GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Topic started by: chrishyder on 29 September 2008, 15:41
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Hi guys,
Been posting a few Q's here about the 1996 Golf GTI Anni that I picked up the other day.
Well! I put it in for a major service today and turns out I've bought a lemon. :embarassed:
Service said:
* ABS Faulty
* Severe corrosion in N/S/F from floor to sill
* Severe corrosion in O/S/F from floor to sill
* Severe corrosion in N/S/R and O/S/R floor pans
* Exhaust blowing at centre and rear joints
* Heat shield loose
* All brake discs corroded
* O/S/R coil spring top mounting rubber incorrectly fitted and rubber seat worn
* O/S/R front axle bush in poor condition
* N/S/R front axle bush pulling apart
* Dip stick tube broken
* N/S/R brake pipe corroded
* N/S handbrake cable bubbling up
The bottom of the car really is a mess - I didn't see quite how bad the rust was when I looked at the car (was raining, have learnt my lesson now). Been out to get a few quotes to repair the rust, cheapest quote was £650.00 + VAT.
...so! Real shame, engine/gearbox are excellent but car shouldn't have passed it's MOT before I bought it on the above points, think the seller put it through a dodgy garage. Going to keep it for the year then scrap it/break parts when the MOT expires.
:huh:
Chris
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that sucks dude. If it wasnt for the rust, the other stuff is minor rubbish, my abs is broken again! and my dip stick is too, and my rear brakes are shot to bits.... but all is good in the rust section! lol.
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On the brighter side now i think of it....
rat look?
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how long ago was the MOT?
The VOSA take it VERY seriously and if the garage concerned issued a "dodgey" MOT they can be prosecuted and fined heavily.
Was this bought from a garage or private, because it sounds as though there maybe some possible claim garage wise, under sale of goods act etc.
Sorry to hear your bad news but I would do some scouting around mate try this link to check it's previous MOT's and check for advisory work or to see what it may have failed on in the past.....a really useful link IMHO...you can learn a lot from it:
http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/jsp/ECHID-Internet-History-Request.jsp
Best bit it's all free!! :smiley:
Let us know what you find out huh?? Surely a car can't have rusted so badly in 12 months? This link will show you the mileage last time it was done and where too :wink:
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pics of car??
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Hi all,
The MOT was actually done just under a month ago before the car was sold to me - though the guy I bought the car off said it was his mate that was going to do it (receipt shows that it only cost £30 odd as well).
Was a private sale unfortunately, otherwise I would have gone back to the dealer and hit the roof! I bought the car from somebody that works for the same company as me (advertised on the intranet) who appears to be absolutely clueless about cars...though I'm not quite so sure of his ignorance now!
When I was driving the car home after picking it up, the headlight bulb blew...went to change it and all the wiring had melted as it had broken before and sellotaped back on to the light terminals :shocked: which really set my expectations for the rest of the car!
Will upload some pics of the rust when camera's recharged....the car itself is in reasonable shape on the exterior:
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2303/2244492375_5972b73113.jpg?v=0)
[edit: I found the VOSA link earlier madhouse, but thanks for digging it out anyway! Car's had some previous rust repair on the driver's side floorpan - apparently the job's been done to a substandard level and is rusting badly again (and covered up with that tar gunk!]
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Thats a real bummer mate :sad:
I suppose that is one good thing about N.Ireland, as our MOT stations are government ran, on the downside it may take 4 weeks to get a date.
I normally just drive it in, to see what it fails on, and if it fails i get it fixed (the MOT station dont do any work on the cars), so no bumping up the cost of repairs for a certificate
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I does look nice and tidy....and you will get a fair bit of £££ back breaking it as the anniversary bits are well sort after (seat belts will go for £80..wheels £250...seats £200)
shame as I am a real fan of anniversary models :cry:
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That's not so bad then, will definitely break it when done with!
Pics of SOME of the rust is here: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/chris.hyder/Rust
The sills are also completely shot (no pics) and there was also a fairly bad few patches of rust around the suspension and where it links to the body of the car.
Cheers,
Chris
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like others have said - take it to VOSA - if its that bad then it shouldnt have passed an mot recently :shocked:
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them pics make me want to look under mine now!! and this is the second post in a few days regarding floor rot!!
And vosa are worth contacting but they never seem to be that bothered about anything so dont expect any results!
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Usually around those damn plastic bung things and poor jacking are a killer on mk3`s.Did both of my front jacking points last year (squashed front sill lips) and 2 of those plastic bungs cut it all away welded in nice new steel and lots of Wurth underseal now as good as new, bodykit off and lots of waxoil behind whilst I was at it.Just a quick check now and again to keep on top of it.Unfortunately getting on for wrong time of year to be finding a load of cack,with the damp cold weather on the way.
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bloody late spec mk 3's!! galvernised my ass :rolleyes:
bloody annoying to see, nice lookin car too
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bloody annoying to see, nice lookin car too
second to that, looks like a mint car apart from the rust and like mike said, the other problems are just minor stuff.
LL ;)
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Absolutly gutted m8, But all those issue's you've mentioned, if the garage has quoted £650 i rekon thats not too bad with labour an all, but its probably not worth it, but if you wanna keep the future classic an you like it that much then you'll shell out on putting it right, if you break then thats another limited edition anni off the road an more an more replica's, seems like there really dropping now, one on ebay also being broke so we know for sure theres 748 out of the 750 left. :cry: probz alot less!
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*cough* wheels please..
It is a shame mate, but I'd defo try filing claim, perhaps try taking it to an MOT station now and see if it'd fail on those points?
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my white car came up with worse than that... and the floor pan problem, consider your self very lucky the traling arm bushes didnt need changing... i got mine back on the road in under 3 days, thats will all new brake pipes, loads of welding... a few days in a garage for years of dubbin fun!! c'mon its worth it.
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Just had my front cills after a numpty garage lifted it on the jacking points & they gave way.
Up side is it's not that much work really, I mean it's pretty severe & has to be done properly but shop around & you might find a better price?
The brakes etc. are relatively straight forward DIY bits with the help of a Haynes manual & tool kit.
It's upto you really & obviously I understand you're not loving it at the moment but I bet with the help you'd get on here & a little reading up you could cut that quote in half.
The other thing of course is for god sake report the guy who passed it through the MOT, at the very least you could contact the guy you had it off & try 'reasoning'? You might even pursuade some money back?? At the the very least you could say you're reporting the dodgy ticket to VOSA as you don't take jeopardising your own life particuarly lightly! :afro:
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Gutted for you, looks like a nice car on the outside :cry:
I went back to look at mine 3 times before parting with cash, as you say you've learnt your lesson now but shame you didn't get away with it....
Breaking it seems a shame, why don't you get bits and pieces done over time to ease the cost burden? Anyone close to him handy with a welder??
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defo want to check under mine now! SCARED!!! :(
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mines mint, was under it on the weekend, all the OE rubber like sealer is in place, all good :)
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going to underseal mine this weekend i reckon!!
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Bad luck chap happens to all of us.
Ive was welding my floor up this weekend after finding dodgy grommet, one to do on the inside of the sill next week as well.
Have you pulled the door rubbers up yet?
Mine was sound underneath when i bought it apart from crushed jacking points so has gone rusty in the last 2 n bit years.
Thing is its got past its VW perforation thingy with years to spare!
Could be worse you could own a ford with no wheelarches :laugh:
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or a merc from circa 2000 year... :lipsrsealed: :lipsrsealed:
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Hi everyone, thanks for replies!
Got in touch with the guy who I bought the car off who was very apologetic but no mention of partial refund! Advised him I'd be reporting his 'mate' to VOSA and getting an inspection on the car as well.
@ VW BUSH - thought I'd take a look and it's basically dust under there as well..! :rolleyes:
Going to sort the brakes out myself from a safety point (they're not great atm) and am going to have a long think about what I'm going to be doing with the car, with the likelihood of keeping it until MOT's due and sorting something else out.
Tell you what, am so tempted to get a mk6 GTI. :laugh: This is the first car I've ever had that I have enjoyed driving - smooth, no rattles etc. with smooth power delivery so think I might be heading the way of VW for the forseeable future! Drive a mk4 GT TDI 150ps at work which I'm also really impressed with for a diesel - you can drive the nuts off of it and it'll still do 40 odd to the gallon!
Chris
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mk3 to mk6......... may the force be with you!
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Bad luck chap happens to all of us.
True that. I've got a car with lemon zest.. Bought it and changed the gearbox a week later!
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Looking at the floor rust pics - some ain't too bad i guess, just well peeled underseal, other areas are not so nice, such as picture 5 of 7 showing the cracked rubber bush - no way can that have honestly got past an MOT tester, that is clearly beyond worn.
If you are to persuse an VOSA inspection I would also be tempted to leave the brakes alone if possible so that a true evaluation can be done on the car as it currently is.
It's just a case of how far you go with it all....even with a private sale you have cover to a degree under sale of good act etc.
It's just all the hassle and ball ache that goes with it.
If you truely love the car and think it's worth keeping, bite the bullet and re MOT it at somewhere you know and trust and see what the outcome is (gulp) then see about getting the repairs done and nailing the last MOT through VOSA, and seeing about your rights with private sales etc. Just a pain the arse innit?
Or bail out - run it into the ground and break it in the summer should get good money for interior, alloys, engine, trim, glass etc plus scrap prices are very good at the mo too :sad:
Big shame mate but your call huh? :undecided:
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Thing that worries me is if you do run it for 12 months on a dodgy MOT, is that safe for you? If it would fail at another place today, is it worth the risk of tw@ting the barrier of a motorway if something gives?
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Thing that worries me is if you do run it for 12 months on a dodgy MOT, is that safe for you? If it would fail at another place today, is it worth the risk of tw@ting the barrier of a motorway if something gives?
Good point, albeit a bit scare-mongering in some respects.
A component could fail on any car at anytime so I wouldn't worry too unduely.
One little pointer - which I may research ( cos I'm sad like that) the car currently has an MOT, ok, so if it were to be reMOT'd and failed can it still be driven based upon the original MOT issue OR does the new MOT take priority thus meaning the car must be taken off the road until rectified?? Anyone know the legalities here?? :undecided:
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Sorry yep, is a bit scaremongering - but like you say, any car could have a serious failure, even as new straight from the factory.
Legality wise, I'm not sure. My guess would be that the failure means it's meant to stay off the road, but if you had a word with a friendly tester and said 'would my car fail on anything', you'd be alright.
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Thing that worries me is if you do run it for 12 months on a dodgy MOT, is that safe for you? If it would fail at another place today, is it worth the risk of tw@ting the barrier of a motorway if something gives?
Good point, albeit a bit scare-mongering in some respects.
A component could fail on any car at anytime so I wouldn't worry too unduely.
One little pointer - which I may research ( cos I'm sad like that) the car currently has an MOT, ok, so if it were to be reMOT'd and failed can it still be driven based upon the original MOT issue OR does the new MOT take priority thus meaning the car must be taken off the road until rectified?? Anyone know the legalities here?? :undecided:
I think if it was reMOT'd and failed it would be a fail. I'm pretty sure that if you were to get your MOT early (a month before the due date) and it failed then, you would not be legally aloud to drive it for the rest of the month, even if your last MOT hadn't run out. I'm pretty sure the same would apply if it was a reMOT. If it isn't safe to be driving on the road then you shouldn't be driving it.
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Sorry yep, is a bit scaremongering - but like you say, any car could have a serious failure, even as new straight from the factory.
Legality wise, I'm not sure. My guess would be that the failure means it's meant to stay off the road, but if you had a word with a friendly tester and said 'would my car fail on anything', you'd be alright.
There's a thought Mr Turner.... chrishyder do you know a local garage well enough to do a pre-mot check for you, may cost £20 or so but this way they would inspect the car under MOT checks but the car wouldn't be logged on the VOSA system as having ungone a retest - thus if it failed it wouldn't then be "online" as a failiure with the VOSA :wink:
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Can you not sort the rust spots yourself? or do they need welding? They don't look that bad on the photos. To be honest i've seen plenty of mk3's with rust, they are not made as well as people think. My old vr6 that my mate now owns has got plenty of rust spots. The sills seem to be a common problem.
Underseal should be checked at least every 2 years at a service, and any damage repaired straight away.
I would also recommend checking jacking points, particularly after tyre garages touch your car!
As for the rear axle bush in your photo, that shouldn't of passed an MOT as its split.
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Hi everyone,
Thanks again for replies.
Upon sleeping on it, I'm starting to think about getting a few more quotes re: welding. The rust does actually look a lot worse in person than by the photos alone (and there's quite a few more spots than I took pics of) so will get a few more prices before making a decision as love the car!
In two minds about the VOSA situation - the car definitely shouldn't have passed (the garage I took it to do MOTs and the guy said he wouldn't ever have passed the car). See, the problem is - if I get it VOSA checked I'll most likely have the MOT certificate taken away, dilemma! :tongue:
In terms of replacing the rear axle bushes, what sort of cost am I looking at to get a garage to do this? Also, (sorry not too technically minded with cars), the boots covering the UJ in between the front wheels has also come loose - again, any ideas on cost? Hoping that it's not too cacked up so it can just be regreased.
Cheers
Chris
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To be honest if you don't think the car should have passed a mot then report it, if your cars not safe ask yourself if your happy to drive it.
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From all that your saying mate, I think I'd want to give the car back and get my money back! Not sure how sale of goods act or whatever works. If you can prove it shouldn't have passed an MOT, surely you should be entitled to get rid of it?
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Make friends with someone who can weld....... cause then its very cheap or free if your lucky! defo try looking around a bit for a cheaper price.
defo try and claim about the mot, sounds dodgy for sure. A genuine mot place would never ever miss something like that. I hope it aint the mot place i use :lipsrsealed:
LL ;)
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You get exactly what you pay for in this kind of field and believe me welding underneath cars isnt the most fun and it needs to be done properly to keep the tin worm at bay, it is easy to clag a bit of plate on top a bit of bird sh!t welding and a load of underseal to cover it up,until next MOT time.The rot all needs to be cut out and plate fully welded in.Dont get the cheapest quote and I personally would like to see there work before hand unless you know the person doing it.
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Dragon6 is right too welding is an art if done right.
any clown can tack plates in place and slap some underseal over it. a proper job is to be cut out and replaced.
with the CV joint boot - repack with grease and a large tie-wrap 'should' hold it sound, but would benefit from a steel band type clip.
Time to sit back and tot up the repair costs to put the car in a position that YOU are happy with verses the hand it back to the seller and ask for your money back persued via a small claims court if needs be - this usually provokes a response.
if you love the car truely....spend the dosh and treat it as a project???
i'd still have a MOT type check done tho just incase there's anymore nasties you've not spotted.
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I say again, have you tried using a wire brush on the affected areas? does it definately need welding?
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I say again, have you tried using a wire brush on the affected areas? does it definately need welding?
a good point here - have a session with a wire brush and then re-underseal. the bit that has already been 'welded' may need a re do though??
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I helped my mate sort out the vr6 he bought off me.
The sills looked rotten on both sides, we wired brushed now back to shiney metal, used kurust, then underseal.
It does depend if there is any metal left!