Help Me Buy A Car Thread v.ScottyB: WITNESS ME BROTHERS

[RawrImAMonster]

OK dingdongs, give me some actual information. how reliable are they REALLY. if i'm picking up a car with some miles, will it have been dumped because the intake is caked shut with soot and throwing a christmas tree of CELs? are the windows going to drop into the doors like the old mk4's? if the seats are plaid, does that mean i can go the speed of plaid?

I've been researching the MK6 GTI's because I'm probably going to get one soon. None of these issues are all that common except the water pump which has been fixed by a newer part. Overall the mk6 gti is supposed to be a pretty solid car.

Common (ish) issues:
Water pumps - They used to have a ton of problems with these, but a newer part has fixed this
Intake valve cleaning - It will need to be done on any direct injected motor. Not doing it will cause misfires. Not too hard to do. Needs to be done roughly every 50-60k usually. A catch can may help somewhat.

More uncommon issues:
Intake manifold flappers - These things somehow break I think you just have to replace the intake mani. It's only $150 so not too big of a deal.
Timing chain tensioners - The early ones (before 2013 i *think*) have issues with this in higher mileage motors. Will destroy the motor if it fails. Not terribly hard to replace with the newer part. This is a pretty rare issue.
Mechatronics unit - Only relevant to the DSG trans. Not common, but sometimes these cause weird jerking/shifting issues

If you modify:
Manual - Any tune will eventually kill your clutch. The stock one is super weak.
DSG trans - Unless you're running a big turbo, you don't have to worry about any issues with the DSG holding power