New 03 golf 4 days probs already???help

04GOLF130

Hi
Have me golf 4 days...
Firstly loud rattling/vibration from engine upon startup.
Found out iv 2 get the flywheel replaced that its a common prob with vw golf diesels??? So i was waiting to gat dat done when on my way to work
this morning and my vw golf died on the middle of the road....
altinator workshop came up on the dash...so i guess tha altinators gone...
well the dealer has to fix it all but have i bought a problematic car??
I mean i heard vw and audis were great cars and would do 500k miles...
This car has 75000 miles...and me last car never gave me a bit of trouble..
Is there any check i can get done to c if this car in general is kinda faulty or if it will give me problems.......
HELP

bazz26

04GOLF130 wrote: »

Hi
I mean i heard vw and audis were great cars and would do 500k miles...
HELP

Unfortunately VW have been living off their reputation for reliability for ages. The truth is their cars are average or below in this department and have been since the mid 1990s. The MkIV Golf is notorious for suffering from plenty of issues.

For your problems at hand you could have yourself a lemon but bring the car back to the dealer to sort assuming you got a warranty. Always a good idea to have a used car checked out by a mechanic before buying it even from a dealer.

PaulKK

bazz26 wrote: »

Unfortunately VW have been living off their reputation for reliability for ages. The truth is their cars are average or below in this department and have been since the mid 1990s. The MkIV Golf is notorious for suffering from plenty of issues.

Here we go again with more VW bashing! Jesus, is VW the new Alfa/Fiat!!? Look at the reliabilty index posted in the other thread today Bazz, VW comes in above average for reliability http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/man_index_2.html?searchtype=relindex&apc=3128339010848601

with the average at 112, vw come in with a very respectable 86, above BMW even.


OP:
Looks like you got an abused car or maybe a lemon. Only problems I've heard about Mk4s are electrical niggles though.

Unfortunately some folks who get 130 TDIs think they have rocketships and drive the stones out of them. The only thing you can do is bring it to a mechanic and get it fully checked over.

The fact that this has happened only 4 days after you bought it would suggest that the seller knew of a problem...

Incidentally, did you get it checked out before you bought it?

[EDIT]: Just spotted it was a dealer, everything should be sorted under warrenty in this case. The dealer was probably unaware of the problem, but someone may have traded it in knowing of a problem to get rid of it.

bazz26

PaulKK wrote: »

Here we go again with more VW bashing! Jesus, is VW the new Alfa/Fiat!!? Look at the reliabilty index posted in the other thread today Bazz, VW comes in above average for reliability http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/man_index_2.html?searchtype=relindex&apc=3128339010848601

with the average at 112, vw come in with a very respectable 86, above BMW even.

Alot of people still believe that VWs are the be all and end all of reliability & quality, and are willing to pay silly money for them based on that assumption. My point is they are not and that reliability survey seems far from 100% accurate.

Anyway this is all probably irrelevent to the OP's thread, appologies for going off topic OP.

OP get the car back to the dealer.

RobAMerc

Hold on a minute.

Yes they will do 500k miles - but they need to be looked after and very often they'll have had everything from the alternator head gasket, maybe gearbox, shocks, etc done in the mean time, as these are things that wear out !

Christ - Irish people think cars should be bought - go on for ever without being looked at once and then sold on once they are too embarrassed by the number on the reg plate.

Not so.

04GOLF130

Hey guys im back with a bit of news.....
Ok funny but my fuel guage is off....basically its reading wrong
i taught i was just going into the red...but aparently i was completely out of fuel...now i did think the fuel light came on rather early but as it was a new car for me i didnt pass any remarks as the guage was quarter full.
So all in all its just the flywheel needs replacing and the fuel guage readjusting the dealer told me...would this be common???incorrect fuel guage reading?? i kinda feel stupid but relieved too...love it tho
gorgeous car lovely to drive....
P.S the car never chucked to warn me i was near empty it just basically died on the road... i taught this was strange kinda....
oh im stupid when it comes to cars forgive me!!
cheers guys..

Churchy

04GOLF130 wrote: »

Hey guys im back with a bit of news.....
Ok funny but my fuel guage is off....basically its reading wrong
i taught i was just going into the red...but aparently i was completely out of fuel...now i did think the fuel light came on rather early but as it was a new car for me i didnt pass any remarks as the guage was quarter full.
So all in all its just the flywheel needs replacing and the fuel guage readjusting the dealer told me...would this be common???incorrect fuel guage reading?? i kinda feel stupid but relieved too...love it tho
gorgeous car lovely to drive....
P.S the car never chucked to warn me i was near empty it just basically died on the road... i taught this was strange kinda....
oh im stupid when it comes to cars forgive me!!
cheers guys..

Reading your posts makes my eyes bleed

04GOLF130

who asked ya 2 read dem??????????????????

Ferris

I just wonder if you should get the clutch replaced while they are changing the flywheel. Does this make sense to anyone who knows (cause I don't)?

Its just that diesel golfs can be hard on their clutches if they're driven hard. I know that if I was separating the engine-gearbox i'd check/replace the clutch as its a wearing part.

04GOLF130

dats a good point..but u see if ders nothing wrong with the clutch
the dealer wont replace it cause he has to pay for it all under warrenty..
u think i should say it to him maybe? he wont do that tho....

Tipsy Mac

Was there any kind of service history with the car, was it imported from the UK, sounds like something that has much more miles on it than 75k, or it could just be a lemon.

Ferris

First try to get him to replace it for free, tell him you can't do all that work without replacing the clutch while he's there. If he doesn't go for it then I'd offer to pay for the parts, it won't be a huge cost, not compared to the labour cost of doing it from scratch. Its just that its a vital bit of kit on diesel golfs and key if you are going to run up big miles. Also you might want to remap the ecu (recommended!) and this demands a strong clutch.

Also I doubt you've got a lemon, failures of the dual mass flywheel are common to the PD diesel golfs. Its a great car and you'll enjoy owning it. Just remember to look after services on time and make sure that a mechanic uses the correct grade of VW recommended oil when you get it serviced. Also don't drive it hard when cold and let it idle to cool for a minute or so after a run. Treat it like this and the motor will do huge miles.

04GOLF130

thanks for all the replies and your help.
Im going to try get the whole clutch replaced and get it fully done.
I think itl be a good car once looked after and i will look after it as it is
my (affordable) dream car...
Oh yea it was imported from northern ireland but have full history and previous reg plate and i did a motorcheck.ie on it before i bought.
timing belt and water pump done at 62000miles also.
So im happy now and just wanna get her fully fixed and enjoy my driving...
cheers

S.I.R

http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/top10_worst.html?apc=3128339010848601

"I mean i heard vw and audis were great cars and would do 500k miles..."


click the linky

voxpop

Skoda is in the top 10 and Audi in the bottom 10 - is it not a bit strange that 2 cars from the same manufacturer score so differently ?

Surly a car like and A4 would be generally a fleet car and so cover alot more miles and be serviced more that a DAIHATSU. So because its serviced alot it rates low on the index?

Btw click on DAIHATSU and there are no figures at all - nice!!

Biro

voxpop wrote: »

Skoda is in the top 10 and Audi in the bottom 10 - is it not a bit strange that 2 cars from the same manufacturer score so differently ?

Surly a car like and A4 would be generally a fleet car and so cover alot more miles and be serviced more that a DAIHATSU. So because its serviced alot it rates low on the index?

Btw click on DAIHATSU and there are no figures at all - nice!!

Servicing wouldn't be considered a break down. Also, quality control would be the difference. They're not the same manufacturer, they're different. They share platforms and engines, and maybe a few plastic parts, but they each are coming from a different organisation, despite how the shares and stocks are sitting. Skoda must just be better at quality control.

PaulKK

bazz26 wrote: »

Alot of people still believe that VWs are the be all and end all of reliability & quality, and are willing to pay silly money for them based on that assumption. My point is they are not and that reliability survey seems far from 100% accurate.

If they want to pay silly money for them, let them, it doesnt affect you, and they will get some of that money back with good resale values.

Nobody said they are the be all and end all of reliability. Just because you don't like the figures in the survey does not mean it is "far from 100% accurate".

Look at the stats, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, VW, BMW all scoring well, better than the average of 112.

I don't see you questioning the scores of the Jap marques, I wonder why that is?

Looks like you just can't seem to get over your own notions and read the facts.

Theres a few people on here that just love to come on and give out about vw in a rediculous way using the same old line about how they are selling off reputation in the 90s etc. Give it a rest ffs.



Btw fuel gauges in my experiance are broken by over-filling the tank with diesel, as in brimming it. I've seen it happen to a volvo and an a4 from doing it.

voxpop

Biro wrote: »

Servicing wouldn't be considered a break down. Also, quality control would be the difference. They're not the same manufacturer, they're different. They share platforms and engines, and maybe a few plastic parts, but they each are coming from a different organisation, despite how the shares and stocks are sitting. Skoda must just be better at quality control.

That may be the case alright - but from their own "about us" section

Unique to Warranty Direct, policies do not have a Wear and Tear exclusion clause

Suggests that wear and tear items would be included as a reliability issue. So fleet cars would figure high up on the scale.
Another item that jumped out is how much the cost of a repair skews the result i.e. porsche avg £800 - though you would probably expect high repair cost for a prosche - doesnt mean its unreliable

bazz26

PaulKK wrote: »

If they want to pay silly money for them, let them, it doesnt affect you, and they will get some of that money back with good resale values.

Nobody said they are the be all and end all of reliability. Just because you don't like the figures in the survey does not mean it is "far from 100% accurate".

Look at the stats, Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, VW, BMW all scoring well, better than the average of 112.

I don't see you questioning the scores of the Jap marques, I wonder why that is?

Looks like you just can't seem to get over your own notions and read the facts.

Theres a few people on here that just love to come on and give out about vw in a rediculous way using the same old line about how they are selling off reputation in the 90s etc. Give it a rest ffs.

Well I'm speaking from my family's experience of VWs, my sister has a Lupo that has experienced it's fair share of issues. Faulty door locks, sunroof will not open/close properly, etc. My uncle had a 07 Passat that spend a good bit of time back at the dealers for a dodgy electronic handbrake, a new wiper motor and ECU software upgrades. But if you drive one and find them decent enough then good for you. You shouldn't take genuine criticism of the brand so personal.

Also I never said VWs were piles of sh1t but they are nowhere near as bomb proof these days as the adverts tell you or the VWs of old. As regards the Japs on the reliability index I didn't even look them up, some Jap cars are nowhere as reliable as they used to be either.

And btw I don't drive a Jap car.

Time to move on.

FX Meister

PaulKK wrote: »

H Only problems I've heard about Mk4s are electrical niggles though.

Window regulators are not electrical. Quote from a VW dealer to get them replaced was €540 here while in the UK they replaced them for free. Got the parts for €200 and did them myself. Replaced the coils a few times but apart from that I've had no other issues with my MKIV. Judging from myself and my mates cars mine's pretty reliabile