Thinking of buying a MK2

[MarkII16v]

Hi guys,
Was driving to pick my girlfriend up from work at the weekend when I went past a mk2 Golf. Had to have a look so I pulled over, seen it a few times and its absolutely gorgeous.
Anyway, the car's a G reg GTi 16v. 3 door with the big bumper conversion, set of scuffed 17s (one quite badly) slight chips along the passenger door which have been painted to colour but obvious when up close. Bit of the side strip is unclipped at the back just before the rear wheel arch, the front grill is loose which looks like one of the clips is broken.
Other than that I can't spot anything, the interior looks in immaculate condition and the rest of the body work looks minted. All the panels line up and there's no signs of a respray.
As you can tell I'm pretty interested in it, its goin for ?2200 OVNO but cuz of the little problems I reckon I can haggle some money off. How much do you think I should offer?

Got the buyers guide from www.matey-matey.com so I'm just pickin as much info up as poss b4 I go buy it.

Oh yeah, the cars got FSH, MOT + Tax, PAS, ABS, Sun roof and the rest of the GTi spec. Its covered 133,000 miles. Value guys?

[Gambit]

for ?2200, id be looking a minter!

more in the region of ?1500 sounds reasonable - what colour is it

all the problems you have mentioned are v.easily & cheaply fixed

[MarkII16v]

Its black with one hell of a shine, shame about the alloys really but the tyres looke brand new.
Think it is just a few clips needed to sort out the trim and the grill so like u say cheap and easy (hopefully)

I've gotta ring my insurance company first to get a quote, only got 1 years NCB and had an accident 2 years ago so I think the policy might be a touch expensive.

Would u recommend going straight for the 16v or an 8v then step up? I've got a 1.4 106 at the moment so either is gonna be great fun  

[Gambit]

its easy to make a car shine though! there are plenty of bargain out there!

i bought my 91 16v two years ago, it had 79k on it & leather interior, and only cost me ?1200

i dont like 17's on a mk2, so that one of the first things id be getting rid off. also, if its running 17s then its had the inner rear arch lips rolled, so i'd have a good look at the condition of them.


try HIC for insurance, you'll need to ring as they have no online quoting system
tel   01279 506090

[MarkII16v]

I've just renewed my insurance with HIC, ?660 FC for a 1996 Pug 106. Been thinking of getting another car for a while and seeing this Golf has just put it in my head that I want a GTi.
I've had a look on Auto Trader, you're right about the price too... There's loads for cheaper than this one, gonna get a quote first then take it from there.
Cheers for the tip about the 17s tho, don't really know what to look for apart from whats written in the buying guide I mentioned earlier

[Gambit]

oh and its 16v all way!

or at least drive an 8v & 16v and see the difference between them. then make your decision

also, remember that only cars after Aug 89 are genuine big bumper models, there is a lot of earlier models with big bumper conversions - id stay clear of these.

[MarkII16v]

The advert states big bumper conversion so they're not trying to hide it, but does this make the car less safe? Always the possibility of botched work tho and the bumpers hiding that.
I really want a 16v, if the insurance is less than a grand tpft then I'll be getting one

[Gambit]

nah, id just want an original car - it'll stand you better if & when you come to resell it also

small bumper cars can look nice also

[MarkII16v]

Oh right, I've only really taken notice of MK2 golfs since this one so I can't think of a small bumpered golf right now.
If I find one mint enough then I think I'd only change the wheels and that'd be if they were too small. Had my share of modifying cars and I think I've just about grown out of that now  

[Gambit]

small bumper looks like this