VW Golf owners

[Misc]

I'll be selling the bike in September & hopefully getting a car, been looking for something around £3,000 & the Golf seems to be quite a popular car & i've always been keen on them, i think it's the 1997-2004 hatchback. I don't really understand car terms (Being a biker an all) TDI, GTI what should i be looking for around my price range.
Seems to be quite alot of different types of Golf's, colour coded bumpers, alloys as standard etc.

So yes, for around £3,000 what am i looking at.

[Keir]

the tdi or gt tdi 's are best but usually most expensive. i thought id be 'ard and get a petrol 1.8 20v Turbo gti model.... regretted it soon after when i realised that 25mpg was only achievable if i was careful!
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[Misc]

Thanks,
Are these just the different types of engines or do they change cosmetically aswell? What they like to drive then & are they reliable.

[Keir]

engines vary, for the diesels they come in various bhp guises but i THINK they are mostly 1.9s . 70bhp, 100, 130 and 150 etc. as you would expect the econonomy from all is excellent.
the petrols come in 1.6, 1.8 20v, 1.8T 20v, 2.0, 2.3, 2.8, 3.2. all are reliable, they are german.

interiors again vary. the petrol gti's come with recaro bucket seats, diesels have buckets but vw copies. some have skirts and stuff. go for the best spec you can find.

ive had mine nearly 2 years and its been fine. although saying that the abs light has jut come on... i guess the brakes didnt like being jet washed!! servicing is ok if you find a good indipendant, dealers dont like older cars ive found.
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[Misc]

Cheers for that, i'd probably want something around the 1.8 litre range, hoping for full silver, dark blue or black.
Do you have any piccies of your one & how much did you pay?

[Hoffy]

Theres also a 1400 cc version. Avoid it . Its apallingly slow.

And be aware , If You go for a 1.8 , its gonna be fairly heavy on insurance costs , cos most of the 1800s are GTIs

The 1600 is a good compromise , Its about 100 BHP so it aint gonna be dog slow, but probably not what id call fast either. probably best described as "nippy". The 1600 is fairly cheap to insure and run too. Bonus !
____________________
Plagued by 1980s Suzuki 2 strokes !

[Weedy]

I've been looking at Golf 1.9 TDI's recently, can pick them up for 2k-4k. Insurance for me wasn't too bad, 21 years old, granted I live in a pretty good area, but fully comp insurance is only £900 a year
____________________
<CBT passed 16th Sept 2007><Theory Test passed 11th Oct 2007><Practical Test passed 19th Apr 2008>
OWNED: 2008 Aprilia Pegaso Strada CURRENT: Bikeless :'(

[Keir]

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v383/keir_compact/DSCF1542.jpg?t=1183626311

i paid £6400 two years ago. it had FVWSH, low mileage and was in immaculate condition. prices have dropped since.
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[cqueen]

Get a MK1 GTI, a modern classic. I'm gonna get one asap.

[Whosthedaddy]

[m99dws]

[Misc]

Keir, lovely Golf. I havn't seen many 3 door ones tho. I'd be happy with that.
I'm not too keen on classics, unless they're muscle cars, those MK1's are actually quite nice tho.

After you own a bike, most cars feel dead slow. I went in a friends Clio Sport 2.0 & it was awful, so it's not got to be fast. More of a car just to cruise along. Although not too slow.

[son of a beesting]

get a Corrado!

[Cigaro]

The 1.9TDi engine is probably the best. Seat and Skoda have the same parts though, and they're a cheaper and better equipped. They're great cars, and the TDi is a fantastic engine, very nippy and easily tunable too.

[Misc]

Thanks for that, is there any difference with the sound between the diesel & petrol Golfs as i know you get some diesel cars that sound like vans? Also heard they're better for petrol aswell.

[Finglonga]

Mk3 and below oil burners sound like Massey Ferguson's but the Mk4's have much quieter and better engines. The Mk5 is hart to tell apart from its petrol equivalent, but you won't get a Mk5 for that price.
____________________
Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[Misc]

The MK5 GTI's in black are lovely, but about £25,000!

Hopefully, after reading about i'm going to try & get the 1.8 GT TDI model, i've increased my budget to £4000 if it's a decent one. Seen a few about for £3,500 but they have high milage.

Insurance isn't too bad, cheaper then bike which isn't bad.

[rallyeluke]

i own a mk2 golf gti with full tim stiles racing pack and its very good fun, masses of torque and low down grunt.

[Cigaro]

Mk4 TDi's are good. You can only really tell it's a diesel when it's idling - as soon as you pull away you'll think you're driving a petrol, as it accelerates like one too!

I would also think about the Seat Leon which is the same chassis and engine.

Do you really need the GT model? Why not just get a standard Mk4 TDi? They've all got the same engines and if you want to tune them it's just a case of plugging a laptop into the ODBCII port. IIRC you can get them up to 160Ps from the standard 110 just via computer tuning.

[Keir]

not strictly true, some come out the factory at 150bhp and tune higher than 160, more 190 i think.
Also a GT would be a better used buy as prices will be more or less the same but the spec is higher.
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[Cigaro]

Yep, but being a GT it'll probably have had the tits ragged off it.

[Keir]

very sweeping comment and again not strictly true!

It could be argued that the lower power engines are revved more to achieve the same momentum, meaning that the GT has been stressed less?
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[Misc]

Still looking...

One thing i've noticed about the Golf Gti turbo's is that alot sell for less then a standard 1.8, i'm looking at one now & it's up for £3,750 ono so probably about £3,600, which is less then the book price.

Is there something that goes wrong with these 1.8t which makes people sell them? There's too many for around this price for it to be a quick sale & you might see the same spec/year car selling for £5,000?

https://www.pistonheads.com/sales/249398.htm

[Keir]

There are many reasons.

High insurance
High petrol consumption (we're talking 20mpg around town and 28 on a run!)
High tax bracket
Common faults which scare people (re-circ valve splits, windows fall into doors, MAF sensor dies) although all are easy fixes.
The market is flooded with them so prices get competative.
Cam belt change at 40-50k can be expensive at dealers but make sure its been done (twice on 100k cars).
Prices drop once over 80k.

No major problems though.
____________________
Current : '08 Yamaha FZ1s
Previous: '99 Honda CBR 600FX, 03 ZX636 B1H, 99 Fazer 600 (red), 02 GSX-R 600 K2, 00 SV650s (red), 2008 ZX10R, 97 Bandit 1200N, 04 ZX6RR K1H, 04 GSX-R 1000, 98 Fazer 600 (gold), 05 Madness 110 Pit bike, 04 CR125R, 00 SV650s (black), 06 KTM 625 SMC, 99 SRAD 600 track bike, 03 SV650, 98 Bandit 1200N, Bandit 600SY, 03 GSX-R 600 K3, 01 GSX-R 600, 01 Fazer 600 (black), VFR 400 NC30 x3, 78 Honda Dream, 00 Speedfight 50

[Misc]

Thanks alot,

I really would rather a 1.8/2.0 but i'm getting peed off with this whole searching for a car thing & there's not many 3 door 1.8/2.0 Golfs for sale near me but there's a few Turbo's.

The MPG probably woudn't bother me at first but after a few weeks...