A Rough Start with Endless Potential

• Sivert • 18 views • 2 min read

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On September 4, 2024, I bought my first Golf GTI, a 2012 Edition 35. I had been looking for a standard GTI and was considering an eight hour drive to see a 2010 model. Then on the way home from a work trip I found an ad for this Edition 35: 180,000 km on the clock, a "new" engine at 130,000 km, a "new" gearbox at 90,000 km, and a price of 125,000 NOK (about $11,660). It has the Golf R's EA113 engine, which is what sold me.

Screenshot of the car's online ad

The Edition 35 has a few things of its own: red stitching on the seatbelts, anniversary badges (removed by a previous owner), and slightly lower suspension. Stock it makes 235 hp, and a Stage 1 tune takes it to about 300, which is Golf R territory.

Photograph of a blue 2012 Golf R. CC: https://www.fcpeuro.com/blog/mk6-golf-r-vs-mk7-golf-r

The history raised some flags. Seven previous owners, most of them teenagers, averaging under two years each. The mods were cheap, badly installed, and did more harm than good.

This screenshots shows the history of the owners, with their age. The previous owner bought the car for his daughter of 19.

The door panels had been pried off with a screwdriver during a speaker swap, and the scratches have started to rust. Paddle shifter extensions were glued on and left a sticky mess. The original rims were swapped for something questionable, and the Milltek exhaust leaks.

Cheap paddle shifter-extensions that were glued onto the original paddle shifters. I'm not sure what glue has been used, but this definitely has caused a mess on the back of the original ones.

Mechanically it still feels solid. It handles well and pulls hard. But the ECU is badly tuned, running rich with rev-hang, and that needs either a reflash to stock or a proper tune.

The exhaust is a mix of Milltek and original parts. The leak is obvious, and while loud cold starts are fun for about a week, they are not what I want. The original exhaust came with the car, so fixing it should be straightforward.

There is a lot wrong with it, but it is a rare car with good bones, and I want to put it back the way it should be.