New GTI

[Steve ex Scirocco]

Hi all, thought I’d share my news of new car etc. being a 67 year old & having had a great 2.0L Scirocco for the last 10 years, I have now purchased a new Polo GTI ( yet to collect it) & thought I’d share some thoughts on parts I Wil be fitting 1/ spare wheel,Jack & correct rear boot panel (recently purchased kindly from Mike on here, thanks again Mike 2/ bonnet gas struts ( I did this on my scirocco) 3/ under seat sub woofer ( I still like my music!) 4/ decent rear split seat covers (I have an old Lab) 5/ I’m going to get wheels re sprayed silver, inside & out !(diamond cut only has laquer over bare metal, spraying silver is 2 coats of protection & look better to me with Kings Red. Thoughts?

[SRGTD]

Hi Steve - firstly, a belated welcome to the forum and secondly, apologies for the long post!

My thoughts below;

• I think a spare wheel is a wise move - much better than the standard can of gunk that VW provide these days. I can remember not long ago when VW used to make the claim that they provided a spare wheel with all of their cars with one or two exceptions. When I bought my GTI in 2020 (I no longer own the car), a space saver spare was still part of the car’s standard spec but sadly in these days of cost cutting and weight saving it no longer is.

• I think there’s one or two owners on the forum who’ve fitted gas struts to their car’s bonnet. I didn’t bother with mine but it’s a nice little addition.

• I was reasonably happy with the standard audio in the GTI; I listen mainly to DAB digital radio in the car these days and I found the standard system in the current shape Polo GTI was fine for my listening needs. I did have have the Dynaudio upgrade in my mk6 Golf GTD and was a little underwhelmed by it so I’ve stuck when the standard set up in the cars I’ve owned since then.

• I’m personally not a fan of seat covers but if I had a dog then I’d fit covers to the rear seat - a sensible move IMHO!

• As for the wheels- I get the impression you’re not a fan of diamond cut alloys. I really dislike them and wish that car manufacturers would get over their obsession with fitting them to most of their cars.
  
  Diamond cut alloys have poor durability especially during the winter months. They usually succumb to white worm corrosion, they’re susceptible to damage by tyre fitters and they’re more expensive to refurbish than alloys with a painted / powder coated finish and can usually only be refurbished a couple of time in a diamond cut finish as refurbishing them involves re-cutting the face - more than two refurbishments and too much metal may have been removed in the re-cutting process, potentially adversely affecting the structural integrity of the wheels.
  
  On my last three VW’s - all with diamond cut alloys - I didn’t get the original alloys repainted, I bought a second set of (painted / powder coated) alloys rather and stored the diamond cut alloys and put them back on when I sold those cars. In my experience, both private buyers and the motor trade prefer (maybe expect?) to see the original alloys in the original finish on the car - if they’re not, then it may adversely affect the price you’re able to get for the car when the time comes to sell it. The VW dealer I used refused to take one of the cars as a trade in without the original diamond cut alloys fitted. Additionally, IMHO some designs of diamond cut alloys don’t seem to suit a single colour painted finish, so maybe getting a second set of alloys in a painted / powder coated finish is something to consider if you have space to safely store the original alloys?
  
  Here’s some pictures below of my last three VW’s with my choice of alloys fitted. I went for shades of grey coloured alloys in each case as I feel it works well with most car paint colours. I kept to the same diameter, width and offset as the original alloys with each set of replacements and I found that if you buy good quality alloys then there’s no problems selling them on if they’re in good condition and realistically priced.

Hope you enjoy your new car and I look forward to seeing some pictures of it and hearing how you get on with it.

2011 Mk6 GTD in Carbon Grey with VW Rotary alloys in Anthracite;



2016 6C Polo GTI in Blue Silk with VW Motorsport alloys in Anthracite (the best VW I owned - it was a great little car)



2020 AW Polo GTI+ in Pure White with RC Design RC32 alloys in Ferric Iron colour;

[Steve ex Scirocco]

Thanks for welcome, I have used this platform & previously a couple of Scirocco ones & found all extremely useful & great people on them,from your gratefully received comments I think I will see how good the standard music set up works before I add my kenwood sub woofer. As for wheels I hear what you say about original finish,but as I’m likely to keep car for a long time, I will probably go ahead with re sprayed silver ( have found local firm that can do for £440 including tyre fitting & inside rims to match outside(easier to keep clean & when I take off regularly to clean anyway! Looking forward to getting car @ getting used to new “tech” etc Should perform similar to my Scirocco, which I’ve loved very much.