![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Cancelled out by the fact it isnt 5 grand for an ancient Golf.
Wanting a new car, talk to me. (noob questions)
- Thread starter Sp00n
- Start date
Cancelled out by the fact it isnt 5 grand for an ancient Golf.
If you're going to spend 4.5k and want a mk4 golf, I'd wait a bit longer, save a bit more cash, and then go for an anniversary model
Not the best of examples but you get the idea:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2364363.htm
Not the best of examples but you get the idea:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2364363.htm
You are looking at 8 year old cars, average mileage will be above 100k surely, so you are hoping for a minter of an 8 year old car. You will pay a price for that
I would be far more concerned about the age of these cars than the mileage.
[TW]Fox;18164337 said:
Well if its been well looked after, FSH etc... then I wouldn't have thought the age was an issue, other than the extra years of exposure to the elements surely less years or less miles is sort of the same thing?
/edit sorry if that's a dumb thing to say.
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12 to 14k is probably more realistic. 96 to 112k on an 8 year old example.
My opinion has always been that it's age thats harshest to a car not miles.
I mean last week I drove 1200 miles in my 530i. In a normal week I'd drive only 50
I wonder which harms the car more?
Soldato
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- 26 Aug 2005
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- 6,901
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I was just about to say.
Save a bit more and get a Leon Cupra R. In terms of bang for buck, the MK4 is just shocking, as pointed out here. The LCR/172 are good choices. If you want something more comfy, then am sure the guys here will recommend something.
The 182 doesn't really interest me as it's 2 door and I don't like how it looks, I prefer the golf size because I have a dog and I wanted to start putting him in the boot rather than trapsing mud all over the back seats. The LCR is more money than I want to spend and the normal cupra is coming in at around the same sort of money with low mileage plus I would have to change the wheels. Admitadly my search skills aren't fantastic but I've been looking on autotrader and pistonheads.
I'm not saving the money, its a parental loan and I can pay back 4k over a couple of years which is the sort of timescale I am looking at without hindering my saving too much.
I don't get the question (I haven't been awake long), are you asking which does more damage, the 50 miles or the 1200 miles? Am I wrong when I say the 50 miles?
Gaijin, are you around today perchance?
I'm not saving the money, its a parental loan and I can pay back 4k over a couple of years which is the sort of timescale I am looking at without hindering my saving too much.
[TW]Fox;18171688 said:
I don't get the question (I haven't been awake long), are you asking which does more damage, the 50 miles or the 1200 miles? Am I wrong when I say the 50 miles?
Gaijin, are you around today perchance?
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It's a rhetorical question to demonstrate how mileage does not produce a linear level of wear to a car.
Twice I drove 524 miles. In that time I stopped the car 4 times. So, there are 8 in/out of seat motions, 8 operations of the door, etc etc.
In 524 miles of my usual driving, I would drive to and from work 52 times. So thats 100 operations of the door, 100 in or out of seat wear opportunities, etc etc.
On a typical drive to work I change gear more times than I did on my entire drive from Inverkiething to Plymouth - I drive 5 miles to work!
Get the point yet? Mileage tells you nothing really about the condition of a cars mechanicals because it isnt magic, it isnt 'oh, I've covered 10 miles, I shall wear component X by Y%'.
The only reason my opinion to buy a low mileage car is if you are buying something particularly complicated that you require a warranty, because warranty coverage on higher mileage cars begins to get more and more useless.
The mileage on my car would make you faint. It has now covered in excess of 180,000 miles. Yet you simply wouldnt know - any wear on the car is more a product of its age (There are two imperfections on the cars exterior - a small dink below the rear door and a 1 inch scratch on the drivers door).
Yet nobody will buy it because of the mileage. They'll rush off instead and pay a fortune for the rare example with 70k even though I'd put money on the car being in far worse condition.
It is my opinion that people mistakenly equate mileage with condition because mileage tends to rise with age. People get into a 10 year old with 150k on it and think 'Crikey, this is a nail'. And it is. But it's a nail because it's a DECADE old!
I am properly miffed that my next choice of car requires a good warranty, because I am now going to be forced to buy a low mileage car for more than I'd pay for a higher mileage one. And I fully expect then when I do buy a 30k mile 330i or 335i it will be in no better condition than when I bought my 140k 4 year old 5 Series 5 years ago.
When you buy a car that you won't be getting a warranty on, buy it on condition and history not mileage. Mileage is a worthless indicator - you dont know if the 150k mile car has had 150k hard miles of thrashing and is a shed or 150k of easy miles. But you also dont know if that 50k car has had 50k miles of thrashing or what..
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The hideous Leon wheels you refer to, are you talking about the multispoke wheels of fail on the 20VT, or the twin 5 spokes on the actual Cupra?
Have I got your budget wrong? I thought you said £4k cash + whatever you get for your Polo?
There's plenty of Cupra R's under £5k on AT, and that should be within spitting distance of your budget once you've haggled, and sold your Polo.
I'd even take an earlier S3 over the 150 Golf GTI. You might even get a facelift model?
Remember that the cambelt / water pump is made of chesse on anything with the 1.8T engine. Budget £500 for in the for the job, or pay close attention to any adverts saying the jobs been done. Buy on condition rather than mileage, and if things are tight, also factor in the value of a recent service, the quality and tread depth of the tyres, and the state of the discs and pads, tax and MOT etc...
Associate
- Joined
- 1 Feb 2008
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- 788
Mk4 golfs, well standard things are Front anti roll bar bushes going. To test if they are, go up the road in the car, rock the steering from left to right, if it knocks everytime, chances are its the bushes. Fairly cheap fix, bushes + clamp are whats needed.
Another things is rear Axle bushes, these will be fairly difficult to diagnose for you, but if you can, try and raise the rear of the car and check for play with a lever bar.
Rear road springs are common to snap on the back, they snap right at the bottom usually and easy enough to tell.
Servo pipes, the connections / junctions are always splitting and i believe there was a recall to fix this. But Just have a check around the connections and you will see if they are cracking / splitting. Also you will hear a hissing noise if you get someone to put their foot on the brake.
If its fitted with a sunroof, make sure the carpet is dry and the inside isn't all steamed up, as the drains tend to clog up very easily as its a crap design ! But can easily be fixed by snipping the bottom of the drain grommet off.
Rear washer not working, the connections tend to come apart around the rear n/s light cluster and the rear n/s head linning, just make sure its not wet around there, and obviously make sure the rear washer works !
Some of the weather we have been having the past few weeks, it might be worth checking the front wipers work at full speed, as the wiper linkages tend to seize up slowly and slowly and the wiper blades will tend to go really slow even on full speed.
Thats most of what i can think of, coming from experience as a vw main dealer tech.
Hope this helps, but as previously said, dont be spending 4k on a mk4 golf, thats madness !
Another things is rear Axle bushes, these will be fairly difficult to diagnose for you, but if you can, try and raise the rear of the car and check for play with a lever bar.
Rear road springs are common to snap on the back, they snap right at the bottom usually and easy enough to tell.
Servo pipes, the connections / junctions are always splitting and i believe there was a recall to fix this. But Just have a check around the connections and you will see if they are cracking / splitting. Also you will hear a hissing noise if you get someone to put their foot on the brake.
If its fitted with a sunroof, make sure the carpet is dry and the inside isn't all steamed up, as the drains tend to clog up very easily as its a crap design ! But can easily be fixed by snipping the bottom of the drain grommet off.
Rear washer not working, the connections tend to come apart around the rear n/s light cluster and the rear n/s head linning, just make sure its not wet around there, and obviously make sure the rear washer works !
Some of the weather we have been having the past few weeks, it might be worth checking the front wipers work at full speed, as the wiper linkages tend to seize up slowly and slowly and the wiper blades will tend to go really slow even on full speed.
Thats most of what i can think of, coming from experience as a vw main dealer tech.
Hope this helps, but as previously said, dont be spending 4k on a mk4 golf, thats madness !
Mine works, but it just spits out a jet of water rather than a wide spray - does that mean it's dirty or is it broken?
The Cupra is looking like a good option actually but its gonna cost me another £500 a year to insure (I'm 25 but no NCB) due to it being 180bhp I guess, they are coming in cheaper but I'm gonna have to travel a fair distance to find one with the nicer wheels (there are "cupras" with the horrible multispokes) and a decent colour. The S3 is also around the same price to insure (weird seeing as its 210bhp).
Thanks for the post Fox, it makes sense and thinking about it this golf would be coming right up to the point where its going to need the cambelt changed so I think I'm actually better off finding one with more miles but has passed the camblet and water pump threshold, I could do with a list of the service intervals, need to find one.
I do want a golf, that much I know and I realise I will take flack for it but I will spend less on one.
/edit what about this one? http://pistonheads.com/sales/1899010.htm
I'm concerned about buying private, am I at more of a risk?
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Technically you are more of a risk, in reality, it makes no difference. Used car traders are sharks - even if you wish to excercise your legal rights most of the time this will require court action anyway.
So simply save money and buy from a private seller where you can judge him and his car and work out whether he is the sort of person who you wish to buy a car from.
I hate the idea of buying cars from 'traders'. I wish to either buy a car from a nice private seller or a franchised main dealer. Otherwise you are just paying somebody elses profit margin and getting no real benefit.
So simply save money and buy from a private seller where you can judge him and his car and work out whether he is the sort of person who you wish to buy a car from.
I hate the idea of buying cars from 'traders'. I wish to either buy a car from a nice private seller or a franchised main dealer. Otherwise you are just paying somebody elses profit margin and getting no real benefit.
