thecirsch

I've got the chance to get one of these quite cheap to use as my daily hack (and to protect the Scoob ). Has anyone ever owned one, are they any good??

Any thoughts, good, bad or indifferent qreatfully received?

Cheers,

Ed

camk

had 4....all 8valves. Did over 100K in each. Great cars and never felt they cost me much to run. Did 160K in one which I bought for 5.5 grand and sold it for 1700 3 years later....I'd have another one anytime.

I would only buy if its got Power steering.

Oil/filter change regular(dead easy), every 7-8K..From experience avoid too thin synthetics as they cause leaks. Its not a highly stressed engine design.

Water Pumps...sometimes OK sometimes not. Water leak at fanbelt is first sign.

Fanbelts wear and sometimes squeek.

They rust at the front of the bonnet and sometimes at the boot.

Rear Calipers go 50-60k. Possible upgrade to MK III calipers solves it

shocks go at 60-70K, its a slow degradation so you don't notice it. Changing them make it a new car.

dome

Yeah they are great cars. Electrics can get slightly dodgy too with age though. I had a B reg one with 130k on the clock and ran it with no major problems, even doing a road rally in it. I put G60 strut top mounts on mine as well as uprated suspension(I loved my Chassis Dynamics springs)and this tightened the front end up and improved the steering feel no end.

Parts are very cheap from German and Swedish and Eurocarparts too.

If its a good one, go for it...

camk

yes forgot that, spark plug cables and distributer cap also sometimes age and need replaced, think its the heat as they are so near the block. If you use the triple headed spark plugs its 30K+ between changes, if ever.

TBMeech

Fantastic cars imo, bulletproof, they run all day long.

Has a '91 Big Bumper 8v, never missed a beat.

Like it's been said before, the real calipers always die, they're crap, cost only £30 odd on an exhchange basis with German Car Parts but upgrading to the MKIII calipers is a must really, for £150 it saves a lot of hassle.

Clutches are cheap weighing in about £50 odd.

Good cars, I miss mine still

thecirsch

Cheers guys,

The one I'm looking at is an E plate and has FSH. I don't know how many miles it got, but that doesn't appear to be much of a problem reading the above comments. 7 months Tax/MOT, new exhaust, he wants 750 for it, so I'll probably wave 500 under his nose and see what happens.

I'll let you know,

Ed

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

I am currently on my seventh Golf, have Had 2 * MK1 8 valves, 3 * MK2 8 Valves, a MK2 16 valve and a MK3 CL which I bought brand new and was fairly dull.

8 valve every time for me, they arent as quick as a sixteen valver at the top end but much gruntier low down, less to go wrong, better on fuel and run on unleaded (most 16 valves need super)

My current one is on 80k, I won it in the Daily Mail in 88' and my dad bought it off me as I was only 18, he gave it me back last year
and its fairly mint, few mods such as K and N, Magnex, lowered Suspension, bigger wheels etc. Its funny I drive a lot of never supposed fast cars and they leave me a bit cold but I love the Golf, i think its maily the noise as most new cars are very isolating (MK4 is a nice car but NO fun), the noise makes it seem faster than it probably is but still it will give quite a few things a run for their money, anything with the 1.8t VW engine is fair game (TT 180's are a favourite target), Saxo VTR's get dispatched fairly easily in a straight line but they do corner well standard wheras the Golf needs assistance in this department, a 40 mm drop is the most you ever need, 60 and 80 mm **** the handling.

Things to watch for, brakes as mentioned, knackered top end means zero performance and there can be a lot of difference, one of mine was barely quicker than the CL yet my current one is almost as quick as my MK1 1900 GTI Engineering. The do runt contrary to popular belief, the earlier MK2's were better protected than the later (post E reg facelift). Dont pay extra for big bumpers as you can get them from Euro Car Parts dead cheap now should you want them, to be honest the big bumper look is old hat now.

Go for it, or a 205 (have had both, both wonderful)

Olly

Had two, a lovely 1988 F plater 8 valve in black. Sold it in 1998 with only 36000 miles on it to a local couple. It got torched by vandals soon after.

Had the hankering again, so bought another (a 1987 8v) a couple of years ago, a mint, local 1 owner low mileage car. Tucked it away in the garage for 18 months, only did around 200 miles in that time. Ran out of garage space so it had to go sadly.

Great cars. Teriffic urge, bags of torque, lovely handling and the build quality and integrity of a small Merc. 40mpg possible too.

camk

PMSL, I used to try and get 40MPG on the computer all the time...brought back memories......less of a computer than a big digital watch, right enough

planky

40mpg that all,ive seen 44mpg on my valver

Great car the 8v a bit slow compared to the 16v but cheaper to run and probably the best gti for first timers IMO.

Btw watchout for smoke on car thats done over 80 thou,valve guide's start to wear at that mileage and they tend to smoke on idle and off pedal deceleration..Not a lot ££ to fix.

dome

Average Fuel economy? Pah. It was the average speed I used to get as high as possible...

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

I am looking for a 16 valve at the moment. I have two to look at tomorrow but there are none about that I want I am after a 3 door 16 valve big bumper model with power steering and not white. Anyone help?

Thanks in advance

Paul

NACRO

I have an 8V digifant and I averaged 37MPG in mixed driving, my girlfriend managed 42mpg on 50 miles of country roads and her Dad got 46mpg out of it on a motorway run!!!!! The lowest I ever got it was on a track day when it dropped to 23mpg and I was revving it to 5.5K most of the time. Always run on 98 RON for better economy/performance(until they stole a RON and made it 97)

My scoob does about 28mpg on a cruise.

Awesome piece of packaging and design considering when it first appeared in the early eighties.

They suffer from rust in the tailgate area particularly, pre-digifant bosch mechanical injection cars, anything before E reg I think with the two piece windows and odd wing mirrors, (like the 16V) should be run on super with lead in it! As far as I know you have to have the car remapped for unleaded.

Mine is on 97K at the mo and despite my best efforts at abusing it runs like a new car. Power steering is a must if you like to park easily and turns the car from a beast to handle into a real point and squirt effort, even though you loose a little steering feel.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

The steering on mine is evil, very heavy but I have larger than average arms (mainly due to the Golf), most modern cars with pas feel lifeless but very easy to park !

thecirsch

Jacko,

At the moment I'm driving a 1988 Vauxhall Cavalier without power steering, and before that I had a 1986 1.6 Capri , without PAS as well. Therefore I'm well versed in drivng HEAVY cars!!

Keep the comments coming!!

Ed

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Cirsch,

You will feel right at home in a Golf GTI, dont by a five door as the shell is significantly more flexible than the 3 door, you see people fitting all manner of top suspension kit to a five door and its a bit of a waste of time, one of my GTI's was blessed with the extra doors and nver felt quite right and they have extra opportunities to do the Golf's favourite pastime of leaking water in !

Had an early MK2 that leaked like a collander and started getting smelly, sold it to a mate (told him and warned him) but he insisted, it has 2 inches of water in the back foot well !

Anyway it was very cold and before he came to pick it up I went out to get it started and the water was frozen solid, bu66er I thought until I got my hand under the carpet and lifted the big lump of ice out in one peice !

Basically check for damp carpets or interesting aromas, a leaky Golf is soul destroying as its very difficult to fix effectively and a few gallons of water blunts the performance.