How bad is a 2000 Golf going to be?

[Des]

My mother has run a mid nineties Golf for about 15 years with very little bother, it's a miserable dismal thing but being white with a sunroof it fulfils all her motoring needs. I had to snot on a couple of sill patches for the last MOT and ordered her to never trouble me with with the shit bucket again. She's been looking for a replacement and has spotted a W reg 1.4L, 114K although looks minty, priced at a crazy £1150 but is the rare and desired white with the sunroof format. It's the next model on from her current one, now will this be the same under the skin? Or is this where it all went bad to worse with DPF, DMS, a brace of airbags and all that rubbish I have no understanding or curiosity toward? 

[trigger]

As it's a petrol it wouldn't have a DPF or DMF and all that other crap, they are pretty nice to drive although gutless in 1.4 form and a bit heavy on fuel IIRC, parts are cheap and easily available now too. I don't think they rust as much as the Mk3's either.

 

Could do worse.

[cort16]

Did tiff/talbotman not have a total mare with a 1.4 one he got for his daughter recently, which ended up in a seized engine.

[Mr Livered]

Personally I'd struggle to justify forking out a grand or so for something so white goods-ish, personally, but should be pretty simple to look after? I can imagine my old dear being perfectly happy with something like that.

[michael t]

I'm actually looking into getting myself a 1999-2003 plate Golf as my first motor, prices don't seem ridiculous and there's plenty of them about, anyone else had any experience with them (apologies for the thread hijack  )

[Vince70]

I don't know anything about the 1.4 engine but my father has an S plate MK IV and it does seem bullet proof and I think maybe the rust protection is a bit better than the MK3 as his is rarely cleaned but still comes up as good as new when the wax and Polish comes out

 

In the time he's had the car he only has encountered one problem which was the rear wash wipe pipe coming undone on a joint which was easily sorted by the use of a cable tie and 10 minutes work..

 

It may not be the best hot hatch and a bit staid but it's the generic Hatchback of choice and does everything well and for someone who wants a car for just A to B transport it's hard to beat.

 

And I guess I better try and stick up for the old Golf now that it looks like I'm going to be a new owner of a tatty Beetle..

 

Now all I need is a pineapple then I'm a fully converted VW fanboy

[Junkman]

Friends don't let friends buy VW Golfs.

[skattrd]

Mk4 Golf type things are better than mk3's imo. 

As said many times previously my diesel boring (mk4 golf with a boot) has been gr9.

Personally though I'd be looking at the Skoda Octavia, same platform and many shared parts.

[carlo]

Presume it's this one?

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201405043917164/sort/default/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/price-to/1500/colour/white/page/1/postcode/pl210nf/make/volkswagen/model/golf/radius/1500?logcode=p

 

Looks in good nick from the pics, although I know nothing about VWs.  Sometimes it's worth spending the money if it is exactly the car you want though.

 

But 75 bhp in that?  God it must be slow..

[jonny69]

The 1.9 tdi's in those went quite well and served back mpg in the high 50's just banging around in it. We had them as pool cars back then and they were good workhorses. I think the petrol one might not be so useful because the Mk4 is quite a big lardy car.

[Pete-M]

Coil packs, window regs, airbag / pre tensioners, drop links, random electrical faults. Steering rack ends often wear. Climatronic rarely works on even slightly abused ones "Uses £5 fuel a month so I don't use it" - which invariably does about £500 of damage to the aircon pump.

 

They suffer from them all.

 

Last one I bought was a V plate GTi 8v. Airbag Light came on because of pre-tensioner wiring - 20p resistor sorts this, window reg failed - bugger to do as there are quite a few different types and it comes as a huge unit.

 

1.4 often suffers from coil pack failure which quickly triggers cat and lambda failure, often followed by engine mount failure.

 

The GTi drives quite well, isn't quick but they're torquey and quite refined.

 

There are worse cars out there, if you really need a 1.4 the Focus is better - but it ain't quick.

[Bren]

Have seen a few with sills that are starting to looks a bit challenged.

 

Would sooner have a focus and spend the difference on waxoyl to protect it.

[EssDeeWon]

The MK4 Golfs are decent cars, just make sure you get one with FSH and only a few owners and not much more than 100k. Some of these started as company cars so by now they could start getting stroppy, one thats been well looked after will last for years to come. The 1.6 is probably a better option and the running costs hardly any different.

 

I had a 1999 Golf GTI 20v Turbo, its was strong, fast and reliable @ 155k

[lisbon_road]

Have experienced one, seemed quite good and not much to add to the replies already which know more than I do, but note that the main bushes on each end of the back axle are void bushes and will need replacing eventually - unlike other cars, such as Astras, with a similar arrangement which seem to last.  Gets a bit floaty.

[Sloth in a bowl]

I did a couple of Birmingham to Brighton trips in the 1.6 version of these and it seemed quite pleasent on a long cruise.

 

I remember the blue dash lighting as it's most exciting feature which shows that the rest of it must have been really dull.

[chaseracer]

1400 pez?  That won't crack 132mph on the M4...

[Pete-M]

The 1.4 has trouble cracking 13.2 mph.

[Des]

Presume it's this one?

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201405043917164/sort/default/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/price-to/1500/colour/white/page/1/postcode/pl210nf/make/volkswagen/model/golf/radius/1500?logcode=p

 

Looks in good nick from the pics, although I know nothing about VWs.  Sometimes it's worth spending the money if it is exactly the car you want though.

 

But 75 bhp in that?  God it must be slow..

Yes that's the one, hands off. I think I'll run up with her, try to remember Pete-Ms wise words, buzz it round the block just to check it's suitable for Mothers purposes, buying groceries, dragging shit to the charity shop, returning with more and dealing crystal meth. Could be in for an epically bland collection thread here.

I'm actually quite pissed off as I recently spent £20 on this for her.

 

[twosmoke300]

Something in my head says that I've heard the 1.4 isn't a very long lived motor.

[EssDeeWon]

Something in my head says that I've heard the 1.4 isn't a very long lived motor.

 

Have faith, this 2001 1.4E has done 179,985

 

 http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201406195148166/sort/default/usedcars/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/postcode/ss41ah/quicksearch/true/price-to/1500/radius/30/page/1/make/volkswagen/model/golf?logcode=p

[twosmoke300]

I've also heard these vw things aren't as good as the hype

[Pete-M]

Have faith, this 2001 1.4E has done 179,985

Whoever did that now knows the true meaning of boredom.

[Pillock]

Don't rust nearly as badly as Mk3. Decent resale as parents seem to love them for kids, and kids love them because VW badge.

[Cavcraft]

You wouldn't expect me to say anything nice about them. And I won't.

 

Gutless, over-rated, rusty, over-rated, hopeless, over-rated, awful seats that you just perch and slide round on, over-rated, and just plain dreadful. A good mate of mine is an ardent and totally committed Golf fanatic and even he says they're awful.

[Cavcraft]

Don't rust nearly as badly as Mk3. Decent resale as parents seem to love them for kids, and kids love them because VW badge.

 

 

(Year) 2000 surely will be a Mk3?

[Lacquer Peel]

I'm sure the Mk4 was launched in 1998. My friend had an '03 Golf 1.4, it munched oil on long journeys but was very reliable. They are very similar to a Mk3 underneath

[Cavcraft]

/\

He's only bleeding right! 1997 apparently.

[cms206]

 

 

Mk4 Golf type things are better than mk3's imo.

I believe I paraphrase the great prophet Billence Cavington-Craft, "saying a Mk4 Golf is better than a Mk3 Golf is like saying dog turds are the best turds."

[Stanky]

at 114k its almost due its second cambelt too. 60k service intervals on those. Shouldn't be a hard/expensive job though. Just something to be aware of. 

 

I had a Mk3 1.4 with the 8v head - 60bhp on tap, it was OK once up to speed but overtaking on the motorway wasn't really an option and it was very wallowy as fuck round twisty stuff. 

 

The Mk4 is mostly the same underneath I think (as others have said) but rusts a bit less readily. 

[twosmoke300]

 

I believe I paraphrase the great prophet Billence Cavington-Craft, "saying a Mk4 Golf is better than a Mk3 Golf is like saying dog turds are the best turds."

Or like syphilis is the best of the std's