Advice when buying a Polo GTI

[Sian]

I'm looking at buying my first GTI can anyone offer any advice on what's best and what I should steer clear of? Also any common problems I should be aware of? Thanks in advance!

[Gee40]

Hi Sian

Asking what's best and what to avoid is a question that is loaded with the potential to start a huge argument but I'm happy to risk it and give you my opinion.

You don't say how big your budget is but if you can afford it, I'd go for a 2015 onwards model year as these GTI's come with the 1.8 Turbo charged engine rather than the previous 1.4 that was both supercharged and turbo charged. Although the 1.4 was not necessarily a bad car, it does have a reputation as not being as reliable as VW would have liked ( evidenced by VW going to the trouble and expense of developing the 1.8 replacement for just the remaining 2 years of the cars life cycle ) If you go for the 1.8 you have the option of a manual car rather than just the DSG(auto) on the 1.4, with the manual being the one to go for ( just my opinion ) . VW reduced the torque on the 1.8DSG as it still had concerns about the auto gearboxes ability to handle the full torque of the manual.

Other than that, providing you make sure the Service history is complete I don't think you can go too far wrong

Good Luck

[SRGTD]

Hi Sian; welcome to the forum.

As @Gee40 has said, check that any car you look at has a full service history. I’d also avoid the pre-facelift (6R) 1.4 twin charged version of the GTI (available only with DSG transmission). As well as having a reputation for not being one of the most reliable engines, many examples of this engine suffered from very heavy oil consumption.

I’ve owned my GTI (6 speed manual) from new (collected it in March 2016), and in my 46 months of ownership, its only been back to the dealer for routine servicing and the first MOT last year. The 1.8 engine offers good performance and is pretty economical too. A small number of early cars suffered from turbo failure, but I’ve not heard of any other mechanical issues.

In terms of day to day ownership;

• Boot space is small. The car’s battery is located in the spare wheel well with the spare wheel stored on top of the battery, which means the GTI doesn’t have the lower of the two boot floor positions that other Polo models have. If you don’t regularly carry rear seat passengers, the small boot shouldn’t be a major issue as the rear seats can be folded flat to increase the load space.

• Some owners have experienced interior trim creaks and rattles, but my car seems to be well screwed together and after nearly four years is still pretty much creak and rattle free.

• Suspension is firm but IMO, not uncomfortably so. Some cars will have the optional Sports Performance Pack - identified by a ‘Sport’ button above the infotainment unit. The Sport setting gives a firmer (than Normal) suspension setting, a more weighty feel to the steering, a fake ‘sporty’ engine noise and increased throttle response. My car has the Sports Performance Pack but I rarely use it as I find the suspension in Sport mode to be a bit too firm for me in everyday use, but the Normal setting is fine.

• Car Net App Connect was an extra cost option on post-2015 cars so not all cars will have this. Of those that don’t have it, be aware that not all infotainment units are App Connect compatible, so it may not be possible to get this retro-fitted in all cars. Cost of retro-fitting is in the region of £250. If having App Connect is important to you, I’d suggest you check that any car you consider buying has it, or it can be retro-fitted.

Both the standard Parabolica and the optional Serron alloys for the GTI are diamond cut and can succumb to white worm corrosion after a couple of years. Check the wheels carefully on any car you consider buying for white worm corrosion or kerb damage as a good quality refurb of a diamond cut alloy costs in the region of £85-£90 plus VAT per wheel.

Good luck in your search.

[Sian]

Thank you both for your advice, the only advice I've recieved that gives both sides! I was thinking about getting the DSG auto but will definitely start having a look into the manual.

Again thank you for your advice!