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

In today's video, we are going to go over the topic of reliability. Volkswagen GTI's tend to have a perception of unreliable, in this video we talk about this topic, and I go over my opinion on whether I actually think they are. Thanks for watching!

Rob: 2008 MK5 GTI, 2004 WRX & 2008 Civic Si

[jackfrost]

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.

[OldDirtyCollector]

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. 👍

[ramanhb]

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

[Dougo]

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

[boostedmkgti]

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

[brianvieane]

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.

[WavyCarlos]

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

[MrBooyahmofo]

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

[jgbigboss]

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

[noventay]

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

[Chimera]

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.

[vincezwane]

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

[kevinhobbs]

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.

[georgev]

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.

[flyingfalcon]

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

[xelawash]

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👍🏽👊🏽

[premepurpp]

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

[cocayolaa]

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+

[cavanblack]

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.

[Tilleh]

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.