Looking for first Golf

[dan7712]

Hello,

Well, after owning a string of Pugs (Currently have the 306DT) I am looking for something a little bit more, well lets say well made and not French!

Being 20, I still have to look out for insurance as this is usually more than the price of the car! I have been hunting around and like the look of the MR3 GTis 16v. What sort of price range am I looking at here as they always seem to vary from around £500 - £2000. I understand that some are well looked after and others are just falling apart but what is a good price for one? Also, what seem to go wrong with these cars, I mean, what are the usual problems? How do you tell if the car has been booted all of its life, as in does it smoke blue on ideal like some cars do?

Really, I just want some general advice on it all.

Cheers

[Khare]

£500 will get you a 16v that needs some TCL, possibly tax and/or MOT and a good service. £1000 will get you something decent, with a few months tax and MOT, some mods maybe, some rust maybe. Give or take £200 for this.

£1200+ will get you a good 16v, with relatively low miles (100,000 or less is low), no rust/little rust, MOT and tax and some mods maybe. Anything above £2000 is too much to be honest, unless it's a real minter with low miles and an anniversary edition.

£1200+ is VR6 territory, for a decent well taken care of VR6.

[dan7712]

£1200 is around the price I am willing to pay for a decent one. I am looking around the 100k miles range, lower the better! Not meaning to sound stupid, but what should I be looking in one to buy? As in trim level sort of thing? Also what is the tax on one of these things? I would love a VR6... But my insurance doesn't seem to like the idea of me owning one though

[JC]

you CAN get a lower mileage one for less than £1200, but it wont be a quick and easy find,   £750 for a 87k 3 door valver is my best find so far

as for faults / buying guide etc look in the Mk3 section down the forum a bit  V V V V V V V

search function will highlight all you need to know 

and hello and welcome

[dazzawest1987]

Check out the classifieds, some nice mk3's there I found one for my mate but he's  after a scooby now. Have a look at his dubrides thread I think it's still for sale http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=169152.0 theres more aswell some nice mk2's aswell that I've been tempted to sell my mk3 for one or two of them

[tom-gardiner]

check out MK4's either the 1.8t or 1.8 20v N/A.

insurance isnt too high i have found.

[Seanl]

Mk3 is the way to go for a first golf. They are cheap to buy and run, and parts are in abundence and really cheap if u wanna do basic mods etc. Lots will say mk3's are crap, but I love mine. It's great for a beginner to have a play around without worry though as they are very simple and easy to work on if u want to gain experience with servicing and modding your own car

[HeavySmoker]

all i'd say is, leave ebay alone, i occasionally see a few nice lookers at the used car dealer but autotrader has yet to be beaten! lol
my dad's latest car, my mum's last 3 cars and my golf have all been autotrader fare, and all decent, just learn to scan for desirable bits of descriptions, like mileage etc. 

[golf_mk3VR6]

Look for a model that had only one owner, and chose one with all the extras!

Good hunting!

[snifferdog]

Nowt wrong with ebay if you dont mind trawling. Thats where the bargains are. For me - buy from ebay, sell on autotrader.