Growmac

Oh dear, mine's done 117,000 and I'm 50. I'm doomed.

Yeah, I went in to ask about the 8.5 when I was considering whether to spend money on my 7.0. The whole visit felt like I was imposing on them by even being there, but I did eventually get a "Oh yeah, they just stopped making those". No offer to find one in the dealer network, no attempt to sell an alternative. Was a really depressing visit. I spent the money on my current car. Incidentally, I did the rounds of alternatives. I missed Seat, which is apparently the modern alternative, but the Octavia VRs is really nice. In the end though it would just have been a newer, slightly slower, slightly more efficient version of what I have, which didn't seem worth the £30k ish price tag. Didn't like the Audi, BMW have made it impossible to spec the M340i as you'd want (and while my wife's M440i is nice, it's honestly not as good to drive as the Golf), and I didn't like the V60 as much as I had expected.

Oh, another nice surprise today. I never use race or comfort mode, I switch between normal and individual, which is set up as normal with comfort suspension. I'd listed DCC as needing replaced in my OP as it didn't seem to do much. Happened to check today, seems that the Individual mode got reset and was on normal. Switched it back and a soft, comfortable ride for round town is back! Happy days.

No symptoms at all, but the place doing the refurb said it wasn't in terribly great shape, so seemed prudent to spend an extra £130 (I think) and get it refurbed at the same time. It's all very shiny now.

I decided to get the diff and haldex refurbished, pretty much for all the reasons that you all outline above. Now to decide whether to preemptively get the water pump/thermostat changed, or just wait.

Yeah, I didn't sell before 100k, think that could have been an error. In fairness to her, it's more her perception that things go wrong on old cars, but I know what you mean. Nothing other than the VRs or the BMW really grabbed me today, and the latter would be a helluva lot of money for a less practical car. Hmm. Decisions.

So I did the rounds of dealers today. VW stopped accepting orders on the 8.5 Golf Estate, including the R, on the 5th of this month, so no go there. Might be some second hand stock, but not within Bath's dealer network. Really liked the Octavia VRs and it's a LOT cheaper than other options. GTi engine and FWD might actually be preferable in real life 99% of the time. S4 Avant is diesel and no adaptive cruise, S5 is big, nice, but just didn't excite. V60 is a bit small and either a bit slow (T4) or ridiculous and a bit too complicated (T8). M340i is a lovely engine, but small boot, and ones with the Tech Plus pack (for adaptive cruise) are like hen's teeth and spendy. I'm very much tending towards fix and keep.

Morning. It’s been a while since I posted here, mainly because I’ve not had much to moan about. I’m at a bit of a crossroads with my R Estate. I’ve had it from new, it’s a 2016 7.0 and now on 105,000 miles. The dilemma: do I invest in it, or move on? I’m not convinced by the new Golf R, though maybe I need to take a proper look? The obvious alternative seems to be an M340i, but with a cost to change of around £50,000, it would have to be exceptional to justify the leap. Current issues: • Rear diff has been replaced with a second-hand unit which is now a bit noisy, but I’ve now found someone who can recondition the original for about £1,500 • Still on the original water pump and thermostat, so I’m expecting another £900 there • Suspension could probably do with a refresh • Discs and pads all round will be needed soon • Wheels could do with a refurb All in, I’m looking at around £5,000 to get it properly sorted. That’s not insignificant, but still a long way off the cost of a replacement. My wife is against keeping it, she thinks it's too old. And to be fair, at this mileage, other things could start to go wrong. But it’s been largely solid so far. It’s not a 7.5 and not the 310hp version, but it’s done the job well. So, what do people think? Is it worth spending the money to keep it going, or is it time to move on?

My 7.0 R needed a new rear diff at 95k miles. I'm almost sure it was because a garage drained it in error at 65k, but I can't prove anything. The car has been launched maybe 5 times from new, and not driven particularly hard. The OEM diff was £4k+, so I got a second hand unit for more like £1,200. The place I got it from told me they did a good business in rear diffs, it's not that uncommon a failure.

It always amazes me how (entirely legitimate) preferences differ. Adaptive cruise is on my list of completely essential items for a car. I'd never want to be without it again, it makes driving so much less stressful, and has probably saved my license on hundreds of occasions (average speed cameras are common in the UK, as are busy motorways, a horrible combination).

I used this RMS. My mechanic was very complimentary about the design and quality when he put it in for me.

Quick point. While the gearbox is off, worth changing the Rear Main Seal. The OEM one is rubbish, and a decent aftermarket seal is only about £100. All the cost is in the labour to take the gearbox off.

The dual mass flywheel is a consumable item, to a degree anyway. If you're driving it hard then it's conceivable it would fail within 5 years. I had my gearbox off to do the rear main seal last year, so I got the "quite worn" DMF changed at the same time. Saved me the labour of getting to it later on as I tend to keep my cars to high mileage. 40k sounds low (I changed my DMF at 70k) but if you're driving hard enough to need an upgraded clutch then I guess the dealer would argue that it's not an unexpected failure?

I'm still not quite sure what that proves that the pictures and fact of it fitted to my identical car didn't, but pleased you got it sorted out!

Scott, I'm sorry, I really don't come here often and didn't see your message. I'm assuming that this is no longer relevant? I do still have the car, and I'm still very happy with the towbar, so happy to take some photos in the incredibly unlikely event that you still need them.

Hi Mark, Lou, Err, I don't I'm afraid. I do have a TowTrust bar fitted to my 7.0 R Estate for the last five years though, so can confirm it definitely does fit. It's all coded too, so the reversing sensors and drive modes know when the electrics are connected. I'm pretty sure there are photos earlier in this thread. In the UK it's completely legal to use the bar to mount a bike rack, it would be illegal to tow on a public road, and your insurance would be invalid. I have it declared as a modification on my insurance, it generally either makes no difference or reduces the cost very slightly.

No, not really. The RMS blew and was replaced (did the DMF while we were in there). Neither VW nor the independent suggested checking the PCV, despite it being a known culprit, as the car was running fine so it "couldn't be a problem". When the RMS started leaking again within 8 months I insisted that they changed the PCV and it stopped the leak until I could get an aftermarket RMS (the stock seal is terrible).

MIne's a 7 Estate, not a 7.5, but I get 33 mpg long term (driving normally, neither Miss Daisy or hair on fire), and I'll get 38-41 on a motorway run. Mine did need a new PCV - it blew the rear main seal out twice, an expensive problem and a poor quality part, so it's definitely worth checking it given one of the comments above.

I got mine turned off completely and I've never looked back. I used to never use anything but individual because it was the only mode I could get rid of the embarrassing, noisy fakery. Hateful thing.

A quick update. Replacing the PCV, despite the garage's skepticism, slowed the leak to almost nothing. The aftermarket Rear Main Seals were out of stock so I decided to wait. In the interim got an engine warning light, a fuel purge code, but that turned out to be an unrelated and easily replaced perished hose; all the stop-start errors that accompanied that went away on hose replacement. The RMS is now changed for an 034Motorsport Billet Aluminium unit. The garage were very complimentary about how much better that part was than the crappy OEM item, and the leak is completely gone. Sanity also prevailed on the warranty front. I paid for the PCV and seal (about £230) and they paid the labour. Seems fair to me, all ends well.

I'd go for multi-port injection, so the 2017. Keeps the valves clean, although the point about the DPF and LEZs on the newer car is well made, so who knows? My R Estate is black. It looks great for 40 seconds after you wash it, then goes back to filthy. Terrible choice, avoid. DCC and 18" is a great combination. Comfy, or firm, and 'normal' price tyres. Makes it a better daily driver and a better Q car, although both those factors could be good or bad depending on what you're aiming for?

I'd be interested if that's a practice that I can substantiate in any way? VW's eye watering quote for just replacing the RMS didn't include the PCV or the flywheel.

Yeah, does seem likely, but it does also suggest that they failed to address the root cause the first time round. Even a cursory search found multiple sites suggesting that the PCV caused RMS failures.

So I had the garage change the PCV and the leak has slowed dramatically but it still needs the seal changing. I'm going to get an aftermarket 034motorsport seal rather than OEM to see if that helps. The garage still aren't honouring the warranty. Haven't decided how hard I'm going to push yet.

I have. It's completely mad! 😂