# Golf R32 owners, I need your help!



## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Hi there, I have just sold my car in preperation of a new arrival to the family. My circumstances have dictated me needing a 5 door, so I have pretty much made my mind up on a golf R32.

My budget is around £10k, so I am looking at most Mk4's and some of the lower market of Mk5's. My tight criteria is calling up leather, DBP paint and a manual box. Mileage ideally i'd prefer to be under 70k partly due to resale, a miltek exhaust will also be nice, but is by no means a deal breaker.

I have read a generic buying guide on R32oc, and I will be joining some golf specific forums for a read up, but I know there are some R32 owners here, and also people with experience of the model so I am looking for real world tips, pointers, experiences and 'heads ups' on what I should be expecting from the car.

Things like, common faults, recalls that should have been done, arguments for and against ownership, that sort of thing. Do you suggest holding out for a Mk5 instead of a Mk4, how do they differ day to day, how do owners find depreciation, servicing costs & cost of ownership etc etc. 

MPG isn't really an issue, as I'm well aware they like a drink, and I realise performance cars need to be maintained as such, component parts won't be cheap. I'm no stranger to running expensive cars, but if there is any real world experience you'd like to share, i'd appreciate it very much.

Thanks in advance.

Darryl.


----------



## lowis (Aug 5, 2010)

I loved everyday with my mk5, running costs were high but that was to be expected. Have a look at the earlier mk5's as they were in the cheaper road tax bracket, servicing can be expensive but its worth shopping around.
If you do go for a mk5 I have a evoms air intake sat in the shed doing nothing that I removed when I sold mine.
You'll love every minute of ownership mate..


----------



## wylie coyote (Jul 15, 2007)

Darryl,

Can't give any input you're looking for I'm afraid but if you're looking for a VW dealer to service it I can recommend Capitol Motors in Merthyr. Bought my Golf R from them and had it serviced there - definitely one of the better dealers I've come across in South Wales. :thumb:


----------



## 182_Blue (Oct 25, 2005)

Its worth checking models and years as some are £460 a year road tax and some are £260


----------



## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Go for a Mk5 if you can stretch to it, the higher road tax applies to 06 plate onwards, ours is a 55 so it's still cheaper.

Milltek is a must for that sexual engine note, but as you say not a deal breaker.

Things to watch out for:

Leaking rear diff - can lead to an expensive bill later on.
Accident damage, check panel gaps and take a PTG with you if you can.
Check the rear tailgate high level brake light, this is a common fault and very expensive to fix as you have to break them to get them out (VAG charge hundreds to fit a new one as they replace the whole spoiler, poor design).
Otherwise, they're generally reliable, make sure it's had regular servicing and a high mileage engine isn't a worry as long as it has been looked after.

Alex :thumb:


----------



## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

Have you checked the boot space, it's pretty tight due to the higher floor on Haldex models


----------



## Daffy (Dec 15, 2005)

I prefer the look of the MK4, which I had but would recommend an early MK5 as the better car for handling. I would only recommend leather if it comes with heated seats, the half leather of the mk4 is a good compromise but not sure if this is available for the 5. If you can change your choice of colour I am sure you will find a better spec in something like silver as DPB is the most popular so possibly commands a slightly higher premium. Its a great car whichever one you end up with and £10k should see you get a decent one with reasonable miles. With fuel economy being so poor and general running costs high in the current climate you should be able to negotiate hard and walk away if they don't play ball as there are plenty out there.


----------



## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Thanks for the responses, I didn't give the road tax thing a thought! That definitely narrows the search, and it's another pro of the mk4... I think i'll have a look at mk5's in budget and go from there. Is anyone here rocking a DSG? As much as I see myself in a manual, the DSG seems to be popular, is it any good?

How much smaller would the boot be over a 'normal' golf?

Oh, yeah i'm familiar with capitol vw, I used to work within the mon motors group!


----------



## p1tse (Feb 4, 2007)

i had a mk5 R32 and a new addition at the time too

having been in a mk4 and mk5 golf, the mk5 offers significant more rear space, leg and headroom. if you don't do much mileage, limited front or rear space isn't an issue.

as above the raised boot floor due to haldex meant i had to remove the parcel shelf to fit the travel system at ease.

mine was a DSG and it's an awesome box. 

Is this going to be the main family car, what's the percentage ratio of mileage you drive on your?

Mine never got driven the way a R32 should have been with a very easy 2 year life in our household.

Now moved to a bigger car, estate diesel!


----------



## lobotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

My mate has a Mk5 R32 with Wingback recaros - He's soon to be a Dad and he's keeping his. 

I mention the Wingbacks, because I'm sure he mentioned the seat jams against the carseat. He does say that the bugaboo fits in the boot even with the raised floor. Doubt there'll be much room for shopping bags after the pram is in though!


----------



## dubber (Oct 2, 2011)

DSG is an awesome box imo, some will disagree. If you go for the dsg check it's been serviced. They need to be serviced every 40k :thumb:


----------



## CM TDI (Oct 26, 2011)

Check for dashboard rattles, they are very common on mk5 golfs and very annoying!

Set the alarm off as well, common fault on mk5 golfs, they are in the front drivers arch and cost about £150 to fix.

Car wise the mk5 golf is in a different league to the mk4. as you'd expect it to be i suppose.


----------



## dave smith (Apr 28, 2011)

i was going to get an r32 when i was getting rid of my mk5 gti,i think one of the main selling points for them is the noise they make a few things put me off them tho,which were the high tax rate when i was looking i found it very hard to find a 55 reg without it being a few grand more to buy, the insurance was quite a bit more over the gti aswell and the fuel economy i seen people go from an r into a e46 m3 an they say the m3 is alot better on fuel than the golf which doesnt speak much for the golf considering the m has around a 100 bhp more,
i ended up getting 130i m sport better on fuel,cheaper insurance and better drive oh and more power and they seem to be cheaper than r32s also i do not miss my gti or not going for the r32 one bit the bm has also been very reliable no problems at all which couldnt be said for the gti.
but dont get me wrong i do love the r32 and do enjoy one when i hear them going past


----------



## CM TDI (Oct 26, 2011)

I think the noise is the only selling point when comparing to an edition 30.

Just my opinion but i'd take the edition 30 and map it. a £250 map would be the equivilant of spending thousands on tuning the r32.


----------



## lobotomy (Jun 23, 2006)

CM TDI said:


> I think the noise is the only selling point when comparing to an edition 30.
> 
> Just my opinion but i'd take the edition 30 and map it. a £250 map would be the equivilant of spending thousands on tuning the r32.


Good call, or even more bang for buck is the KO4 Leon Cupra!


----------



## vroomtshh (Nov 23, 2009)

lobotomy said:


> Good call, or even more bang for buck is the KO4 Leon Cupra!


And there are some mint examples for his budget :thumb:


----------



## tg1 (May 18, 2011)

the recaro travel system fits in a 3 door mk4 with recaros, using the isofix mount. not sure about the konigs out the r32 though. the maclaren pushchair with it fits in a 2wd golf diagonally. 

when your kid goes in the 2nd stage seat it might be a bit of a tight squeeze as there wasn't a lot of leg room for passenger up front in the 1st seat.

kids will tollerate and get used to noises and bumpy suspension so dont worry about that.

Get a vcds/vagcom lead as it will save you a small fortune


----------



## tg1 (May 18, 2011)

will have a dig through my photobucket account see if i got any pics of my recaro in the back of my mk4 for you give you an idea of the room. but i had normal recaros' not the anni or r32 ones...


----------



## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

We had a toddler and my OH had a Mk4 Golf, normal baby seat followed by a Recaro child seat fitted ok but ended up having to move the front passenger seat a little further forward than we would otherwise have had it.

As it was a V6 4Mo it had the same height bootfloor as the R32, a buggy fitted in no problem, a full blown pushchair was not so easy and when in it took the full boot up.

If you want the V6 noise (which is lovely with a non resonated Milltek), why not serch out a Bora 4Mo, rare car, handle better than a Golf and have a better sized (bigger) boot than the Golf


----------



## Daffy (Dec 15, 2005)

Personally I would advise against the DSG. Couple of known issues and expensive to fix as it will be out of warranty. I did not think it was all it was cracked up to be and certainly not worth the extra money unless you don't have a licence for a manual.


----------



## wylie coyote (Jul 15, 2007)

EsiFlow said:


> Thanks for the responses, I didn't give the road tax thing a thought! That definitely narrows the search, and it's another pro of the mk4... I think i'll have a look at mk5's in budget and go from there. Is anyone here rocking a DSG? As much as I see myself in a manual, the DSG seems to be popular, is it any good?
> 
> How much smaller would the boot be over a 'normal' golf?
> 
> Oh, yeah i'm familiar with capitol vw, I used to work within the mon motors group!


Good or bad experience?


----------



## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Lol, good experience. Capitol look after our pool cars in work too. 

Thanks everyone for the input, very handy indeed. I have thought of the idea of DSG but I don't think i'd ever be 100% happy with it. One has just popped up on autotrader that ticks all of the boxes, but is just over budget. I wonder if I can get a seasonal bargain...


----------



## p1tse (Feb 4, 2007)

maxi cosi with isofix. you have to have the front seat raised and forward a little to avoid contact. if with recaro, i think it's even tighter


----------



## p1tse (Feb 4, 2007)

bugaboo cameleon is a tight fit with the lie flat system when the little one is new 

ended up taking out parcel shelf to fit changing bag and shopping easier


----------



## lowis (Aug 5, 2010)

Mine was a DSG and I loved it, and if I have to go back to a personal car instead of a company car I would definately go for another DSG system. There were some issues with some the DSG boxes but this should have been sorted under warranty (lots on R32oc.com about the issues). As someone said earlier make sure the DSG and Haldex has been serviced as this really isn't cheap.


----------



## jubileebug (Jan 25, 2008)

I have a MK5 R32 and i loooove it!! Go for a mk5. It took many months and a lot of wasted trips all over the uk to eventually find mine at a local vw dealer! Many out there have been repaired and most peoples idea of 'mint' wont be the same as yours. For £10k tho you'll be looking at early mk5's with higher milage


----------



## dave smith (Apr 28, 2011)

also a problem i see with alot of r32s is they seem to get passed around alot some of them have had alot of owners in a small amount of time,know i know they can be expensive to run but a couple a seen last year one a 55 reg the other a 56 the 55 had 12 previous owners and the newer one had 7 there are a lot of dogs out there


----------



## EsiFlow (Dec 25, 2010)

Bumping this thread back up, 3 months on and I now have a 56 plate 5 door R32 in deep blue pearl. I eventually found one 40 miles away from home, under extended warranty with 2 owners and 68k on the clock, and within budget. For my money, it was also serviced at VW and taxed for 6 months. 

It needs the wheels referb'd, a few stonechips and could probably do with the rear bumper corner painting, it's ever-so-slightly scuffed. 

Cheers for the responses anyway, helpful indeed. Some pics to follow in a thread of their own, when i've found the motivation to have a day with the DA!


----------



## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Enjoy, i find them seriously boring.


----------



## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

Before you know it you'll be looking for something bigger 

Not fancy a B7 A4 Avant with the 3.2 lump


----------



## MCZ2047 (Oct 10, 2007)

andy665 said:


> Have you checked the boot space, it's pretty tight due to the higher floor on Haldex models


This is definetly something to check out before buying an R32. I bought a Focus ST 5door last year before we had picked the pram. With the big back box on the ST the boot was very shallow, with the pram folded up the parcel shelf always sat up. So just over a year of buying the ST I have just traded it in for a jetta.


----------

