Quick straw poll
Who has one of these and how's it go for ya?
Reliability, drivability, any recurring problems you might find in a model with about 60000 K's on the clock and about 2010 vintage
Just asking ....... for a friend
Don't think anyone will own up to driving one, 
and why was your "friend" too ashamed to ask himself. 
Hitler's revenge. Dont do it. Even cars mag that voted it the best car a few years ago said they wouldn't own out of warranty
Wife had a 2005 Golf. Cost me thousands. Main issue was the transmission. Had to replace the valve body. Once it was about 8 years old, I started having problems with plastic components failing in the engine. Each time something failed my mechanic would show me the item and say 'this wouldn't happen in a Jap car'. VW's drive beautifully but they seem to have cut corners on longevity of components. Apparently quite common in Euro cars. I wouldn't buy another European car and will stick with Japanese or Korean.
^^^^^
Next door to me is a good honest Asian mechanic .
A friend and really good guy .
He has flawlessly been my mechanic and car seller to my family for over ten years .
He says , no matter what , do not buy european . Full stop .
On a weekly basis , just for fun , he shows me a ruined Merk , Beemer , Jag . Five years old and stuffed . Major engine meltdown.
You couldn't kill a Korean car if you tried .
He says go Jap.
We have a 2009 Nissan Micra. People laugh at it being a noddy car. That it may be but it's as tight as it was when new and I'm confident it will keep running without significant problems for at least another ten years.
VW make nice cars that's for sure. But they build them to a different standard than Japanese cars. VW build cars to perform. Japanese cars are built to be reliable.
I only started looking at Euro wagons yesterday night. I want to replace my current car and was looking at a 2nd hand Golf wagon. After reading this thread, I'm scared off.
Hyundia have an i40 Active wagon model that they don't make anymore. What are people's thoughts on Hyundia ?
I would like to buy another Toyota, but I hate SUVs. SUVs seem to be oversized bull** cars for unconfident driver Mums (Suburban Assault Vehicles).
I suppose it depends on what you want .
Apart from a Porsche, a Golf GTI was the most awesome car feel I've ever driven .
Thats after a fun day of driving a selection of funky Supercars, ( thanks wife ) .
ps : Lambos are horrid .
Theres that Nissan thing that beats everything on specs at a third of the price , but it doesn't have the X factor .
If you want feel , go euro
If you want reliability with a dead plastic feel go Korean .
Jap , sort of halfway , but leaning towards plastic.
someone posted this on seabreeze earlier and it's a little older than 2010 but it goes alright for a street car - my bog stock 2015 kia rio would flog it.
Select to expand quoteImax1 said..
I suppose it depends on what you want .
3 boards, 3 sails, camping gear, auto fridge etc, and trashed by wet salty windsurfing gear. Reliable.
Select to expand quotejn1 said..
What are people's thoughts on Hyundia ?
When questioned my VW mechanic admitted his own car was a Hyundai. He was pretty sure the plastic components in VWs are deliberately made to be biodegradable.
My nephew works at skipper Mitsubishi in their gigantic service department (as a mechanic). They get all makes and models through their and in plenty of numbers. He said without doubt the cars with the least mechanical problems they come across are the Hyundai's. He rates them highly anyway for what it's worth. Was surprising to hear but hey he is adamant.
Which engine in the 2010 Golf?
I bought a (new) 2011 Golf with the 1.6L TDI, manual. I put 275,000k's on it. Only issues were a leaking water pump and a couple of faulty injectors (basically just noisy) - both issues covered under warranty.
Sold it to the mother-in-law 18 months ago, with no concerns. Of course, the clutch master cylinder failed 4 weeks after I sold it to her, so we went halves on a new master and a new clutch...Hey, it'd been 275,000ks
Loved the engine so much that I replaced it with an Audi A3 with the same engine (VW stopped selling the 1.6 TDI in Oz). A3 got written off with 15,000 ks on the clock.
Replaced that with a 2018 Golf Wagon with the 2.0L TDI auto, 'cause I would have had to wait 4-6 months for a new A3 with the 1.6 TDI.
The new Golf has ~60,000ks, and not a single issue (not that you would expect any car to have an issue in only 60,000 ks).
That said, I've heard the autos don't last nearly as long as the manuals.
I had never owned a european car, nor considered owning one, until a work mate of mine left his 2011 Golf (1.6L TDI, manual) with me while he went overseas. Loved it so much I bought mine. Mate still has his, probably about 230-250,000ks on his. He's had so few issues, he still has his and bought his misses a used Audi Q5 with 100,000k on it, due to the reliability of the drive train.
Long story short, my mate and myself have had great success with the 2011ish era 1.6L TDI Manual Golf, and somewhat similar variants.
My boss recently sold my main company car after 40000klicks - a 2013 Hyundai I-30 wagon. [petrol / auto]
90%+ of those clicks were stop-start driving and short trips around West Leederville-Subiaco-Leederville-Shenton Park, with the occasional trip to Safety Bay or Murdoch.
I have been advised to steer clear of the I-30 diesels as they apparently have a reputation of burning well,
[advised by a firey who put several out - and a family friend who had to watch hers burn at the side of the road]
I had no problems at all with our petrol version, only ever replacing brake pads - but did a minor modification to the front seats as my passengers [average age 80] found the seats a bit too much "bucketey" to get in and out easily.
I loosened the front mount bolts about 1/2 way, removed the rear bolts, lifted the rear of the seat up and stuck a 40mm-ish urethane spacer between the floor and the back mounting point, replaced the original bolts with longer high tensile bolts, and tightened all 4 bolts up.
Bolts came from repco - sold in packs of 2 [champion brand?? off the rotary rack of bolts and stuff]
The urethane bushes were landcruiser spring bushes, leftover from making landyachts out of minesite scrounged stuff.
Doing this made the base of the seat much level-er, and a bit higher as well.
I found the headrests more comfortable when turned around too.
Constantly carrying lots of heavy stuff in the back of the wagon saw the rear sag a bit, I had been tempted to whack in a set of coil spacers, but the boss sold the wagon before I had a chance.
Also told by the Mechanics, that if the steering starts to develop a clunk it is the plastic cog in the power steering's electric motor falling apart [the car is safe to drive - but the power assist is not connecting to the steering shaft under the dash]
Dealerships will want to replace the entire steering column, [$$$$$] but the dodgy cog is identical to a KIA part - worth around $5.00, if you are handy with the spanners it is around an hour to remove the electric motor, an hour to clean it up and fit the new cog, and an hour to put it back together.
Mech's also tell that the radio can be dodgy, may or may not have been replaced under warranty, some I-30's had electronic hassles, requiring some electricery bits to be replaced and the computers to be updated.
I'll buy a snazzy euro car when I have a little more cash in the backburner.....
Bought a very sensible Nissan Bluebird with 48000K on the clock for 5 grand
Should see me thru for a year or 2 until I have a bit of spare $$$ for maintenance
Wish my wife would give me back my outlander, beeeartch has claimed it and done the old switcheroo
Wife has a 2010 2.0l tdi. Bought with 34k on the clock, now has 133k. Never missed a beat, serviced regularly, goes like the clappers, $60 to fill up and get 950 km to a tank. Cant fault it.
Select to expand quoteeppo said..
My nephew works at skipper Mitsubishi in their gigantic service department (as a mechanic). They get all makes and models through their and in plenty of numbers. He said without doubt the cars with the least mechanical problems they come across are the Hyundai's. He rates them highly anyway for what it's worth. Was surprising to hear but hey he is adamant.
Hey Eppo
whats your nephews thoughts on Mitzi tritons, Pajero etc in past 5 years models?
always interested in what the mechanics see coming through
cheers
We bought one of the "emissions scandal" Tiguans (same engineering platform as Golf with AWD added) with 2 litre diesel and 7 speed dual clutch transmission. After being released from impound, VW were offering these for sale a couple of years back with full warranty at the same price as a good second hand one. Fantastic car to drive and very frugal on fuel, we've only done 30k on it so far but no problems. Drive one and then go drive a similar Hyundai to see what you think, I have and whilst the Hyundai's may be bulletproof they don't drive the same as the VW.
Select to expand quotemazdon said..eppo said..
My nephew works at skipper Mitsubishi in their gigantic service department (as a mechanic). They get all makes and models through their and in plenty of numbers. He said without doubt the cars with the least mechanical problems they come across are the Hyundai's. He rates them highly anyway for what it's worth. Was surprising to hear but hey he is adamant.
Hey Eppo
whats your nephews thoughts on Mitzi tritons, Pajero etc in past 5 years models?
always interested in what the mechanics see coming through
cheers
he kind of smiles and goes quiet...so I'm not sure what that means...lol. I have a 2018 MQ-MY Triton so will find out soon enough I suppose lol...
Don't think you can go wrong with the Pajero, its still got a great donk in it.
I will enquire again when we next meet up and get an honest opinion.
Most mechanics I speak to are kind of ambivalent when it comes to the Mitzi's..."yeh they are alright" seems to come up a lot. Again don't quite know what that means. Nothing bad to say, nothing outrageously good either. Maybe there is something in that, who knows.
