1992 VW Golf GTI - could it satisfy my NEEDS for now?

[shida]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/dealer/details.aspx?trecs=7&tsrc=allcarhome&__Ntk=CarAll&Cr=3&__Ntt=GTI&R=8352333&seot=1&silo=1011&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=GTI&__D=GTI&__sid=126B4A947B8D&__N=1216%201247%201252%201282%204294962746%2042949 62677%20408&PriceTo=408&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&__Qpb=true&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany

Calling all you VW Golf lovers! I need help - some of you may know my love for old school, and although this is not real old school, it looks very neat and almost maybe what I need right now, a project for me to maintain and play with.

After last nights meet - I almost went stir crazy and hit carsales again!! (damn you Justin!!) Anyway, found this, think it looks great, but want some advice from you all - picking your brains basically. What should I be looking for? What are the common issues? What will it take to maintain this? Will it last???? (Who am I kidding? Of course it will!)

Anyway - this was my brain dump. I am curious, excited and somewhat motivated to get back into it! It will be a daily driver with maybe 1 or 2 mods, I just want to keep it clean and drive it. :rolleyes:

HELP!

[Serial Killa]

Buy it so I can drive it :)

[Frenchie]

Nice example Shida....Expensive me thinks but may be well worth it....

Apart from the obvious body/engine not too sure what to look for myself...

I would recommend Stateroads (http://www.stateroads.com.au/) to check it out, It'll cost $300 but best 300 money can buy...These guys go over everything !!

Also would have to find out how much parts and availability..

[shida]

Thanks very much for that Frenchie - I think if my heart comes down to it, it will definitely be a well spent 300$ to get it checked out. I don't want to buy it and be stuck with a lemon. I am willing to pay the price to know that the car will last a while. :)

[benough]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/dealer/details.aspx?trecs=7&tsrc=allcarhome&__Ntk=CarAll&Cr=3&__Ntt=GTI&R=8352333&seot=1&silo=1011&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=GTI&__D=GTI&__sid=126B4A947B8D&__N=1216%201247%201252%201282%204294962746%2042949 62677%20408&PriceTo=408&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&__Qpb=true&__Nne=15&__Dx=mode%20matchany

Calling all you VW Golf lovers! I need help - some of you may know my love for old school, and although this is not real old school, it looks very neat and almost maybe what I need right now, a project for me to maintain and play with.

After last nights meet - I almost went stir crazy and hit carsales again!! (damn you Justin!!) Anyway, found this, think it looks great, but want some advice from you all - picking your brains basically. What should I be looking for? What are the common issues? What will it take to maintain this? Will it last???? (Who am I kidding? Of course it will!)

Anyway - this was my brain dump. I am curious, excited and somewhat motivated to get back into it! It will be a daily driver with maybe 1 or 2 mods, I just want to keep it clean and drive it. :rolleyes:

HELP!

I have a MK2 GTI, same as that but red.

It's like any old car you look for all the obvious stuff, but you wanna look for how it idles, as it can be a real pain to fix. Also if the a/c and heater works. Also the linkages in the gearbox. Also check for leaks on all the coolant stuff.

You can put an exhaust and downpipe from a MK3 on it and it really opens it up to breathe.

[rayray086]

Interior is mint! You don't see that often even with Mk3 VR6 seats.

[anth]

I love Mk2's, and there are so many different looks you can achieve with them thanks to the big bumpers/small bumpers single headlight/twin headlight etc etc and other trims available.
http://www.vag-potenz.be/meetings09/streetglowers09/0019.jpg

[Frenchie]

^ Delicious ! Interesting colour scheme, Nice dish..

[shida]

here is the email I got back from the dealership:

Hello SHIDA,
We are not very far from you at all, we are at 93 Parramatta Rd in Granville the nearest cross street is Alfred street. You can call us on 96375024.

The car looks and drives very nice and we have had a lot of enquiry and appointments for this weekend. I hope you can get in and have a look before it sells.

Thank you for your enquiry.

Vehicle Details
===============
Stock Number: 6390
Price: $ $5,990
Rego: AAP50N
Year: 1992
Make: VOLKSWAGEN
Model: GOLF
KM: 167034
Colour: BLACK
Body Style: HATCHBACK
Transmission: Manual
Engine Size: 1.8L
Badge: GTI
Series:


He said it is as mint as it looks in the pics and seeing as it is that close to home, I might pop in and check it out on Saturday morning. Let's hope no one picks it up before then!

[Justin Fox]

Carsales.

Getting heaps of hits from Shida.
Getting heaps of hits from Justin.

:lol:

[shida]

Carsales.

Getting heaps of hits from Shida.
Getting heaps of hits from Justin.

:lol:

LOL - very naughty!!

At this stage B and I will probably head in tomorrow morning to check the car out IF it is still there. Take for a drive and see where we go from there. If we love it, then it's very likely i'll want to get it checked out top to bottom before making the final decision! This is all very somewhat exciting... BUT we don't want to get our hopes too high, as I said, it could turn out to be a lemon :(

[Serial Killa]

We are in no rush of course.

If there is ANY doubt, i'd say it's safe to walk away from a car like this

[shida]

Okay - so we checked this car out Saturday morning...here are my thoughts:

GOODIES!!
- Interior was SERIOUSLY mint! I could sleep in that car and feel incredibly comfortable.... there didn't seem to be any holes or leaks or anything (but we won't know till it rains!!)
- Low K's - woo!
- Body was straight - no visible damage of any sort that we could see. No visible rust... crawled underneath and it looked pretty clean under there too!
- clean engine bay - pretty well looked after, the cars mechanical history was from Rushcutter's Bay!! Woah!


POOPIES!!
- Electric windows (Not sure if this was factory... there seemed to be little covered holes where window winders could have been?) - the electrics didn't work in almost all the windows, getting stuck half way, not opening altogether etc. Anyone know anything about whether these came factory? I was almost disappointed - I would have been all set for the winders! Perfect for that style car!!
- Engine had this lovely ticking noise that sounded like it had lived with the car for some time. But then again, that could be an easy fix?
- Gearbox was quite clunky - a bit of a worry...


For $5990, the salesman was trying pretty desperately to sell it to us - it was nearing end of month and it had been a slow one for him, he was willing to do a deal, but we weighed out our situation and although it was a beauty, we're going to have to give it a miss. He said he had plenty of other's who were interested - the car was still there yesterday afternoon - if anyone is keen for a look.

Back to the drawing board!

[Justin Fox]

Sounds like you would need to throw in another $2-3k to make it work well? :(

[Frenchie]

I would say the very least $3K....Make him an offer of $4k cash...walk away for a few days.....See if he bites.

[shida]

Yeah - not worth it I think!! We're going to try and stick to the original plan with B getting a stock Golf to dump onto a nice set of rims and then i'll have a think of where to from here for myself :)

[benough]

Yo. Is the car still there?

I'd be keen to look at it.

The electric windows sound aftermarket but you can put the manual ones back in for cheap enough.

The ticking might just be the lifters b/c the car has sat there for a while. Ours does that after 2 weeks of not driving it.

Our gearbox seems clunky but it's just that the bushes can be worn. Once again, a cheap-ish fix.

I have a source where parts can be had for cheap enough.



Okay - so we checked this car out Saturday morning...here are my thoughts:

GOODIES!!
- Interior was SERIOUSLY mint! I could sleep in that car and feel incredibly comfortable.... there didn't seem to be any holes or leaks or anything (but we won't know till it rains!!)
- Low K's - woo!
- Body was straight - no visible damage of any sort that we could see. No visible rust... crawled underneath and it looked pretty clean under there too!
- clean engine bay - pretty well looked after, the cars mechanical history was from Rushcutter's Bay!! Woah!


POOPIES!!
- Electric windows (Not sure if this was factory... there seemed to be little covered holes where window winders could have been?) - the electrics didn't work in almost all the windows, getting stuck half way, not opening altogether etc. Anyone know anything about whether these came factory? I was almost disappointed - I would have been all set for the winders! Perfect for that style car!!
- Engine had this lovely ticking noise that sounded like it had lived with the car for some time. But then again, that could be an easy fix?
- Gearbox was quite clunky - a bit of a worry...


For $5990, the salesman was trying pretty desperately to sell it to us - it was nearing end of month and it had been a slow one for him, he was willing to do a deal, but we weighed out our situation and although it was a beauty, we're going to have to give it a miss. He said he had plenty of other's who were interested - the car was still there yesterday afternoon - if anyone is keen for a look.

Back to the drawing board!

[S&H]

Checked the car out today. It's in very rather poor condition IMHO. The Service book only lists servcing up to 97000kms. It is currently at 160000 kms.
The rear door on the right had side is jammed.
The sunroof is a aftermarket install and looks like it has seen better days.
The plastic in trim in the boot has been removed. The rear speakers are missing.
Interior is OK - the seats look in good condition.
No one came out to serve us so we didn't give it a drive but we didn't mind. I would not have bought it even if I had the $ to.

[shida]

I think it may STILL be on sale, it was on carsales still the other night I was looking.

[Mr Scruff]

Okay - so we checked this car out Saturday morning...here are my thoughts:

GOODIES!!
- Interior was SERIOUSLY mint! I could sleep in that car and feel incredibly comfortable.... there didn't seem to be any holes or leaks or anything (but we won't know till it rains!!)
- Low K's - woo!
- Body was straight - no visible damage of any sort that we could see. No visible rust... crawled underneath and it looked pretty clean under there too!
- clean engine bay - pretty well looked after, the cars mechanical history was from Rushcutter's Bay!! Woah!


POOPIES!!
- Electric windows (Not sure if this was factory... there seemed to be little covered holes where window winders could have been?) - the electrics didn't work in almost all the windows, getting stuck half way, not opening altogether etc. Anyone know anything about whether these came factory? I was almost disappointed - I would have been all set for the winders! Perfect for that style car!!
- Engine had this lovely ticking noise that sounded like it had lived with the car for some time. But then again, that could be an easy fix?
- Gearbox was quite clunky - a bit of a worry...


For $5990, the salesman was trying pretty desperately to sell it to us - it was nearing end of month and it had been a slow one for him, he was willing to do a deal, but we weighed out our situation and although it was a beauty, we're going to have to give it a miss. He said he had plenty of other's who were interested - the car was still there yesterday afternoon - if anyone is keen for a look.

Back to the drawing board!

Firstly good choice on looking for a MK2, they are great cars, awesome handling and fast for their size of engine.

I think you were right to walk away from the car, it sounds very overpriced. Later Mk2's (1990 >) came with electric windows from the factory. The holes for the winders were filled with a little plastic bung so if they were getting stuck the electrics must have been dodgy.

A ticking noise from the engine isn't a huge issue, they sound a bit rough when starting from cold would probably be solved with a good service. As for the clunky gearbox, a crunch in second gear is very common, it's annoying but nothing to worry about, but if the other gears are clunnky the syncro's are gone.

Good luck with your hunting. I know of a really top car for sale up here on the Gold Coast and a few in Vic. There is a specialist in Sydney, Camden GTI, camdengti.com.au. He has a MK2 for sale every now and then.

[shida]

Thanks mate! Do appreciate all the advice I can get! Here's another question for you, gearbox conversion, automatic to manual. Have you ever done one on a mkII? Would it be possible and would it be possible to source some manual gearboxes easily?

[shida]

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/private/details.aspx?R=8700546&__Qpb=true&Cr=4&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32|1||pCar_PriceSort_Decimal |1||pCar_Make_String|0||pCar_Model_String|0&keywords=&__No=30&__N=1216%201247%201252%201282%204294962746%2042949 62677%20443&silo=1011&PriceTo=443&seot=1&tsrc=allcarhome&__Nne=15&trecs=86&__sid=126E2403DA11


Just found this on Carsales! Yep i'm still haunting that site!! Looks neat, lenso's need to go quick though!

[benough]

Thanks mate! Do appreciate all the advice I can get! Here's another question for you, gearbox conversion, automatic to manual. Have you ever done one on a mkII? Would it be possible and would it be possible to source some manual gearboxes easily?

yeah it can be done easy enough. Matt in Camden is currently selling gearboxes

[mikinoz]

No compromises, if you want mk2 action, you need to buy an import.

http://www.dub-marines.co.uk/recardo/woodgolf1.jpg

[Justin Fox]

Go Shida!!!!!!

[Mr Scruff]

If you've got a budget of around $10k import from the UK is the way to go.
If not that one on car sales looks like a peach, really good price to, but those Lenso wagon wheels have to go.

Conversion from auto to manual is possible but you'd need a lot more parts than just the gearbox. You'd need new clutch/brake pedals, new steering column and all the cables. If you are a competent mechanic and don't mind drilling holes then go for it.

[benough]

That car would be the way to go Shida. Get on a plane yo!

[shida]

Hahahhaha - ahhhhh yeah okay *hops on a plane*

Still shopping around!!! arrghh!!! There was a perfect car... but...... it's all good, there shall be another!!!

[tiresmokindad]

For me, I am satisfied with 1992 VW Golf GTI. But if you don't like it. There are lots of brand there. Try them if you are not contented with it. :D