GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: ralphtown on 13 May 2012, 17:28
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Lets face it,these Mk3s are getting pretty long in the tooth now.
The youngest is going to be on an R plate and they were never the best handling or looking.
However,saying that,they,re rugged,pretty reliable and have a good turn of speed if you have a 16v or a VR6.
So......
My problem.
I,ve got a Mk3 8v on an M plate.
Less than 100k,varifiable with the history and the fact that the first keeper wrote in a blue note book,how much he spent.
I,m not kidding.He wrote down how much fuel he put in at every fill up and how much it cost and where he bought the fuel!!!
But I,ve got to spend money on brakes.Probably needs new ABS sensors.
The lowered suspension is not to my liking but is servicable,if a little harsh.
But is it REALLY worth it??
Unless someone can give me an address for bargain GTi spares,I,m looking at over £200 just for the brakes alone.
Factor in replacing a few bushes,maybe track rod ends and ball joints and we,re getting over £300.
The car can only be worth that for insurance.
But on the other hand.....
So,I,m in a bit of a quandry.
Should I spend over £300 on sorting the braking and handling of the car or scrap it and put the £300 towards a 16v or even a non VW.
(I saw a W reg Mondeo on our estate last week.MOT and a couple of weeks tax for £300).
I must say,I,m not too sure what to do.
Unless,like I said,I can get a really good price on the spares.
RALPH.
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If economics are the only reason to own a car then it doesn't matter what you drive really.
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Well economics have to be a factor with fuel as it is,road tax up again etc.
But to be fair,I do like the car.
OK,its a bit harsh over the bumps coz of the lowered springs etc.
Its a little thirsty but I,ve had worse.
but thats the point tho.
get shot of this and I could get a 16v which might be better on gas.
Or go get a Hyundai...whatever.
this is a car built in the 1990s.
it is old.
but it does have reliability and is fast enough for me.
so,is it worth doing all the work??
i tend to be really anal when it comes to fixing up cars.
i hate working underneath them or having to sit on concrete whilst I fix em.
so,i,ll tend to put things on that perhaps,I could leave for another day.
but it will all need doing and thats when the £££ start to ramp up.
Tick or Tock....its a real decision.
RALPH.
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Under 100k and only brakes need doing?? Certainly worth it, no need to think twice, just get it fixed.
£200 for brakes? Discs are 50 for a set of two, pads not a lot more, full set of reasonable quality should be 100-150£ (not cheapest chinese or polish $h|t)... and to be honest, albeit them being brakes they are straight forward and a monkey could do them. It's 4/5 bolts to take wheels off, two to remove the caliper another one or two to take pad retainer off, small screw that holds disc in place can be tricky if rusted solid (new kits usually come with new screws/bolts). Then disc comes off... push pistons back, replace disc, retainer, apply metal free brake paste (white ceramic stuff not copper slip- fµkk$ your ABS!) to back of pads, replace caliper, some braking, etc -> Should not take longer than 1 hour for both sides :)
All other bits, you can get decent quality stuff for quite little money, drop links, track rod ends and so on you can change yourself - not too difficult.
But why do you think those need replacing? Does the wheel wobble when jacked up? Track rod ends are easily spotted if they are loose, same for drop links / bushes. I'd check what really is needed there.
Even if you needed new track rod ends / drop links or few bushes you should be able to get everything, even from GSF or Auto Parts, Volkbits in B'ham are reasonable as well. So alltogether you could get decent quality parts for less than 250 assuming brakes come in at 150 and other parts are needed - and a saturday ;)
I'd do it - car sounds to good to go for scrap - I scrapped my LHD drive only cos registering here would have been >500£ and it needed new shocks/coils in the front - and it had done 240.000 miles!! Still ran better than many with 100k on ;) Do I miss my 2.0 2E engine.....
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The thing with a Mark 3 Mate is you have to feel the love for the car. It does not sound like you are into the car from the way you talk. I love mine to bits and it gets treated as well as my Missus. I have spent 3500 on mine since October when I bought it and will never see that money back in its lifetime but I have enjoyed every minute with her and would do it all again. Its not about money with these cars as there are a few on here who have spent more than me. Sounds to me like you want something more value for money that will hold some value.
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Spend the money get it fixed ,you could get another car but that may need issues sorting aswell in the end costing you more,better the d :evil: you know
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Agree with Deano- I have probably spent on maintenance and parts what I paid for the car on the outset last December, but now my car is sweet as, feels like I owned it from new and not been through 6 owners and should last me a few years- it's only meant to be a stop gap car but I think I might end up keeping it
I love the MK3 GTI it's not the fastest, but a good solid driver- it's certainly cheaper to fuel up than my 2006 A4 2.0tfsi was!
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All of what they said^ and i meant if economics are the only reason not just one of the reasons, you'll find plenty of haters of mk3's on here and plenty of people who love them and providing they are not rusty and you don't have to rely on garages all the time to do routine work on them they are great cars so all you have to ask yourself is..do you love it enough.
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well,I,ve been looking around the web and got a few prices.
the car has a nasty bump steer problem,I suspect due to the lowering.
steering shakes under gentle braking and abs light is on and off like traffic lights.
Looking thru the little blue notebook,brakes were done back in 2009!!!
advisory for rear wheel bearing on last MOT,so may as well sort it.
you,re all correct of course.I could go and get a right heap of trouble.
and to be fair,I love this car on the M/way.
loads of torque.
so,I,ll fix him up and may God have mercy on my soul.
RALPH.
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Amen! :laugh:
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so,I,ll fix him up and may God have mercy on my soul.
RALPH.
Good luck with it.
+1 to the others who have talked about the passion for the car. I was just looking for a runaround when I bought mine a couple of weeks ago. A £750 car that I could do the minimum to for 3 years and then weigh it in and start with another.
But this little RED GTi has me hooked. The list of things I want to do far outweighs the money I have at the moment but they are all things I would have been happy to live with in a runaround. Nothing major - engine mount, a couple of rust patches etc. I am even considering a set of new tires when the old ones still have a year to go (someone put 205 55s on the front and they are just WRONG).
So - if you have a passion for the car - how about a newer version? Assuming you could get £400 for yours and have the cash for the bits you were going to spend on it you could pick up a P or R reg bargain. Mine is R reg, unmolested, FSH, 90k on the clock and well looked after and cost me £750.
(I did say nothing major - but I fecked the clutch cable up today but that was my own stupid fault... A new manual adjustment cable will be going on tomorrow).
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I love spending money on my car, gunna get the original wheels....need another red seatbelt, original air box, red stripe...... then im gunna store it.
Hopefully get an R32...... or somethink mental, like a mk2 with a vr6 conversion already done....i love my Dubs.
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They don't use the tagline 'just like a golf' for nothing you know.. :wink:, make sure you keep us updated on progress.
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It never phases me...i always hear people saying things like "cars only worth 500, m.o.t is gunna cost 250" To me my car is priceless....not intended to make a profit etc, ive got it, because ive wanted it for years....i aint selling lol
If they say " you need an engine rebuild" i'd get it done, i had a brand new courtesy car a year ago.....had all the mods......i hated it, couldnt wait to get my anni back.
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Better ti fix the problems you know you have with the car you got, than fix unknown problems with an unknown car your unsure to buy lol. lets face it every "cheaper" car has its problems.
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if you dont fix it and decide to get rid, if hell is good might be interested
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Keep it alive and try a breakers yards as i went to one near gatwick that had atleast 13 golfs with everything i needed
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Well,got the brakes and rear wheel bearings done.
cost a bit to do the bearings coz they are press in and my chum needed the use of a press,which cost a bit...so he said.
i,d like confirmation on that,if anyone knows for sure.
anyway,no more lights flashing on the dash and he feels pretty good.
just about to roll over to 100,000 and I,ll do the rest of the work I feel needs doing during the rest of the summer.
Anyone fancy a good 8v.....think I,ll try a 16v next lol.
RALPH.
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what sorta money you going to be asking for it??
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I hate people that say things like that!! +1 to the comment above, just because you only paid 500 for a car, DOES NOT MEAN you shouldn't spend the money to keep them going!
If you've no interest in maintaining your vehicle, then you have no interest in vehicles whatsoever. If you've no interest in vehicles whatsoever, you've no business owning one or driving one!!
People that get things like their wiper blades fitted at halfords for them as well. Jesus. Our entire race/species came to be what it is through the creating and learning the use of tools, and how to do things with them.. And people can't be bothered to even learn to top up their oil and water.
Makes me angry.. lol.
If you can't use chopsticks or work out how to use them, you're not gonna throw away your forks and go buy a set of them are ya.. So if you can't use and work out your car to at least the extent of being able to know something is wrong with it, or that its time to inflate your tyres, get a service, add some coolant, don't frickin buy one.
The value of a car is NOT its material worth, but so much more. It's what gets you where you want to go when its too far to walk, and is a "tool" for transport and mobility. Car enthusiats go a bit further with their passion for their cars, but everyone should at least care about their cars. Makes me sad seeing good cars go to scrap all because someone didn't want to pay a small fee to fix it up. Whatever you paid for the car, unless its brand new it will need work on it. No one should be surprised at that, all mechanical things require maintenance, as unfortunately the romans killed all the unicorns centuries ago so we don't have things that run on magic and wishes these days lol
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well,i used to work on racing cars.
i used to work 14 hour days and i had 3 little kids whos childhoods I missed out on coz i was constantly fixing Frank Sytners gearboxes after a day out at Silverstone.
The workshop was spotless and you could eat off the floor.
Everything had a place and everything WAS in its place.
so,please forgive me if I find the prospect of sitting on my backside on cold concrete developing piles to fit parts i,ve spent good money on,on a car that was made in the 20th century.
Bottom (sic) line.
i,m 52 and I don,t get ANY pleasure out of driving anymore.
thats not to say I don,t care about my car or would,nt do whatever was needed to keep the car in a safe and roadworthy condition.
as it happens,the immediate work has been done. i did,nt do it,I got a mate to do it who runs a little back street workshop.but hes done a good job and I now feel confident about fetching my youngest daughter from wellingborough on Sunday.
coz I might have missed her childhood but I want to see her produce some grandchildren :)
As for the car.I,m really happy with it right now and I intend to spend some more but this is a car from 1995 and there will come a point when you have to say,is this worth it.
that does,nt mean I get my wipers fitted by a monkey at Halfords.just simple economics.
RALPH.