Mk3 Golf 1.4

My 1.4 mk3 is slow, doesnt do very good mpg however its reliable and comfortable, i wouldnt advise buying one, especially in red as it will turn pink before you know it.
 
fRostiE said:
ooo, your looking at a 1.6CL !

apparently theres 2 different ones... theres the single point and multi point injection so im led to believe ?!?!!

single point i think has something like 75bhp
multi point has something around 95bhp ???



done abit more digging



guess im just fortunate that mine is one of the 100bhp 1.6's with a higher compression ratio

theres something to look out for i guess !

Thanks for that! Just the info I wanted! I think Im going to look for a CL thats been specced up, because a lot of the CL's ive looked at have either been fairly bare, or been given the 'options treatment' by the onwers when they bought from VW. Ill definatly look out for the 100bhp engine :)

Sp00n said:
My 1.4 mk3 is slow, doesnt do very good mpg however its reliable and comfortable, i wouldnt advise buying one, especially in red as it will turn pink before you know it.

Thats why Im going for a 1.6 (will be a bit better) and not in red :) . I just need a reliable, comfortable car for 2 yrs, so this should do fine.
 
Comfortable? Don't most of the Mk3 Golfs have awful cloth seats, windup windows in the back and no aircon or cruise?

Hmmm, odd choice for comfort but each to their own.
 
Mine doesnt even have elec windows in the front but i dont define comfort that way, im more about space and general feeling when sat inside the car.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Don't most of the Mk3 Golfs have awful cloth seats

Most of them have cloth seats, yup, the model I will be buying will probably have cloth seats.

[TW]Fox said:
windup windows in the back

Depends on the model and the options, but some do.

[TW]Fox said:
and no aircon or cruise?

I wont be having aircon, thats for sure, not with my budget, and havnt owned a car with cruise control, so not too worried, I dont do big motorway miles.

[TW]Fox said:
Hmmm, odd choice for comfort but each to their own

What my budget can afford to be honest, seats arnt going to be leather, its not going to have air con. I dont mind if the are cloth as long as they are comfy cloth, hehe. :)
 
I'd say they are reasonably comfy cars, obviously not on par wity larger saloons with large seats and gadgets, but they are certainly ok even for long trips. I wouldnt drive one but then ive no reason to when i dont pay fuel and insurance seems cheap for me even on huge V8's, but as a runaround they make much more sense.

The 1.6's and upwards go reasonably well too, total cost of ownership of a mk3 golf should be very low compared with a lot of cars, thanks to the fact that you will lose almost nothing on it even when piling on a good few miles. The fact that they are so popular also means it'll be a very very easy car to sell. I sold a 1992 1.9TDI with 100k on it, rust on evry panel, in white, with a completely broken gearbox, no MOT and no TAX, and 4 bald tyres, for £350, and it went within 2 days of advertising too to a mechanic who bought it for his wife.

They get the thumbs up from me, hence why i had no problems buying one for my GF when she said she wanted a golf.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Exactly. My point was not that I hate all VW's, just the ones that are not very good or are over-rated :)

I'm quite a fan of the Bora, for example, in 1.8T form :)

Your moaning about the speed of VW's, and you like a 150Bhp that goes from 0-60mph in about 9 seconds...

That's not far off the 11 seconds of my old Polo MK4 1.4 8v.

Has it not occured to you, the guy wants the Golf for things other than speed? Why does a car have to be based on the power it produces?!
 
andybtsn said:
Has it not occured to you, the guy wants the Golf for things other than speed? Why does a car have to be based on the power it produces?!

I think of all people, fox understands that cars dont just have to be quick, i mean he drives a mondeo :p
 
andybtsn said:
Your moaning about the speed of VW's, and you like a 150Bhp that goes from 0-60mph in about 9 seconds...

That's not far off the 11 seconds of my old Polo MK4 1.4 8v.

Has it not occured to you, the guy wants the Golf for things other than speed? Why does a car have to be based on the power it produces?!

Of course its occured to me, I'm hardly a speak freak I drive a 2 litre Mondeo.

In the real world there is a world of difference between 1.4 Polo's that take 11 seconds to hit 60 and 1.8T Bora's which take 9 seconds. 9 seconds is acceptable and 0-60 is only half the story - the power delivery style of the Bora will make it more than acceptable for general driving, overtaking, etc etc.

I just dislike cars that are needlessly underpowered. Golfs with GTi badges and 114bhp, 1.8 Golfs with 75bhp, for example, are needlessly underpowered and people trying desperately to convince themselves they are adaquete are kidding themselves.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Of course its occured to me, I'm hardly a speak freak I drive a 2 litre Mondeo.

In the real world there is a world of difference between 1.4 Polo's that take 11 seconds to hit 60 and 1.8T Bora's which take 9 seconds. 9 seconds is acceptable and 0-60 is only half the story - the power delivery style of the Bora will make it more than acceptable for general driving, overtaking, etc etc.

I just dislike cars that are needlessly underpowered. Golfs with GTi badges and 114bhp, 1.8 Golfs with 75bhp, for example, are needlessly underpowered and people trying desperately to convince themselves they are adaquete are kidding themselves.

What size engine you have has nothing to do with how much you talk mate :p (sorry, just had to pick up on that) 'speak freak'. But seriously, you could just rev the nuts off a 2.0 and break the speed limit needlessly, the size engine doesnt refelct you as a driver.

Anyway, Im not looking for speed as its been said, but I understand what you are saying about power delivery. Im looking for a 95 - 98 model anyway, 1.6 with either 75bhp or 100bhp (as was said on the previous page).
 
Im very fond of my golf 1.6 CL

its one of the ones with the body coloured bumpers which is a nice added feature IMO, electric windows all round and has done very few miles for a 8 year old car (97 on a 'P') 44,500 miles at present

golf7yh.jpg


Bodywork is in really good condition as well, not a spot of rust anyway... and the best thing yet... its never let me down :)
 
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Nice car you have there fRostiE, did you buy it 2nd hand, and how much did it cost you (if you dont mind me asking).

Im looking for the same model you have, except probably a 3 door. Got any advice for what I should look out for when buying a Mk3?
 
ive found with many mk3 golfs that you must check for rust along the sills (especially if the cars got sill protectors, ask if you can look underneath them) and along the top of the windscreen.

Also, if getting a 95 then check for rusty brake hoses as they start going around this time. Ive had 3 of the 4 corners done so far, and the 4th will need doing by the end of the year!
 
I've had my rear brake pipes done on both sides

both rear shocks have been replaced

try and find one thats had the cam belt done obviously

car was bought off an old guy who'd owned it from new and kept it garaged... was bought off the bloke about 3 years ago, was £3,300 then... bought it off my dad who bought it for my brother to learn on, who then went and bought his own car... so it went to me to learn shortly after... i paid £2,000 for it about 4 months ago... but got it at a decent price since i bought it off my dad.

then changed the front blinkers, alloys and rear lights.. but they're just things i wanted to do :p... also check it goes into reverse alright... fully depress the clutch and put it in reverse afew times... gearbox's go on them and they're not cheap to replace as has been mentioned

hope that helps :)
 
[TW]Fox said:
people trying desperately to convince themselves they are adaquete are kidding themselves.

Who has said in this post that the 1.4 Golf is quick?

The guy originally asked for people's opinion on the car, not the speed of the it.

When buying a car there's more to look for than speed, when i got my first car it was purely to look for something with build quality and if i could afford the insurance, i'm guessing these are the same terms Alu_ATC has at the moment.
 
andybtsn said:
When buying a car there's more to look for than speed, when i got my first car it was purely to look for something with build quality and if i could afford the insurance, i'm guessing these are the same terms Alu_ATC has at the moment.

Pretty much yes, want a reliable car thats fairly comfortable and will be able to use doing under 10k a year. :)
 
Alu_ATC said:
Pretty much yes, want a reliable car thats fairly comfortable and will be able to use doing under 10k a year. :)

As i originally said, the 1.4 is ok, its a good A to B car. Theres loads of room inside, the seats are very comfortable, even when sitting in traffic jams on the motorway in blistering heat. My cars never overheated, its had a few smallish niggles when we first had it 4 years ago and the only major thing thats needed doing is the gearbox.

No its not got cruise control or air con, get one with a sunroof instead! :D As for cruise control, a luxury you really dont need.

Just go out find a 1.4 or 1.6 that you like, just have a look at the places that have been mentioned for problems and make sure its got power steering. Hope you find a car you like!
 
MNuTz said:
As i originally said, the 1.4 is ok, its a good A to B car. Theres loads of room inside, the seats are very comfortable, even when sitting in traffic jams on the motorway in blistering heat. My cars never overheated, its had a few smallish niggles when we first had it 4 years ago and the only major thing thats needed doing is the gearbox.

No its not got cruise control or air con, get one with a sunroof instead! :D As for cruise control, a luxury you really dont need.

Just go out find a 1.4 or 1.6 that you like, just have a look at the places that have been mentioned for problems and make sure its got power steering. Hope you find a car you like!

Thanks for the help, think I have all the info I need now! Time to start looking. Going to look in autotrader, as well as inside the VW Scene, but anyone know of anywhere else where there are good classifieds? :)
 
Just an update on this - the difference between 1.4's and 1.8's was very little indeed, and the spec difference also made less than £60 difference.

I am now looking for a 1.6 or 1.8, 3 door, with a nice high spec! :)
 
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