Need some help buying my first Polo GTI

[Nobble]

Hi guys,

Am very close to buying my first Polo GTI - I've narrowed it down to two vehicles and am struggling to make my mind up which one I should get. It would greatly assist my sanity if some existing owners could give me some guidance as to what might be a better choice. I'm well aware at the end of the day it's all about personal preference but would love to hear your opinions.

My choices are either a newer 2013 polo gti with the new CTHE motor or a 2012 with the CAVE motor but with more accessories. Do accessories make the polo more desirable and easier to resell? Could these be more favourable than a car with lower mileage? Assuming both cars are in excellent condition. Which would be more desirable? Are the sunroof and park sensors quite sought after or am i better off buying the 'newer' CTHE engine?

I'm aware of the possible oil and dsg issues - I guess is's hard to know whether either will have a problem though??

Vehicle 1 is $1500 more expensive
White Polo GTI 2013 (registered april 2013)
CTHE motor
9000km
Xenon Lighting package
Just over 2 years of warranty remaining

Vehicle 2
White Polo GTI 2012 (registered Feb 2012)
CAVE motor
26,000km
Xenon lighting package
Glass sunroof
Park sensors
About 6 months warranty left
Is there an easy way to check if this car is a MY12 vs a MY11.5? (Check the screen lighting of the climacontrol?)

Which would you choose? Please help if you can. I'm so stuck between the two and cant make my mind up.

Thanks
Rob

[Hillbilly]

Hi guys,

Am very close to buying my first Polo GTI - I've narrowed it down to two vehicles and am struggling to make my mind up which one I should get. It would greatly assist my sanity if some existing owners could give me some guidance as to what might be a better choice. I'm well aware at the end of the day it's all about personal preference but would love to hear your opinions.

My choices are either a newer 2013 polo gti with the new CTHE motor or a 2012 with the CAVE motor but with more accessories. Do accessories make the polo more desirable and easier to resell? Could these be more favourable than a car with lower mileage? Assuming both cars are in excellent condition. Which would be more desirable? Are the sunroof and park sensors quite sought after or am i better off buying the 'newer' CTHE engine?

I'm aware of the possible oil and dsg issues - I guess is's hard to know whether either will have a problem though??

Vehicle 1 is $1500 more expensive
White Polo GTI 2013 (registered april 2013)
CTHE motor
9000km
Xenon Lighting package
Just over 2 years of warranty remaining

Vehicle 2
White Polo GTI 2012 (registered Feb 2012)
CAVE motor
26,000km
Xenon lighting package
Glass sunroof
Park sensors
About 6 months warranty left
Is there an easy way to check if this car is a MY12 vs a MY11.5? (Check the screen lighting of the climacontrol?)

Which would you choose? Please help if you can. I'm so stuck between the two and cant make my mind up.

Thanks
Rob

Buy the first one Look on the build sticker will tell you the build date and compliance date The Build date defines the model

[CID84G]

Re "Do accessories make the polo more desirable and easier to resell?"
That's kinda subjective, some people swears by parking sensors, but you can always retrofit it yourself at a later date. The dealer fitted system is a non camera type if I remember correctly.
If it's down to me, I would take the one with lower milage / CTHE engine car & most importantly 2 years warranty just for the peace of mind.

[someon3]

1st car for sure, when it's only $1500 different for the lower mileage, and newer engine. Just make sure the warranty is transfer-able to you.

Who need parking sensor these days

[ATYPIC]

There might be a typically good reason why the owner of vehicle #1 has chosen to sell it after only 9000km. However, on the most part, the decision to purchase any new car is generally a planned one at that. So to purchase it, only to go and sell it that soon tells me the owner was unhappy. Unhappy with performance? Probably not. Unhappy with reliability? Most likely.

From what I've concluded across three years of ownership, most GTI owners are quite satisfied with the general 'performance' aspect of this vehicle, but many become easily dissatisfied when things begin to go wrong.

Make of that what you will but I don't believe you will benefit any more from choosing the CTHE with 9000km over the CAVE engine, which if chosen you could always use the $1500 you saved on extending the warranty.

[CID84G]

There might be a typically good reason why the owner of vehicle #1 has chosen to sell it after only 9000km. However, on the most part, the decision to purchase any new car is generally a planned one at that. So to purchase it, only to go and sell it that soon tells me the owner was unhappy. Unhappy with performance? Probably not. Unhappy with reliability? Most likely.

From what I've concluded across three years of ownership, most GTI owners are quite satisfied with the general 'performance' aspect of this vehicle, but many become easily dissatisfied when things begin to go wrong.

Make of that what you will but I don't believe you will benefit any more from choosing the CTHE with 9000km over the CAVE engine, which if chosen you could always use the $1500 you saved on extending the warranty.

Yes, that makes sense. On the face of it it was a no brainer if the difference was only 1500, but you would think the owner of the 26000km / 2years old would have all the problem fixed by now.

[equiped]

Get the older one with the options but negotiate on price. Buy 3 yr Allianz New Car Warranty and it should be sweet

[Nobble]

There might be a typically good reason why the owner of vehicle #1 has chosen to sell it after only 9000km. However, on the most part, the decision to purchase any new car is generally a planned one at that. So to purchase it, only to go and sell it that soon tells me the owner was unhappy. Unhappy with performance? Probably not. Unhappy with reliability? Most likely.

From what I've concluded across three years of ownership, most GTI owners are quite satisfied with the general 'performance' aspect of this vehicle, but many become easily dissatisfied when things begin to go wrong.

Make of that what you will but I don't believe you will benefit any more from choosing the CTHE with 9000km over the CAVE engine, which if chosen you could always use the $1500 you saved on extending the warranty.

Thanks for all the responses so far, at the moment I'm steering towards the older car and negotiating an extended warranty. I love the look of the sunroof and I haven't see many gti s with them, especially in white.

i've done a bit of reading on the two engines but it still seems like a dark art when comparing the two of them. I've read there's a lot of internal changes but no one seems to really be able to say for sure that it's a better engine. By the sounds of it the cave engine is just as good and just as reliable.

With regard to oil use is there any tips on how to find out consumption history? Should I really worry? Calling the dealer who serviced the car? Asking the dealer to contact the owners and ask them?