically do their thing every fifth(?) time you use the windscreen washers, so it counts up to four uses of the normal washers then cleans the lights at the same time on the fifth if that makes sense. I believe that's right anyway.