GTi ownership, what to expect?

[gibby]

If you want to spend about £1500 then keep a look out on all the watercooled forums and get one that has been looked after by an enthusiast and probably had some nice mods done to it in the process, a good one will turn up sooner or later, guaranteed. Job done.

[tom26]

expect headaches. Oh yeah, and it helps to know lots of filthy swear words so you can shout at it whenever it stops working.

[GTi_Lee]

If you want to spend about £1500 then keep a look out on all the watercooled forums and get one that has been looked after by an enthusiast and probably had some nice mods done to it in the process, a good one will turn up sooner or later, guaranteed. Job done.

£1500 is going to have to be a really good example for me to part cash with.

Watercooled forums? Could you give me a link? I'm looking at this site, autotrader, ebay and pistonheads at the moment.

Richie

[gibby]

There's a load of other forums and enthusiast sites out there, so go to the main page of this site --> http://www.golfgti.co.uk/ Scroll down to the "Useful Links" bit and under "Enthusiasts site" there's a load of links to other forums like Edition38, no-rice, club-gti, demonvw etc etc, just remember where your loyalty lies ! lol

P.S. Not all the sites are forums by the way so will not have a for sale section, e.g. dubmodder

[Simon8v91]

Richie, Heres my thoughts.....

A mint with low mile 16v or 8v, enthusiast owned will probably cost up to £3K to £2K respectively.  A very tidy say 120K - 170K with lots of history and no major mods should cost no more than £1.5K to £1.2K respectively.  By very tidy I mean wants nothing doing to it, has no rust, runs and drives well, you may have to allow for 1 niggle at this price say slight blow on exhaust or needs a tyre or 2, or low tax.

When looking if it has a VW oil filter - its a good sign!

From these prices (£1.5K to £1.2K) I would then begin subtract what needs doing.  Say £100 per panel need straightening or respraying, £50 per seized rear caliper, £30 if the fog light is cracked, £75 dodgy starter motor, £250 if the suspension is tired, £250 if the wheels are fooked etc etc.  Basically subtract the price of the parts needed plus a bit for sundries.  Then if your confident you can see a nice car after a few hours with a spanner make them an offer.  (If its something your not sure about just walk away ther will be another) They will no doubt refuse but politley tell them why and give them a bit of paper with your phone number and offer on and you never know.................They may call you back in a week or so.

This occasionally works.  I got my car this way.  I bought mine in June 98!  Topbook was £6K.  Mine was advertised at £5.5K.  The owner said very good condition in the ad and when I phoned him he was cagey.  I went for a look and he was not speaking the truth - it needed quite a lot doing.  2 siezed rear calipiers, disc and pads all round, both doors and boonet badly scratched / marked, coolant leak on radiator and heater pipes, wheels ruined, tired rear suspension and the car was badly presented (filthy inside).  There was more faults but I cant remember atm.  I offered £4250 and walked.  I week later he phoned back saying its mine if I want it. 

I sorted the car out over the next month.  It was on 60K miles - now its 190K and has run since then almost without fault.  It has been a brillant car and cheep to run.  Use quality VW or german OEM parts and you wont go wrong.  The MK2 GTi is a great car which you will really enjoy owning. 

My prices are open to discussion and I hope others will comment 

ps. I agree about enthusiat forums been the best place to find a good one.  However, there is more chance of finding a bargin in the autotrader or local press.  Enthusiasts know what they have got and every pounds its worth!

Good Luck!

[Simpson]

liek already siad if you do get a good one you could be lucky and have to spend very little at all, just give it a little tlc, mine has done over 200k and sometimes i thrash the hell out of it, although it does smoke sometimes it still goes like hell, and feels tough. I have a spare engine reayd to drop in if it goes! good luck. oh you could try www.volkswizard.co.uk but im sure they will be far too dear.

[GTi_Lee]

I dont really mind some mods to the car, such as single headlight& grille conversion and different taillights.

I dont even mind a little bit of surface rust!

I've been scouring the net for ages now and all I seem to find are absolutely blinding examples for over twice my budget (i'm sure they're worth it) or seriously run down examples for a third of my budget 

I'm gutted in honesty! Didnt know it'd be this hard. I'm glad I declined the one I went to see but is it really that impossible to find a golf which is mechanically sound with proof of mileage for the price tag of £1200-£1500? I'd say my limit is a car with 120-130k miles.

ahh I guess I'll have to play the waiting game for the infamous black valver of my dreams to pop up.

Richie

[Dougie_91 8v GTi]

Hi, new member and new GTi owner!

2 weeks ago I bought my first golf, a J plate 1991 8v GTi on ebay, hadn't even seen it, paid for it and went down to collect from Brighton to drive back to London - wouldn't recommend risking it!

BUT, I was VERY lucky. 

The car is fantastic! The engine is is great condition and typical for the age and mileage. The interior is in keeping with the annual usage shown on MOT's, as is all the trim parts.  As the brochure describes it, is how the car is; August 91, pre roll out spec, i.e. everything a cost option except power steering and sunroof. There were minor issues, sunroof would not open and had dropped - solved by opening and seeing a nut and bolt undone, easily fixed! Hub cap missing, paint work faded, exhaust blowing - middle sections replaced!

It is not perfect, the fog lights have had water ingress, the drivers door and wing have a very minor accident/parking scrape. The passenger door has tiny amounts of rust on the base, and the rear corners under the lights have rust.  The boot lid has been replaced, noticeable mainly by the lack of black foils around the glass on the boot under the spoiler, (addition only on light colour cars) probably because of a repair at some point.

However, I am over the moon with the car, the sunroof does not leak, the engine runs perfectly, I have averaged 37.3 mpg over 1000 variable miles, some very, very fast paced, and got up to 50.1 mpg.

These cars are amazing, and are very well made.  This particular car now has just hit 105,040 miles, cost me £150 for the exhaust and bits of trim. I have a budget of £200 for timing belt, service and filters etc, and with the MOT till October and tax till September as I bought it, this car is set to have cost me less than £1000. I paid £605 for it.

If I have any advice from this for you, I would say that research is key, (I sold VW's in 1995) take a good mechanic with you if you are unsure about a car. Go with your gut reaction, if it seems wrong walk away.

http://www.volkswizard.co.uk/vwbrochures.htm  This site has expensive, immaculate models for sale, but has good research material on it. Compare what you are looking at with similar ads and you should fare ok. People tend to be more open to negotiate more if you know about the car and how it should be.

lastly, good luck, I hope you get one soon and can join the thousands of happy owner/drivers. I am delighted that I did.
 
Dougie.