Polo GTI 6C buying advice

[Dave30]

Hey everyone,
(sorry if this has been covered before, if it has just drop me in the link)

I'm looking at buying a GTI to upgrade from my 2004 forester and was just hoping to get some advice from the folks who'd know best.


-When I go looking at cars are there any red flags I specifically need to look out for?

-Is there a point where the KMs are too high and I might start to find problems?

-What's the leg/headroom like for the driver? I'm 6'4 will I actually fit?

-Any other tips or advice would be much appreciated


I've got about $25,000 to spend, want to get an auto and I don't do a whole lot of KMs but want something fun to get around in when I do

Cheers,
Dave

[Lucas_R]

With that budget i guess you will be looking for a circa 2015-2016 model with the 1.8T engine.

These engines are quite good (smaller capacity version of the engine in the Golf GTI and R with a smaller turbo), but the DSG (auto) gearbox used in these is a dud. I would highly recommend getting a manual transmission, or a different car if you must have auto.

They have all sorts of dramas with these transmissions.

[Dave30]

With that budget i guess you will be looking for a circa 2015-2016 model with the 1.8T engine.

These engines are quite good (smaller capacity version of the engine in the Golf GTI and R with a smaller turbo), but the DSG (auto) gearbox used in these is a dud. I would highly recommend getting a manual transmission, or a different car if you must have auto.

They have all sorts of dramas with these transmissions.

Ah damn, that's disapointing. Thanks for the heads up

[Lucas_R]

What about either of the following (assuming your budget is between $20-25k)

- VW Scirocco. These are great looking cars and the auto (DSG) used in these is much better than the Polo: carsales.com.au

- VW Golf GTI Mk6. Either the normal GTI or the rare Edition 35 GTI. If you get the regular GTI make sure its built after 2012 as they revised the troublesome timing chain and tensioner. The special Edition 35 uses the engine from a Golf R (different engine and bigger turbo).

- VW Golf R Mk6. Great cars but with your budget the only ones available have 100,000km +.

[doc_777]

We’ve had two cars in our household with the ‘dud’ DSG and never had an issue with either.

my son has a 6C Polo GTi DSG and loves it. Very good car. His has the glass roof which impacts headroom, but both he and I are 6’2” and neither of us have a problem with headroom at all.

Typical issues with these motors include water pump and thermostat housing. Brakes are touchy - that is just the way they are - and accelerator too. That being said, once you learn the feel of the vehicle it’s no bother. Rear suspension lacks compliance on poor surfaces, but again - you get used to it. 2016 onwards had option of electronic adjustable dampers. Great ride quality improvement when set to softer, but awfully expensive to replace when required. 2016 models also had CarPlay etc, 2015 didn’t. In some ways the 2015 vehicles were a bit of an orphan - they were a definite change over the 6R, but lacked a few minor things that the 2016 onwards 6C’s had.

[Dave30]

We’ve had two cars in our household with the ‘dud’ DSG and never had an issue with either.

my son has a 6C Polo GTi DSG and loves it. Very good car. His has the glass roof which impacts headroom, but both he and I are 6’2” and neither of us have a problem with headroom at all.

Typical issues with these motors include water pump and thermostat housing. Brakes are touchy - that is just the way they are - and accelerator too. That being said, once you learn the feel of the vehicle it’s no bother. Rear suspension lacks compliance on poor surfaces, but again - you get used to it. 2016 onwards had option of electronic adjustable dampers. Great ride quality improvement when set to softer, but awfully expensive to replace when required. 2016 models also had CarPlay etc, 2015 didn’t. In some ways the 2015 vehicles were a bit of an orphan - they were a definite change over the 6R, but lacked a few minor things that the 2016 onwards 6C’s had.

Awesome, thanks for the info! Good to hear there's plenty of headroom even with the sunroof. Absolutely looking for a 2016+ model for the android auto

[Lucas_R]

We’ve had two cars in our household with the ‘dud’ DSG and never had an issue with either.

Either you are quite a lucky person or perhaps you don't live anywhere near a city (start/stop traffic) or a hill for that matter so your clutches don't slip and burn themselves out every 5 minutes. My sister in law has a 2015 Skoda Yeti with this dud transmission and has had the clutches replaced twice and the car only has 70,000km on it. They just burn the clutches up. There are many many people on here who have had issues with these transmissions - so felt like it would be a good idea to let this person know about their inherent flaws.

[doc_777]

Either you are quite a lucky person or perhaps you don't live anywhere near a city (start/stop traffic) or a hill for that matter so your clutches don't slip and burn themselves out every 5 minutes. My sister in law has a 2015 Skoda Yeti with this dud transmission and has had the clutches replaced twice and the car only has 70,000km on it. They just burn the clutches up. There are many many people on here who have had issues with these transmissions - so felt like it would be a good idea to let this person know about their inherent flaws.

Hobart. City and far from flat. Terrible road infrastructure, and stop start traffic to and from work every day.

There are massive numbers (many hundreds of thousands I would imagine) of these vehicles worldwide fitted with the 7 speed dry clutch transmission. Sure, some people do have issues - more so than I’m sure VW would be happy with. Can only speak for my own direct experiences though - which have been flawless - as you can only speak about your indirect experience.

[Lucas_R]

as you can only speak about your indirect experience.

Thankfully i will never have direct experience as i would never buy one. So having indirect experience will have to do. Anyway best of luck with yours and hope you no longer own them when they fail.

[Sydneykid]

On the DSG's being a dud, this is our (family) 3rd VW with dry clutch DSG's and another 3 with wet clutch DSG's and the only problem in the 6 was a an electrical issue with a mechatronic unit which was replaced under warranty. Over 500k kilometres and 12 years of combined use and that's it, one electric solenoid replaced.

Personally I will never have another road car with a clutch pedal, they are to slow when I want to go fast and a PIA in traffic, I'll take the DSG every time thanks.


Cheers
Gary