I have a 57 plate 140 GT TDI. Had it coming up to 3 years now with no problems outside of regular service/oil changes.

I am looking for a new car since my 03 clio is now leaking money, yes i should have known!

I have been looking at golfs and like the 140 GT after the facelift but have read mixed reviews about the reliability. is it generally accepted that they had resolved and corrected some of the problems for the facelift version or pure coincidence?

I have also test driven a 57 2.0 TDI Leon and an FR but would prefer the golf but am unsure about the reliability.

Since this has been resurrected, I’d like to point out that my injectors have just been replaced on my 140bhp 2.0TDI under recall, for free. Not bad on a 6 year old car, and I’m the second owner too.

Also the oil pump thing was recalled. It failed really early on, so by now they will all either be dead or fixed I reckon.

I have been running my 57 plate 140 GT Tdi for 7 months. I have done just over 20,000 miles in that time and it has been great. 52mpg average

We’ve got a 2008 170bhp 4 door model. Frankly it has too much unnecessary power (and this is from someone who races a Caterham!). I would go for the 140 model if I was to buy again.

We bought the car 1 year ago and then put it into a main dealer for the cambelt to avoid warranty issues as it was a vw approved car. They did the injectors free of charge. Also the cambelt change was as cheap as an independent garage.

These cars are very safe and very comfortable with leather, and high residuals but I don’t think they are as reliable as their reputation suggests.

I’d buy a 170 next time I think, if I could find an estate. The extra would help with the caravan – not that 140 is underpowered towing, mind.

Actually, I’d rather have an A6 estate with the 3.0 V6 TDI.

Dual masses are a headache to me!

Two family members have vag cars with dual mass, and both failed/worn to the point the car was undrivable within 2years from new.

Apart from that they’ve been great, though if you base 5years worth of driving from new vs. a 2.0gti. the GTI was way cheaper to own.
Held its value better (£21.5k new, £11.8k trade in after 47k/ 4yrs), cost less to service (about £80 on average), tax was more which negged that out, and MPG was similar 42-44 for the gti, and 46-48 for the GT170
But it was resale value of the GT170 that killed the dream, think he got about £7k on a £19/20k car after 4yrs with similar usage.

I wonder if driving style affects the DMF? I also wonder if an auto box would protect it better..?

Dunno about auto box, it might.

Driving style does, my mate works in local VW main dealer as lowly mechanic, and he’s performed more italian tunes on 1.4/1.6 tdi polo’s and golf’s in the last 24months than he has had injector problems in 5years.

Almost exclusively cars owned/run by people driving them like miss daisy, the retired etc. More problems being reported with the lower powered models I guess not because there is any technical differences, but the lower powered models are owned by vicar’s etc, vs the higher powered models more by young proffesssionals etc.

I’ve got a 2003 Mk4 GT TDI 130, great car. Currently on 104k, I bought it at 60 in 2008. Dual-mass flywheel went at 90k, and that was fooking expensive! Can’t fault it though, nowt else other than a bit of wear and tear. My dad had a Mk5 140, and he actually said he thought mine was better. His had a few nice touches internally, but did feel a bit more plasticy.

Definitely better for getting bikes in the back of the Mk4 because of the completely flat seats. I’ve actually slept in my boot with the seats down at races, surprisingly comfy (I’m only 5’10” on a good day, not sure I’d recommend it if much taller!).

Pre 2005 2.0 TDCI’s are the Ford Puma unit( not the 1.7 puma.) Chain driven camshafts and no DPF’s. I have a 2004 2.0 130 TDCI mondeo. Av MPG 45ish real world figure. For driving pleasure ie road holding and handling, it wipes the floor with any of the VAG group cars. A sailing boat changes direction better than a Passat or A4. The fuel economy isn’t as good though and I would say the interiors are better in the VAG cars. Depends what is more important to you. I would say that the 1.9 TDI engine is one of the all time great diesel engines and if you change the water pump and belt regularly they are bombproof. If a Skoda Octavia 4×4 1.9 TDI came up I would trade the Mondeo in without a thought because of that engine, it’s just so reliable.

Why the hell are people talking about fords on this guys vw golf thread, get the 170 gt tdi awesome car you will no be disappointed, don’t even think about buying a sack of sh*t ford

Why not just go for the GTI. Faster, handles better, holds its value better. You may even get an early S3 for your type of money.