robby

well after 6 weeks with the bugeye (3rd scoob) it's time to say goodbye

niggly problems have put me off so it's back to the vag group (yeah i know - dodgy coilpacks, mafs, etc)

i've just bought a mk5 Golf GT 2.0fsi which was the smoothest car i've driven in years and was so quiet - decided it was worth buying
surprising thing was changing the insurance today it is only £180 cheaper than the wrx?????????????

ah well 30+mpg to look forward to

Klaatu

It won't last long, have a look at the MkV section of uk-mkivs.

robby

i did - hasn't put me off though

chris n`nic

A friend of mine has a mk5 Gti and they seem very nice and as you say very smooth. He has made a couple of small mods (filter and remap) which have made it a very quick motor (245bhp but 299ftlb) and also the std exhaust has a very nice note to it.

Enjoy

Chris

MooseRacer

I have a mk5 gti with same mods as above - makes for a quick enough motor, great to live with and an enjoyable drive with decent handling (not just grip like most recent vw's).

robby

cheers - unfortunately i could only afford the GT FSI (non turbo) - nippy enough though

Klaatu

Good luck, you might have been lucky and found a good motor.

MooseRacer

I take it from your contribution to VW threads you've had a bad experience?

Klaatu

If you look at the "What's the most reliable car you've owned" thread you'll see VW's, Golfs in particular, rate poorly. Yeah I had a Golf for 12 months, with petrol prices the way they are, I figured a 2wd, fwd car would be best. But no, it was nasty. Ok, so maybe I got a bad one, but one so bad that it had almost all the most common faults and problems, less economy than an AWD Subaru, no traction and stupid replacement part prices, a MAF $520 plus GST...and these are known bad MAFs. I spent 12 months reading the UK MKIVs site and discovered there are so many quality and reliability issues with VW's that I chose to get rid of it and return to Subaru. I am aware Subaru's have their problems too...just not so many. I had 4 Subarus over 10 years with only one temp sender needing replacement, the Golf had more problems in 12 months than all the other cars over 10 years.

lestippp

People who have bad experiences will shout louder than those who don't.

I ran a mkIV R32 for 18 months, 6 of them out of warranty and whilst spares are expensive, this is the best car I have owned. That includes my current 05 STi PPP (which is awesome by the way!).

Don't let one persons misfortune put you off as there are no perfect cars out there, no matter what anyone says. Just look on other threads here for Subaru's that are breaking down. These are machines after all and they can be dogs, no matter the marque.

Klaatu has recommended "French" cars over German (on another thread) and, for me, that says it all. French cars are the worst by miles
If you want build quality, reliability, performance and prestige you must go for German or Japanese... fact

Matteeboy

Over the years (25 in fact) me and my immediate family have run at least a dozen Golfs - Mk1, 2, 3 and 4, small engined up to mk4 R32 - all have been very very reliable.

Lesti - My mk4 R32 was actually a little bit troublesome. Nothing too bad (needed an ECU upgrade, squeaky dash, rattly brake mounts and some other minor bits) but a bit annoying. Still loved it though.

Guess it's luck of the draw in many ways.

Klaatu

Well, OK, granted, I was a little hasty to suggest French made and upon reflection, when I contracted for a French maker in Swindon I got to drive the two of their line up, rather than clock up miles on my Audi 80 V6 Avant, and they were horrible, especially at anything over 70mph up and down the M4.

I also contracted at the Honda plant, can vouch for their cars indeed. While I worked there I had to fix a Japanese PS/2 which ran a machine testing engine bearing shells. I had to count the number of keystrokes to setup the BIOS etc as i, obviously, could not read Kanji. I then watched the operator use the system to test the bearings. He had to test two sets of shells, and had two programs on separate diskette to do it. He used to power off the PS/2, replace the diskette and then power it back on. Did this for every batch and type of bearing shells. I showed him ho to use the CTRL-ALT-DEL buttons. He was totally blown away with what I'd shown him, poor lad, increased his productivity by about 1000% not having to wait for the PC to cold boot all the time. LOL

BTW, it's a myth German made cars are the best. MK V Golfs, I understand, are made in South Africa.

Not sure it's luck of the draw either. So far my 5 Subarus have proven to be more reliable than 1 Golf.

Matteeboy

I think Jap cars are undoubtedly the best made. Shame they seem to not like making enough big block fun cars to drive.
I reckon German were a very good bet but are no longer a "safe" option.

Italian and French are still very risky but they can be fine.

You have had 5 good Subarus, we have had 12 good Golfs (and at least 6 non Golf VWs) but when advising mates on cars choices these days, I look at each manufacturer on merit. I even recommend Fords to many people!

MooseRacer

You used to highly recommend Astra diesels lol

Matteeboy

I still do.
But I won't get another one.

But then I tend to have a broad minded, balanced approach to motoring, unlike badge muppets like you.

Just look at the "most reliable" car thread. All sorts of "suprises" there with old Rover giving a damn good showing.

MooseRacer

Badge muppets? What on earth makes you think I'm that?

Nothing surprising about old Rover's with Honda engines being reliable....

Matteeboy

Slating an Astra with no reasoning at all.
It's been very good but I'm not getting another car that dies at 39k rpm, even though it was sorted under warranty.
Other than that it handles well, grips well, has very good brakes, is quick, uses very little fuel, can take very large loads easily, can even be slept in (in an emergency...), still looks fresh and is better screwed together inside than my old R32 Golf.

BMW next I think.

MooseRacer

Don't think I slated it at all?

Your Astra suffering a premature engine failure when hundreds of thousands don't is pretty irrelevant to anything...but is obviously a sore point as a little lighthearted mickey taking seems to have provoked a rather ott response

Matteeboy

So just a bit of trolling then?
Hilarious

MooseRacer

Hardly trolling . I must say though, you're proving yourself to be an excellent target for someone who wanted to.

Chillout a little. I imagine the weather is as good in Cornwall as it is here, so go and take a few deep breaths

Once you have....what BMW are you thinking of getting?

Matteeboy

Probably a 3 series touring.

I am chilled. Perhaps a little sensitive following recent events.

MooseRacer

No worries

Klaatu

In the days when Rover was owned by Honda, all the goodies like engines, emgine management and transmissions were supplied by Honda, so I am not surprised to see a few here. Rover used to press the body panels for Honda, and at the time I was at the plant, Honda rejected about 80% of what was delivered. They then installed their own pressing plant, quite an impressive machine, to deliver the quality they wanted. That was in 1993/1994.