Is a Volkswagen GTI Reliable? (Owners Perspective on GTI Issues) 

MAINTENANCE, MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE. Please always make sure the Cam and follower is changed and the timing belt and timing chains are properly tensioned. Make sure your PCV is breathing and Always use recommended Oil and premium Fuel. It should be reliable after this is verified. I will say, it's not a corolla and requires sometimes costly maintenance, but this maintenance can give you less headaches in the future. DSG Service must be taken seriously or else it's going to cost you.

Hit the nail on the head. It’s all about owner ignorance and neglect. When buying a car weather it’s new or used people should do their research. 👍

I have been doing research on my next car and have been wanting something fun and reliable I kept on getting suggestions for the VW gti and never wanted to due to reliability. But the more people told me how unreliable they are and when I asked them why are they unreliable they would only say that I would find out if I buy one. Well here I am getting ready to buy one and you were the last bit of convincing I needed so thank you. I am now subscribed to you

Apr tunes are proven off the shelf great power for just a tune 96 hp gains and large gains in fuel economy also

Thank you for the information my dude, I'm buying one myself and this was very helpful!

Excellent video - only suggestion I have is maybe produce future videos farther away from highways to avoid traffic noise in the background. I saw a 2013 GTI today & found this video quite helpful - thank you.

As my first car to buy out of college with a career job I wanted a mk5 gti like yours but I couldn't find a good one. I had 2 in sight but had them looked by a mechanic before the buy and the problems with the car were too great. I ended up getting a two year old 2015 gti. Like the car, I have an apr stage 1 on it and a borla cat back. It's fast but you get used to the speed of a car pretty quick. The issues I had were clutches. A stock clutch will eventually go out with a tune. I got a stage 2 clutch but went out pretty quick like 20,000 miles. My tuning shop said they were getting reports on the kit they were using being faulty and waived the labor on the second one. The first one never fit on really well, it was sourced from a TTRS but driveability was pretty bad clutch wise. The new one I got I got is great but a clutch change is in the range of 1k-2k. Other issue was that the car was going into limp mode periodically, but go back to normal after a restart. Ended up being a water pump, and temperature sensors. Problem was fixed that was like 1000 dollars. I get it maintenanced at least once a year but I'd consider this cars cost to maintain a year for a tuned gti to be like $1000. And I just drive LA traffic and drive pretty chill imo.

Thanks for the pointers 👍.

This video hits the bullseye! Great information and on point about how to keep your car reliable. I made an appointment with my Honda dealer to have the timing belt service done tomorrow. It’s $1500, but they are using a discount coupon to reduce the price to $1300👍🏽👊🏽

Iv beat on mine over 3 years 65,000 miles total 150,ooo miles several different mods an tunes daily drive ....only problems iv had is changing cam follower zero problems or break down

I got mine last year in the end of the year, its a 2006 2.0 manual and i can tell you having a fun, and fairly reliable car is worth it. I got lucky and mine doesnt have any dash lights and hasnt had a issue yet, the guy took good car of it, its at 156k miles now and its running good, i will be replacing the belt, cam follower and trans fluid soon

Good video. But $30 for an oil filter? The Mann ones are $9. The actual Volkswagen brand ones are $14.

Great common sense approach. Thanks for a great video.

Looking to get a GTI, either mk6 or 7 depending on the pricing. Been doing my research on these and just couldn't really understand why there's such a love/hate relationship regarding these cars and their reliability. Your vid has definitely helped because most are honestly discouraging regarding these vehicles

what a GOOD HECKIN DOGGO also The GTI I own has been driven for about 10 years and has almost 250,000 miles. So far it has not let me down. That's all I can say. Still handles well, and it can do hill climb type runs without exploding lol and it's still stock (except I think the previous owner got new springs or some shit idk) good stock car tbh EDIT: some dumb bitch turned in front of me and totaled my car, so now you'll see me driving the Miata I just picked up. As much as I enjoyed the GTI, Miata Is Always The Answer I definitely had fun in the GTI but I already moved on once I drove the Miata for the first time. It's my favorite car rn, even bone stock. Stock Miatas are actually pretty reliable. Mine made it to Colorado from Washington which is about 1300 miles. And no problems at all. My friend's Chevy Cavalier had some problems, his automatic transmission started slipping, he had to top off oil, his coolant got brown, ect. It's on its last legs. And did I mention this Miata has 280000 miles on it? it still runs like a clock and AC still blows cold. No rust, chassis is still straight, minimal curb rash, and the only problem was the front bumper (it was a little banged up) and the soft top (back window fell in) which is why it was so cheap But the GTI was more practical than the Miata I'll be honest. But you really can't go wrong with a rwd manual with limited slip and damn near 50/50 weight distribution.

so im deciding to get a gti mainly because i want to learn manual,im not sure if this is a good idea because of the maintenance required.do yall think its worth it ?

Thanks 4 sharing

I had a mk6. It’s the best I’ve ever had. Comfy, sporty, and economical; however, it broke at 80k miles with all kinds of problems. One after the other. It was maintained to the T and no mods. Went back to Honda ep3 and considering a fiesta st. I can “afford” the euro tax with these cars, but I refuse to. It’s just not worth it. It’s like paying 1 dollar for a 10 cent pen. Can you afford 1 dollar? Sure, but it’s a 10 cent pen.

It's good looking!

This is a very informative video but also very misleading. When you talk about "maintenance", I assumed you were referring to taking the car somewhere to be serviced? Prices change DRASTICALLY based off wether you do your own maintenance or not. Rotors may be $50 for a Honda as well as a VW however, mechanics are going to try to screw you just because you have a Euro car.

For the MK6 GTI, would 110,000 miles be a bit too high and lead to a tail of issues or are they reliable beyond 100,000? Car I'm looking at has regular service records for its whole life span.

Volkswagen GTI are certainly not for everyone. I’ve been through 1 it was a stage 2.. drove it until the turbo blew which was expect cuz it hit 120,000 than the tow truck that came and picked it up dropped it and totaled it. I than went out and bought a brand new 2021 GTI I love it. Love it . I already went full stage 2 apr with zero issues and it’s been through 15k miles. On road trips and back. No problems. But maintenance is key to these cars, cannot stress that enough. I don’t trust what the car rates for like a 10k miles oil change I do it around 5k and constantly check coolant and other fluids. Other than that, it’s a great reliable car. I would rate it a solid 8/10 because it’s not for everybody and they are not perfect but in the right hands they can last 200k+

So I saved myself 1500 dollars by doing the timing belt service myself.. I also did the timing chain and cam follower took me almost a week to complete

By changing the timing belt Did he mean 1,500 for like someone installing for you or what? Bc i never heard of a timing belt being that much to replace

You have a clean mk5 my dude 👌

As an owner of a Mk5 GTI manual for 16 years, I can tell you that they are super reliable!

I'm getting a 2007 gti in about a month and this helps

Thank you for the insightful video. Do GTI drivers take them to the dealership to get them serviced or do they take them to a local mechanic? I've heard stories about how unlike Honda/Toyota, you should take them to the dealership due to the complexity of German vehicles. I am unsure how true this is.

**2.0t doesnt have a timing belt if i rem correctly.. pretty sure its a timing chain, though the tensioners are of the utmost importance..

Got mine used and boy did I learn my lesson, spent 3k repairing it after owning it for 4 months

Im thinking about getting a 2007 gti. Its used and has a little over 100k miles on it & based on its carfax, it doesnt look to have had a lot of problems. not a lot has been replaced expect ignition coils at around 40k miles & the battery a couple years ago. What does anyone recommend? Is it worth considering buying?

my B6 A4 has been reliable, but when something does break... its not the cheapest. also cheaper to do the work yourself

Hey buddy just came across your video, is it still a reliable car ? I am planning on getting one next week same exact color and spec 2008 like yours driven 70,000miles and got service records ad well. Would appreciate your reply

Should I be worried about buying one with 88k miles on it? It's a 2016

Bought my 2008 Gti 3 years ago with 80k miles on it and haven't had any issues besides janky wiring and sensors

What up Lethbridge.

My automatic voltswagon gti hatchback takes a second to get into drive but idk what it is, maybe shift box.

parts 100+labor for timingbelt max 200euros, most parts are now so cheap, like brake discs and etc. front kit is 240+

You've listed all the reasons why not to purchase this (& all European) vehicles, Ravi Peiris M.D.

is a 2.0 08 with 92k miles for $7,000 cool?

Excellent video and so informative! Thanks for all your tips and information. I love this car but I too have heard all the reliability issues. Are you on Instagram? Thanks a lot!

I drive about 30k miles a year. I would have to replace the cam followers 3 times a year? That's ridiculous. I bought a used 2018 GTI and I love it but I wanted to downgrade because I view money differently now, but I want to stick with a GTI. Looks like MK5 is off the table. Thats bad engineering. Parts are probably a lot cheaper for my made in Mexico GTI too.

When well maintained they are reliable tanks

My stock 07 TSX kills MK7s easy, modded ones too. This old One wouldn't stand a chance. All I have is a 4 inch custom intake and straight pipe not even tuned haha.

"I was blown away by the detail of the maintenance schedule." It's a German car. When it comes to documentation, Germany's a bit anal about leaving no stone unturned. They will write *everything* down, especially when it comes to this sort of thing.

Quick get rid of it!!! GTI's are total crap!!! I owned a MK6 GTI and as it aged, stuff started to go wrong. Windows, DSG, suspension. It ended up at 90,000klm needing new pistons, conrods and rings. Never abused and always maintained. So don't think maintenance is going to save you.....

I was looking for a GTI MK5 or Ford Mustang 2006 V6, but, well, Mustang won this one.

DOOOOGGG

Better options than a GTI: -Mazdaspeed3 -Focus ST -Civic Si

I think mk5 is the most reliable model compare to new generation

Is it realible? Wtf

Holy shit 1500 for a timing belt , here in Europe its like 350 euros the most

The price of the parts can’t be that bad lol (I own a bmw)

Wow you really like the word cliche

This convinced me not to get it. Too much hassle

I don’t want vw anymore…civic it is

Short answer no, just pour some money into it and you will probably be fine

Toyota corolla no1 reliability

You have 100% convinced me to avoid Volkswagen

Let me answer your question: No

An canadian saying European cars are unreliable is funny

My K20 TSX is so fast and so light. Haha slow GTi

So he says, to get a Volkswagen to last you have to take great care of it. Sounds like a high maintenance piece of s*** wife who needs to be pampered in order to stay with you. Thanks but no thanks, I'll stick with Toyota. 😂