Golf TDI

[cardaft]

Who the hell looks for under 100k on the clock nowadays? Too many uninformed buyers looking to pay a premium for 5 figure mileages pushing prices up horrendously.

If the seat's uncomfortable, it's right off the cards.

the french cars are far more reliable than the VAG cars

Obviously not owned a Renault

The 306 interior is utterly dire (they may as well have just painted the body inside black) with a narrow footwell and the pedals far too close together, the 307 seats are too hard, but I can't actually fit my feet in a 307 drivers footwell so that's a non-starter The C4 is twice the price of a Golf and is too big, uneconomical, turbo laggy, and has a punto-esque sitting position.

The Golf TDI is comfortable (I drove Stoke to Farnborough and back 2-3 times a week for a few months in one without suffering backache), economical (55+mpg at 90mph), not too slow at just over 10s to 60 with very little turbo lag, and doesn't have 50p shop trim. The one I drove was so much more chuckable into the corners than my 406s too.

Well as i do a lot of miles i would not be buying a car which has done a great deal over 100K miles. My C5 had 108K when i bought it, its still perfect at 119K. However the engines do the mileages well, 1.9TDis are pretty bomb proof, but the interior still gets the wear, steering wheels, suspension components. I was looking at Golfs before i settled on a 406, however after driving one i found it very dull and i found i had to pay a lot more for a 150K mile golf than i do for a much newer and much lower mileage HDi car. Now some say you get what you pay for, but i dont rate VWs quality too highly (cambelts recommended every 40K or 4 years on most VAG TDis now?, plus ive had problems with our VAG group cars). So i dont see them as good value, however it wasnt value which put me off really, i just find them a bit too dull and actually too small for what im wanting.

Yes we have had renaults, and i agree that they are the worst of the 3 major French car makers, however they are great cars but ruined by poor quality. None of our renaults let us down, but they did have design faults. Unlike Citroens and Peugeots, we have ran Citroens forever, fantastic cars in my opinion.

C4s are very nice cars and can only be a couple of inches longer than a golf surely? Ive driven a C4 too, welol a couple now and i really like them, far more interesting than a Golf. Though i wasnt aware of your budget so wasnt sure what to suggest.

If you like the Golk Mk4 and you got on well with it, then go for another, probably make another good car for you. Everyone likes different cars so peoples opinions very rarely match. There are cars which are better value, cars which are more interesting and cars which are more rewrding to drive. But the Golf is a good alrounder (hence why i was considering one) and should be reliable.

However i must say, ive recently found out the later 1.9TDi engines cause lots of problems at around 100 - 140K miles, as they have a similar head to the ewer 2.0TDi whichare not as good either.

[DaiRees]

sniffing Dais farts!

Say what now....?





I didn't even know he was in the room!

[Welly]

I don't think I'd have an 8+ year old VW, they'd be a lot of daft errors and faults bothering you. I think V-dubs are ok for the first 60,000 miles then all that emissions crap will start playing up. Sussy is soft and suffers wear, dampers would need replacing for sure.

To stick my neck out, if you want a cheapo get to work kinda workhorse thing then get an old Xantia 1.9td even if the sussy goes funny you'd only need 4 x spheres at £12.00? each

Or you could always get a D9 exec 2.1

[Captain Jack]

Or you could always get a D9 exec 2.1

D8 you mean?

[cardaft]

I cant rate Xantias highly enough, absolutely fantastic cars, dirt cheap now too. You could get a S2 1.9TD and run it on veg oil, superbly comfortable, handle well and very reliable motors. They are not very big compared to modern family size cars either.

We have two Xms which we have as hobby cars, another fantastic citroen, better than xantias in a lot of ways, one of them is an estate 2.1TD which is the size of a small house but its superb on fuel and handles like a large go cart in sports mode - you only get sports hydractive 2 sus on top of the range xantias - VSX and Exclusives. Or if your feeling flush and can spare fuel money, then why not an Activa Xantia, possibly one of the best handling cars available with no roll suspension.

However xantias are getting on now, but they are superb value and would make an ideal commuter driver. The suspenion is actually more complex than just replacing 4 spheres though, there is fluid changes to be done, most xantias have 5 spheres and top of the range have 8 spheres. Id have one, would make for a very interesting, reliable car in my opinion.

Still i dont mind golfs too much, but they are really not worth the money you have to pay to get a decent one.

Yes, what about a 406

[mjb]

have you thought about a Focus TDDI/TDCI?

I can't fit my legs comfortably in Ford footwells

This is what i remember when i was looking at Golfs 2 years ago. Spec wise - Match, SE, and GT and as for engines it was a choice of 90 and 110bhp up till year 2000 and then the PD lumps came in with 100, 115, 130, 150bhp flavors.

Thanks for being the first person to comment on my question instead of my taste in cars

[Doggy]

Nowe there's a thought - I've seen a few 2000 ish Fucup TDDi's for about a grand privately....

[cardaft]

The Golf GT TDi has the multicoloured interior which i think your trying to avoid? The dark trim with either bright red or blue inserts? Personally i like those interiors, however the E & S specs have dark grey cloth, probably quite hard wearing stuff. Watch out for light grey interiors, SEs often have these and are to be avoided if you can, as they dont wear as well and always look dirty, i think they come with a beige lower dash too.

Specs vary but all E models do without air con and electric windows i think, the S has electrics but i think AC was an option on the earlier cars, the rest of the range has it. Very very few golfs have a trim computer (like the D9 406s trip computer in the centre dash). Later SE models have alloy wheels early ones have big steel wheels and trims.

There are different reliability factors about each engine, if i remember rightly its the 115 which might give you the most problems, though all are pretty bomb proof. Most of the earlier ones id expect to be the 100, which is a very good unit, which power output did your last Mk4 have mjb?

Main problems with the TDi 1.9 is EGR valves, they get choked up, so its worthwhile cleaning that when you get one and keep cleaning it on every service. Id recommend a good air intake spray, i only use forte which is great stuff. Really cleans it up nicely as the TDis do get clogged up, improves performance and economy too.

Dont forget cambelts are every 60K miles or 4 years on the Golf, VW have changed this interval since the handbooks were published for the earlier cars. This is because a number of belts were failing early. Infact VW suggest a change at 40K miles on some models. Its not something id let lapse as it will result in a new engine.

Another thing to note at the same time as a cambelt change is the water pump, these have plastic impellers which fail and break off, meaning no water being circulated around the engine. Newer pumps have a metal impeller which should last the test of time. So a full cambelt kit and water pump (surcharge on VW kits dont forget) is recommended should you not know when it was last done or the car has done over 60K or 4 years since its last one.

A quick search reveals that a decent 98/99 car can be had for under £2000 with 100-150K miles. Possibly one of the better ones i can see is a 1 owner 99 T plate 1.9 SE in red with 93K for £1800, cant be a bad buy at that.

Other than that i cant thing of anything else golf specific which might be of help. Despite my earlier comments about other cars to buy, im actually quite into VW cars.

Good luck with the search, oh and pistonheads if often a good place to look for VAG group cars

[jasper5]

I used to look after 6 of these mark 4 Golf TDi as part of my fleet contract, they were V reg estates.
I had absolutely minimal problems, even though they all did way past 100,000 miles.
The problems were....All of them needed rear shocks at about 80K, one had the dreaded water pump problem (easy fix), but the rest had the normal water pump change at cam belt time (40,000 I changed them at).I changed a few handbrake cables, but only ever changed one set of rear shoes.Front brake discs didn't last very long, but these guys were service engineers flying around the NW every day in a hurry.
Strangely, they all had failure of the screenwasher one-way valve on the bonnet.

I serviced these cars at 10,000 intervals, replacing all filters and using Quantum oils (VW dealer oil and Mahle filters).

Here is a VW Golf Mark 4 site.......http://uk-mkivs.net/

[Welly]

Ah, see, if you use a Diesel to fly up and down the motorways doing lots of miles and lots of oil changes you're less likely to see any trouble than you would commuting around town. Lots of people buy a diesel to poodle about in thinking it's more economical but when you factor in all the repairs and faults from this type of use they actually work out more expensive (imo).

[BruceT]

Ah, see, if you use a Diesel to fly up and down the motorways doing lots of miles and lots of oil changes you're less likely to see any trouble than you would commuting around town. Lots of people buy a diesel to poodle about in thinking it's more economical but when you factor in all the repairs and faults from this type of use they actually work out more expensive (imo).

Mine averaging 35-38mpg on short 2.6 mile commute in stop start traffic.

Im unsure whether something like a small 1.2 8v Punto would be doing more or less MPG in these conditions, I seem to remember when I had my punto it was doing similar MPG. But without the torque and confort and refinement.

Im happy with my 406 though, a little more poke would be good though

[lofty]

Speaking as a former Skoda employee and a Octavia TDI 110 owner (same underneath as a Mk4 Golf GT TDI 110), id never buy another VAG group car again.

Common problems shared amongst ALL of the same platform shared cars, ie, Golf, Bora, Octavia, Leon, toledo, Beetle, A3, are...

Front wishbone bushes - rear axle bushes, sloppy rear dampers, failing door lock modules, erratic window control units, DMF issues, sticky variable vanes on most diesels, failing boot lock modules...collapsing window regulators.... etc etc

I had all the above on a 52 reg tdi with 60k from new.....

Do the research on the various forums, Mk iv.net is a good one, the VAG quality repuation dont mean $hit these days.

Makes the 406's look like perfection in many ways!

[cardaft]

It would seem 406s are actually one of the more reliable cars at the moment!

Hdis are pretty solid engines, and ive failed to dig up too many common problems with 406s. Where as there are a fair few about most VAG group cars and loads about most other makes. Ford Mondeo? Possibly one of the most problematic big car around, and yet you see millions of the things. Its probably only second to the Laguna2, which is a fantastic car but let down dreadfully by very poor wuality and built - engine replacements are hugely common on the diesels, which put me right off.