GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => General discussion => Topic started by: golfvirgin on 01 March 2008, 09:21
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hi all
craig here in spain. been a bmw driver most of my life and now in spain looking for my latest car....the beemers are well expensive here , way too many miles too etc etc ...and the golf gti has been catching my eye a lot...good price around 93 , 94 , 95 ...
anyone tell me anything about this car ? haha ye i suppose there is a lot to know...ust that i heard they are more to service than beemers ? that true ? i also here from a few german friends that they are dead solid and last forever smiley
never ever driven a golf in my life , how are they ? i am going to look at a mk 3 gti 2.0 16v , i guess it will have a bit of balls ..?
oh , one last thing , do they come with a service book that should be stamped ?
any advice appreciated cheers
craig
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I've had a 320ISE so I'm speaking from experiance and I think the Golf wont be as comfy or as quiet as the beemer but it will thrash it when it comes to speed and the way it handles, be better on fuel and be just as easy and probably cheeper to run and maintain. Get the latest MK3 you can as some early cars seem to suffer quite badly from rust, perhaps a few of the MK3 owners will add a few gems of advice but it all comes down to how much you can afford and how many your willing to look at in order to get the right car for you. Or you could just get a nice MK2 :wink:
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thanks mate :smiley:
thats cool youve had both ! theres one thing thats really confusing me , every advert seems to have different bhp !!!!???
whats the deal ? is it 112 , 115 , 120 or 150 ? :huh: i can see that the 16v seems to be 150 bhp , i bet that is RAPID !! but the others seem to be anywhere between 100 to 120..?
anyone tell me the concrete truth ? :laugh:
the more i see and read about the golf the more its growing on me.....but i wouldnt want to have something " underpowered " ..
thanks again
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Golf 3 2.0l 8v =115bhp
Golf 3 2.0l 16v = 150bhp
Go for the 16v, you'll be disappointed otherwise :wink:
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The Golf3 GTI 8V was featured on the cover of Car Magazine shortly after it was launched.
The photo was a lemon with a VW badge stuck on it.
That's about all you need to know.
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:grin:
cool thanks all , got a better idea now !
so if it only says " golf gti 115 bhp " then its 8v and its bollocks basically...
like it says here ?
http://www.coches.net/ocasion/ficha.cfm?id=20781079&orden=foto&marca_modelo=VOLKSWAGEN%20GOLF%202.0%20GTI%20115cv%205p.
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I think even a 8v MK3 would be as fast as your a 320 beemer, My MK2 8v would have thrashed my beemer and does about 10mpg more :grin:
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I have a Golf GTI8V and it is incredible fun to drive. You can get parts for them really cheaply if you know where to go. I have driven 318i 320 and the 535ti and while they might be quiet and reasonably quick, I couldn't wait to get back to the driving experience of the VW.
I am sure that if you get the 16V version it will be great to drive. The big thing in VWs favour is the fuel economy, not such an issue in Spain but I got 44mpg on the Golf on a 20 mile run down the motorway at 70 mph.
With the BMW I think you would struggle to get much more than 35 mpg.
They also hold their value pretty well, and are known to have bombproof engines. Mine passed the MOT with no faults mentioned and it is 11 years old. Not bad for such an old one
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@ Uruk Hai
dude believe it or not its the late models that i have found to have the most rust problems, did somebody say galvernised???? :rolleyes:
my earyl mk 3 is totally rust free
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did i mention i love the mark 2 as well....? :grin:
anyone know the stats ? bhp etc ? the germans ( or the ones my mrs knows , and she lived there 5 years ) say its the best built model...ever
:lipsrsealed:
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well i hate to brag :cool: yes. yes it is :grin:
the 16v is the best engine in the mk3 (or the vr6)
Servicing is less expensive than any bmw! You have inspection 1 and inspection 2 on BMW's...dealerships can charge £1000+ just for a service :grin:
so way cheaper
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@ Uruk Hai
dude believe it or not its the late models that i have found to have the most rust problems, did somebody say galvernised???? :rolleyes:
my earyl mk 3 is totally rust free
I'm just going on the buyers guide in Golf+ magazine which states as follows :-
"MK3 Weighty and overrated except in the 16V and VR6 guise. Check all the usual places for rust; suspension struts fail around 80K. Later cars had galvanised bodys; check early examples for rot beneath the number plate !"
I perhaps incorectly made the assumption that the later cars being galvanised and newer would be less rusty than the early MK3's, I appreciate that age is no garuntee of condition and in most cases the way the cars been looked after dictates the overall condition more than age. Having said that personaly I would still rather have a 98 than a 93 ! and I think it still comes down to how much you have to spend and how long you have to find the right car for you, I take your point though :smiley:
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ok , so ive found one i like , good price etc etc , going to look at it on monday , anyone remind me what things i should be checkin especially ? mk 3 gti ..erm...doors someone said ? :huh:
cheers :smiley:
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I looked at loads and loads, i wanted zero rust, the worst were the late examples, found them to be fairly bad in these areas, top of windscreen, door bottoms badly, tailgate can be a problem under screen due to faulty seals and around the plynth
check sills (dont mean the plastic sill covers that have probles and can easily be replaced) and front lower wings behind the sill covers where u cant see, mk 3's hold dirts here like you wouldnt believe, if u own a mk 3 i sugest u remove the arch liners and check here!!!!
3 door cars have a major issue under the rubber seal on the inner sill when u open the door, seen this on very late models BAD...pull rubber up and check
and just in reply to my man Uruk Hai, :wink: :cool: Really wouldnt believe all you read, trust me i did that and it got me nowhere :rolleyes: i would rather have my 93 car than a rusty later model, i would have had any that was black and had no rust regardless of age, just so happened it ended up been a 1993 car that found its way into my life :cool:
and a great car its turning out to be
but as you say, hunt long enough and you will find what your looking for, :cool:
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I happily bow to your superior MK3 knowledge :grin: :wink:
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I happily bow to your superior knowledge :grin: :wink:
:grin: :grin: :grin: :wink:
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I think with the late mk3 golfs it depends also on where they were built something to do with the chassis number, I remember reading about it on here. german built mk3 golfs are the ones to own.
but believe me get a 16v mk3 over the 8v it is so underpowered for the size of the car.
or get a Mk2 which I have to agree with your german friends is still a very good car for its age.
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in response to robin above, their will be a letter in the middle of the chassis number, think its the 8th or 9th digit (but not sure off top of my head) well if its German and the one to have it will have the letter W here, W for wolfsburg...