Buying a used golf

ImaBM-man

Hey looking to pick up a used golf, prob 00/01 (01 means i can get one just nct'd). What should i look out for other than the electrics??

Or can anyone reccommend something better??

Thanks in advance!

DJ Hafez

Make sure Timing belt is done. Other than that they are pretty sound

daedalus2097

The 1.4 engine doesn't tend to age as well as the other engines in the range, so unless you were specifically going for the 1.4 I'd suggest the 1.6. Nice cars though, early ones had some problems but they were generally sorted by 2000/2001.

And no, I'm not just saying that because the base model engine is underpowered for the car, be it true or not...

bazz26

A few things to watch out for:

Central locking gives alot of trouble on pre 2002 cars.

Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor, lambda sensor and throttle body are common VAG problems.

Gearbox on 1.4 litre models have been known to fail at around 30k miles, make sure the one your looking at is not knotchy and you have no trouble changing gears.

Apparently the rear hatchback windscreen wiper arm can give some trouble as water can leak into the arm controll unit.

Water can also leak into the front passenger footwell.

Rear light bulbs blow very regularly.

Some 1.4 litre engines can suffer from piston slap.

MR DAZ

The missus bought one '01 model 1.4

Electric windows, electric sunroof, bucket seats

128k on the clock ... nct'd about 3 week's ago passed no bother!


Great little car

55 euros to fill the tank ..getting 500-510miles per tank , which i think is alright.

pd101

I bought and 01 golf and the only problem I've had is a small one but an annoying one all the same. The nozzles that spray the water on to the windscreen to clean it dont work and no one seems to know whats wrong with them.

craichoe

pd101 wrote:

I bought and 01 golf and the only problem I've had is a small one but an annoying one all the same. The nozzles that spray the water on to the windscreen to clean it dont work and no one seems to know whats wrong with them.

Thats a common problem, happens on the Seat Leon too ! You have to dismantle the piping assembly and clean it out. Basically theres a filter on the windscreen reservoir that most people throw away, its there to stop grit and dirt getting in when filling the reservoir. It needs to be removed and cleaned every so often too !

Wazdakka

MR DAZ wrote:

55 euros to fill the tank ..getting 500-510miles per tank , which i think is alright.

:eek: Well I'm obiously bloody driving the wrong car...
It is a 2L but id still be lucky to get 350 from a close to 70 yoyo fill...

~~SKYHIGH~~

I know a lad with a 01 bora with head gasket failure, he reckons its a common problem for this generation of bora/golf. Assuming the 1.4 bora engine is the same as the golfs I would properly look at the cooling system also and check for white smoke etc.

Schism

Out of possible future interest, if the 1.4 petrol golf is underpowered what is the 1.6 like? I heard great thing about the GTi except you can't insure them. A

Also are the diesels worth looking into power wise? I have a diesel now and its as slow as a wet week.

~~SKYHIGH~~

Earthworm Jim! wrote:

Out of possible future interest, if the 1.4 petrol golf is underpowered what is the 1.6 like? I heard great thing about the GTi except you can't insure them. A

Also are the diesels worth looking into power wise? I have a diesel now and its as slow as a wet week.

A TDi golf is great, plenty of pull in them and you can map them for alot more power.

Schism

I hear that increases the emissions significantly, feel free to correct me here I'm by no means a car buff.

bazz26

Earthworm Jim! wrote:

Out of possible future interest, if the 1.4 petrol golf is underpowered what is the 1.6 like? I heard great thing about the GTi except you can't insure them. A

The 1.6 is much more lively compared to the 1.4 litre but the 1.6 litre is an old 8 valve unit and not particularly brilliant compared to other 1.6 engined similar size cars. There was a 1.6 litre 16 valve SR unit available also afaik but these tend to hard to find.

Earthworm Jin! wrote:

Also are the diesels worth looking into power wise? I have a diesel now and its as slow as a wet week.

The MkIV Golf had a number of different diesel engines available. The SDi is ancient and wouldn't pull the skin off a sausage. Best avoided. The TDi engines were very good in their day. The basic 90bhp version was a little underpowered but gave good economy. The 110bhp version was livelier with similar mpg. Around 2002 saw the introduction of the PD TDi engines in the Golf which were available in 100bhp, 130bhp and 150bhp. The 130bhp version is the most balanced of the that bunch and more common than the 150bhp version. 130bhp version can easily be increased to 150bhp with an ECU remap.

MR DAZ

Well I'm obiously bloody driving the wrong car...
It is a 2L but id still be lucky to get 350 from a close to 70 yoyo fill...

@ Wazdakka .. i was a bit shocked meself...

but as my own car is getting repaired at the moment i'm using it these days ...filled it last thursday light had been on for a while

petrol is E1.12 where i fill up and the light came on yesterday as i was pulling into work 492 showing on the clock..so i definitely had another 8miles min in the tank