GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: Gloves88 on 21 May 2008, 12:43
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Rite everyone,
Im on the look out over the next few weeks for a 1.6 Mk2. (student budgets dont allow for GTi's so that will just have to wait)
I just love the mk2 shape and any mk2 is better than non.
Basically im after a bit of advice on what to look out for...ive read alot on here over the past few months but now that im ready to part with some cash i thought id ask for a little more specific advice.
Im aware of the the general mk2 things to look out for:
Straight body - gearbox crunch - fuel cap, arches and euro wiper point rust - then there’s all the other stuff you look out for on every car
Is there anything specific to 1.6 tho that i should know about?
Ive read a few things about the problem Pierburg 2e2 Carb...was this only on certain models/years or through the whole range?
If i can get one, id be after one of the later 1.6’s...1990-1991 possibly a Driver.
If you've got this far through my post thanks for reading it all...sorry its so long (esp as a first post)
Any help is greatly appreciated
Cheers
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Hey you've pretty much hit the nail on the head there chap. Nice to see someone doing a decent amount of research before posting, my hat comes off to you.
I hear what you are saying about student budgets but trust me, the difference between insuring a 1.6 compared to 1.8 8v isnt that much more. My mate was intending to get a 1.6, then checked the insurance for a 1.8 and it was only £250ish more. Have a think about that, cos it'd be more worth while spendin time and money on gti rather then a driver, plus performance is obviously increadibly increase with a gti.
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Welcome :smiley:
russ-vdub seems to have covered most things! Also I'd like to add that a gti will (strangely enough) get more MPG than a driver!
Also, its not just the pierberg carbs that can cause problems, i recently had to clean out my weber as it got blocked :smiley: Just to let you know that it can be bad either way!
Dec
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The 1.6 is not a bad motor, it's still faster than our Web Dev's MK5 Golf TDi in the 0-60 speed :grin:
As with all older cars there are draw backs, just make sure you find one that has had the weber conversion or the pierburg refurbed or DIY :wink:
If you choose a Driver or GTi it's still a Golf so :afro: enjoy
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Cheers for all the quick replies.
GTi or 1.6 thats a sore subject with me just now lol...i have spent day after day changing my mind between the two. A GTi isnt much more to insure (was quoted an extra £250 as well) but its a little more to buy, little more to tax and a little more to run...
Id love to have a GTi but id like to have a mint running car, something i know i can afford to up keep thats why i think im going to go for a 1.6 just now. In two years it'll be a different situation...will reconsider then.
Im going to be using it as a general run around, mainly used during summer and then just weekends.
How reliable would you guys say the mk2's are? Should i expect many problems?
I realise that its heavily dependent on mileage, condition etc., but just to give me a ruff idea.
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How reliable would you guys say the mk2's are? Should i expect many problems?
i have ownd two mk2's a 1.3 n my current 1.6 both had n have problems but nothing major that has ment they have been off tho road! jut lil things that are annoying but can be lived with till i get around to fixing them!!
tbh the tyms wen my car is running sweet makes it worth while having days when shes a b!tch 2 me!!
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1 its a little more to buy, little more to tax and a little more to run...
2 Id love to have a GTi but id like to have a mint running car, something i know i can afford to up keep thats why i think im going to go for a 1.6 just now.
3 How reliable would you guys say the mk2's are? Should i expect many problems?
1 I wouldn't agree with that at all. Same cost to tax it, a lot of drivers i see seem very overpriced, you can get a decent gti for £500, and i don't have first hand experience but it seems from what others say that drivers aren't any cheaper to run (with the exception of insurance)
2 I don't think a gti would cost any more to maintain tbh
3 It seems that the gti can be more reliable than the driver, although there won't be much in it between the two
If i were you, the only thing that would put me off the gti is the insurance. If you can afford the extra premium then go for a gti, i very much doubt it will cost you any extra than a driver to run :smiley:
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If i were you, the only thing that would put me off the gti is the insurance. If you can afford the extra premium then go for a gti, i very much doubt it will cost you any extra than a driver to run :smiley:
You're killing me here lol...think im going to have to look into this GTi business again.
Id be prepared to spend up to £1K on the car..think i could get a good 8v gti for that price? What sort of milage would i be looking at? 150K?
Know i can get sub 100K 1.6's for under £1K
? Thoughts ? :undecided:
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If you shop wisely you can get a nice late spec 8v with big bumpers etc for 1k. Mileage wise, they're 18 year old cars so just keep that in mind. An 85k driver is all very well and good, but a gti that has 150k on the clock yet has been looked after since day one would be a much safer bet if you ask me.
If you're not too bothered about having big bumpers you can go for an earlier later (!?) model (87-89) and have a nice bit of change left over for insurance.
You have a lot of choice with £1k though :cool:
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I certainly wouldn't spend £1k on a driver, no matter how low the mileage!
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I Spent 1K on mine!!
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If you shop wisely you can get a nice late spec 8v with big bumpers etc for 1k. Mileage wise, they're 18 year old cars so just keep that in mind. An 85k driver is all very well and good, but a gti that has 150k on the clock yet has been looked after since day one would be a much safer bet if you ask me.
If you're not too bothered about having big bumpers you can go for an earlier later (!?) model (87-89) and have a nice bit of change left over for insurance.
You have a lot of choice with £1k though :cool:
Yeah if it wasnt for the insurance it wouldnt be a question really.
Right well back to the drawing board really lol...time to start investigating 8v'ers again. Cheers for your help mate...so much for having made my mind up lol!
Has anyone here owned both (a 1.6 and GTi that is)? Could you comment on running cost comparisons etc?
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although i haven't owned a 1.6 i do currently run a 8v gti and i'm also a fulltime student. In terms of running costs i got mine for £575 with a years mot and tax about 6 months ago now. I roughly do about 150 miles a week and i get around 40-42 mpg on average which although petrol prices are silly is pretty damn good me thinks.
My advice would be to get a gti in decent nick and you'll be enjoying every minute of owning it rather than hankering for one which is exactly what you will be doing if you get a 1.6.
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although i haven't owned a 1.6 i do currently run a 8v gti and i'm also a fulltime student. In terms of running costs i got mine for £575 with a years mot and tax about 6 months ago now. I roughly do about 150 miles a week and i get around 40-42 mpg on average which although petrol prices are silly is pretty damn good me thinks.
My advice would be to get a gti in decent nick and you'll be enjoying every minute of owning it rather than hankering for one which is exactly what you will be doing if you get a 1.6.
Cool, that is rather helpful, cheers. 40-42 seems pretty good. Seems like you got quite a good deal on the car too.
Im only working during the summer, far to busy during term time. This the same case for you? Reasonable car to run on a student budget? Hope you dont mind me asking...just who better to ask than someone with the same circumstances :smiley:
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With 1k to spend you could get a lot for your money, or alternatively spend £600 and the rest towards the extra insurance. Deffo get a gti, mpg is better then a driver if its a good engine, runnings costs are the same for sure. This is GolfGTIforum.co.uk remember :P A gti is easily affordable as a student, my mate had one 17.
How old are you may i ask? Any no-claims?
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Mate, a fair few of us are students on here, myself included :smiley:
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We should make a "Under 25 Student GTI" section hehe
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We should make a "Under 25 Student GTI" section hehe
lol...nice idea. Im 20, 1 years fast track no-claims so prob not accepted by other companies (silly thing to have done i no but thought it was a good idea at the time)
Mate, a fair few of us are students on here, myself included :smiley:
Ah ok...cool cool...getting advice from the best crowd then :smiley:
Just want to say thanks to everyone again for all your excellent info/opinions etc. Really warm welcome to the forum. Seem to be a good bunch o guys on here :cool:
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in terms of my budget then if i didn't have a car then i would be rich! The gti has been cheaper to run than my last car and that was a 1.3 fiesta. I would probably say that i spend about £20 on fuel a week and my insurance is £40 a month so pretty cheap motoring. Plus factor in that the gti isnt going to depreciate much in cost as long as you look after it and hopefully they will slowly crawl up in value.
So not only are they great to drive and run but also make sense as a financial investment. v :smiley:
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Hello Matey,
There has been several mk2's in my family in the past few years, Although I have only recently become a mk2 GTi owner. My brother has a 1.6 driver, which we paid £700 for and it has FSH and 90ish on the clock. Its an excellent car, nice and smooth but having driven that and my 8v, I am amazed at the difference in performance.
My 8v has nearly twice the mileage, yet feels as tight, if not tighter than the 1.6, and costs exactly the same to run in terms of fuel and tax, and insurance is not much more expensive than it is for the 1.6.
One problem my brother has had with his driver is cold starting issues, what with it being carbed. This is obviously no issue for the fuel injected 8v, which also runs a lot smoother than the carbed 1.6 from cold.
Consider both options... You can do the sensible option and get a decent 1.6 and keep a couple of hundred for contingency in case something does go wrong with it.
Or, you can spend your 1k on a decent GTi, that will likely be as reliable as a 1.6 if not more, costs exactly the same to run, has twice the appeal and to top it off, when (if) you come to re-sell, the GTi will depreciate far less than the 1.6 in my opinion and you'll make more of your money back provided you take care of it.
Seems like a no-brainer.
Faraz.
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in terms of my budget then if i didn't have a car then i would be rich! The gti has been cheaper to run than my last car and that was a 1.3 fiesta. I would probably say that i spend about £20 on fuel a week and my insurance is £40 a month so pretty cheap motoring. Plus factor in that the gti isnt going to depreciate much in cost as long as you look after it and hopefully they will slowly crawl up in value.
So not only are they great to drive and run but also make sense as a financial investment. v :smiley:
All fair points, nice to see another lad from Bournemouth.
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Hello Matey,
...
Seems like a no-brainer.
Faraz.
All driver owners across the land are kicking themselves right now lol!
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All driver owners across the land are kicking themselves right now lol!
:grin:
...I'd also like to add that my 8v has had its fair share of problems, as you will see if you read the topic I started in the mk2 section but you will also find the wealth of knowledge available in this forum absolutely priceless. Having done most of the work on my cars in the past (mainly peugeot GTi's) I can honestly say that the 8v GTi has been the easiest to work on by far, and with the help of everyone on here, you cant go far wrong
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Seems like a no-brainer
Cheers for that info...really does seem like a no brainer
in terms of my budget then if i didn't have a car then i would be rich! The gti has been cheaper to run than my last car and that was a 1.3 fiesta. I would probably say that i spend about £20 on fuel a week and my insurance is £40 a month so pretty cheap motoring. Plus factor in that the gti isnt going to depreciate much in cost as long as you look after it and hopefully they will slowly crawl up in value.
So not only are they great to drive and run but also make sense as a financial investment. v :smiley:
lol...like this...financial investment in motoring, who'd have thought it?! :smiley:
Have to admit this point had crossed my mind
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dont bother with a driver, the gti is fuel injected and the driver is on carbs which means on a well set up gti you will get more mpg out of it, puls thay are just s**t hot cars to drive.
have you tried getting a classic policy on a gti, my new one is an 87 8v and im gonna do about 5k miles a year, im 27 with no no claims bonus the car is garaged and its costing me £305 a year.
it might be different if you are gonna average 12k a year and the car is on the street, and your age but its deffo worth a try, evcen if you get it for something like £700 its better than 2 grand. :smiley:
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I am located in the U.S. and GTi's are allot more expensive here than in England. However I have firmly decided I want a GTi for various reasons like, better MPG's and more HP, also I have found that there are allot more parts available for a GTi than a driver.
Hope this helps
Dubs4Life
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yeh as said, go with the gti if you can afford it. i hav a 1.6 driver with webber carb. it always starts in cold weather and was generally very reliable, especially compared to the 1.3 that it replaced. both engines gave me aroung 35mpg, i think my carb is jetted for a 1.8 though which will probably lower it a bit from standard. the 1.6 is reasonably quick to 60 however i verymuch doubt it could beat a mk5 tdi as mentioned before. and above 60 they are pretty dead. it wont take you long till you wish you had the extra power of a gti.
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Cool cheers mate.
Have started looking into an 8v gti.
Insurance is the only thing that seems to be more...didnt take long to convince me a gti is the way to go :tongue:
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yeh as said, go with the gti if you can afford it. i hav a 1.6 driver with webber carb. it always starts in cold weather and was generally very reliable, especially compared to the 1.3 that it replaced. both engines gave me aroung 35mpg, i think my carb is jetted for a 1.8 though which will probably lower it a bit from standard. the 1.6 is reasonably quick to 60 however i verymuch doubt it could beat a mk5 tdi as mentioned before. and above 60 they are pretty dead. it wont take you long till you wish you had the extra power of a gti.
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oh it didnt post :sad:
and i forgot what i put now so i cant type it all in again!
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ohh yeah. i got a 1.6 driver. and its quick from 0-60, but after 70ish its pretty much dead. fuel economy. well not enough. pretty poor actually. im hoping to sell it at the beguinning of 2009 and get an 8v gti.
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i got a 1.6 driver got a weber on it but im going to look 2 buy a gti in next months miss the power
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Going for a gti straight off is the way forward for me i think...will just end up kicking myself if i dont