In late 2021, I decided it was time to move on from my rolling project: a 1983 Mercedes 240D. I had taken the car from rotting away in a field to a respectable daily driver, but it was far from perfect or trouble free. With the engine, transmission, and even appearance up to a solid level, and the A/C working as well as it could, I found myself struggling under the strain of an ever expanding list of small jobs that needed addressing because I couldn’t let them go. Late one bleary-eyed night as I was slumped over my laptop scouring eBay for a Palomino sun visor to replace the passenger-side one which had convinced myself had begun to sag, I realized I was going down the wrong path and that the project had run its course. I loved the car and was glad to have owned it and brought it back from its neglected state, but it was time for a less expensive and time-consuming daily.
The car sold much more quickly than I expected, I probably could have listed it for more than I did. At least it went to a fellow enthusiast, who else would be in the market for an early eighties Mercedes? As much as I enjoyed the process of getting that car squared away, I was fully on the hunt for the next car before the diesel exhaust fumes had dissipated. After experiencing a vintage daily driver with all its charms and shortfalls, I wanted the replacement to be entirely different—more modern, sporty, and less maintenance-intensive. It would need dual airbags, a comfortable interior with plenty of space, decent fuel economy, a sporty driving experience, and, of course, a manual transmission.
With an impossible-by-today’s standards car loan approved, I was off to face the used car shortage of 2021 head-on. Things were quite different for car buyers back in 2021, and I had some cheap money burning a hole in my pocket. I set about test driving a wide range of options, some that fit my criteria better than others. The ones that I remember most were a final-year Mercedes W210 E320 wagon in a stunning deep blue over tan and excellent cosmetic condition. Obviously, that one didn’t have a manual transmission or much of sporting character, but I was entranced by the refined driving experience, massive trunk space, beautiful interior and general stateliness. The selling dealer was asking way too much, however.
On the other side of the spectrum, I tested an R55 generation Mini Cooper S Clubman with a stick. I was shocked when the selling dealer let me and my partner test drive the car without a salesman present, which would have been unthinkable where I grew up in New Jersey. The tachometer and digital speedo that struck me as gimmicky when I first sat in the car quickly became a joy to watch as I ripped through the gears and threw the nimble chassis into the backroads behind the dealership. It genuinely did feel like a cross between a motorcycle with its rev-happy engine and a go kart with the low seating position and eager, chuckable character. Despite being unable to wipe the grin off my face the rest of that day, I managed to heed the internet’s warnings about R55 and R56 reliability. To this day, I maintain that it is the most fun car I’ve ever driven.
Over time, I decided the best all-rounder would be a used GTI. A test drive confirmed that it was the best match for my needs; sporty, safe, fuel efficient, practical, fun, and stylish. Once I arrived at this idea, I got swept up in the excitement and the hunt, and there was no turning back.
After some research, I determined that a Mark VI GTI (people use “mark” rather than generation, followed by a roman numeral, when referring to these cars for some reason) could be had within budget and with manageable running costs. I narrowed my search to a 2014 model year, the final year of the Mark VI, which had a revised version of the troublesome timing chain tensioner that plagued earlier cars. With a pre-purchase inspection, I would be fine. I wasn’t expecting Honda Accord 4 cylinder levels of reliability, but how bad could an eight or nine year old car be?
So I set about looking for the right example; a final year, top-trim “Autobahn Edition,” with a manual transmission and a decent color, with under 100,000 miles. When I found one with around 90,000 on the clock and the attractive “snowflake” wheels, that was a few hours away, I was very interested enough to do some groundwork, starting with the vehicle history report, which turned up nothing of consequence. The water pump had been replaced three times at the dealership, which is not a red flag at all, right? All clear on that step. Since it was such a long drive away, I had a generic service inspect the car for a small fee before heading out to see it myself. The report came back okay, there were no major issues, no leaks, no check engine light, the tires had decent tread, there were no major dents or scratches, it ran and drove fine, the clutch worked fine and it shifted through all the gears.
It was time to book a rental car and drive a few hours south to Virginia to take a very serious look. With financing in hand, I even set up an option to add a third party warranty through my credit union for extra insurance, should I decide to put pen to paper.
I don’t really remember the drive down, probably because I was daydreaming about rowing the gears and carving up back roads with a trunk full of cargo and the sunroof down in my new-to-me hot hatch. But I do remember that when I arrived at the used car lot, the vibes were… not great. I could see a couple of employees hastily gluing a headliner back up on a later model Audi, and the office decor was not exactly confidence inspiring, with its mismatched furniture and heavier than I would’ve like reliance on milk crates in lieu of more traditional storage solutions. Nonetheless, I had done my research, the vehicle history was clean, I had procured my own financing, so the used car lot was not putting me off unless they weren’t willing to play ball on the out-the-door price.
On the test drive, I was entranced by the punch of the turbo four cylinder, the stylish exterior and the restrained, yet upscale feeling interior, the feel of the leather and the modern comforts that were such a departure from my 240D, ice cold A/C, crisp speakers with Bluetooth capability, heated seats, even power windows! The handling felt tight and capable, and the front end was nice and pointy. Even though the steering was electric rather than hydraulic, it was extremely direct and positive, the steering feel was a world away from the vague recirculating ball and school bus-sized steering wheel in the 240D.
I had come all this way, everything seemed fine, so I decided to pull the trigger. After a celebratory lunch, my partner and I set off back home on the inaugural road trip in our new car!
Reality set in almost immediately. Within an hour the CEL was on. In a panic, I plugged my scan tool in and looked up the code. A coolant sensor failed. Not a good sign. Oh well, I thought, how much could a sensor be? I tried not to let this faze me, and focused instead on soaking up some miles getting familiar with the car. I kept reassuring myself that I had taken every precaution and done my due diligence, and that the glowing amber CEL was just a fluke rather than an ominous bit of foreshadowing.
When I got home and did some research, I was truly welcomed into the VW lifestyle, as I learned that the coolant sensor could not be replaced on its own, the factory repair was for the entire radiator to be replaced!
On top of that, the car developed a misfire a few weeks later. When I took it to a few independent specialist shops, the one that gave me the most reasonable assessment ended up actually showing me the valves caked in carbon. Yup, I had awoken from my daydreams and found myself in the living nightmare of deferred maintenance. The shop recommended a carbon cleaning, radiator replacement, new coil packs, and a turbo diverter valve replacement.
I am slightly embarrassed to have learned such a basic lesson in such a costly way. That generic inspection I paid a couple of hundred dollars for was way too superficial. The car tested fine to them but these issues would never have been stopped by a generalist. A VW expert would have been needed to ask the right questions; when was the timing chain serviced? How much has it stretched? When was the carbon cleaning service last done? These are major services that are inevitable, and the service records did not indicate they had been done. A PPI from a VW expert would’ve uncovered these issues right away.
A massive repair bill later and I was back on the road, and able to enjoy the car for what it was. The experience wasn’t all bad by any means. When everything was working, this car was everything I wanted it to be; fun to drive, practical, fuel efficient, it was even surprisingly comfortable!
In fact, that is what I remember most about the driving experience of the GTI, it was way more luxurious than I expected it to be. I think this is an underappreciated aspect of these cars, they are a lot less hot hatch than I expected, and more of an entry-level luxury product with a bit of a sporting edge. It was plenty fun to drive and handled really well, but it was not the razor sharp experience I was expecting from the car that literally started the hot hatch category.
Another thing that stuck with me is that I never got used to the sound of the direct engine gasoline engine, with the diesel-like clattering of the high pressure injectors firing off at idle. This is something I never noticed, but I now notice it all the time, as direct injection is the norm now. I wonder how many people felt that something was wrong when they first owned a direct injection gasoline car.
After a relatively trouble-free few months, the GTI left me stranded when the alternator died. I was visiting my family in northern New Jersey at the time, and I didn’t have much of a choice but to have a shop take care of it, which was shockingly expensive to replace.
A few months after that, I started hearing a ticking noise at startup that I feared might be the timing chain or guides. My mechanic assessed that the timing chain would need to be replaced within a year and gave me an estimate so I could plan ahead. I had paid the last tithe to the church of German car maintenance, it was time for someone else to pay me. I sold the GTI on Carvana for slightly more than what I still owed on it. The decision was a lot easier than when I sold the 240D, and felt nothing but relief watching the wedge-shaped Carvana car hauler drive away with my VW on the back.
Surprisingly, the only smart decision I made throughout this saga was to buy a CarMax style warranty through the credit union I used to get the car loan. That thing paid out almost immediately and covered a significant amount of the various repairs that were needed. I was surprised to learn that there are actually real, third party used car warranties that could end up being worth the cost. The company did try to get out of some repairs, but overall, the warranty more than paid for itself.
Even though the GTI didn’t work out for me, I still can’t help but smile when I see one on the street…
What I learned over the course of my ownership is that these VW cars are indeed great, but they are very maintenance-heavy. Even sorted ones will need a lot more money to keep going than your average car. While your experiences may vary, owing the GTI put me off VW group cars completely. While I think Audis and VWs are very nice cars, I just don’t think they are worth the running costs, except maybe Porsche (one day!).
So, apart from avoiding VW group cars, what else did I learn? Your mileage may vary, but to start, a general PPI is worth about as much as the paper it’s printed on, so I will always get a brand specialist to PPI a car. I will also try to avoid traveling to buy a car because it adds a lot of pressure not to leave empty-handed; never buy from a used car lot; consider warranties if they are through a credible institution; and, of course, it’s worth reiterating, avoid out of warranty VAG products. Perhaps the mark of a true car enthusiast is that I still think the Mark VI and VII GTIs were the best daily driver one could ask for—when they were new!
I had the GTI for seven months and I still wonder what led me to make that choice despite the risks, which are quite obvious in hindsight. Did I just delude myself? Was I just tuning out the downsides? Did I just get a dud? Perhaps it was a little of all of the above. I think I may have overcorrected moving from the 240D to the GTI, perhaps misled by the experience of owning a vintage car that was very reliable, but could not escape the effects of time. My main mistake was assuming that a newer car would inherently be less work, but it turned out to be a different and less rewarding kind of work. Even though the GTI didn’t work out for me, I still can’t help but smile when I see one on the street, knowing just how much joy they can bring—at least in between shop visits.
Great story. This echoes how I bought my second motorcycle: wanting to upgrade from my first, old, bike, to something newer and exotic. Brought from a private party, but a guy who had shady vibes about him. Actually seeing a bunch of stuff wrong with the bike, but convincing myself it was minor after having traveled a couple of hours to go see it. Running into all sorts of ‘typical for the model’ issues during ownership.
I feel a rant coming on about modern cars. With everyone worshipping at the church of high mpgs, reliability seems to have gone away. Carbon service? Apparently this is becoming common across all brands. Engine and transmission failures at relatively low miles are no longer uncommon. When used car warranties are advertised on television as commonly as ads for toothpaste used to be, we have a problem.
You also describe why I have always avoided used car dealers.
Afaik reliability hasn’t gone away with most Toyotas and many Hondas. There’s always exceptions of course, Honda’s had a couple, and an isolated machining issue with a few twin-turbo V6s in trucks, a rare problem for Toyota. Only about 10 to 100 have actually had the problem so far, but Toyota will replace the entire engine on over 102,000 recalled vehicles anyway, just in case. How many companies would take on that level of responsibility, or replace thousands of entire Tacoma frames at huge cost… so when there is a rare problem they own up and fix it. Now that’s standing behind your product.
I’m on my second VW in a row. I read somewhere that they are generally reliable with basic maintenance up to 100k. Past that you are bound to have a major maintenance or repair that costs big bucks. When it happens, pay that tax and then move on from the car.
My 2013 Passat was trouble free from the time I bought it at about 30k to the 100k mark. then little things started going wrong. Nothing major until the ac compressor died. I suspect debris damage killed it, but I will never know for sure.
I traded it in in 2023 on a spanking new 2024 Jetta GLI. I’m having much the same fun experience with it as you did with your GTI. I’m hoping for similar reliability from the GLI as from the Passat. At the rate I drive, this means I’ll get to enjoy the car for ten solid years, at which point I’ll be 66 and my left knee, which already sometimes is tricky, will probably have had enough of the clutch.
I’d like to hear more and details about “carbon service” as I only remember little old ladies cars getting coked up and a sprayer of water used to judiciously enter water mist in the open carby at 3,000 RPM would quickly clear it out .
This sounds more like a design fault, similar to the Toyota oil sludging problems .
I love my old German vehicles but even when tip top they nearly always need touching .
Good to hear you got out from underneath it and didn’t loose your shirt .
-Nate
Others will be able to correct me or add detail, but I think it is necessary on a lot of modern cars that use direct injection, because the gasoline doesn’t mist over the valves, so they are no longer being cleaned by that fuel, and end up getting caked in carbon build up.
BINGO! That is what I read on-line (AFTER buying a pristine 2017 Jetta GLI* in 2022. It was/is basically a Mk VI GTI with a trunk).
I asked my favorite shop if it was true that I’d eventually need “carbon cleaning”, they said yes. Ditto another shop.
Your CC was excellent! I enjoyed it very much.
*I wanted a Mk VII GTI manual, it was on my bucket list. That one-owner GLI was close enough. Once I had it, I liked it, but it did not thrill me as much as I expected. I had a minor issue (cracked connector to #2 ignition coil which I felt was unwarranted for 40k miles. That and the Direct injection gave me a bad feeling, bad premonition. I sold the car six months later.
Your CC resonated with me
Very enjoyable… and frightening… read!
Wondering if you considered the Mini Countryman. We did, and almost bought a used one but after some research became concerned with reliability. The car would have replaced our ’09 Pontiac Vibe, which itself was, in retrospect, part of a steady progression towards taller 5-door cars. An ’02 Focus 5-door preceded it, and we once owned an ’87 Golf 5-door for many years. Now we have a CR-V, and one can see the compact crossover difference in size in the pic of your car with what looks like a white Escape in front of it.
I’ve gone the other way from you – from a new Jeep (which was totally relaible and fondly remembered) to a 50+ year old daily driver which has turned out to be dependable and where I can do maintenance and repairs myself (actually I have to, as no shop will touch it!). The Grand Cherokee was a family car with all the modern safety features and the old VW is my daily in the USA after moving the family back to the UK. I wouldn’t want my family to be unsafe, so they have 2 modern, safe SUVs there.
The comfort of not having high repair or running costs is offset by not having modern features like demisting or screen washers that work (the VeeDubs are “powered” from the spare tire) and no air con in the summer. I’m lucky to live fairly close to work and the old heap provides both driving pleasure and a hobby – lots of improvements planned for this year.
If I had a 60 mile commute I’d have something different, but I wouldn’t want to risk the costly repairs that some moderns seem to regularly need. I’d probably look for a senior owned Buick or Town Car that could waft me about reliably in comfort and be pretty cheap to maintain.
For my own imagination and desire, I consider VW Golf is prefect vehicle for most people. Its GTI is what you need to be in sporty car with superior handling and performance, it is also very practical too. On paper, the only drawback is fuel mileage is not optimal. I think even Consumer Reports had the same assessment. But in US, VW reputation in reliability is always at bottom, so I am sly away from owning one.
My trust mechanic always said they were fine if their owners took care of them,didn’t do the after market modifications. Of course, Golf is not Corolla, but do you think German will build a Corolla? Or Can Toyota make a Golf?
I assume that modern VW products are like ’60s Jaguars: All the soft-touch plastics and other interior materials that make reviewers (especially British reviewers) gush and rave were probably paid for by specifying the lowest-bidder components available in every other area, compounded by unnecessary complexity, which was also the problem that made the original Rabbit a costly garage queen.
The only way I’d ever go near one would be some kind of lease deal where someone else was paying all the bills.
Honestly the interior was holding up a lot better than the motor, it was still a very nice place to be!
It’s German… plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose!!
Lease only!…’nuff said!
Some modern cars force you into paying subscription fees to continue using features that were free for a while when new, and got you hooked. Early 21st century VW’s are the opposite; you get the CEL for the coolant sensor at no extra charge. I probably shouldn’t have read this post, as our one year newer Golf MkVII is still purring along flawlessly though I agree that the DI tick at idle is annoying. But maybe that’s to cover up impending timing chain issues. I probably should drive it more often to “blow out the carbon.”
I own a 2011 Mark VI GTI, which I bought used in 2013 with 13,000 miles. I now have 111,000, and to date, the car has been dead reliable – other than the headliner falling down, a known issue with these cars. Every car is different, and I realize mine could blow up tomorrow. but so far, so good – still a blast to drive!
I follow the maintenance schedule to a tee (oil change every ten thousand miles, brake fluid flush every other year, etc.) so hopefully my car holds up for a while.
I’m sure it would’ve been doing a lot better if I owned it from new(er) and it was maintained properly, that is why my big takeaway is to have a brand specialist inspect my next car, they will know what to look for and the questions to ask!
Not necessarily.
I guess it’s up to me to defend VW’s honor. I have 3 VWs: a Mk7 GTI (the generation after this one), a Mk6 Golf (not a GTI, but a 2.5 5-cylinder), and a 2013 Touareg. All bought used. The Touareg had the most potential to be a nightmare, having 172,000 miles when I bought it from, yes, a sketchy used car dealer. But now at 194K miles, it’s been great, nearly flawless, but for slightly high oil consumption. The Mk6 Golf is not far behind at 189K miles and has been quite reliable. The GTI only has 20K miles and I rarely drive it because I honestly feel the base Golf is 90% as much fun to drive.
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another VW product as long as it didn’t have a V10 or W8 or some other weird engine and as long as the maintenance has been kept up.
I’m glad you have had good experiences, maybe mine was just a poorly maintained example, and my expectations were out of whack!
I have a 2018 Golf Sportwagen, bought new. The car has been utterly reliable as there has not been a single issue. That said, I realise that it is a VW. For that reason, I have budgeted $1000 a year for repairs after the warranty was up. I now have $3000 in my repair fund and I still haven’t had a repair.
The Mk VII is known to be much more reliable than previous Golf generations.
Really interesting story of what was a pretty brief encounter with a very desirable car. But I’m reminded of the Pete Seeger song from the ’50’s, “Where have all the flowers gone?”, and its refrain “When will they ever learn?”
The Euros have had now 50 years and more to work out why an outfit like Toyota can make perfectly decent (and even exciting) cars that don’t break like this, and yet the tales and surveys of woe continue unabated – and still those hallowed nameplates need endless nurture and often break anyway. It’s just not nearly good enough to make attractive, wonderful-driving cars that are so variable in what they deliver.
And VW seems consistently the worst offender, to the point where it’s legitimate to ask if the company has ever made a totally robust machine since the damn Beetle.
I’m buggered if I’d take the risk of buying one, even new – I know my luck!
Extended warranties FTW, especially with anything European. I bought my off-lease 9-3 Aero from Carmax and gladly forked over the $1500 fee for the extended warranty. It paid for itself 3 times over already.