I can only recomend reading through the forums TBH - I bought my off a fanatical mate, didn't look at it in too much detail, that's trust for you

Club GTI Forums - For GTI Nutters By GTI Nutters

They are pretty cheap to own, and nothing is too disastrous, but I would personally spend as much as you can afford on one to avoid a sh1ter.

 

Here is a good buying guide for the golf's...Second-Hand Golf GTi Buying guide

Btw, the Jetta is pretty much a golf with a boot. Same chassis more or less. Iirc, some said that the Jetta had slightly better/different handling than the golf's as a result of slightly different weight distribution, but doubt you would notice it tbh.

 

 

That's about right - I like the Jetta as I need 4/5 doors and a 5 door Mk2 flexes a bit

The boot is capacious too, making it ideal for my needs, also a bit rare which is nice.

Try this place for more info http://jettaownersclubuk.editboard.com/index.htm

 

The Jetta is apparently better handling because of a combination of a stiffer shell and better weight distribution.

 

Brett,

Watch out for wet carpets (a nightmare to remedy) as mentioned and they do (contrary to what people think) rust, if he can, check under the plastics, mine looked mint but was rotten under there. Also check under the screen rubber under the windscreen, well just check everywhere as even the youngest are seventeen years old.

Basically it should pull well, I have driven many and prefer the later Digifant ones over the earlier mechanical K Jet ones, they seem to last better, however the earlier cars seem to be a bit better built for some reason, the ones with the front quarter window. Tappets were hydraulic after about 87 I think, they tend to clatter when cold for a few seconds but should quieten down, the early ones were solid lifters, if they still rattle when warm its 8 quid each and there are eight of them as you cant tell which one it is, plus its a pain of a job, sometimes thicker oil helps in this, dont run these on super thin modern synthetic, good old Castrol GTX

As long as the body is straight, anything else is easy to put right though trim can be tricky , all the mechanicals are easy to get hold of and usually pretty cheap.

Gearboxes can be a bit iffy, they all crunch going into second when cold so not an issue but anything else like noise is, but again, cheap and easy to do

 

just remembered my pal had the 325i and complained about 1st gear being too short.

 

Thanks guys. All the information has been passed on to him for which he was grateful for.