07 GT Sport diesel with high KMs - maintenance issues?

[Damo105]

Hi All,

I'm considering buying an '07 GT Sport diesel manual. The car is pretty clean with full service history, but it has 134,000kms on it, and I don't know much about diesels so am wondering what sort of maintenance issues I should be mindful of.

It drives quite well with no obvious issues. Car has been serviced by VW dealers all its life, with the last service at 122kms. So am wondering what regular maintenance could be just around the corner, such as brake disks, clutch, wheel bearings, etc. Are there any other service requirements for a turbo diesel I need to be aware of?

Car is priced accordingly, and has RWC and 3 month statutory warranty. So really just wondering if I'm taking a risk with a high km car (for its age). I'll only be adding about 10,000 km per annum, but I don't want large maintenance bills in the next few years. If I should steer clear of it please tell me so!

Cheers for any info/opinions.

[DkN]

At those kms the biggest issue you need to make sure of is the DPF. I think VW rates its lifespan at 130,000kms - you need to check if it has been replaced and if not, check its ash level. Not too clear on other major parts but there are plenty of others around here that will know more. Another thing you should check is the EGR valve to see how clogged up it is, although maybe it won't be so bad if it drives well. For the GT Sport TDI though, these two are the big ones, the DPF being the more immediate and significant potential wallet clincher. Best to read up around these forums (search for DPF and EGR in te Diesel section) before you make the purchase. Important to note frequent short / start-stop traffic trips with rare highway driving is not the best idea for this car.

[jessv3]

My GTI has the same kms, and recently had to have the CV boots replaced & rear engine mount (cheap parts, expensive labour). The other obvious high cost maintenance items are the Timing belt and Water pump, these should have already been replaced though.

[nightphotographer]

Thats low K's for a diesel - there's VAG diesels in the UK that are at 800,000+ Kms without any engine rebuilds. If it's got a full service history which would mean timing belt etc then there's nothing to worry about in my opinion.

[gldgti]

Thats low K's for a diesel - there's VAG diesels in the UK that are at 800,000+ Kms without any engine rebuilds. If it's got a full service history which would mean timing belt etc then there's nothing to worry about in my opinion.

134k is but a wee bearn.... barely run in.

Having said that, my Skoda diesel is just ticking over 130k, and I am about to replace the front end bushings and a clutch is not far away too.... just general wear and tear, nothing diesel specific.

[gldgti]

Thats low K's for a diesel - there's VAG diesels in the UK that are at 800,000+ Kms without any engine rebuilds. If it's got a full service history which would mean timing belt etc then there's nothing to worry about in my opinion.

134k is but a wee bearn.... barely run in.

Having said that, my Skoda diesel is just ticking over 130k, and I am about to replace the front end bushings and a clutch is not far away too.... just general wear and tear, nothing diesel specific.

[poyta]

Yeah the mileage is bugger all for a diesel but apart from the obvious timing belt that should have been replaced as suggested I'd be a little worried about the DPF filter. If its been driving long distances adequate to get the car up to temperature ( ie highways ) then its probably fine but if its had lots of stop start and slow traffic its probably been clogged up a lot - not really a problem because they go through an auto re-generation process to clean it out but there's only so many times it can do this before it clogs up to the point where it won't clean any more. The beauty is that there are DPF removal options - highly illegal but will give you heaps of power gains and if you're clever it can be done quite stealthy so you can hardly tell it has no DPF. If you're prepared to go down this route then great but if you want to replace it with an orginal OEM DPF filter then get ready for a HUGE replacement bill. Don't worry about the EGR valve as this is something easily cleaned and I would recommend you do occasionally yourself- ( check out a thread I posted on me cleaning mine ) .
Apart from that they are pretty bulletproof. I've got just over 60k on mine and its never had any problems, by far its been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

Can I ask how much the car is going for? I was selling mine about a month ago but had to pull out due to unforeseen circumstances. Will eventually be back up for sale soon again.