Mk7 Golf TSI & TDI - Observations and Questions

[Diesel_vert]

Hi guys, I wondered if you could give me some advice about this new golf.

I'm not a fortune teller, but I'll give it a go.

I want a car I can drive for 10 years.

I believe 10 years is too long a period for things not to go wrong in any car - especially a modern car.

However, you are less likely to encounter any costly issues over a 10 year period with a manual gearbox than with the DSG.

I don't foresee any significant issues with the newly designed engines, provided they're properly serviced and maintained. It's much too early to speculate how they'll fare over the long term, but I'd like to think VW have leant their lesson from the problems that plagued the Golf Mk6.

My car now is a Honda Jazz. I've never had a problem with it. Can I expect that sort of reliability with Golf?

No vehicle manufacturer is infallible or immune to problems. It's really the luck of the draw across the board, but some might say the best odds are on the Japanese manufacturers in this respect.

Given their track record so far, it is not likely a Volkswagen will be as trouble free as a Honda. That's not to say they're all unreliable - there are many satisfied customers on this forum - but at the same time, do not be at all surprised if you encounter some problems over the course of your ownership.

There is a general perception that German engineered cars are superior - which may well be the case, there are good arguments to made in their favour - but the current reality of it is, that the number of problems per vehicle tends to be higher that what the owner would expect. Mind you, spending more isn't the answer - if only things were that simple! Whether one buys a $30,000 VW or a $100,000 BMW or Mercedes appears to make little difference in your chances of encountering a problem.

In some cases, certain models are just more prone to problems compared to others (e.g. 6R Polo GTI). The Golf Mk7 is a very new model built on an entirely new platform. A new design takes time to mature and it is not unusual for the manufacturer to encounter some problems during the initial phase of the production cycle, so it is not unusual for the manufacturer to deal with problems as they appear. This is why some people recommend avoiding the first few batches of a newly released model, but this generally applies across the board, not just with Volkswagens.

Also, what options are likely to be of any value in 10 years?

Generally, you are highly unlikely to recoup the cost of optional extras when re-selling any car. This applies across the entire used car sector.