Ever been surprised, then angry?

[Barry Cade]

I've bought a Mk4 Golf for my daughter, knowing it needed a little TLC. Its a 1400 16v, which I know little about, but bought it having owned literally squillions of reliable and sturdy VAG cars from the '80s. What the fuck happened?

 

Reading through forums etc, just getting an idea of what I would need to do to get it up to A1 condition... The diff is rivetted together, the rivets fail, shoot out, rattle around the box for a while and then make a break for freedom through the bellhousing, covering the clutch and ground in oil.In as little as 30,000 miles. Yup, this is a feature on mine.

 

The 1.4 16v has a habit of rattling its head off (check) needing cambelts,both of them every 40k (check) clogged breather pipes (check) uses oil (dunno yet) won't idle (not as yet)

You cannot remove the crank, as the block will warp. the valve guides go, exhaust valves burn out, piston rings go,it takes fully synth 5w40 at ££££ and there is more.

Changing tappets, followers and even cams has little effect seemingly, even after spending £600+

 

So much for whanging in a new clutch, a pint of diesel in the oil and a oil and filter change along with a full service. Now i need an engine and box and some lucky white heather.

 

Give me an Alfa, or even better, a K-series anyday...

 

ALLNEWCARSARESHITEETC.

[dollywobbler]

You should have searched on here for Mk4 Golf. Or just asked Watanabe. Chuck it on Ebay and let some "ALL VWs IZ GR12" dreamer have it.

[Barry Cade]

You should have searched on here for Mk4 Golf. Or just asked Watanabe. Chuck it on Ebay and let some "ALL VWs IZ GR12" dreamer have it.

Not the way I work. It will be A1, but a lesson learned and no more halo effect VW admiration from me.

[beko1987]

It's those reasons that put my missus off one. And having a drive in a mate of hers x reg one!

[cort16]

I hope it was cheap? On the plus side those golfs are nice inside.

[Des]

Explains why the insurance is cheap, they rarely turn a wheel. 

[HillmanImp]

I can't pretend to have any personal experience of these but they were by far the most common car broken down at the side of the road when they were new. It might have been because they were popular and there were a lot about but i dont recall seeing anywhere near as many (or any) Fords.

[Wilko220]

I know it's completely unscientific and anecdotal, but everyone I've known who has had a VW made after the early 90s has had no end of trouble with it. I always find it baffling how they manage to keep up this reputation for uber-reliability.

[R9UKE]

My uncle just went and paid the guts of about £20k for a Golf TSi DSG - yes, he's a keeping-up-with-the-Jones'. I drove it the other day and couldn't help but grin the whole way home afterwards in the Safrane knowing I've saved £19700 and its providing 19700 times the pleasure.

[Spiny Norman]

 On the plus side those golfs are nice inside.

 

That's how they managed to sell them.

People would sit in them in the showrooms and go, "Ooooh, viscous damped grab handles, sexy blue lighting on the dash and FEEL those plastics, where do I sign?"

Round about 1991 VW realised that the quality only had to be of the perceived variety, and not the actual sort that keeps them from going phut.

[Des]

My mother's had a P reg golf for about 15 years, 17 years old and I've just done it's first bit of welding, I've maintained it the whole time she's had it and it's given little trouble, rack boots, a radiator, rear box, window reg and the temp / cold start sensor, has she been very lucky? Can't deny it's been a good car, I don't like it though.

[Jim Bell]

That's a grim do.

[warren t claim]

Got to admit, my 2003 200,000 mile tdi ran perfectly. I'd certainly have another.

[Partridge]

It's weird, some VWs seem to chug on fine for years and years and other end up as complete unreliable heaps.

[Pillock]

VW have got their target market sussed perfectly. Who buys a new VW these days? Companies. How long do they keep them for? Three years tops.

 

So girls and boys, for your A-Level Economics exam.... How long do VWs need to work for?

 

(Correct answer is three years and four minutes)

 

That diff issue was an issue on the Mk3 too so nice to see they took notice. There's a photo of my GTI in a layby having shat gearbox oil everywhere after a few grindy noises.

[Partridge]

VW have got their target market sussed perfectly. Who buys a new VW these days? Companies. How long do they keep them for? Three years tops.

 

So girls and boys, for your A-Level Economics exam.... How long do VWs need to work for?

 

(Correct answer is three years and four minutes)

 

 

That will change soon. Companies are trying to hold on to their cars for longer now-VW will have to up their game or be exposed as being shit.

[alf892]

I think if you search on any car make/model forms there will be horror stories on all bar none. Especially true on one make forms because most contributors have got one........

 

If forums had been around a few years ago I'd imagine searching on something like Lada or Skoda would have bought up some shit.

 

Forums are a the modern day 'Bloke in Pub' or ' My Mate' for much of their advice/experiences.

 

Except here obviously where we all hold perectly objective, well reasoned and correct opinions

[ProgRocker]

My mate has a 1.6 SE on a Y plate and he's had a few expensive problems with it. The latest one I know of involved a dodgy petrol tank.

[crapcarcollector]

My 2001 Golf TDi was utter shite. So I got rid and bought a 2001 Alfa 156 instead. That car was absolutely dead reliable* and epic. (other than the fact the crankshaft sensor failed on the MOT ramp, pissing off the MOT inspector in the process - still passed though....)

[Sigmund Fraud]

The diff is rivetted together, the rivets fail, shoot out, rattle around the box for a while and then make a break for freedom through the bellhousing, covering the clutch and ground in oil.In as little as 30,000 miles. Yup, this is a feature on mine.

 

Still better than the PSA gearbox used in the TU engined cars : in this, the crownwheel is two-piece with the two parts press fitted together ! Needless to say, even the 75HP 1400cc powerhouse* can easily kill them.

[Pillock]

Oh aye, all cars have their problems.

 

VW's main stumbling block is that for years they sold the Golf with "If only everything in life was reliable as....." as the slogan. Which at the time, was fine - the Golf of that era, the Mk2, was one of the more reliable cars when new. Well built, but expensive. People remember that slogan but the build quality has gone backwards - customer satisfaction surveys rank them below makes that were a joke not long ago like Skoda and Kia. That in turn would be acceptable if a new VW wasn't eye-wateringly expensive, and has an equipment level to make a BMW driver smug.

[HillmanImp]

Mk2 Golf GTis are well giving me the horn at the mo. Might see whats on ebay between Christmas and new year as its always easy to find a bargain round then.

 

However what puts me off was that it was always a right pig when i was working on my Scirocco. But i may choose to ignore that.

[Hendry]

Was talking to my old man earlier who owns an 09 plate Jetta 2.0 TDi CR Sport as a taxi and previously had a 54 plate 2.0 DTi Vectra C as a taxi and various other shite cars in the past e.g. Mk1 Fiat Uno, an Allegro, Maestro, mk3 Astra and a Chrysler Neon so I'd say he knows a shite car when he sees one and for a non car person can usually have good judgement of cars and when we were talking about cars his words were (knowing I'm a bit of a Vauxhall fan) "try a VW and you'll never buy a Vauxhall again, they must be about 20 million times better"

 

This is exactly why VW are successful, the interior quality feel and solid thunk of the doors closing give people the impression they are reliable, its like someone else said, VW sold loads of Mk4 Golfs by getting folk into showrooms and impressing them with blue dash lighting and nice interior plastics.

 

Btw on the subject of Golfs. Does the advert "just like a Golf" annoy anyone else or is it just me? It's the one where a couple are in a showroom and the salesman closes a car door and says "sounds just like a Golf" we'll there's a bit with some chavs standing outside a garage with a modified car with the bonnet up and they say "just like a Golf" that's cos it is a fuckin Golf (albeit a tastelessly modified purple mk3) grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[nacho man]

Mk2 Golf GTis are well giving me the horn at the mo. Might see whats on ebay between Christmas and new year as its always easy to find a bargain round then.

 

However what puts me off was that it was always a right pig when i was working on my Scirocco. But i may choose to ignore that.

I love a good mk2 gti and have had a few and always found them mega easy to work on and most jobs pretty accessible.

 

However I do see a lot for sale now at stupid prices because of the "scene tax" getting to them.

[HillmanImp]

You see some up at silly prices but looking on EBay a good Mk2 GTi seems to be priced between £1.5 and £2k.

 

Whilst its still a lot it does not seem too bad for a nice sought after car. I would prefer one for £800 but suspect it would be shit. There does seem to be a few genuinely nice ones for that sort of cash.

[nacho man]

They are great dailys as well, the mfa always cheers you up when it says your doing 40 to the gallon.

[Vince70]

I've never had any issues with golfs myself my last one was a mk3 1.8 which I sold 4 years ago which needed nothing done during my couple of years of ownership, which I still see driving about but I will say I've never known a 1.8 be so slow.

 

My father has a Nice mk4 V5 golf which also has never had an issue and his has all the toys and everything still works as should and I doubt he would get rid as the old girl is perfect for him with a nice 2.3 and a auto box its a nice relaxed drive, and it still drives and looks new at 14 years old.

 

But another thing to check is make sure your rear washer works as if not its more likely the pipe has popped off which is a common fault, its a very easy permanent fix with a cable tie but can cause no end of rust or electrical problems if neglected.

 

I've never had a golf newer than a mk4 myself so can't comment on the modern machinery but I think the best golf of the lot for quality was the Mk2 and quite a few are still driven as daily drivers in good condition,

I saw a basic one in lovely condition only yesterday filling up at the local garage being driven by an old girl.

 

As for bad motors the worst I've had was a Laguna 2 after that fiasco I wouldn't touch a modern Renault with a barge pole.

[kinkersaab]

Something i have noticed is the typical "golf" type will never admit to breakdowns, they simply say the car is getting serviced when they mean its at main dealer fucked again....

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They can't be that shit as the east european guys love them and they don't like wasting ££££. Maybe the high frequency of breakdowns on em is due the sheer vast numbers of em that there are knocking about.