Just bought a 98 GTi Turbo, Woo Hoo. Few questions though...

[xs2man]

I just bought a 1998, 1 owner, 87k, FVWSH, GTi Turbo (Black, 3 dr.).  And got it for £3100, is this good?  I thought it was too cheap but would like your opinions...

Anyway, being new to owning a VW I'm not sure about a few things.

1.  I am gonna get the ECU re-mapped.  But just wondering if I should do some other bits and pieces first?  I quite like the quiet exhaust note to be honest, and I don't wanna attract unwanted attention from my scummy neighbours also, so am I ok to just leave it?  Is there a quiet, but more powerfull option?  And, what sort of air filter should I get?  (preferably reasonably priced as I am still a student)

2.  When I start the engine initially (cold) the coolant sensor comes on and beeps 3 times, is this a bad thing?  expensive?  and should I take it into VW to look at it?

And, well, thats about it to be honest.  Look forward to your opinions...

[xs2man]

No-one interseted in helping me?

[Rhyso]

sounds like a bit of a bargain 

well for number 2 have you checked the coolant level?  sometimes the sensor in the cap can fail.  a relatively cheap fix i think 

all depends on what map you go for really.  Ideally i guess you'd uprate bits and pieces and then get it mapped to get the best gains.  all depends on how big your wallet is and how patient you are 

[Maltloaf]

Hi,

I am not an expert on the later golfs but had a A4 T sport for a while. If I were your position I would get all of the faults checked out before moding it. You don't want to spend money on a new chip only to find your radiator has gone. Just my advice. 

As regards the performance side. I was looking at a milltek exhaust for my audi when I had it. It was suggested that it was one of the quiter exhausts.

[kniterider]

bargin alright at that mileage and price!!

coolant thing, check your level of coolant in the expansion bottle, if ok its more than likely the float/sensor sticking in it... you can remove the bottle by drainging the fluid out then pressure wash the inside of it.. this will normally clear the problem and cost zero pounds...

quite exhausts... will too be honest ive never heard a loud mk4 exhaust... miltek are subtle sounding, there are some more raspy ones out there but unless your de-catting etc your never gonna get a big noise exhaust so youve got a fair bit of choice...

before doing any tuning/remapping etc get your new car checked out to make sure its worthy of doing so 1st!!, get it serviced, with new plugs aswell, and a new standard air filter, get the cambelt done and the tensioner pulley and the other rollers and also the water pump as all a know to fail around this mileage and can cost big bucks to sort so get it done 1st, once youve got these done and run the car for a week or two then id look at the exhaust, then the remap, you could also fit a induction kit but be wary of oiled filters/kits as there more than likely gonna stuff up your MAF sensor...

do a search on the forum for mk4 cambelt , MAF etc etc and youll find thousands of threads will all the info you need bud

[barnumdog]

I had the exact same problem with mine, a 1999 model, I just changed the coolant resevoir, as the sensor is not removable.
It only cost about 8 quid from the dealer, and took all of 5 minutes to fit

[xs2man]

Thanks guys.  I'll check that all out.

The car was serviced 500 miles before I bought it, so that should be okay.  The guy reackoned he was getting ripped off in the services being from Arnold Clark, so there should be more new parts than there shoulda been.  Oh well, bonus for me.

I'll get the cambelt and that done anyway, just to make sure. 

Can anyone recommend an air filter?  Dunno if I just wanna replace the panel, would like a few extra BHP (and the extra sound would be nice), but I don't really wanna spend more than £100 on it either.

I'll check out exhausts aswell, as I assume it would be best to have the breathing sorted for the ECU remap?