Basicly I'm 20. Been driving a horrendous 1.9 SDI polo for 2 and a half years (cheap insurance) and now i'm going to switch to something GTI. Have got some decent quotes so insurance isn't a problem. Looking at Mk2 8v's, always liked em since my mate had a 1.6 driver but I've heard they're a bit dodgy for reliability due to thier age. Is this true or is this only for the ones that have been boy'd up and ragged/poorly serviced? Also are they easy enough to work on/repair? I've never really worked on cars before (but have plenty experience with push bikes.) and am quite interested in learning, got a mate who's a fully qualified mechanic too so he can do the bigger jobs like gearboxes etc Cheers
Doesn't the fact that there are so many mk2 8v's about answer your reliability concerns? they just keep on going!
I started with a MK2 8v and now I have 5 golfs! such good cars, yea they go wrong but 99% of the time someone on here will give you a step to step guide on fixing it.
At 20 I saw the light and bought a '91 GTI 8V (after spending my first three years driving 2 ****ty little Fiestas a few Escorts including an '87 S2 RST). I've still got it now - 9 years later. I've driven it pretty much every day since, it's regularly serviced and only ever failed one MOT in that time. The only big jobs it's needed are the head gasket, a new clutch and recently new rear brake calipers. Main problem I'm experiencing now is the dreaded rust....but before I moved to the coast 5 years ago there wasn't a spot.
Yeah I understand they're going to keep running for ages. I'm meaning more driving from Inverness > Aberdeen (104 miles) for it to break down in Aberdeen and not being able to get it started, or waking up in the morning late for work and it not starting. Also I was quite concerned about rust, every one i've seen in Scotland has had bubbles either forming or already rusted. (kinda expected since we're the ****e weather capital of the uk.) assuming sanding it down and re-painting hoping its going to go away is going to do f*ck all?
It's like any car mate, a friend of mine has always said he'd never buy one due to reliability related probs, yet he said to me if I ever sell mine give him first dibbs! Yes they're getting on now and yes things are going to wrong, i've owned my 16v for nearly 7yrs and I could avarage it out that something has probably gone wrong on it every six months. But I know that once that part is replaced i'm never going to have to go back to it again and one day i'll have a solid mk2 that'll be worth some 's instead of a dagenham dustbin that's gonna rust and still need parts changing that i've already replaced. Just do your homework, search the forums on here for buying guides, theres deffo one here http://www.matey-matey.com/golf_buying_guide.shtml Get one thats been owned by an enthusiast,not a corsa bwoy! Make sure theres plenty of history and mot's, or get to your local meet and get to know the people there. Because they're vw nutz they're going to know people buying and selling decent vw's, so you're bound to get a decent one. I'm no mechanic and I have worked on mine plenty but have someone I can call if i'm in the sh*t as have you by the sounds of it. What i'm trying to say is JUST BUY ONE!
I started with a Digi 8v Mk2 as my first venture into golfs. The golf is the 1st car that i really started working on and doing all my own maintanence, i had changed suspension and interiors in my fords but found the golf is much better to work on as most of the components are well designed and easy to understand. Put it this way i went from a man who had done 1 oil filter change a interior swap an fitting a xr2 kit to a fiesta an now able to do engine swaps and with exception of wiring probably build a golf. I stripped one down over a period of a few weeks from running car to bare shell and it was a surprisingly easy task. Depending on the age of the 8v you look at early ones run K-Jet fueling which is umm a dark art when it comes to setting it up , digi on the other hand has advantage of being ECU operated and more advanced, i did find the Digi 8v to be less hassle once all the vacuum hoses and throttle switch were replaced. Most important thing i would say is buy on condition of the bodywork and check all the arches/sills and rear suspension turrets for rust. Any other panel can be easily replaced as can engines and other components but terminal rust will mean game over. You have to be careful as plastic arches can hide all sorts!!!!
Im afraid any car which costs you less than 2grand is going to one day not start in the morning old cars just break. But if you only have a small budget for a reliable car a golf mk2 is defantly one to consider, if you have a sizable budget and you want a golf mk2 then you can get a mint one which has been completely rebuilt and would have the same reliability as a new car!
just remember that the youngest mk2 is over 15 years old! It depends weather previous owners have kept on top of things too. but they do keep well and were very well built.
Very hard to find without ANY rust now, but they dont tend to go too bad and can be repaired and keep going so dont be put off by a little in non structural places - its a very old car now. For example ive just bougfht my second which is in great condition overall but i found some rust under the arch plastics. As has been said mechanically very strong if looked after, because there isnt really a lot to go wrong in terms of electrics or "black boxes"! Cheers Dan
