how many km's are too many?

[daniel7y]

how many km's are too many when buying a car - in particular a mk5 gti?
i'm looking at a few gti's but i'm on a budget so i'm mainly looking at the ones at the cheaper end of the scale, all of which have more km's on the odometer than others.

buying a 2005 gti with 130,000 on the clock - is it worth it or should i spend more to get one with less km's.

[brimway]

how many km's are too many when buying a car - in particular a mk5 gti?
i'm looking at a few gti's but i'm on a budget so i'm mainly looking at the ones at the cheaper end of the scale, all of which have more km's on the odometer than others.

buying a 2005 gti with 130,000 on the clock - is it worth it or should i spend more to get one with less km's.

I guess it depends on how many Ks you will do. If you intend to do low Ks, I would not be phased by 130,000, but if you are likely to rack up high Ks, I would look for something a little fresher.

I have heard of some GTIs nearing 200,000 ks with no major probs.

[anthony]

vw ENGINES can easily do 300 ooo kilometers before needing any major work.

[poyta]

vw ENGINES can easily do 300 ooo kilometers before needing any major work.

All VW engines? I wouldn't be too quick to dispense that sort of information - how many Mk5 GTi's do you know ( anywhere in the world ) with more than 200,000kms that have had no work? I know a few with around 180,00kms but they are all daily driven on the highway. Lets not forget this is a small high compression turbo charged 4 cylinder engine designed to be driven hard by its owner and most likely driven hard in its lifetime. I'm sure there will be a few that may go a bit over 200,000kms and prove me wrong but I wouldn't say all VW engines can EASILY do 300,000kms.
I have seen quite a few TDI engines over 300,000kms mind you but even they seem to need rebuilds around that mileage so there's little chance a GTi engine will get that.

VW parts and repairs are hideously expensive so if you want to avoid spending big in the future I'd be very cautious about buying any GTi's with 130,000kms. With that sort of mileage I think you are getting more closer to the end of its life and gambling with a pricey re-build but like brimway said if you only intend to own it for a year or two and do another 30,000kms you will probably be ok - don't know about re-sale value after those two years though.

[TomC]

Remember, also, that by buying a car like a GTI you're signing yourself up for more expensive servicing costs and replacement parts (IMO). So if your budget is really tight, make sure you research maintainance costs carefully so that you know exactly what you're in for and at what KM the big service/replacement jobs will come. I only say this because I probably didn't do enough research before being my GTI and it took a while to come to terms with reality.

[weapons]

hmmmmm

I was in a similar problematic decision - i was in the hunt for a 08 GTI about 8 months ago....

With the high or low kms and price variances - I came to the conclusion that if i'm buying into getting a GTI I better the best possible one i could afford - down the track the more expensive service/replacement costs could snag you on a higher km GTI in a year or two?

I ended up with one that had done 10,000km and now has done 24,000

[nutttr]

Go for 'average' km... That's what the cars are designed to do - generally - without failing (with exceptions!)...
Ultra low KM could = lots of very short trips = Not getting up to temp
Ultra high KM could = lots of very long trips = Some parts worn (bearings, and other things that fail with km/age, but bearings are very important for a turbo!).

The majority of cars that are used 'averagely' have a lot less problems than those at the extremes. We've owned a really low KM car and it was a dog! But we've also had some quite high KM ones which have had no problems... Personally, i'd go lower KM as the GTI does have a few issues like cam wear and turbos DO go...

[CroS15]

it all depends on how the car has been serviced and looked after, period.

i would not be phased with getting a car with 130 000km's on the clock, if it has had regular maintanence there is no reason why you will have problems, and modifications, atleast the modifications that i have seen people do to their golf's (on here) will have no bearing or ill affects on the durability of the engine.

a long long time ago as a P plater i owned a 20 year old Nissan silvia grey import which ran triple the amount of boost intended from factory through the standard turbo and this was untuned too, only support system was a big fuel pump. the car had 170 000 on the clock when i turned up the boost and i drove it well over 200 000km's for 2 years with no issues because i kept the service and maintanence up meticulously.

poor service is what kills engines, and fast, alot faster than high km's will.

first thing to look for is full logbook service history up to date.

[maxrob200]

I agree....if the car has had average km (20,000km pa) and has been serviced regularly by service place that knows the cars well, and parts have been replaced when needed it shouldnt be a problem. I would question if the car is a late model say 08 and it has 80 - 100,000 on the clock already.

[jessv3]

My mkv gti has 118k and it still drives and feels like new, I have had no issues at all apart from general wear and tear. When I got my timing belt and water pump done recently the mechanic showed me the old water pump and it still looked new. I have no doubt these engines will last 250k+ kms, I've had a few vag cars now including an a4 Audi which I sold with 220k and it had no major issues.. The only down side to buying a car with higher kms it's going to hurt at resale.

[miked44]

Hi Guys,

I like the look of this car:

2004 VOLKSWAGEN BORA 4-MOTION 1J MY2003 Private Cars For Sale in NSW - carsales.com.au

The K's are over 200,000 which is obviously a concern. Says it has full logbook history and has mainly been highway mileage..

How put off would you be by the k's?

Thanks,

Mike

[jessv3]

Hi Guys,

I like the look of this car:

2004 VOLKSWAGEN BORA 4-MOTION 1J MY2003 Private Cars For Sale in NSW - carsales.com.au

The K's are over 200,000 which is obviously a concern. Says it has full logbook history and has mainly been highway mileage..

How put off would you be by the k's?

Thanks,

Mike

It is a V6 which will easily cope with another 100k+ if serviced correctly. They live out at stokers so chances are most of those kms are legitimate hwy kms.

Having said that, its a 4motion and a manual so maintenance could become very expensive, (i.e clutches, oil leaks, sensors etc). My 2.8 Audi had a very annoying oil leak which was a constant problem despite several attempts by different mechanics. The 2.8 in the Bora is slightly different though, being based on the vr6 engine.

[Johnbu]

vw ENGINES can easily do 300 ooo kilometers before needing any major work.

That may be true, unfortunately, everything else mechanical around the engine will have been replaced by then..

That said 130,000 isn't all that much, just make sure it's been serviced correctly and priced accordingly to offset higher potential repair costs.

[BrianS]

id agree with most of the above, in the past ive bought cars with high mileage that have been looked after and they were fine, bought a couple of lower mileage cars that hadnt and had no end of problems. if its been serviced well and looked after i see no probs with a high mileage (kilometerage sounds wrong) car. years ago i had a mk1 rag top with over 230,000 miles on it and it didnt miss a beat as it had been looked after.
having a fsh is fine but if its just the recommended service intervals done etc then i dont class that as looked after to a degree when huge km's are talked about. although when looking at cars i always seem to convert kms to miles and see if id be happy to buy it.

[Ideo]

130 is nothing.

Australians are pathetic when it comes to getting paranoid about a car with over 100,000 on the clock.

Check out the UK. A much smaller country but the cars there have done heaps more driving than here.