Help!!! Looking to buy 1st golf gti please advise!!!

[Omega]

But I thought the vag engine in these golf's will just run and run if serviced properly?

It will if its looked after, that means warming correctly before being 'used' and company cars or lease cars are usually hammered early. Ask R32UK, he ragged both his R32 and GTI from cold! This is what wears down engines. Then there are the million other parts that are used for those 100+ thousand miles; bearings, bushes, struts, arbs etc etc

3 owners means it passed through a few people in its company life as well.

[moffspeed]

I saw a few that had been to the moon and back but eventually, last month, found :





'05 plate, one owner, 12,000 miles, cambelt last year, fully loaded with winter and comfort packs, VW service every 2.500 miles on average. It's 100% immaculate...and enough change out of £10K to take my wife to McDonalds for our anniversary.

It took me 4 months to find it but was well worth the wait...patience.

[smartypants]

Things are usually cheap for a reason and i would never buy a car with 100+ thousand miles, thats a hell of a lot!

100k miles is no problem these days as long as its regularly serviced.

[mangobreeze]

thanks smartypants at last an answer that gives me hope lol!!!

[smartypants]

I would also echo the thoughts that if you hold on for a bit you might find one that gives you more piece of mind! Don't be in too much of a hurry.... but go and have a look at it anyway, it will give you a benchmark at the very least

[mangobreeze]

problem is i am doing a swap for my clio i dont actually have the physical cash to shop around!

[2007GTI]

IMO its even more important you do shop around.  I'm a bit confused as if you are buying privately or from a trader, as it sound like you are trading your current car?
just cos someone is giving you what you perceive to be a good deal on your current car, just to shift a high mileage car no one else wants (that by the sounds of it is over priced if moffspeed got that minter for under £10k) , time to take a second look and sell your clio privately and shop around.
also unsure what you mean it will owe you £7400, are you excluding the money your current car is worth?

2 years private warrenty = maybe pretty much worthless, read the small print, i bet it needs full VAG services, there will be some way that its void, esp on a high miler.

problem is i am doing a swap for my clio i dont actually have the physical cash to shop around!

[mangobreeze]

Erm Egbert Nosh, was that really called for? Explain yourself please!

I meant the car owes me £7400 as thats all I paid for it, but I suppose it is worth quite a bit more than that up to £9k.

I do have a bit of a feeling that people who give advise on these forums tend to be quite paranoid and negative correct me if im wrong?

But Egbert stay off the thread if its causing you problems lol!!!

[moffspeed]

I guess the "go away" could be translated as "walk away" - but I'm not sure.

All I would say is :

a) that a touch of paranoia may be a healthy thing when buying a used car - I still remember nearly buying an immaculate one-owner Saab convertible off a posh and seemingly honest gent in Surrey, at the last minute I did an HPI check to find that it was Cat C and had outstanding finance, the gent act disappeared when I told him I was on the case...

b) stretch yourself to buy the best you can possibly afford - generally the extra amount spent now will translate into far lower maintenance/replacement bills in the longer run. I'd set your limit at 70K miles..and definitely with a cam belt change behind it...they're out there around the £9K mark.

c) 100K isn't a massive amount for a modern car/engine : but when you buy your Golf R in 3 years time will there really be a market for a 140K mile GTI ??

d) above all, whatever GTI you end up in...ENJOY IT !!

[maxp]

I dont mean to be rude at all, but just reading through this thread, it seems like you have already decided you are going to get it and have come here in the hope that everyone will say 'go for it' to silence any of the alarm bells ringing about the deal, when the consensus has been lukewarm at best.