Water pump Gates or OEM Volkswagen

I used a Gates kit which seemed good quality and included a water pump, tensioner and idler pulleys.

Great if taken care of!

I have a 2016 Golf 5MT, 160k mi now. It's been tuned for 120k and only major issue I've had is the original water pump went out last spring at approx. 140k.

I have a 2013 GTI with 105k on my original water pump, no issues

There was only a slight oil residue on top of old water pump and none inside or near the pumps gaskets. No cracks in the plastic housing were found anywhere on the old pump.

We used to install gates pump and belt kits, but saw too many leaking water pumps well before they were due for another belt. Switched to aisin kits and haven't had a problem.

Years ago I would use the Gates kit on my 03 Evo with no issue, but a few years back I had a failure (from a different component) after 19k miles and the Gates pump was weeping when I removed it. The shop I use also doesn’t recommend them either so I go OEM for the water pump anymore.

water pump failed at 101,000. Shop replaced under warranty. That next one failed at 110,000. Took a little work since shop changed owners but got the the water pump replaced at no cost. Shop said the two bad ones were Gates

I had nothing but problems with Gates water pumps in my 4Runner - they would always start leaking profusely from the weep hole after a few days of use. Replaced it three times under warranty

As a mechanic who used to work on these cars daily, it really depends if you're willing to fork out the amount that's due every couple of years, the water pumps on vw/Audi/ Porsche and mercs are always prone to fail within a couple of years even if you go aftermarket.

my 2018 (build date Aug 2018) had no head gasket issues, although the water pump leaked prematurely.