Golf TDI vs GTI - Maintenance costs/Reliability?

Currently own a mk6 golf TDI. Love the car but since it's my daily driver and my work is only about 15-20mins from my house I really don't get the full benefits of the diesel engine, especially on cold days. Been thinking about going the route of a GTI instead but I'm nervous about the reliability and service costs. Generally I don't drive cars that hard, but I still want some of that TDI torque which I could find in the GTI. Has anyone had experiences with both or know if the expenses are comparable to the TDI as far as the maintenance goes? I would go used and buy one just a couple years old.

Maintenance on the GTI will probably be cheaper up till 200k or so. I don't know how long you plan on keeping your cars but if I can break 300k I'm pretty happy. However going from one vehicle to another is costly and you may not recognize any real savings. If you want more HP, get the GTI; if you are trying to save dough, keep the TDI. I'd go with a mk7 GTI though, stage 1 they are beasts.

Look at the 2015 golf with the 1.8l TSI. It has more torque than the previous gas engines and a broader torque range than the TDI.

kjclow said:

Look at the 2015 golf with the 1.8l TSI. It has more torque than the previous gas engines and a broader torque range than the TDI.

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I have considered the newer golfs. I just really didn't want to buy new. I tend to always buy used and find a well cared for car but I keep my eyes open for anything tempting regardless.

Equivalent GTI and TDI are almost identical as far as maintenance goes. TDI will have fuel filters every 20K, and a timing belt at 120-130K that the GTI will not have; but the GTI will have spark plugs at 60K, likely need coil packs at 80-100K, and will probably need carbon cleaning about then as well.

Keep in mind that the ride is harsher in a GTI; not horribly so, but noticeable. The combo of slightly stiffer suspension and 18 inch wheels makes it handle beautifully, but ride a bit stiff.

As for torque; the TDI may make ~30 Ft-Lbs more; but you'd never know the difference... The GTI is NOTICEABLY faster than a TDI at pretty much any speed, and kicks you back in the seat (torque) harder when you downshift/floor it. The GTI's powerband is beautiful as well, so that power just keeps coming long after the TDI is out of breath.

I own both by the way; and drive them regularly.

DubFamily said:

Equivalent GTI and TDI are almost identical as far as maintenance goes. TDI will have fuel filters every 20K, and a timing belt at 120-130K that the GTI will not have; but the GTI will have spark plugs at 60K, likely need coil packs at 80-100K, and will probably need carbon cleaning about then as well.

Keep in mind that the ride is harsher in a GTI; not horribly so, but noticeable. The combo of slightly stiffer suspension and 18 inch wheels makes it handle beautifully, but ride a bit stiff.

As for torque; the TDI may make ~30 Ft-Lbs more; but you'd never know the difference... The GTI is NOTICEABLY faster than a TDI at pretty much any speed, and kicks you back in the seat (torque) harder when you downshift/floor it. The GTI's powerband is beautiful as well, so that power just keeps coming long after the TDI is out of breath.

I own both by the way; and drive them regularly.

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Awesome. Thanks for the great info.

Keep in mind that the ride is harsher in a GTI; not horribly so, but noticeable. The combo of slightly stiffer suspension and 18 inch wheels makes it handle beautifully, but ride a bit stiff.

Which version tdi? Mine is a German made with the "sport" suspension and 17" wheels & I didn't notice any difference. Cfo wife was in car along with dealer, couldn't go really try handling.

Your Golf TDI is identical to mine, just one MY newer (no changes from '12 to '13).

The TDI's sport suspension is in between a base Golf and a GTI; it is lower than a Golf, but taller than a GTI; The sway bars are more flexible than a GTIs, and the spring rate is slightly lower than a GTI so you get a bit more roll in corners, etc.

The individual differences are pretty minor, but they add up.

Ride pretty close between the two. I thought that the main reason the gti had a harsher ride was the 18" wheels.
My thoughts on the gti vw the tdi:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=430253

The 18s do make for a harsher ride, but my GTI has 17" Denvers so it isn't the only factor.

DubFamily said:

The 18s do make for a harsher ride, but my GTI has 17" Denvers so it isn't the only factor.

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Tires also make a difference in ride quality
I do believe that the gti has a firmer suspension though.

If you are simply looking at this from a maintenance cost perspective and like your present car, just keep what you have. The delta in maintenance is not worth a vehicle change. You already know the vehicle your in and buying a used anything comes with risks. If your worried about your HPFP or DPF failing and the associated cost of repair, that's a different story, but also with a low probability of going bad and well, you made it this far already.

If you're getting itchy for a vehicle change, might I suggest a Malone Stage II tune.. ~$650 ish dollars and you will think you have a different car. If you love the present torque of your TDI, I'm thinking you won't wont be looking too hard at GTI's after a tune.

If you are bummed you have to buy diesel when gas is this cheap....

1) gas prices aren't going to stay this low

2) the GTI requires premium which typically costs just as much as diesel

Others have said it before: the delta in maintenance costs is very minor. Personally I can't give a useful comparison on the newer vehicles as far as durability is concerned. I would lean towards the TDI being more durable based on previous models again but the difference isn't going to be significant.

This is no guarantee, but IF the HPFP IS a fear, VW has been repairing it IN and OUT of warranty: the OUT of warranty repaired on a case by case basis and under good will.

As a minimum, tires on a GTI will cost MORE per set and on a more frequent basis. I recently decided to replace the OEM tires on a 09 Jetta TDI with app 89,000 miles AND alignment. Do I NEED an alignment? Probably not. The 03 Jetta TDI oem went app 113,500 miles, so I was a TAD disappointed.

UPDATE:

The cost per mile driven (retail for oem $697. from tire rack and installed locally) tires = .0078314 cents per mile driven ($490. locally). So for both a better and cheaper replacement tire, to get the SAME cost per mile driven, tires, I only need 62,569 miles !!!!!

So the question becomes: do you think you can do as well (relatively and in comparison) with GTI tires? My take is they will be MORE expensive and last less miles, ergo higher cost per mile driven tires.

As you can see from the above real world example less expensive ,potential for loner miles , ergo lower cost per mile driven tires

greengeeker said:

If you are bummed you have to buy diesel when gas is this cheap....

1) gas prices aren't going to stay this low

2) the GTI requires premium which typically costs just as much as diesel

Other have said it before the delta in maintenance costs are very similar. Personally I can give a useful comparison on the newer vehicles as far as durability is concerned. I would lean towards the TDI being more durable based on previous models but the difference isn't going to be significant.

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^ +1. Well said.

ruking said:

This is no guarantee, but IF the HPFP IS a fear, VW has been repairing it IN and OUT of warranty: the OUT of warranty repaired on a case by case basis and under good will.

As a minimum, tires on a GTI will cost MORE per set and on a more frequent basis. I recently decided to replace the OEM tires on a 09 Jetta TDI with app 88,000 miles AND alignment. Do I NEED an alignment? Probably not. The 03 Jetta TDI oem went app 113,500 miles, so I was a TAD disappointed.

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I didn't realize the GTI had 18's instead of 17's. While they look awesome, I do agree that they would be expensive, even compared to my current 17's which I had to replace this past year (not cheap).

Kluch said:

I didn't realize the GTI had 18's instead of 17's. While they look awesome, I do agree that they would be expensive, even compared to my current 17's which I had to replace this past year (not cheap).

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Almost no one who has gotten "upgraded" wheels/ tires combinations, suspension etc. has reported better, let alone FAR better mpg and longer tread life. Just the OPPOSITE seems to be the overpowering/whelming trend.

You also need to factor the cost of the Insurance. GTI's are usually pretty high.

as of today GTI's cost more at the pump than TDI's (GTI's require premium gas)

D2: 2.859/gal
Prem. Gas: 3.099/gal

mid-grade is actually the same price as D2 now. Suck on it Gassers!

Interesting. 'round here:

$1.89/gal RUG
$2.79/gal D2

I'm paying more per mile than gassers yet.

frugality said:

Interesting. 'round here:

$1.89/gal RUG
$2.79/gal D2

I'm paying more per mile than gassers yet.

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It won't last... Soon it'll likely be halfway to where it was before since the price of crude has started to go back up.

Having owned both, I'm floored by the multiple assumptions in this threads. Let's start from the top:

The Maint is cheaper on the GTI due to having spark plugs every 60k as opposed to fuel filters every 20k. Timing belt is a cheaper job also.

Likely need coil packs? We're not in 2001. I spoke to a friend in a dealer service department who told me that they rarely need to replace coil packs on any of the 2.0t engines....

Tire costs - yup, 18s will wear out quicker and cost more to replace. The 18s on my GTI look great, but I wish they were 17s (I wanted the sunroof package)

18s also make the ride harsher than it should be. The roads are terrible up here. Would prefer 17s

Insurance cost was comparable to the TDI.

Fuel cost - I can't speak to what's happening south of the border, but in general, I'm paying close to the same as D1 right now.

A much fairler comparison would be a TDI to a Golf TSI. There is little question that for most normal drivers (under 30k per year), a 1.8t TSI is a better bet than a tdi.

yatzee said:

Having owned both, I'm floored by the multiple assumptions in this threads. Let's start from the top:

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What are you talking about...? I DO own both, and there were no assumptions in what I said. I haven't seen any wildly incorrect posts since, either...

yatzee said:

The Maint is cheaper on the GTI due to having spark plugs every 60k as opposed to fuel filters every 20k. Timing belt is a cheaper job also.

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Problem 1: GTI doesn't even have a timing belt, it is a timing chain.

Maintenance is about equivalent between them, however; as I've already stated...

yatzee said:

Likely need coil packs? We're not in 2001.

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Who is making assumptions now? Try talking to the people who actually drive these cars; the stock coil packs on TSI 2.0T engines are notorious for failing early in both the MKV and MKVI; with symptoms including poor economy, hard starts, and even complete failure. It also causes the spark plugs to foul early so they generally need an early swap as well when it happens.

Anyone with any experience working on MK6 GTIs will recommend R8 coil packs to replace the stock crap; they do the exact same job but do so without failing...

Pretty much everything else you said is exactly what was already in my post like 11 days ago. Perhaps you should actually read the thread before jumping in with both feet?

you're taking what i said as being a personal attack. it is not. In fact, i mostly agree with what you've written. I object to assumptions about tires and insurance that have been made by others. I do not agree with what you've said about the coils, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just formed mine based on what people I trust have told me who are in the business. I'm not sure if you're aware, but it's a different generation of TSI in the MK7 as opposed to the MK6.

I like that you've edited your thread. It's a touch more polite than it was.

From my experience, the insurance on a two versus 4 door will make a bigger difference than the Engine choice.

yatzee said:

you're taking what i said as being a personal attack. it is not. In fact, i mostly agree with what you've written. I object to assumptions about tires and insurance that have been made by others. I do not agree with what you've said about the coils, but everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just formed mine based on what people I trust have told me who are in the business. I'm not sure if you're aware, but it's a different generation of TSI in the MK7 as opposed to the MK6.

I like that you've edited your thread. It's a touch more polite than it was.

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Sorry; I suppose I took it a bit more personally than it was meant. Bad morning I guess

Tires and insurance; understood.

You are welcome to disagree on the coils, but I am pretty amazed your contacts have never encountered it. It is pretty common issue on the MKV and MK6 models; and that is from both personal experience and numerous first-hand experiences from other owners (as in hundreds if not more). I've had the OEM coils fail twice within less than 50,000 miles myself. After the second time, I replaced them with R8 coils and have had 0 issues since, car has 129,000 miles on it now. I do not know if the MK7 has the same coils or issues; but it shouldn't be too difficult to check the part number to see if they've been updated or modified.

I know very well that the new gen is a different engine; but the OP specified he did not want new so we have been discussing MK5/MK6 models for that reason. I noticed after I posted that your car is a MK7; they are way too new to even gauge if similar issues exist yet (HPFP failures, carbon build-up, coils, etc) from the MK6.

Anyway, I do apologize for "jumping in with both feet" myself...

kjclow said:

From my experience, the insurance on a two versus 4 door will make a bigger difference than the Engine choice.

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I did the numbers with my state farm agent regarding a TDI vs GTI for my area. I've got a two door TDI and I found that by having a 4 door GTI I would only save a couple bucks every 6 months. But by having a 4 door TDI I would save probably well over 100 bucks every 6 months. I can only imagine that having a 2 door GTI would be more expensive than my two door TDI... but then again, I'm in the market for a 4 door so...

Truly, it is a series of little things that can and do add up !!

Is it true that you "have to" run premium in the GTI? Wont it run on cheap gas and just reduce the power? My Mustang is much more fun to drive with premium in the tank but it runs just fine on cheap gas and with little to no impact on fuel economy.

You can run a GTI on 87 Octane fuel; it is just not recommended. Running on lower octane fuel will cause the GTI to pull timing, you'll get less power, and generally take a slight hit on fuel economy as well. You can live on nothing but MacDonalds for the rest of your life, it just isn't going to be as good for you in the long run.