Mk V GTI purchase

[Brycem]

Hi,

I am looking to buy a four/five year old Mark V manual transmission Gti.

Are there any obvious issues that afflict these cars at that age that I should be looking out for?

The cars I am looking at have covered up to 80k kms.

Also I am told the timing belt is done at 105k kms. Is there a maximum age at which this must be done even if the vehicle hasn't reached that mileage?

How much to change the belt at a main dealer?

Finally, are there any good independant VW specialists in Brisbane?

Thanks

[John Deere]

My dealer says 120,000k for timing belt....he tells me that service is around $1800, but it covers a few other thing like DSG in my case.

[KWICKS]

Buy mine instead, timing belt is years off.Here she is.

[satz]

I believe the timing belt has to be replaced at the 4-year mark, regardless of mileage.

[satz]

kwicks

that's a pretty low price for the year and mileage!


Satz

[KWICKS]

Thanks, can I sell it to you!

[satz]

So I can have not just one, but two cars, my wife doesn't approve of....



just bought mine 4 weeks back....

[KWICKS]

If you buy her one she'll understand why. :p

[Brycem]

I heard so much conflicting information on when timing be replaced (Brisbane main dealer told me 120,000 kms or 8 years!) I thought I would check with VW Australia who replied to my email to confirm that the change is needed at 105,000kms or 4 years whichever comes sooner.

There appears to be lots of gtis out there which are more than four years old but have covered less than 105,000kms which have not had the timing belt changed.

I am still in the market for a manual 5 door up to 4 years old with less than 60,000 kms. Not alot around in that category at the moment.

In that the 3 doors and Wolfsburg built and the 5 door South African built has anyone got any thoughts on whether the 3 doors have proved to be more reliable?

[poli84]

Would you be interested in an 2006 Audi A3 Sportback 2.0T DSG?
Same engine, same DSG transmission, (i know you want manual) exactly the same car but with the Audi build, interior and looks.
Dolphin Grey with leather, open Sky Roof, Bluetooth, iPod, 18"RS6 wheels and Koni springs.
70k km's. Will be up for sale in a month.



Oh and the timing belt was done about 3 month ago

[Brycem]

needs to be a manual thanks. Already got a dsg rs wagon that wife drives and prefer manuals

[Tony_Mitchell_1983]

I have an 05 GTI with about 66k on the clock. It's had no real issues other than the air con seizing and snapping all the belts. Some of us may have heard about this fairly common problem. VW fixed it even though it was out of warrenty.

It also had some stupid issue with the ECU where it got confused and had to be reset. It should've been a recall but our friends at Austral in Brisbane charged me for it (BOOOOO!!!! AUSTRAL)

The newer the model, the less foibles it'll have I guess, but mine is pretty much fine.

I'm probably going to change the timing belt on the next service, which is about due. It's going to be expensive, but better then the alternative.

[Brycem]

I owned an 06 gti and than an 08 gti in the UK and the 08 certainly had less, if any, foibles.

Certainly not forming a great impression of Austral. There information regarding timing belt change is patently wrong and inconsistent depending on who answers the phone.