So, I got a GTI...

Story ahead...

So I had a Nissan 350z, it was awesome, I loved it to death. Long story short I got hit by a drunk driver he totaled it and put me in the hospital. After a few months of working with a lawyer she was able to get rid of my medical bills, get geico to pay off my 350z (so I wasn't in debt) and get me $10,000 for compensation.

So I was starting fresh. No car and bad credit with $10,000.

I had said I wanted either a Honda S2000 or a Used Nissan 370z. So what do I do? I find a 1 owner 2012 GTI with 50k miles and put $10,000 down and finance $7,800 at $180/month. I don't know if I made a bad choice here or not. But once I test drove the GTI I fell in love with it. The car is quality man. The interior is amazing and the car is very peppy and fun to drive and has a ton of room in it. I honestly feel like it may be faster than the 350z (but it might be all in my head)

My questions are as followed -

-How reliable should a 1 owner 2012 GTI with 50k miles be? What major mechanical issues do I need to be on the lookout for? I don't really trust German cars. i've always bought Japanese.
-I found a local shop within 10 miles that specialized in APR installs, is it worth it to get the APR Stage 1? Will it reduce reliability?
-Is it possible to add the HID lights to the GTI? I (unknowingly) got the "base" model with the regular lights, no sunroof and cloth seats. I shoulda done research on GTI's first.

Pics -

The 350z I lost



The new car -

UPDATE: First bath today! Haha

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Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the forum! The most important thing is that you are okay, no matter the car. Cars are replaceable, lives aren't.

At that point, the Candy White is an amazing color. I haven't hit 50k nor tuned it so I can't tell you much other than welcoming you to the forum!

Hope someone can help you out

czirrfb said:

....I honestly feel like it may be faster than the 350z (but it might be all in my head)

My questions are as followed -

-How reliable should a 1 owner 2012 GTI with 50k miles be? What major mechanical issues do I need to be on the lookout for? I don't really trust German cars. i've always bought Japanese.
-I found a local shop within 10 miles that specialized in APR installs, is it worth it to get the APR Stage 1? Will it reduce reliability?
-Is it possible to add the HID lights to the GTI? I (unknowingly) got the "base" model with the regular lights, no sunroof and cloth seats. I shoulda done research on GTI's first.

Click to expand...

Well glad youre okay. Dont worry the GTI is certainly a safe car. Anyway I doubt a stock GTI is faster than your 350z. Stage 1 may change that though. Probably the turbo makes you feel that way. You don't have the DSG so you shouldn't need anything done transmission wise for a while. Also you unknowingly bought the lightest GTI so that could be a good thing for ya. I like the seats personally.

Anyway to answer your questions...hope this helps!:

1. It should be pretty reliable. I've got 52k on mine and have had an APR Stage 1 tune since a little over 30k. Just get oil changes at the proper intervals and you should be fine. German cars are good if you strictly stay up with maintenence.

2. It is VERY worth it to at least go Stage 1 if you plan to keep this car more than a year. It's the sweet spot in my opinion. Where the car should have been from the factory. That being said I've had APRs tune on 5 cars including the 2 I own right now and have never had any tune related issues. Word of advice though: if you do stage 1 and plan to drive the car the way it should be driven and have fun etc, you should budget for an upgraded clutch job.

3. I hear you on the HID thing. Unfortunately VW stopped doing HIDs as standard for the MkVIs like they did on the MkVs. I've owned my car since April of 2013 and it's bugged me since I bought it that it didn't have the HIDs. I finally pulled the trigger a couple weeks ago and got some high quality reps from Ed. He's on here and www.vwvortex.com. Here is a link to his sale thread: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65589 I'd recommend going with his unless you want to spend $1000+ for OEMs.

Also here is a picture of his lights installed on my car. They have a very clean cut off and some say it's better than stock. The install wasn't that hard. Just taking off the grill and bumper cover. I had taken off the bumper cover before but I didn't go fast and it took be about 2 hours. The result is below.

It should make it faster at Stage 1. according to the APR website with a stage 1 it makes 300tq and 250-ish hp.

The 350z DE I had had like 280hp and 270tq or something like that.

And yeah I personally LOVE the seats, with the cool pattern. Leather is kinda boring and not good in cold or hot weather. And I dont mind not having a sunroof, only thing is I wanted the HID's =(

I just couldn't justify spending $400+ a month and high insurance and gas on a 370z, I test drove it and man it's nice.... But I think I love the interior on the GTI more. And I was able to get it for onl $180 a month which is nothing.

Great to hear you're okay. You should definitely go stage 1 coming from a 350z. It's probably the torque which makes the GTI feel faster than the Z right now. I've had a K04 turbo (big jump from stage 1) for over 40k miles and haven't had any major issues. The engines are solid and now you don't have to pull the ECU to get tuned so there's really nothing to worry about. Just make sure to keep up on routine maintenance.

You may want to consider doing a carbon cleaning in the next 10-20k miles since I doubt the previous owner did it. Check out this thread: http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68616

Enjoy your new car!

I think Stage 1 will be the most I wanna do, i'm not looking for a rocket ship. I just want a quick, fuel efficient, comfortable daily car. I don't do highway driving, most is around town, i'm 5 miles from my job. And for $600 an APR Stage 1 is a no brainer mod IMO.

Welcome to the forums. Go for the tune. Make sure you research because there are alot of questions that have already been answered.

I just read that after getting the tune my clutch will go bad and start slipping. Is this common? Makes me not wanna do it if it means also getting a new clutch....

czirrfb said:

I just read that after getting the tune my clutch will go bad and start slipping. Is this common? Makes me not wanna do it if it means also getting a new clutch....

Click to expand...

Yes, alot of people with MT have this issue. If you plan on getting tuned make sure you budget in the cost of a new clutch. It may not happen right away but is definitely going to happen.

Well shit. There goes my hopes of a "cheap" "easy" mod for the GTI....

How much should I budget for a new clutch+install?

Welcome to the forum and also the money pit.