Mark 5 GTI - problem!

Molly1

Hi, I bought a brand new GTI, delighted with it, until this morning:( I was in 1st gear and the car just died on me! I had to get it towed to the garage, once before I've had it to the garage because I thought it wasn't starting properly, they told me there was nothing wrong with it! I think they thought because I was a girl i didn't have a clue! Basically I'm freaked out now as I'm wondering is the car jinxed.... Has this happened to any other Golf owners?
Thanks:rolleyes:

Big Balls

hi Molly.. where did you buy your car and who did you bring the car to?

Can you describe the problem a bit more specifically?

Molly1

Bought it in Bradys Castleknock, have bought cars there before and found them good. I had an A3 before this... and found it fab! My Golf has always seemed slow to start, however they told me this is the case with the engine... then this morning was coming out the drive in first gear and it stopped accelerating and lost power... it's now in their service dept! Thanks for your help;)

Big Balls

Seems weird. Had a few GTIs myself and they never did that so I wouldn't buy the slow to start thing tbh.

Not nice in a brand new car but they are a fab car so hopefully they will sort it for you.

At least it's not in MSL Pottery Rd!!!

JoeA3

Hi Molly,
I collected a new GTI myself a few weeks ago (I also had an A3 prior to this!), sorry to hear you have trouble already.

Are you sure the car just didn't cut out as you were moving away in 1st gear? Although, re-reading your post it seems unlikely to be that simple. I know when I got mine, I found the clutch a little different to the audi, and stalled it once or twice the 1st couple of days

antodeco

is the car revving abnormally?! Does it idle fine when its in neutral?

junkyard

Latest VW's are giving endless problems, I spoke to an AA man the other day and he told me that if he got a euro for every time he towed a VW he could retire. Most of the problems seem to be electrical but quite a few mechanical ones too. A friend of mine is a service manager in a main dealers and he says the grief he getting lately over the new Passat and Golf is unbelievable, he's even considering moving to another brand. Its a terrible pity really when you consider the reputation they had. They don't use the "as reliable as a Volkswagen" one any more. Is it any wonder, it seems to me that VW are going down the same road Mercedes-Benz went down, you would think they would have learned by the mistakes Mercedes made.

whippet

is it the manual or the DSG gearbox?

I don't want to hear any horror stories .. i have only a few weeks before I get delivery of mine !

$Leon$

junkyard wrote:

Latest VW's are giving endless problems, I spoke to an AA man the other day and he told me that if he got a euro for every time he towed a VW he could retire.

The reason he's towing alot of VW recently is because AA are now providing the VW breakdown assistance since last June. Before that it was Mondial

beerbaron

junkyard wrote:

I spoke to an AA man the other day and he told me that if he got a euro for every time he towed a VW he could retire.

I assume the AA man is now retired.

Was he towing the VW's for free ?

Big Balls

Guys take old Junky with a pinch of salt.. he's the most anti VW/Merc/Audi member on the forum.

"Considering moving brands"... I've never known grown men to be so dramatic.

Lex Luthor

$Leon$ wrote:

The reason he's towing alot of VW recently is because AA are now providing the VW breakdown assistance since last June. Before that it was Mondial

but they must be providing it for a reason

I've heard mixed stories about Bradys

For them to say to you there is nothing wrong, would be swiftly followed by "until you find out what is exactly wrong, you can give me a replacement car and call me when you're ready and if I lose any more work days becuase of this, I'll kick your a$$ all the way down the N3"

rant over

JoeA3

yes, I thought junkyards comments were also OTT (I've driven VW/Audi's for several years without any problems), but thought it wasn't worth the bother counter-arguing...

$Leon$

Lex Luthor wrote:

but they must be providing it for a reason

Mondials contract was up. AA won the new contract. Simple as. Every car manufactrer has a contract with someone to provide breakdown assistance to their new cars.

Lex Luthor

$Leon$ wrote:

Mondials contract was up. AA won the new contract. Simple as. Every car manufactrer has a contract with someone to provide breakdown assistance to their new cars.

but I bet the RAC are not half as busy as the AA towing Toyotas...

VW have moved away from the old reliable VW's to the tough VW's

AlanD

$Leon$ wrote:

The reason he's towing alot of VW recently is because AA are now providing the VW breakdown assistance since last June. Before that it was Mondial

I've also been speaking to some AA folks and apparantly as a business deal, taking on VW wasn't such a bright idea. For what VW pay the AA for the cover, there are more cars being towed by the AA than is paid for by VW. Before any of you maths experts out there jump on this, the deal isn't as simple as VW paying for each and every car, they would pay for a portion of their cars and provide cover on them all, assuming they all don't break down. But more are breaking down than expected.

In the industry, VW Passats are giving a lot of grief....actually so too is the newer Polo, but the Golf aint so bad.

Oh and interestingly enough, the usual breakdown culprit, the Laguna, doesn't appear on the back of trucks near as often as they used to. Passat is the flat bed truck king, I'm afraid.

junkyard

Big Balls wrote:

Guys take old Junky with a pinch of salt.. he's the most anti VW/Merc/Audi member on the forum.

"Considering moving brands"... I've never known grown men to be so dramatic.

Its the new VW's and Merc's I'm hearing have all the problems. I'm not anti-Audi, I have an S8, six mk2 Golfs and a 67 Beetle. I loved them when they made decent cars but they're far from that now.

Molly1

Hi Everyone, thanks for the replies. It gets worse, they contacted me today from the garage to say they can't find anything wrong... to quote them 'it's like finding a needle in a haystack'... i'm about to blow a gasgit (wrong spelling?)!! I can see this getting really nasty. And i love my car sooo much!! Will let you know how I get on. Thanks again

MercMad

Exactly how old is this car, and how many miles are on it ??

blastman

I'd tell them to keep looking for that needle.

Molly1

It's Jan '07, 4,800 kms on the clock! General Manager has taken it now to drive it... it's a joke!

JoeA3

Molly, you have my every sympathy, I've had a similar experience with a previous car, and it used to wreck my head knowing these monkeys were cruising around in my car, and then telling me nothing was wrong! I dread ever bringing any car back to a dealer since.
Hope you get it sorted.

Molly1

Hi JoeA3, what happened with your car? You still have it?

JoeA3

It was a Ford Focus Molly, long since sold!
The problem I had was whenever there was heavy rain, the engine would lose power anytime I drove it through even small puddles! Dealer never really fixed it properly, always claimed it was "normal"!

Mr.B

Hi Molly,

I have a Jan 2006 Gti. When I turn the key in the ignition it is slow to react, but does start. I've since found out this is normal. Also another common problem with the Gti's is that when you turn the key nothing happens, so you have to unturn it and try agian and it'll start fine. This one happens me regularly. This is not a problem, just annoying. I did a lot of research on www.tyresmoke.net which has a lot of helpful guys and girls who own Gti's and I learned that the Gti is not the bombproof car its made out to be. But in saying that, I've never had any real problems that need attention and I love the car to bits. As for cutting out, I've never heard of that problem in a Gti.

el diablo

keep us updated please, Molly. and good luck....

Mr.Diagnostic

Lex Luthor wrote:

but they must be providing it for a reason

I've heard mixed stories about Bradys

For them to say to you there is nothing wrong, would be swiftly followed by "until you find out what is exactly wrong, you can give me a replacement car and call me when you're ready and if I lose any more work days becuase of this, I'll kick your a$$ all the way down the N3"

rant over

Jeezzz you are a hard man........I wouldnt want to work on a car for you

Molly1

Update... guy from garage called around on Sat morning to say the car was slow to start... but interestingly when i dropped it into the garage there was ,4800 kms approx on it... now it has well over 5,000 kms on it... they must be driving it around a lot!!! have to ring them today, so will see how i get on... have a mazda 6 as the replacement car....:o

craichoe

This is exactly why I won't buy a new car .... you drive it out of the showroom and you've instantly lost a big whack of cash on the resale value. At least when you buy second hand all the niggles have been worked out.

Although with everyone buying new cars it's creating a great second hand market

whippet

craichoe wrote:

This is exactly why I won't buy a new car .... you drive it out of the showroom and you've instantly lost a big whack of cash on the resale value. At least when you buy second hand all the niggles have been worked out.

Although with everyone buying new cars it's creating a great second hand market

Also with a second hand car you can get other people's clutch abuse, stone chips, hidden body work repair, compressed farts in the seats, choice of options, their maintenance schedule, cigarette smoke stains, wear and tear, clocked mileage etc ...

It's all about choice, personally with my new car I looked a buying second hand and after weighing up the options I decided to order a new one as I could dictate the exact spec level and know that the car I am buying wasn't abused.

I probably could have kept looking around for the 'perfect' example on the second hand market but for me it wasn't worth it.

Molly1

whippet wrote:

Also with a second hand car you can get other people's clutch abuse, stone chips, hidden body work repair, compressed farts in the seats, choice of options, their maintenance schedule, cigarette smoke stains, wear and tear, clocked mileage etc ...

It's all about choice, personally with my new car I looked a buying second hand and after weighing up the options I decided to order a new one as I could dictate the exact spec level and know that the car I am buying wasn't abused.

I probably could have kept looking around for the 'perfect' example on the second hand market but for me it wasn't worth it.

I am with you on this Whippet! That's why i bought a new one....

Update from garage... still can't find anything wrong!! But this afternoon they told me they are going to look at the car the 'conventional' way ie not hooked up to a computer.......!

JoeA3

I'm with you Whippet to a large extent. I had a look at some 2nd hand stuff (looking for a runabout for the missus) over the weekend, and the money dealers are looking for for some truly shabby cars beggars belief.
Even newer stuff not good - I saw some '05 MINI's going for 25K-ish, every panel scratched and/or dinged! Maybe I'm particular...!