Hello All, A MK2 Golf gti 8v has come up for sale near me, I'm new to the VW scene and don't really know what problems are common with these cars. The mileage on the car 189,000, which I know is high, but should I avoid this? What are common problems that can go wrong with a car of this age and mileage? Thanks in advance.
Hello and welcome! What age is the car? A decent service history/bundle of receipts to show it`s been looked after (particularly in the last year or so) means the mileage shouldn`t be a cause for concern. These engines are bullet-proof if looked after fairly regularly, but of course at this age, there could be little things creeping in (over consumption of oil/water, indicating wear and tear internally) The general state of the engine bay is sometimes a good indicator of whether it`s been looked after.
Check the shell more than the engine, most of the engine stuff is fairly cheap to fix, mine isn't running good right now but I plan to fix it tomorrow with 15 on a temp sensor. Most of the parts are cheap and easy to replace, a head gasket job can cost you about 40 quid if you do it yourself. Cam belt service will run to about 30-35 again as a DIY job. If not, engine conversions can also be done on the cheap if desired. Check arches, around the windscreen, filler flap, under the car and a few other places for rust. If MK2s didn't rust they'd last until the end of time, usually the engine out lasts the shell. I fitted an engine that's on it's third shell now (first got a swap, second got stacked/was rusty) and it has 200k on it. When I last drove it there was no signs of giving up.
agreed on the rust if its a clean rust free body then engines can be swapped over a weekend for cheap , where as rotten bodywork will cost to repair and always be a problem
My 1.8 Driver engine, which was in my mk2 had 190.000 when removed, and its still going strong in its 3rd Mk2, 2nd being in Shaz's Mk2 ^^^ above
189k is nothing! The golden rules with buying a mk2 is buy on the body not the mechanicals. Is it going to be a weekend toy or a daily driver?
before we had our tsr lump in ours the car had around 218k on it and was still pulling very strong and nothing wrong with it.
I had mine on the rolling road at 180k, i bought the car with no service history and it made 6bhp less than when it rolled out of the factory!
the engines rule. last time mine was on a rr i think i had just over 200k miles. the rr claimed 20bhp over standard. im past 224k now
I've just changed the block on my 1986 Mk2 & the honing marks were still visible in the bores of the old engine, I can't be sure of the exact milage as the odometer stopped working in 1996 with 81K on the clock, it's probably safe to assume that it's done another 100k since.
