MK3 Golf.....Need some advice

Fatpigeon · 25 Jan 2008 at 16:34

Hi guys

Just after a bit of advice, a few weeks ago i posted to ask peoples opinions on the mk1 octavias and was given some really good advice. The thing is i have now got a new job and need a car pretty sharpish. The local garage has an M reg Golf GL TDI up for £650, its done 108000 miles and looks pretty tidy. Any thing i should look out for, or will i be making a mistake buying it?? Im guessing a diesel is the way to go as i'll be doing a 50 mile round trip daily. Sorry to ask but i know nothing about cars.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

tigerstyle · 25 Jan 2008 at 18:16

I just bought a 1.4CL MK3 petrol (obviously) for 400, with half its mot and same amount of tax on it,

so if this golf has similar credentials, as a rough estimate the price is a tad high? but the miles look good, first thing to wear out on it will be the drivers side seat bolster!

After that pretty much peanuts to keep running, snap it up!

Fatpigeon · 25 Jan 2008 at 18:45

this one is taxed and tested til september, had another quick look on the way home, it had a small ding on the drivers side front wing, nothing major but enough for him to knock it down to £575.

Thanks for the advice

penski · 25 Jan 2008 at 18:54

Go for it; they go on forever.

*n

tigerstyle · 25 Jan 2008 at 18:55

575 is nice money for a nice car, 5 doors I hope, and what colour?

Matt82 · 25 Jan 2008 at 20:40

my mk3 golf has gone past 175k miles

they do indeed last forever

pinkaardvark · 25 Jan 2008 at 20:43

at that price and purpose, dings on the exterior and saggy bolsters should not really be of great concern, buy any car with tax and MOT that drives well and won't cost a fortune to run ie parts/fuel/insurance.

Fatpigeon · 25 Jan 2008 at 20:52

yeah, its a five door and its the dark blue one. Going in to see the guy tomorrow, is there anything i should be asking? Thanks for all your comments so far

Muncher · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:16

My MK3 Golf has gone past 217,000 miles

Crossy · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:35

Im getting mine next week. Red 5 door with 140k miles. Just been serviced, disc's and pads. Just had timing done. Resprayed less than one year ago. In immaculate condition. 1.9 D n/a. £660 with 1 years Tax and MOT.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:36

Crossy said:
Im getting mine next week. Red 5 door with 140k miles. Just been serviced, disc's and pads. Just had timing done. Resprayed less than one year ago. In immaculate condition. 1.9 D n/a. £660 with 1 years Tax and MOT.

The OP's car seems a good buy. This one doesn't. 1.9D N/A's are absolutely horrific.

Muncher · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:37

Crossy said:
Im getting mine next week. Red 5 door with 140k miles. Just been serviced, disc's and pads. Just had timing done. Resprayed less than one year ago. In immaculate condition. 1.9 D n/a. £660 with 1 years Tax and MOT.

Why the hell would anyone bother to respray one of those?

Crossy · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:43

Muncher said:
Why the hell would anyone bother to respray one of those?

Belonged to a guy who did body work on cars/wagons. He totally cleaned the shell of rusts and dents and resprayed it. MOT time came it it failed. so he sold it to my mate from work. Who fixed it up and is now buying a van so is in no need of the car.

Crossy · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:45

[TW]Fox;10971269 said:
The OP's car seems a good buy. This one doesn't. 1.9D N/A's are absolutely horrific.

Its going to be my first car and is reasonable on insurance.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:46

Crossy said:
Belonged to a guy who did body work on cars/wagons. He totally cleaned the shell of rusts and dents and resprayed it. MOT time came it it failed. so he sold it to my mate from work. Who fixed it up and is now buying a van so is in no need of the car.

Cars like that always seem so dodgy.

'Yea well this guy right, he works in the trade innit, so he fixed it all up and then sold it on fer cheap to me mate, right, who fixed it up good, then sold it to me, yea, but now im gonna get me a van so....'

is reasonable on insurance.

So are a vast number of other, similarily priced yet not awful others.

Crossy · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:52

[TW]Fox;10971327 said:
Cars like that always seem so dodgy.

'Yea well this guy right, he works in the trade innit, so he fixed it all up and then sold it on fer cheap to me mate, right, who fixed it up good, then sold it to me, yea, but now im gonna get me a van so....'

So are a vast number of other, similarily priced yet not awful others.

The person im buying the car off i know well and i know he wouldn't rip me off. With me being 6'5 i need something i can fit in. Which is why French cars are automatically out of the question. There pedals are far too close together for my liking. And no, i do not want a Mondeo.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:53

Who said anything about Mondeos :confused:

Crossy · 25 Jan 2008 at 21:54

[TW]Fox;10971365 said:
Who said anything about Mondeos

Nobody. But i know for a fine fact you would bring them into the conversation.

[TW]Fox · 25 Jan 2008 at 22:06

Yea, whatever :rolleyes:

tigerstyle · 25 Jan 2008 at 22:19

pinkaardvark said:
at that price and purpose, dings on the exterior and saggy bolsters should not really be of great concern,

saggy bolsters are of no real concern, seeing as new interiors/seats can be swapped in minutes, it's just the bolster is the first thing to break on them! All oldish Vw's sadly, and I guess other cars too (VWs especially!) and its just a slightly looser bolster so nothing to not buy a car over. And it annoys me a tad that mine is a bit rough as the rest of the interior is pretty mint.

but just back to the OPs questions, just look over them as any other normal car, nothing especially problematic on them, 5th in mine whines a bit now and again, it's of no concern to me yet, you can check the heater fan works on all speeds, they sometimes burn out the resistor pack under the scuttle tray which can be a pain to fix as the part is expensive £30 I think for a new one.

Nothing else can't be fixed cheap/needs fixing?!?!