the missus wants a mk 3 golf gti and is adamant she will own one soon. i have never owned a vw and want some pointers as to what to look out for when buying privately. the ones we have seen are around 2.5k with 70-100k miles.
what are the mechanical pitfalls of these cars. thanks bob

 

Don`t know a great deal on them but If she is bothered about performance then look for a 16v. Well known that they were detuned as they ran about the same power as the Flagship Vr6 which was obviously not a good thing for sales of the VR6. Some very simple mods will make a huge difference. Not a bad car anyway so I`d say go for a 16v lol

Chris

 

I had the 2.0 8v.Rock solid but incredibly slow (only 115bhp) .Avoid that one.

 

My wife has a MK3 GTI 8V, we have had it for 3/4 years and apart from general servicing and the odd bit, it has been very reliable. Yes it is pretty slow but I did not buy it for speed, if you describe as a 2.0GL you are nearer the mark. The 16v is much better, better even than a VR6 IMO, as you don't have the weight up front. It also has revised suspension to make it slightly less wallowy than the 8v, but it is less reliable. The great thing about the 8v is it is tough as old boots and will just go on and on, I forsee the car falling apart before the engine. If your wife is not into fast cars this will be enough, if she is then forget it! My wife thinks it is a fast car, but she used to drive around in a 1.2 Ren 5 and actively takes a disinterest in cars. Plus it will do 30-40mpg all day long, I do not know what the 16v is like but I guess not as good as the 8v. It is quite torquey so it does cruise along at a decent pace but really it is quite gutless.
Weaknesses? Well the exhausts are prone to rust quite quickly, the airbag light has a habit of breaking and being permanently on; nothing wrong with the airbag but it will not pass it's MOT (£200 to fix).
Also make sure all the LCD screens work, although ours did when I bought the car but are slowly disappearing (£200 for new instrument pod, your mileage will then to back to 0, and you have a certificate from VW guaranteeing mileage)
That is all I can think of; but I am sure there are a few other things just have not come across them yet. Hope this helps.

 

cheers guys. performance is not an issue and 16v will be too pricey on ins.

 

you dont need to get the air bag fixed for the MOT its not even on the test. My clio has had the light on for the past 3 years and passed

 

well I think you may be lucky, every station and person I have talked to says different, I have known 2 people with Golfs who have failed for this, and you also have to disengage this light if you take your airbagged steering wheel off to fit an aftermarket jobby....but I have been known to be wrong on occasion...

 

i have owned four mk2 golfs and one mk3 golf, i will never ever buy a mk3 golf again. I had the mk3 8v, as everyone has said very slow, but also the build quality want as good as the mk2, as everything felt very plasticky.

worst thing on mine though was the failure of the gearbox causing a hefty bill, this car was quickly sold and replaced with a mk2 again.

Paul

 

I have heard that the Mk3s were very hit and miss, a friend bought a VR6 about the same time I bought my wife's and he has had no end of problems until finally the engine blew up at 130k miles and he had had enough and went and bought a Volvo! So I think if you make sure you get a good one they will be good to you, make sure it has the usual service history and the gearbox feels tight etc, I think they are good value for money these days just take your time as there are thousands out there.

 

I had one and it was a great car but its performance and handling was rubbish as has already been mentioned - They were also not as solid as the Mk2 but you may struggle to find a good one of those for decent money and in my experience women would rather have the Mk3 because it looks better.

Another problem which they all seem to suffer from which has not been mentioned is the suspension usually needs replacing by 100K miles.

 

now that you mention it I did have to have both rear dampers replaced at about 70k miles, although they only cost £40 each!