Golf GTI buyers guide MK7 & MK7.5 (2013-2020) Avoid buying broken VW GTI with common faults (2.0TSI)

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I have a 2018 7.5 GTI, bought new, manual transmission with 45k, and I haven't had a single problem with it. It does stay in a garage and I drive it easy, probably has to do with my age. I love this car, plan to keep it, and think VW nailed it with this car.

I bought a 2015 SE GTI 3 months ago. I’ve put 7k miles on it already (it’s my daily as you can see). No issues besides the squealing noise from when I have the heat on (probably blower motor as you mentioned). I’m at 62k miles and I love the car! Awesome video as well, lots of great info!

Oil leaks are pretty common IMO. Camshaft Adjuster magnet and the Upper Timing Chain cover are the usual suspects, but you can buy replacement gaskets for pretty cheap it's just hard to get any tools in this area as there is not much space. I would recommend anyone stick there head in and under the vehicle for any oil leak residue near the left side of engine.

I recently bought a 2018 Mk7.5 manual GTI 4 door with only 21000km. Final year with the manual option. It has the infotainment pack, I'm not sure if that was standard in Australia. Good thing is that it has dual direct and port fuel injection. I think port injection was deleted in the 2019 year. A manual 7.5 with port injection and later production turbo is in something of a sweet spot. Engine is turbine-smooth, returns 16km/l, 45mpg on the highway. Without the safety pack, I didn't get adaptive cruise, but adaptive seems to displace the speed limit function, which I do use now and then. With the light clutch, smooth shifting and turbo torque this car is very enjoyable to drive. I'm certainly going to change the engine oil every 6 months, not leave it to 15000km as VW recommends. IanB

Great video thank you for this info, i now own mk 7.5 and after watching this video i didn't pick the one with sunroof 😄

Super useful video. Thank you.

Water leaking through the rear speakers is very common with all Mk7 Golfs. You can re-seal them yourself but a dealer will replace the speakers if it's still under warranty. I've also had the 5F infotainment unit in the glovebox fail on me. Fortunately replaced under extended warranty but it would have cost me £2,300 out of pocket.

Had mine 2 years and put 13k miles on it and it's been a great car other than having the drivers door latch replaced as the auto door lock didn't know if it was open or locked and kept clunking, replaced under warranty 👍🏼

Such an awesome car but I would only buy one as a second car not a daily. Test drive a dsg 2013 and a 6 speed 2017 I was in love lol.

Great video! "Cracked mounting bracket on door speaker" - I will say that I have also seen many with no cracks and just bad speaker seal. The seal is known to go bad and cause this leak. Had to replace both of mine and re-seal.

I have a 2018 GTI 7.5 manual from new. Love it and do not plan on selling any time soon. My faults are 1. Occasional radio head unit blacks out. Seems to be a common fault with other GTI's. 2. Fade red trim in head lights (could be Australian sun). 3. Noise in roof (sunroof) very faint, however. 4. Seats at seams have minor tear/rip. Even in rear where no one sits. Only once per week do I fold back seats down. I only have 60,000 km and am gentle getting in and out. But I love the car. All else good.

AC line rubbing on the compressor mount. Seen a few failures due to this in our mom and pop shop.

Great video! Thinking if getting one in the new year!

As with every review I have see discussing the MK 7.5 GTI (which I own one in Canada) , they all fail ro mention that you can easily fully defeat traction control on the MK 7, but sadly not on the MK 7.5. I would know, I suffered the disappointment tuning mine stage one and then one plus only to be hamstrung by the godawful highly intrusive traction/stability control. I thought if I just waited another year someone would Crack it......but that never, and has never, happened. My 4 year lease ended and I only had a 18350 buyout price, and knowledge they were selling my 2018 model used on the lot for 33-34k, so buying it was a no-brainer. I bought it and decided I would stage two it ro see if the extra power might somehow overwhelm the anti-fun controls, and, it did make quite a difference. But I must admit I did stage two exu and tcu tunes.So, now you know why you see no-one posting MK 7.5 GTI dragsteip times as fast as MK 7 ones. It's the undefeated traction and stability control. Unfortunately things things happen and may never be resolved, but you can have a really quick car that will run about 13 seconds in the quarter mile. And you'll have no problems roll-racing people who runs 12. Had to say this because most people whom buy a used GTI mode it.

Noticed the clutch “just” handles the power……and sometimes doesn’t even do that if you’re really horsing it on. But apart from that….the car is perfect. Only issue so far was driver side window stopped working……was the spring in the button on the master window controller……got one for W tenner, fitted myself in half an hour, apart from that, these golds seem bulletproof, just change the oil religiously every 8-10 thousand miles along with filter and it’ll last a lifetime

Early gti models have a 6 speed and face-lift 7 speed. People prefer the 6 speed as they say 7 speed feels sluggish

I'm still weighing my options right now. (It's between a mk7/7.5 GTI or a Mk6 R). These seem like they aren't as much of a headache so they're looking really appealing right now. Even though I'd be getting it as a daily and the DCT makes more sense in every way on paper, I know I want the manual MQ250 so I guess I'll need a clutch if I get one lol! But I gotta keep building my t-chart before I come to a conclusion 😂. This was super helpful for compiling info though! It seems you guys suggest that I should be looking for an example built after 2017 due to the recall, and turbo issue if I want my search to be easier.

I’m looking into a 2018 golf gti manual, what are some problems that these cars have and how’s the reliability hold up on this car is it worth buying, I’m going to be driving far for college and I need to make sure it can handle daily long drives

Had no problems with my 7.5 performance manual, had it from new . 4 years old now 20,000 mls give it some right hammer every now & then never missed a beat, think 1 thing you forgot to mention that stupid bag in coolant expansion tank that can split & cost fortune to repair , took mine out