about to buy an 8valve gti mk2, any advice?

[CHRIS_MC]

seen an H reg 8 valve, it has 150k on the clock, looks nice and straight and true.......

black with bbs, seems completely un-dicked with (apart from a scorpion can), going to have a proper look on monday, left a holding deposit of £200

its a garage, they are looking for £1500 which seems quite steep to me, it was MOT'd today with an advisory on a tyre.

the seat pattert isnt the rainbow as i was expecting, its a sort of red/black check.

can you all shed as much advice on this as possible, as its not often i get an oppertunity for a solid lookin mk2 on my own back door here in Edinburgh,

my concern is the mileage (because my 16v mk2 was ragged to death and died @ 135k) and the price

cheers CHRIS

[Grazy]

As long as its been serviced milage shouldn`t be too much of a worry . As for the tyre get em to stick a new one on , and try to knock em down a bit .  BUY IT son . You obviosly know Golfs mate trust your instinct dude 

[oakgreengolf]

for an 8v its a top price and would expect a very nice car for that sort of money. Check the history, when then oil seals where done and cambelt etc. Maybe haggle for some tax and a new tyre

[Rodriguez]

You gotta remember that 150k is about average miles and shouldn't be a problem if its been serviced properly.  As said:   if good belts, seals and a solid body,  1500 sounds ok from a garage.



Get haggling!

[k4ith]

If I was paying that i would get in about it, pour water all over it see if any pisses thru, check sills, under battery for rust, brakes at back seizing, lookat the state of the underlay to see if its had a history of water ingress, heater working on all 3 settings, just the usual.

[nealey]

Personally i think these days its more important to buy a mk2 on the basis of the body, get the tidiest shell you can, mechanicals are the easy bits to replace!

£1500 is top end money though really, i dont think you have much chance of haggling if you have already paid a deposit on it but definately go over history etc and make sure everything matches up, for that money you want a mint or near as car

[CHRIS_MC]

the deposit was just to buy me a day to go over it, he'll give me back my £200 squids, he seems as honest as the day is long, said i could put it up on the ramp & take it for a spin, i expect no gear crunch, seems to have been dry stored up north for a while,

not a single bit of the side skirting loose, no play in any of the arches, looks like its just lacking a bee sting ariel....

the tyre is just a bit worn, but made it through the MOT, its taxed for 6 months, im thinkin £1200, but he said i could split the cost over 2 payments, so its hard to haggle if he's letting me do that, i just dont think it will be there long.....

but yeah to recap, absolutley solid shell, just drove past it tonight, saw it and threw £200 at him and said keep it till monday, so's i can see it in the daylight, cant wait,

said he would even look at my 16valver for me (sorn)

[shakeyjake]

to go against what has been said above, 1.5k is not top money mk2 golf regardless of what engine it is - blame fifth gear. check the usual areas for rust - sills, under the fuel filler cap, bottom edge of the door etc. milage isnt important on a these cars, one with 150k could run, drive and look better than one with 70k if its been well looked after and has some history to back it up. just worry about how the engine runs, and if it comes across as a well looked after car.

[Mk2Kezza]

Is it only me that thinks its alot for a 150K miler? A sound shell is most important as you can whip out and replace the engine should it fail. After travelling that distance I would expect the 2nd gear synchro to be something else to think about. I replaced mine after around 140K and how I lived with it before that I don't know....
I had to change my engine at 171K and swapped it with a sirocco engine that had done 71K (which I bought off ebay for a quid) so just make sure she's straight, not been in a bump and as rust free as possible.

[spacerat]

I dont think £1500 is top end money either, im sad and spend hours looking through the classifieds just to see whats about,(i need a girl friend) true- u can find good 8v's for under 1k but they dont hang around for long, id say and half decent 8v from 89-onwards is worth between £1100-1700, and anything thats amazingly good is 2k+,  150k on a 20 year old car is nothing to worry about either.

that my opinion but as said before, its only worth what someones prepared to pay.