Some advice on Mk2's needed

[jim182]

I Spent 1K on mine!!

[Gloves88]

If you shop wisely you can get a nice late spec 8v with big bumpers etc for 1k. Mileage wise, they're 18 year old cars so just keep that in mind. An 85k driver is all very well and good, but a gti that has 150k on the clock yet has been looked after since day one would be a much safer bet if you ask me.

If you're not too bothered about having big bumpers you can go for an earlier later (!?) model (87-89) and have a nice bit of change left over for insurance.

You have a lot of choice with £1k though 

Yeah if it wasnt for the insurance it wouldnt be a question really.

Right well back to the drawing board really lol...time to start investigating 8v'ers again. Cheers for your help mate...so much for having made my mind up lol!

Has anyone here owned both (a 1.6 and GTi that is)? Could you comment on running cost comparisons etc?

[danj3000]

although i haven't owned a 1.6 i do currently run a 8v gti and i'm also a fulltime student. In terms of running costs i got mine for £575 with a years mot and tax about 6 months ago now. I roughly do about 150 miles a week and i get around 40-42 mpg on average which although petrol prices are silly is pretty damn good me thinks.

My advice would be to get a gti in decent nick and you'll be enjoying every minute of owning it rather than hankering for one which is exactly what you will be doing if you get a 1.6.

[Gloves88]

although i haven't owned a 1.6 i do currently run a 8v gti and i'm also a fulltime student. In terms of running costs i got mine for £575 with a years mot and tax about 6 months ago now. I roughly do about 150 miles a week and i get around 40-42 mpg on average which although petrol prices are silly is pretty damn good me thinks.

My advice would be to get a gti in decent nick and you'll be enjoying every minute of owning it rather than hankering for one which is exactly what you will be doing if you get a 1.6.

Cool, that is rather helpful, cheers. 40-42 seems pretty good. Seems like you got quite a good deal on the car too.

Im only working during the summer, far to busy during term time. This the same case for you? Reasonable car to run on a student budget? Hope you dont mind me asking...just who better to ask than someone with the same circumstances 

[russ-vdub]

With 1k to spend you could get a lot for your money, or alternatively spend £600 and the rest towards the extra insurance. Deffo get a gti, mpg is better then a driver if its a good engine, runnings costs are the same for sure. This is GolfGTIforum.co.uk remember A gti is easily affordable as a student, my mate had one 17.

How old are you may i ask? Any no-claims?

[Mew]

Mate, a fair few of us are students on here, myself included 

[russ-vdub]

We should make a "Under 25 Student GTI" section hehe

[Gloves88]

We should make a "Under 25 Student GTI" section hehe

lol...nice idea. Im 20, 1 years fast track no-claims so prob not accepted by other companies (silly thing to have done i no but thought it was a good idea at the time)

Mate, a fair few of us are students on here, myself included 

Ah ok...cool cool...getting advice from the best crowd then 

Just want to say thanks to everyone again for all your excellent info/opinions etc. Really warm welcome to the forum. Seem to be a good bunch o guys on here 

[danj3000]

in terms of my budget then if i didn't have a car then i would be rich! The gti has been cheaper to run than my last car and that was a 1.3 fiesta. I would probably say that i spend about £20 on fuel a week and my insurance is £40 a month so pretty cheap motoring. Plus factor in that the gti isnt going to depreciate much in cost as long as you look after it and hopefully they will slowly crawl up in value.

So not only are they great to drive and run but also make sense as a financial investment. v

[Faraz]

Hello Matey,

There has been several mk2's in my family in the past few years, Although I have only recently become a mk2 GTi owner.  My brother has a 1.6 driver, which we paid £700 for and it has FSH and 90ish on the clock.  Its an excellent car, nice and smooth but having driven that and my 8v, I am amazed at the difference in performance.

My 8v has nearly twice the mileage, yet feels as tight, if not tighter than the 1.6, and costs exactly the same to run in terms of fuel and tax, and insurance is not much more expensive than it is for the 1.6.

One problem my brother has had with his driver is cold starting issues, what with it being carbed.  This is obviously no issue for the fuel injected 8v, which also runs a lot smoother than the carbed 1.6 from cold.  

Consider both options...  You can do the sensible option and get a decent 1.6 and keep a couple of hundred for contingency in case something does go wrong with it.

Or, you can spend your 1k on a decent GTi, that will likely be as reliable as a 1.6 if not more, costs exactly the same to run, has twice the appeal and to top it off, when (if) you come to re-sell, the GTi will depreciate far less than the 1.6 in my opinion and you'll make more of your money back provided you take care of it.

Seems like a no-brainer.

Faraz.