Got a P reg GTi which i need some help with

[wesrk1]

Ive just bought a MK3 Golf GTI 8V (1996 P), the mileage is at 89750, and i paid £800 for it, there is however no paper work in terms of service history or old MOT's.  I bought it because a friend of mine owned a J reg Mk3 GTi and it was superb even tho it was over 150k miles.  I believe im gonna be on this forum for quite some time as i am a novice with cars and will require a lot of help, and most likely the car will have a million faults.

The cars body seems to be in very good condition, there is no rust or chipping, the structure of the car seems intact. Inside is pretty much the same, clean and in good condition. On the driving side, shock abs and suspension is good, there are a few rattles, previous owner says its the exhaust clip, and there is a burning rubber smell, especially when i turn the heater on, any ideas? the steering is not as smooth or soft as my friends J reg one even tho the PAS fluid is full, the electric window on the driver side is also well dodgy, any common faults i need to know about and average cost will be much appreciated.

I am going to have it serviced as soon as possible and see what they say, does anyone know if i can get a new manual or service book from VW? The previous owner didn't have the spare key, how much would it cost to make one? Does anyone know if the car has an immobiliser, i read somewhere that all P reg and above come standard with Thatcham cat2 immobiliser, i however do not have a remote for it, can i get one? it also needs an alarm, please make any recommendations.

Any help would be grately appreciated, please tell me of any checks i can make and anything i can look out for. Thank you. Wes

[shabby_caddy]

Hey there, yeah electric windows seem to be common problem in mk3 golfs aswell as polos of same era, sunroofs seem to pack up aswell. Service books you can get from vw, but i think they could be a bit pricy for what they are if i seem to remember. Not sure on the key issue, my dads mk3 is an r reg so has the standard vw imobiliser imbeded in the key, so you need to know the code to get a replacement key cut. So yours being a P reg i expect you will need to know the same, but i think VW can read the code from the key. Another thing is certain isurers like direct line will have vw imobiliser on there list of alarms/imobilisers but they will expect proof of this, this was really anoying because we had to go to a vw dealership and get someone to write a letter to confirm that our golf came with an immobiliser as standard!

[patch900]

wesrk1, shabby is right the immobiliser reads from the key. There are a couple of threads about what immobiliser is fitted to Mk3 golfs - I think they are thatcham but I would check around on here.

As Shabby says to get a new key you will need the code which the stealers might give to you as they should know it.

Electric faults are common and easily sorted for the window.

I had a similiar exhaust rattle from mine, the VW garage where I had it serviced told me it was the heat shielding on the exhaust and was fairly common.

[Len]

Heatshields - the one under the Cat can be ripped off! The one up on the manifold is much more trouble some and not an easy fix, uless someone knows different means taking off the exhaust manifold and not done unless absolutely necessary!
So turn the stereo up!

[patch900]

turn it up all the way to 11   

or have a new exhaust fitted, worked for mine but it was well knackered

[Rideandy]

I had a key cut for my R reg 98, from local key cutters, yes they do have chip in them but they had a reader,cost me £25 would cost a lot more at dealers.
Hope helps

[patch900]

Cheers for the info Andy. I only have 1 key at the moment for mine and its a bit bent  so could well do with another.

[Rideandy]

No worries.
I am sure the key cutting place is called timpsons or something like that there a big chain so should be one local to you.
Good luck with the other bits.