6 Months Behind the Wheel of My 07 GTI

"gabdere" (gabdere)
12/11/2013 at 17:19 • Filed to: volkswagen, gti, fahrenheit, 6 months, ownership, 2007

I've always loved Volkswagens. My parents owned an MKIV diesel Jetta, a B5,5 Passat Wagon and other German cars. Back in January of this year I bought a nice 5-speed MKV Rabbit. It had a lowered suspension, xenons, Detroit wheels, tinted windows and all that good stuff. It also had 135 000 kms (84 000 miles).

Disclaimer: I'm from Canada, I'm new here and I speak French. Expect to see spelling mistakes, sentences that make no sense whatsoever and prices in CAD. All pictures are my own unless otherwise noted.

So I used it for 6000 miles and listed it at a way higher price than what I had paid for. I was about to start university and wanted a car with less mileage since I have a weekly 250 miles commute. What I had in mind was to buy a Fahrenheit GTI, a car I always dreamed of. But I had to sell the Rabbit at the price it was listed or I'd keep it. Here's my Rabbit :

I started looking for a Fahrenheit Edition GTI. For those of you who don't know, its main feature is the magma orange color. They also all came with the DSG transmission, orange interior accents, special spoiler, Charleston wheels, leather, sunroof. 150 where made for Canada and 1200 for the States. There's also 1200 Yellow Fahrenheit GLIs that only you American friends got.

There were 3 for sale in Quebec at the time and 1 very close to where I lived. It took some time but the Rabbit got sold at the price I wanted. So I went to the dealer that had a Fahrenheit to have a good look at it. It had 30 000 miles, never winter driven but they had just sold it. Since the Fahrenheit edition only came in DSG, I asked a seller if I could try an other DSG GTI to see how it drives. I loved it but it was an MKVI and that's not what I was looking for.

The second Fahrenheit was sold too. So I gave it a last shot and called the guy that had one and lived close to my house. So here's the car in question, Fahrenheit #25/150 :

It was the first time in my entire life that I drove a car that was this dirty. I mean, I've seen dirty cars but this was unbelievable and miserable at the same time. There were coffee all over the cupholders, dog hair and food all over the backseat and the cargo area, 5 years of dust on the dashboard and so on. The car was on winter tires since the summer ones were completely worn out. There were decals on the side that were peeling off and he had somehow messed up the front bumper. He was asking something like 15000$ and when I offered him 12800$ he said yes. But the most important factor is that the car has a 5-star Volkswagen Protection Plus warranty. It covers basically everything until next June or 160 000 kms (I'm at 112 000). It's a 3000$ warranty BTW. That's the only reason I bought the car, considering its condition. I got kind of a got deal, considering its limited edition, ok mileage and it has that killer warranty.

Brought the car home, started washing it, but realized it was a too big of a job for me.

I finally had a detailer do the entire interior and fix the front bumper. It was a well-spent 250$. This was the result:

To this day, there were almost 2000$ worth of repairs done under warranty. Starter, rear shock, a fan, check engine light that came up from a faulty part under the hood (I don't have the bills right now but will edit this eventually).

(Edit : find the list by clicking on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Six months later, what do I think? I love this car more than any one I've owned. The DSG is really cool, it farts when it changes gear and I love that. There's plenty of power (but some turbo lag) and it proved to be reliable (edit: alright lots of repairs, but the car never left me stranded). Everyone look at the car, more than one people offered me to buy it, I've had dozens of thumbs up and everyone talks about it when I go to the dealer. I don't have an attention deficit and I didn't need a car to stand out but it's fun to see that people love your car. It's also fun to have a Lamborghini paint job.

I've done some cosmetic mods. I started by tinting some parts and the windows, I put on yellow fogs, removed most of the badges, I wrapped the grille in matte black and plastidipped the emblem. I used Vagcom to reprogram my DRLs so it would be the fog lights instead of the xenons (they cost 250$ to replace so I'm minimizing the risk). I also enabled the coming/leaving home feature and configured my fob to open and close the windows.

What's wrong with it?

The stereo is shit and speakers are blown. There are so many rattles. Steering wheel controls are not working in accessory mode. The sunroof does a pretty intense helicopter sound when it's open, the seat bolsters are done but that's the previous guy fault.

What's to come?

Lots of things. I've not done any performance upgrades yet because I didn't want to mess with the warranty. But here's what to come: lowered suspension, air intake, RCD 510 touchscreen, euro OEM LED tails, matte black spoiler and roof (maybe), orange brake callipers and I'll have the exterior fully detailed.

Would I do it again?

Maybe it wasn't the smartest move considering I started university in august but the car itself is magical, I had a pretty good deal and I couldn't pass the opportunity to own one of my dream cars. There's also a pretty nice community of Fahrenheit owners!

If you want to look at more pics, find me on Instagram @theorangecarguy (lol). You can also find the Fahrenheit registry !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

I once heard something in one of Petrolicous' videos that sums up the experience I've had with this car : no matter what kind of job I held, no matter what kind of life I had, no matter how bad the day was, at the end of it, I just get in my car, start it up and take it for a drive in the mountains and everything seams right. It was always there for me. So when you have something that makes you fell good, regardless how many bad things happen in your life, why wouldn't you keep it?

Life is all about the drive.

DISCUSSION (23)

Ohto Kangas > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 17:25

I have an 07 GTI as well with DSG and all the bells and whistles including the factory body kit. It is a great car. I have owned it from new and have put 175k miles on it. However it has sat in the garage for the last 3 years and never gets driven anymore. I really ended up missing the clutch pedal and flexibility of having a manual. With that said I cannot bring myself to sell it. It is a nice car I enjoy having around. Great write up.

gabdere > Ohto Kangas
12/11/2013 at 17:30

Eh wait. You've done 175k miles in like 5 years?! Thats 281 000 kms hell! I miss a manual too. Since you have way more mileage than me, what should i be afraid of?

Ohto Kangas > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 17:39

I had an issue with the cam follower that was at about 60k VW fixed it at no cost. Other than that the car has been flawless and without issue. I know I drive a lot :) I drive a thousand miles a week just commuting. It has been a very reliable car. The MkV is a great platform and I believe VW lost money on the 06 and 07 GTI's. Hence why the MkV was such a short lived generation. The car still pulls just as hard as it did the day I bought it. Mine is on KW coilovers and has 19" BBS CH's. That is all I ever did to it. The car has always felt fast.

gabdere > Ohto Kangas
12/11/2013 at 17:56

Glad to know it's been reliable! I already had the cam follower replaced! I just fear what's to come when i'll be out of warranty

flak > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 18:14

Awesome car, love that gen GTI. Question from an Ontarian, are the roads in Quebec really salted as much as people say?

KB Garage > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 18:15

I have so much trouble wrapping my head around people selling such filthy cars. Also, I literally just replaced all the speakers in my beater mk IV jetta. Crutchfield may still have some deals going on. I picked up four speakers for $80.

gabdere > KB Garage
12/11/2013 at 18:20

I still can't figure if cold weather cause speaker to freak out, if i only hear rattles or if the speakers are really blown

gabdere > flak
12/11/2013 at 18:23

Yeah they tend to put a good amount of salt on the roads. But i don't hear people complain about it that often

Patrick George > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 18:49

Fahrenheit! I love these!

Bill McCallon > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 19:11

I have an 06 GTI and I agree with just about everything in your write up. Only difference is that I have owned mine since almost new (8k miles) and mine is United Grey. I thought about the Farenheit when I bought mine, but the price difference of new vs slightly used won. I love my GTI and can't imagine driving anything else. Well, maybe a Porsche, but that's another story for another time. Hope you love driving yours like I love driving mine.

Ohto Kangas > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 20:29

You have a ways to go mileage wise til any major service is due. So just regular maintenance and you should be golden. I drive my cars really hard also ;). The GTI has held up really well.

mixmastermiked > gabdere
12/11/2013 at 21:39

"2000$ worth of repairs done under warranty. Starter, rear shock, a fan, check engine light that came up from a faulty part under the hood"

Next paragraph..

"it proved to be reliable"

Bit of a inconsistency here.

My advice? Dump it before the warranty expires. I owned an Audi TT and it was by far the most unreliable POS I have had the displeasure of owning in my life. Will be a cold day in hell before I buy another VAG product.

gabdere > mixmastermiked
12/11/2013 at 22:34

Agreed, i didn't get the fact right. These repairs were done when i got the car @ 98 000 kms, i've done over 15 000 kms and nothing happened. So yeah, it proved to be reliable. And look @ the other comment from a guy that owns a 175000 miles GTI and says it is reliable.

stuttgartobsessed > gabdere
12/12/2013 at 03:50

Bonjour! C'est bien d'avoir quelqu'un qui parle français! Bon Chance avec ta bagnole trop cool.

Method82 > gabdere
12/12/2013 at 07:56

I have an 07 GTI DSG and always wanted a Fahrenheit. The radio is crap from the factory and i myself can hear one of my speakers going out. I definitely miss the 3rd pedal. I have 96,000 miles on mine.

Found0nRoadDead > gabdere
12/13/2013 at 09:48

Man, you are bold to buy a car in that condition. I get that it had a warranty but anybody who treats their car like that guy is not being careful about maintenance and fixing minor problems before they become major. As somebody else suggested, I would dump it before the warranty is up if you can.

gabdere > Found0nRoadDead
12/13/2013 at 11:02

I'm 100% convinced that he didn't give a damn about maintenance, I'm sure he didn't even know that the DSG oil has to be flushed. When I bought it, the motor oil change was due 5000 kms ago. Anyway, the car is genuinely good and proved to be in a decent shape under all that shit. I'm very happy that I helped a limited edition VW (one in 1350) to be in good shape again. I'm not gonna dump it, but I would lie to say that I'm not scared of what's to come.

Spasoje > gabdere
12/13/2013 at 19:21

Will you be able to fix the remaining issues under warranty, or are you on your own for them?

mazdaspeed2 > gabdere
12/13/2013 at 22:37

I also have a bright orange car (mazdaspeed protege) and I completely agree about loving the compliments you get on the color and also glad someone else understands that it isn't to try and grab attention from people, it is just a cool color.

Brent > gabdere
12/14/2013 at 08:16

That's awesome; I love the Fahrenheit edition, too. If you want a special edition GTI and you don't want to go full-blown crazy with the R32, you could not have made a better choice. Congratulations and enjoy the miles (uh, kilometers, I mean).

Agrajag > Ohto Kangas
12/14/2013 at 09:12

I have an 09 with the DSG, and have been curious as to how reliable they can be. Nice to know.

gabdere > Brent
12/14/2013 at 14:54

Haha thanks! I almost traded it for an R32 but it was still 10k pricier.

gabdere > Spasoje
12/14/2013 at 14:57

I have until June to try to find issues lol! I'll have a huge inspection before it ends too!