Feedback: 2011 golf gti dsg
 

Hello gti owners/ex owners, looking into getting a 2011 gti with dsg trans, I am not to familiar with vdub in general but this car looks nice and has a nice package, any feedback would be great tia!
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Where is the car being purchased? Since a GTI is still a "tuners" car, I would spend the money to get it inspected by a mechanic or VW specialist shop such as Shift Auto.

How many KM does it have, and does the owner have all the service records? Having owned 3 vdubs before, I can say they are pretty 'bulletproof' if they are maintenance accordingly and driven with care.

I have that exact car, a 2011 GTI DSG that I have been toying with selling, on and off again. I love this car, it's quick, comfortable, great on fuel, super practical - the hatchback is unreal, I have had everything from a 65" Plasma TV (in box) to an entire kitchen when I was moving, in the hatchback. Mine has the touchscreen navi which I like a lot as well. Mine now has 26k and has never been to the VW dealership aside from its regular scheduled maintenance - two thumbs up.

Mark

Abbotsford VW, has one for sale, spoke to the sales guys and said they have full records and has been certified.

Exactly! Hatch is so usefully. I read that it shares the same engine/trans from a3? 2011 gti still built in Germany? Or Mexico now?
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Ya, having it inspected is a must. I recommend juan's auto in richmond.
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Btw 66k, 2011 gti seems ligit
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2 months ago my coil packs failed, had to be towed in to get them changed. Not an expensive job just annoying. Car only has about 40,000 km on it. Some minor oil leakage here and there.

DSG software needed an update, 2 years ago I turned right onto a side street and it just went into neutral so I had to throw it into neutral and back into D and it worked again, the car you're looking it probably has been updated already
GTI built in Germany IIRC but the car still has creaks and rattles from the trim pieces.

Overall my long term opinion, great fuel economy and is pretty fun to drive. Car doesn't have the same German tank feel as my Astra and the stock suspension is not that well damped and a little on the harsh side. Big practicality too, very usable rear seat and trunk. Small exterior dimensions and decent visibility. A really good car on paper but I'm a little worried about long-term reliability and all the rattles that develop, the golfmk6 forum can be a little unsettling.

How much are they asking? 66k is not exactly low...

I assume it's this one?
2011 Volkswagen GTI

Edit - that car is also lowered pretty seriously... I'd make sure it has some decent suspension in it rather than just crazy lowering springs that are going to kill the stock shocks.

At 66k km, make sure the DSG transmission fluid has already been changed out by the current owner. This almost certainly needs to be done at a VW dealership because there are some special tools required (from what I am told). Ask for proof of the service (eg. copy of invoice). From what I have read, regular flushes of the DSG tranny is essential to its long term reliability. IIRC, the factory recommended interval is 64k km, and it costs something like $400 - $500.

If the car hasn't done this yet, your offer should reflect this, and you should use it as a (perfectly legitimate) reason in your bargaining.

If you do end up getting the car, I'd go with either of these guys for servicing:

http://www.shiftautosport.ca/
http://www.blitzkriegautowerks.com/

Both shops do amazing work on VW / Audi, and are no strangers to performance mods of all kinds.

Thx guys I'll make sure to add all those to the list
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No accidents, $25k
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Come to think of it, 64k km should actually be a major service milestone (on top of the DSG fluid flush) with a boatload of stuff getting serviced according to the manufacturer schedule, and it isn't a cheap service by any means. IIRC, even the spark plugs are supposed to get replaced. I don't remember how much it costs and what exactly needs to be done off the top of my head, but look into it and either make sure the car has received all the manufacturer scheduled service, or factor that into the price accordingly.

I have a 2012 with DSG, and my first service is in ~3000kms from now. So far so good besides slight dash rattling that I'm not used to coming from Hondas and Acuras. I'm sure regular maintenance will be more expensive, but that's the price you pay for German engineering and quality.

I agree with what lowside67 said about the suspension, make sure it's not just springs done. The only springs I'd trust on stock struts for the GTI are VW Driver Gear springs by Bilstein, and that example in lowside's link definitely ain't on DG springs. BTW, I find the ride quality of the GTI on 18" wheels is more comfortable than my old Civic Si on 17"s.

I bought my 2 year old gti for 25k in 2010, then sold it for 13.5k this year. Keep the depreciation in mind. At 66k for 25k I'd go find a better deal. That being said, although my car wasn't a dsg, I went from 40k to 95k without ever having an issue other than an airbag light which was cleared with vag-com and never came back. They are awesome cars.

my mk5 fsi dsg was the worst car i ever owned. i think the longest i went without needing a repair or a tow was two months... when i finally gave up and sold it, that's when i realized how bad the depreciation was on these cars. ugh... i think i need to go back to therapy again :(

i'm not sure if anything has improved on the TSI engines these days, but when you go for your mechanical inspection, ask about carbon buildup in the intake valves. my FSI engine had direct injection and VW didn't design a system like some others manufacturers have to keep the valves clean. so as the odometer mileage increases, so does the buildup until it gets so clogged up you will experience poor performance, fuel economy, or possible catalytic converter damage if a chunk of the stuff manages to break off and gets stuck inside it. it's a very expensive labor intensive job to clean.

Seriously, 25k for a car with 66,000kms? My car is for sale for $23,750 with 26,000kms and navi. That car is BRUTALLY overpriced.

Apparently FSI is the least reliable engine with the 2007 GTI being the worst. Sadly, I have a 2007 and had my DSG transmission replaced last month. The guy at the shop said 2009 and newer is a lot better because they use the TSI engine which resolved a lot of the issues with the FSI engine.

On a positive note, a new tranny is the only problem I've had so far! :D /knock on wood

Funny. I never had one single problem with mine. Its all drawing straws with european cars if you get a shitbox it seems.

i feel your pain. the only dsg problem i had was the blinking PRNDL display of death on the MFD and then the trans went into neutral. thankfully restarting the car cleared it and i didn't own the car long enough to see if it would come back.

FSI... oh how i do not miss thee. one litre of oil consumed every 1500kms was considered "normal" by the dealer. i had one coil pack die under warranty, then had all four replaced under one of the endless technical service bulletins. the final killing blow was the fuel pump blowing up and eating my camshaft. good times.

back when i bought the mk5, i kept thinking "it's so much better than the mk4 it should be good right?"... i was so naive. now i read posts like this and i just want to scream "run! run away!", but i can't.

true. i knew someone with an 2006 mk5 and he drove it 80k kms with no issues whatsoever with the exception of the pressure plate exploding and taking out the clutch and bellhousing on the trans (he was not beating on it). lucky for him vw did not dispute it and replaced everything under warranty.

Were/are your guys' GTIs tuned? I think I'm going against the grain by avoiding an ECU tune on mine. It pains me to think that I could get so much more performance with a simple APR or Unitronic reflash for less than a grand, but I really don't want the risk of being denied warranty coverage if things went south.

Not to mention opening the can of worms of supporting mods such as a turboback exhaust, intercooler, engine mounts, suspension, sticky tires etc. I'm just going to go with a catback exhaust for more sound and almost zero performance gain and call it a day.

I haven't done a tune on mine, it's bone stock, but the stage 1 chip doesn't require ANY mods and is supposed to be absolutely crazy reliable. If I wasn't trying to sell mine, I'd probably do it.

i went the APR route, back when clarkdale had a motorsports department. but then things changed and they stopped promoting it and then andrew left the service dept... if it weren't for the guys at shift autosport i would have gotten rid of it sooner.

I was tuned for 20k just stage 1. Its a totally different car. Also about the 1l/1500 km consumption. I've heard that from tons of people. My FSI however once went 15k without an oil change, (yeah oops on that one) and my levels were barely low. I think my car was built on a day where the factory guys got their Christmas bonus or something.

then i guess mine was built the day after they spent the bonus out on the town :(