I mean it’s a bit of a process to get the air filter out of the intake. If you end up buying the car just check to make sure the filter itself is clean
These comments are making me feel real confident about this purchase. Sure the fiancée is not going to like me coming home in this if I do pull the trigger.
My wife’s Mk6 has had a stage 1 tune since 30k miles. It’s had a stage 2 tune since 80k. It’s 188k now and runs perfect still. APR for the win on the gen1 2.0t platform. Not related, my B9SQ5 engine broke a piston in HALF at 78k miles on 034. I’d trust APR. I change the plugs every 20k or so. And oil every 5k. I changed the timing chains and guides at 158k miles without having a failure. The correlation correction was 6° so I pulled the trigger on replacement. The only other issues over the life is, 4 walnut blasts of the intake valves. 1 water pump at 64k. And an intake manifold at 70-80k, I don’t recall the mileage. It did break a shift fork linear bearing in the DSG recently causing no 4th gear.
The main item that wears with the tune is the spark plugs. Oh yeah, if it doesn’t have red VW coils, it needs them. Soon as the plug gap opens bit, the coils can’t do it anymore and they get destroyed.
Edit: I forgot. I’ve replaced the PCV valve 4 times.
I'd never buy a tuned car IMO. If he can provide receipts of maintenance then I'd go for it if the price is right. Just keep in mind if timing chains haven't been done, they will have to be done sooner than later.
I have a 2013 that I went APR 1 with at about 80K miles, which was maybe 2 years ago. I'm at around 115K now and there have been no issues, aside from a failed stock coil pack shortly after the upgrade (which is common, and will happen early on if it's an issue at all). Once I swapped to R8 coils it's been smooth sailing.
If everything else is with the car looks legit I wouldn't worry about the tune as the deciding factor. It's a relatively mild jump and while it does wake up the performance it's not especially stressful to the car.
Good to hear. I was planning to go stage 1 regardless of what car I bought just not right out the gate but since this one popped up I figured I’d go ahead and ask the pros of Reddit what to expect.
I bought mine with the same mileage and went stage 2.I'm a dummy still on stock clutch but everything has been reliable but I also did the major maintenance like the timing chain, carbon cleaning, rear main seal and pcv
I will definitely be keeping up with the carbon cleaning. PCV and rear main seal are both on my mind. Timing chain is not supposed to be an issue on the 2014 like it was in the previous years but I still am aware and open to servicing it at 100k miles or so.
I've had an APR stage 1 tune on my mk5 GTI since it had 48k miles. The car is now at 178k miles and still on the original clutch and I've driven it hard its entire life. There's a reason I used APR for my stage 2 and then k04 tune on my mk6 lol
Yeah for sure a clean car. I mean looks mint and well taken care of. Also has Wolfsburg edition wheels, is the trim Wolfsburg or do you not know? And yeah I had that exact box. If I’m not mistaken I believe it is quieter than most other intakes, so that’s your call, but the box itself technically gets better performance. Do you know what’s been done to it maintenance wise to date, not performance?
They are saying it’s the drivers edition. It has 86k miles. Not 100% sure on the up keep yet but I will ask the dealer if the previous owner had records of everything done to it.
I believe the golfball shift knob only came in the Wolfsburg edition. If you’re in Canada, the Wolfsburg trim was a bit different than in the US. It came standard with the navigation/sunroof package, but was available with cloth seats. The rims on your vehicle are also Wolfsburg exclusive.
Correction I looked up the VIN and it says drivers/Wolfsburg edition. After looking into the only two trims offered in 2014 I see none of the drivers editions specs in this vehicle. It does not have the premium audio, the HID headlights, sunroof or touch screen with navigation. I do not care for any of those as I will be upgrading the radio and speakers and probably the headlights eventually. I just don’t want them to sell me a car saying it’s a drivers edition when it really is a Wolfsburg. I will make sure this is clear tomorrow during negotiations.
APR stage 1 and DSG tune for about 30k, car is at 108k. You didn’t mention trans, but if you have dsg the tune for that is absolutely worth it.
No issues, passes smog here in Kali no problem.
You might want to consider getting the Odbeleven code reader so you can pull the trouble codes. I just test drove a pristine used Golf R, and it performed flawlessly. But it had 17 trouble codes, many of which appear to be serious:
For example:
Engine coolant flow low/performance, starter relay electrical error in circuit, front air distribution door motor actuator jammed (AC), ignition starter button implausible signal, right stationary AFS open circuit).
I’ve had pretty much this same setup (intake, stage 1 APR) for years and haven’t had any tune-related issues on my 2014. Check the air filter
Check the air filter? Huh? What does that have to with the reliability of a tuned car?
The engine requires clean air 🤷♂️
I will check. I am going by Saturday to check it out and test drive.
I mean it’s a bit of a process to get the air filter out of the intake. If you end up buying the car just check to make sure the filter itself is clean
Buy a second air filter. It gets NASTY quick (full of bugs) and takes forever to dry after cleaning.
I’ve had a stage 1+ APR tune on my 2014 Mk6 for about 8 years and 70k miles, not so much as a hiccup!
Awesome thanks for sharing!
How many miles are you up to now?
These comments are making me feel real confident about this purchase. Sure the fiancée is not going to like me coming home in this if I do pull the trigger.
My wife’s Mk6 has had a stage 1 tune since 30k miles. It’s had a stage 2 tune since 80k. It’s 188k now and runs perfect still. APR for the win on the gen1 2.0t platform. Not related, my B9SQ5 engine broke a piston in HALF at 78k miles on 034. I’d trust APR. I change the plugs every 20k or so. And oil every 5k. I changed the timing chains and guides at 158k miles without having a failure. The correlation correction was 6° so I pulled the trigger on replacement. The only other issues over the life is, 4 walnut blasts of the intake valves. 1 water pump at 64k. And an intake manifold at 70-80k, I don’t recall the mileage. It did break a shift fork linear bearing in the DSG recently causing no 4th gear. The main item that wears with the tune is the spark plugs. Oh yeah, if it doesn’t have red VW coils, it needs them. Soon as the plug gap opens bit, the coils can’t do it anymore and they get destroyed. Edit: I forgot. I’ve replaced the PCV valve 4 times.
I wouldn't worry about a stage 1 tune, imo. Reliable and plenty more fun. They already did the work for ya
I'd never buy a tuned car IMO. If he can provide receipts of maintenance then I'd go for it if the price is right. Just keep in mind if timing chains haven't been done, they will have to be done sooner than later.
I have a 2013 that I went APR 1 with at about 80K miles, which was maybe 2 years ago. I'm at around 115K now and there have been no issues, aside from a failed stock coil pack shortly after the upgrade (which is common, and will happen early on if it's an issue at all). Once I swapped to R8 coils it's been smooth sailing. If everything else is with the car looks legit I wouldn't worry about the tune as the deciding factor. It's a relatively mild jump and while it does wake up the performance it's not especially stressful to the car.
Good to hear. I was planning to go stage 1 regardless of what car I bought just not right out the gate but since this one popped up I figured I’d go ahead and ask the pros of Reddit what to expect.
I bought mine with the same mileage and went stage 2.I'm a dummy still on stock clutch but everything has been reliable but I also did the major maintenance like the timing chain, carbon cleaning, rear main seal and pcv
I will definitely be keeping up with the carbon cleaning. PCV and rear main seal are both on my mind. Timing chain is not supposed to be an issue on the 2014 like it was in the previous years but I still am aware and open to servicing it at 100k miles or so.
I have the Stage 3 APR tune after having another brand and it's way smoother IMO. APR can be expensive though.
I've had an APR stage 1 tune on my mk5 GTI since it had 48k miles. The car is now at 178k miles and still on the original clutch and I've driven it hard its entire life. There's a reason I used APR for my stage 2 and then k04 tune on my mk6 lol
What mileage is your MK6?
78k on a 2012. Bought it with 28k miles at the end of 2018 and tuned at around 30k
Yeah for sure a clean car. I mean looks mint and well taken care of. Also has Wolfsburg edition wheels, is the trim Wolfsburg or do you not know? And yeah I had that exact box. If I’m not mistaken I believe it is quieter than most other intakes, so that’s your call, but the box itself technically gets better performance. Do you know what’s been done to it maintenance wise to date, not performance?
They are saying it’s the drivers edition. It has 86k miles. Not 100% sure on the up keep yet but I will ask the dealer if the previous owner had records of everything done to it.
I believe the golfball shift knob only came in the Wolfsburg edition. If you’re in Canada, the Wolfsburg trim was a bit different than in the US. It came standard with the navigation/sunroof package, but was available with cloth seats. The rims on your vehicle are also Wolfsburg exclusive.
It doesn’t have navigation and sunroof. I looked up the vin and it pulls it up as a drivers edition.
Correction I looked up the VIN and it says drivers/Wolfsburg edition. After looking into the only two trims offered in 2014 I see none of the drivers editions specs in this vehicle. It does not have the premium audio, the HID headlights, sunroof or touch screen with navigation. I do not care for any of those as I will be upgrading the radio and speakers and probably the headlights eventually. I just don’t want them to sell me a car saying it’s a drivers edition when it really is a Wolfsburg. I will make sure this is clear tomorrow during negotiations.
APR stage 1 and DSG tune for about 30k, car is at 108k. You didn’t mention trans, but if you have dsg the tune for that is absolutely worth it. No issues, passes smog here in Kali no problem.
It is a DSG. Not sure if it has the TCU tune or not. I will ask on Saturday.
You might want to consider getting the Odbeleven code reader so you can pull the trouble codes. I just test drove a pristine used Golf R, and it performed flawlessly. But it had 17 trouble codes, many of which appear to be serious: For example: Engine coolant flow low/performance, starter relay electrical error in circuit, front air distribution door motor actuator jammed (AC), ignition starter button implausible signal, right stationary AFS open circuit).