What Makes This VW Golf GTI Mk6 So Bad its Owner has Given Up German Cars for Good?

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Sounds to me like he’s bought a car that’s been stood. And inherited all the problems. Seized brake calipers isn’t a mk6 gti issue it’s a car that’s been parked a long time issue. Same with the noisy clutch and leaking stuff, seals go hard. Sounds like he’s been unlucky but buying cars based on the number on the odometer solely is not a good idea I’ve done a few times and damn you do seem to inherit the bills

Thanks Jay for the review. I drive a 2010 MK6 GTI 3dr Tornado Red too. I have owned it since 2012 and it has been my daily driver. It has 215K kms on the clock now of which I have clocked up 180K kms so I have some experience of owning one long term. I do all the mechanics myself and so this has kept costs down over the years, however, I always use genuine VW or OE parts (i.e. Sachs clutch, Bosch rear discs, ATE front discs etc.) I have kept detailed records of the extras I have had to spend. So here goes: Total costs excluding tyres for 11.5 years of ownership is €5790 (€500 per year) this includes: servicing (every 15K kms), timing chain tensioner, clutch+flywheel, 2 x wheel bearings, 4 x shocks+springs, inlet manifold, 4 x ignition coil packs, pcv valve, 4 x disc+pads, powder coating of original 17" alloys and a number of small cosmetic items No car is perfect and provided you are aware of each car/engine's foibles you can do a lot of preventative maintenance. Fingers crossed it hasn't let me down yet. I have really enjoyed driving it. My eldest learned to drive in it and hopefully, the rest of my children will learn to drive in it too.

I owned a mk5 GTI Edition 30 230hp for 7 years and it was mostly reliable. The main issue was the large amount of oil it used from new. I part exchanged it for a mk 7.5 Golf R and have never looked back. After 6 years I’ve only had a couple of minor trim issues… apart from that a rock solid daily driver. I love it…so versatile and quick. 👍🇬🇧

Test drove one of these a few years ago, my wife was so unimpressed she didn't even look up from her phone 😂

I gave up long ago on trying to buy cars based on reliability. Of all the cars I've owned the two that coat me the most money and time in maintenance are my Alfa 147 GTA and my Lexus IS200 auto. The Alfa was actully really good for about 3 years, but eventually as it started to approach 20 years old things started going wrong, and they weren't typically cheap. The lexus on the other hand gave me problems from day one and never stopped. The key difference is that the Alfa is an Alfa - you don't buy one for reliability, you buy one for joy of driving, and it fulfilled that to perfection. To this day it's still probably the most fun and enjoyable car I've ever owned, and somehow i was always able to stomach the repair bills because i knew how much joy the car brought me - it made it all feel worth it. The Lexus however i bought largely for reliability and to be relatively cheap to run, and it failed at both miserably. It was horribly unreliable and cost an absolutely fortune in parts, maintenance, insurance and fuel. Yet unlike the Alfa it didn't really bring me any joy. It looked nice and it drove OK enough, but it just wasn't fun or enjoyable in any way, and did nothing to put a smile on my face... which made the pain of keeping it on the road feel even more...well... painful. I'm the meantime I've also owned a Subaru Legacy twin turbo which was a nice enough all rounder and was a bit pricey on maintenance but not too bad. Then I've also owned an Alfa Giulietta QV, a Mercedes W204 C250 and an 8v Audi S3 sedan - and the latter three euro cars have all been pretty much flawless in terms of reliability. The three most reliable cars I've ever owned. What all this has taught me is... in the modern times no cars are particularly simple. Even cheapo japansae eco cars often have complex turbo motors, DSG/CVT style gearboxes, complex infotainment systems, etc which can all go wrong in so many ways and can cost you significantly money when they do. So it doesn't matter what you buy, you can never really be sure of how reliable it will or won't be. So at the end of you day you may as well by something that you're going to enjoy so that at least if/when those repair bills come in you can actually justify paying them knowing that the car brings you joy. Because otherwise you may buy a relatively unexciting car purely for the sake of being sensible, and you might still end up spending a fortune on repairing it. And when that happens it's far harder to swallow.

Just recently sold my mk 6 after 11 years of ownership, only things that went wrong was the manifold and a few coil packs, best car I ever owned, looked stunning in candy white with shadow monzas, bi xenon headlights and led rear lights. Finally part ex’d it for a mk7.5 r

I have a 2011 MK6 Golf R DSG, which I've owned from new and has now done 155kkm. It's been extremely reliable, with just normal servicing and tyre costs. I believe the R has a different engine to the GTI, which could account for my great experience. I had it tuned after the warranty finished, which really gives it the extra power and torque it should have. (in addition, Australian engines are slightly de-tuned for 'hot climate') The car still 'feels' new and drives well, the seats and paintwork are in excellent condition. I've taken good care of it, but it's my daily driver and I've also used it to move house a few times, carry work gear, and visit the rubbish tip! It's highly optioned with leather interior, dynaudio sound, adaptive suspension, and 19" wheels. I'm surprised you didn't mention the seats as I know you like a good chair Jay! - the Golf seats are some of the best I've had. The R is a great all-rounder, fast, practical, fun. If you ever come to Australia I'd be happy for you to take it for a spin :)

Sorry to hear about owners woes, hopefully all sorted now! Thanks J! 🙏🙏

Main issue with MK6 GTI was its engine with its famous timing chain, while MK5 GTI Edtion 30, MK6 GTI Edition 35 and MK6 R used different engine with belt, with proper maintenance these cars amazing, especially stage tuned.

I got to use one of these for a month when I was on leave working at a used car dealer in Johannesburg back in 2014...I loved the thing...drove the MK5 when it came out and liked it, the MK6 felt like they`d addressed all of the niggles and issues with the MK5....drove the MK7 after and have to admit that was really good, but the MK6 I became very fond of... The only downside to any GTi in Johannesburg is that they are number 3 on the top 5 most hi-jacked cars list, so driving it around at night was a little nerve wracking...spent a lot of time with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on my concealed carry 9mm handgun...

Early ea888 suffers from excessive oil burning too because of the piston rings designed for maximum efficiency with a tighter clearance but over time they get carbon buildup in the rings and start burning oil

I own a facelift A3 8P with the same EA888 Gen1 engine as the base mk6 GTI (not the EA113 from the Edition 35). In my ownership (7 years) the only major failure I've had was one dead injector. Thankfully I'm very mechanically minded and work on my own cars. Four new injectors (revised parts), a DIY carbon clean whilst the intake manifold was off and it's been fine ever since. I am a fan of preventative maintenance so I've refreshed the whole timing chain system myself - new chains, new tensioners, new sprockets, new timing cover. Mine is also DSG (DQ250) and so far it's been a mixed afair. It can be quite jerky when cold. When I did my first DSG service I drained red fluid - likely standard ATF. With correct DSG fluid the jerkiness improved. I'm about to do my second service on it and hopefully flush even more out. I will eventually have the gearbox remapped as it's behaviour could do with some improvements.

My GTI Mk6 (MY 2009, stock, no mods, a 5-door version, manual) developed a serious radiator leakage after only 60k km from new - so the radiator and the water pump had to be replaced. It had a very questionable build quality, especially for a Teutonic car (uneven outer gaps, back lights got annoyingly pale after just 2 years, etc.). It never felt like a true driver`s hothatch - too dull, unwilling to pivot around corners. I still regret wasting a reasonable amount of money on it. Perhaps the best bit was the fuel consumption - fairly decent for the show.

I have owned and loved my mk 6 GTi. Early models had issues which were mostly ironed out. Mime was a 2011 model. It never missed a beat.

Yup, you summed that up perfectly. I currently own a MK6 GTI and I'm now looking to sell it as I'm just waiting for the next thing to break. Ive had to replace the water pump. Ive had break calipers seize up. Ive had two coil packs fail at the same time. The drivers side window has recently stopped going up and down. The drivers side rear window had to have the cable and motor replaced. The air conditioning water wastage pipe or whatever you call it blocked and made the car smell like a sewer until I managed to get it unblocked, and currently the lining in the roof has started coming away and will eventually come to rest on my head if I don't sort it out. But... I absolutely love driving the car, it is somuch fun, feels so quick and handles brilliantly that there's part of me that doesn't want to part with it.... but I will.

I had a mk6 gti and it’s a great car but I had a lot a issues that cost me around 15grand in just a few years after warranty. The way they drive is just so much fun now have a mk7.5 and it’s been real reliable no problems at 68000 miles now 🤞😊 I have faster cars and this one is more versatile 😊

I own a mk 7. 5. Bought used with 30k miles, I've put 35k miles on it. No major issues yet, but I do all the maintenance on time. It's not modified, and it's good to drive. I like it for what it is. No, it doesn't blow my socks off, but I really don't need a super spicy car when I'm just driving to work or running errands. Beats most SUVs and other economy cars, I suppose.

I still own and drive my mark6 gti as a daily driver since bought it new in 2014. It came with the updated tensioner, all I had to do in ten years was the water pump and fuel pump. 125,000 miles today and runs like a dream. I do have carbon on the valves and have treated with crc twice, ho0ing to avoid a manifold carbon takedown. I recently changed the tyranny fluid and brakes and gonna hand it down to my son. I love my mk6

I’ve had my mk5 gti for 12 years and had huge issues with callipers, each one replaced twice. Had seized door locks, seized boot, seized bonnet latch, nearly everything rubber replaced numerous times and a few broken springs. Drives great and nothing else has really taken my fancy and the amount of things I’ve replaced I would assume it’s good for another 130k miles