from 8v to 16v (what to look for??)

[GTIrl]

hi, i was after some buying advice ... this morning i went to see a mk2 gti 16v. jreg 151kmiles, dark blue with bbs alloys and rainbow interior, electric windows job. i have my 8v which is going well, but its looking a bit shabby to say the least, and have limped it through the winter.( it goes well, but breaks need doing again and everything is just a bit more rusty.) Anyway, so i thought about 'upgrading' to a 16v. the problem is i dont know anything about their engines. im pretty up close and friendly with the digifant, so it would be a whole new thing. i took it for a test drive, and the steering felt a bit stiff compared to mine, first off. brakes were gooood :laugh:gear change excellent. it idled great. but temperature never got up above the bottom line the whole time, maybe i didnt give it long enough. 15 mins? the garage said the temperature sensor was just changed...
there are paint bubbles which include the fuel filler area and the drivers side window pillar which id like to know if that is serious?, (the garage said they would fix the rust on that if i wanted to buy the car. so its not mint by any standards. but it has full service history - giant stack of receipts and mots. it looks like its been well maintained and regularly serviced. BUT its a garage so garage prices, it is negotiable but they have it at 1,995. but said we could negotiate price with the work that needs to be done. like if i pay alot they would give it to me with most the problems sorted out.
what do you people think?
you have always saved my bacon in the past, is there anything that i should look for to know if i should walk away and just be happy with my 8v???
many thanks in advance,
GTIrl
p.s my 8v isnt rusty in the fuel filler OR on the window pillar!!

[16v Matt]

Fuel filler is the one of the usual places for them to rust.  The A pillar can be dodgey depending on how far the rust has gone & whereabouts it is.  On the temp thing, could be a dodgey thermostat.  After 15 mins of driving it should have been fairly warm, was there any hot air from the heater?

2k is quite alot for a tatty car with 150k on the clock. At that sort of mileage you'll prob need to think about stem seals, valve guides etc.  That is unless they have been done?  If it was me, I'd be looking for a private sale from an enthusiast not from a garage that could'nt care less.  2k should get you a pretty good 16v tho.  But do bear in mind these cars are all pretty old now & unless they have been painted some rust will just be a fact of life i'm afraid.

Its worth spending some time looking so you get a feel for what drives well & what does'nt. There are alot of MK2's out there so don't rush into the first one you see.  Listen to uncle Matt

[DarnPB]

Í go along with the previous post. It may be a good car, but steer clear of that one. 2k IS alot. If you are prepared to wait, one will pop up on this site and from what I have seen, people are pretty straight with their cars here, pointing out the bad bits as well as the good bits.

[GTIrl]

the only thing is, not many mk2's with run out spec appear in these parts. but yes, i should probably drive another 16v... now... where to get my hands on one...
what about 1650, is that still too much? its a local garage, and they said it was negotiable, i mentioned 1650 and he didnt cry...  its still alot innit. I really wanted it to blow my socks off as a car, and be so much better than my 8v. ah well.
i know you two are right tho, ive never had bad advice here. oh eh, and one thing i wasnt too keen on, it had a single wiper conversion.... weird.
cheers people

[Organisys]

Offer 1.5k don't go much above this. check for rust round bottom of windscreen. check for smoke. read this:-

http://www.matey-matey.com/golf_buying_guide.shtml