My GTI MKV story thus far...

Hi all,

New to the forum and just wanted to share my on-going story with my 2008 GTI MKV 5 door.

Bought the car late 2017 for €8.5k, some VW service history but not full history. Bit of a panic buy and not one of my finer moments.

Have driven the car for c. 2 weeks since I have owned it.

Where do I start:

Car has had a full respray at some point in its life, from red to black, never been recorded as crashed and colour change has been recorded legally on government records, just a bit odd to spray a full car, let alone expensive.

Alloys 18" and also sprayed in an off black (kinda gun barrel grey) colour.

Put 4 goodyear eagle F1 Assymetrics on it 2 weeks ago, €600 all in.

I only recently begun driving again only to notice that the temperature was fluctuating to the middle and back down again, brough it to my local VW garage 2 weeks ago and the done a diagnostic on it:

Multiple manifold errors incl fault on trap and broken actuator
Thermostat gone- this and the manifold job are €1200 incl parts and labour
Battery fault (surging) €95 new battery
Fault in ignition system €151.50
Its going to get a full service €300
Brake fluid change €50
New cam follower as a precaution (thankfully no signs of wear on either cam follower or cam) got them to check this first before they done any more work as if it had worn through I was just going to forget about the car.

so in total im giving them just shy of €2100 of my hard earned euros on Saturday and hope that this means I can actually get some enjoyment out of this car.

I really like these cars but have not been able to enjoy the one I have bought just yet, I question my choices of selecting this type of car, but have learned a hell of a lot about what to look out for, dare I say it I might even pick up a 3dr white version for my next one.

Pics to follow on Saturday when I get it back from the dealership.

Good luck with it! With proper maintenance these cars are as reliable as any other make/model but when they're not properly maintained... oof.


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clownish said:

Good luck with it! With proper maintenance these cars are as reliable as any other make/model but when they're not properly maintained... oof.


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Thank you, fingers crossed I will be able to enjoy it now, picked it back up from garage yesterday and all seems good now.

Pic of car below , I have to drive cross country in Ireland today so wish me luck that nothing goes wrong [emoji23]


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Hopefully you get it all fixed, I am actually in a very similar situation with my GTI. I agree that these cars are awesome to drive when they work. I spent $6k USD to purchase mine and I am nearing another $4K in repairs, which sucks, but hopefully it’s worth it.

Nightmaarez said:

Hopefully you get it all fixed, I am actually in a very similar situation with my GTI. I agree that these cars are awesome to drive when they work. I spent $6k USD to purchase mine and I am nearing another $4K in repairs, which sucks, but hopefully it’s worth it.

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I hear you buddy, got the car back on Saturday and we were to go on holidays on Sunday cross country , all was well till I stopped after 100 miles and the car had an extremely rough idle. I’m back in the main dealer this morning so that they can re check their work, the only thing that hasn’t been changed is the coils at the last service so I’m hoping it might be this or possibly carbon buildup. No cel coming up but it’s stuttering real bad on start up and I’m now getting a smell of gas in the cabin when starting her, keep me updated on your progress and I will let you know how I’m doing too, hope you get it sorted pal


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Just back from dealer now, car was showing a misfire in cylinder 1, they changed the coils but misfire still there, so going back on Monday to have anew injector fitted, fingers crossed that the end of it, dealer paying half the labour


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Nd272 said:

Just back from dealer now, car was showing a misfire in cylinder 1, they changed the coils but misfire still there, so going back on Monday to have anew injector fitted, fingers crossed that the end of it, dealer paying half the labour


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Yeah I had the same issue, but all four of my cylinders were misfiring. The idle and driving it was super rough because the whole car was shaking violently, but after they changed the coils and plugs it was fixed, so hopefully what they're doing fixes your issue. Mine is hopefully in the shop for the last time for awhile, getting the mechatronic speed sensor replaced due to terrible jolting while at low RPMs. Luckily I found a nice shop right next to my house that charged me way less than the dealer would have.

Nightmaarez said:

Yeah I had the same issue, but all four of my cylinders were misfiring. The idle and driving it was super rough because the whole car was shaking violently, but after they changed the coils and plugs it was fixed, so hopefully what they're doing fixes your issue. Mine is hopefully in the shop for the last time for awhile, getting the mechatronic speed sensor replaced due to terrible jolting while at low RPMs. Luckily I found a nice shop right next to my house that charged me way less than the dealer would have.

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Hopefully it does fix it, we’ve done coils and plugs so hopefully it’s the injector, other than that the only thing I can think of is carbon build up, but I’ll probably be doing that anyway in the next couple weeks, from reading threads it seems the injector seem to cause it, when everything else has been changed, they’re charging me 430 euros, and that is with the 50% reduction In labour charge


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Nd272 said:

Hopefully it does fix it, we’ve done coils and plugs so hopefully it’s the injector, other than that the only thing I can think of is carbon build up, but I’ll probably be doing that anyway in the next couple weeks, from reading threads it seems the injector seem to cause it, when everything else has been changed, they’re charging me 430 euros, and that is with the 50% reduction In labour charge


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Yeah, like I have found the repairs can add up fast even with some discounts. I still think I need to do a carbon cleaning, but I am so low on funds right now I fear that I won't be able to get to that for awhile. The transmission shop got back to me though and they found that the previous owner tried fixing the mechatronic themselves, but in the process they: forgot to put the pan back on, didn't plug in the speed sensor, didn't tighten some screws so they were loose, and didn't refill the fluid so it was presumably already low when I bought the car. I have heard that these cars are "bulletproof" if they are maintained well, but it looks like we might've chosen the few that the previous owners did not care at all about

Nightmaarez said:

Yeah, like I have found the repairs can add up fast even with some discounts. I still think I need to do a carbon cleaning, but I am so low on funds right now I fear that I won't be able to get to that for awhile. The transmission shop got back to me though and they found that the previous owner tried fixing the mechatronic themselves, but in the process they: forgot to put the pan back on, didn't plug in the speed sensor, didn't tighten some screws so they were loose, and didn't refill the fluid so it was presumably already low when I bought the car. I have heard that these cars are "bulletproof" if they are maintained well, but it looks like we might've chosen the few that the previous owners did not care at all about

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Oh that sucks, I’m hoping the injector fixes my issue if not I’d say it might be the carbon buildup but they had the manifold replaced last week and cleaned the ports etc so the head technician said that the injector was what they believe it is, as we have now done the coils and spark plugs so the only other thing it can be is the injector, this forum is very good for research as well, seems like people have had these issues before and usually it has been the injector, failing that I will have the cleaning done, it’s 300 euros to do , the head tech at vw thinks that it’s the injector and I’m sure they wouldn’t waste 3/4 hours labour if they weren’t sure, hoping you get the rest of your car sorted but they are a money pit, I’ve learned just to prioritize what’s first priority and work down from there, these cars can be considered bulletproof but there is also a lot of weaknesses in them if they aren’t looked after it seems to exacerbate the issues. I’m lucky because I’m on holidays til next Thursday so hopefully we’ll have it sorted by then, I had only gotten the car back last Saturday and had to use it to do a 600km round trip and like 100km into the journey we stopped for some food and when I pulled in the car was rocking at idle so I’d say the injector was on its way out so with all the new parts it probably done it in, there was a fault for misfire in cylinder 1 but there’s no cel on when driving


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Regarding your misfire...I would have the cam lobes checked for your #1 cylinder...usually it is the intake cam lobes. A bad cam roller or condensation caused pitting can wear the lobes just enough to cause misfires, and you'll go through replacing many bits before realizing the problem is a worn cam lobe due to a fouled cam roller.
Using a very good engine oil is helpful...I use LiquiMoly 5w40; https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/AORLM2332
Just do scheduled maintenance on the DSG @ each 40k miles, timing belt w/ water pump @ each 80k miles, and add the cam follower @ each 80k miles to be very safe for a stock hpfp. You could add a few other bits like the timing chain, tensioner, and vacuum pump @ 150k miles.

But pick a quality oil.

If wanting to have your own access to see what is going on with your car, error codes, resetting, and data logging...consider a Ross-Tech Vag-Com cable and download VCDS for free.

I have a channel...others may as well...where you can get helpful tips: https://www.youtube.com/user/zoomdis/videos

Thanks Ron much appreciate the advice, I have been using the forum since buying the car and I have to say it’s really good to have it so that you can get good advice. I will have a look into that but I am hoping that ms not the case as this car had nearly drained all my money and I’m not sure how much that would cost to do. Regarding my misfire I got a smell of petrol when starting it up the next morning and my fuel economy worsened from the day before so it could have been the injector going on it, I’m back in vw to have this done in the morning so I am hoping this solves it but will keep in mind what you said in case this doesn’t fix it, all the signs point to a failing injector but of course it could be something else, I’ll look into the oil as well thanks, I’ve just had the cam follower replaced when I had it in last week they noted no they could see no wear on cam, I have seen some of your videos as well they are very helpful, keep up the good work [emoji3]


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So I had one of my injectors done on the recommendation of the dealer, blinking cel came on this morning just as I got into work, idling really rough, I didn’t make it home from work, I got out of the car park and the blinking cel came on again so the dealer had it towed, they will look at it again Monday, I’m just about done with this car honestly


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Just an update on the car, injector in cylinder 2 failed and set a blinking cel, I took the car to a specialist who installed a new set of injectors and done the carbon cleaning.

Car is now running perfect for the first time since owning it, looking forward to being able to enjoy it


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