Help with buying a MK1 Cabriolet

Despite being a complete MK1 newbie, I have found myself looking to buy one. After some futile attempts to contact online sellers i was left with no leads. I heard "Sorry mate its been sold" a couple of times. (Why do people do this?)However, my dad saw a cabrio for sale on the side of the road, just 10mins from where i live, so i decided to take a look and i took some photos.Being a newb, i need some help deciding on whether or not the car is any good.So if anyone could give me some advice on buying this car (i have read the guide on the site) and some help with a valuation that would be great!I have not spoken to the owner yet, so i have not driven it, nor seen under the bonnet.
She is a 1983 MK1 Cabriolet 1.5 GL with, what i could see, ~150,000 miles. With 12 months MOT the owner wants £1500.






Should the hood be pushed down more than this?





 So, a dodgy looking hood, rusted arches, cracked headlight, poor interior, 150k.
 

Puhh boring Basic.. For These Price You get in Germany a much better one.. Sorry


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figti said

Puhh boring Basic.. For These Price You get in Germany a much better one.. Sorry


Posted at work…

I need a boring basic so i can afford to insure itAs it stands, it will cost me £1600 a year. Which is about $3 at the moment.

Looks like it needs a new hood, and possibly work on the mechanism (as it should go down further than that!). The rust looks fixable, but it'd be expensive if you can't do it yourself. The headlight is an easy fix. I imagine you'd struggle to find that interior if you wanted an exact replacement. It's an earlyish one, which some people may find more desirable, and it looks to be in pretty original condition. The price is possibly a bit ambitious given the state of the car.

There's a buyers guide here: http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/data/attachment.php?id=261&filtered=1

Yeah 1.5k is a bit rich for me when you consider the bodywork mainly. Interiors are easy enough to obtain if you're not trying to keep everything stock and as said the headlamps are easy. To get that car right you'll be spending £1k on top at a guess. I'd be looking to pay about half that in all honesty, but that's just me.

Look around I would say if they aren't going to move on the price, this one on the face of it looks much better value, although it is an auto which might depress prices a bit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-Mk1-Cabriolet-Karmann-Clipper-1-8-Cab-/122021792961?hash=item1c6910ccc1:g:hy8AAOSwtJZXUBVp

TeeTee said

Looks like it needs a new hood, and possibly work on the mechanism (as it should go down further than that!). The rust looks fixable, but it'd be expensive if you can't do it yourself. The headlight is an easy fix. I imagine you'd struggle to find that interior if you wanted an exact replacement. It's an earlyish one, which some people may find more desirable, and it looks to be in pretty original condition. The price is possibly a bit ambitious given the state of the car.

There's a buyers guide here: http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/data/attachment.php?id=261&filtered=1

sportlinecab said

Yeah 1.5k is a bit rich for me when you consider the bodywork mainly. Interiors are easy enough to obtain if you're not trying to keep everything stock and as said the headlamps are easy. To get that car right you'll be spending £1k on top at a guess. I'd be looking to pay about half that in all honesty, but that's just me.

RichardHall said

Look around I would say if they aren't going to move on the price, this one on the face of it looks much better value, although it is an auto which might depress prices a bit.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-Mk1-Cabriolet-Karmann-Clipper-1-8-Cab-/122021792961?hash=item1c6910ccc1:g:hy8AAOSwtJZXUBVp

Thanks for all the advice guys, i appreciate that.

 Negotiating the owner down to half the asking price might be difficult. And it is obviously going to cost a fair amount to bring up to par.

So i guess the search continues, i will be looking for a smaller engined golf as they are cheaper to insure. Being a single 20 year old with no no-claims, insurance companies don't like me driving a sporty hatchback from the '80s.

There are one or two smaller engined variants on the classifieds here mate. Not sure if still for sale but the brown one for £2.5k looks a far better car. He's open to offers and well worth the extra with only minor niggles by comparison. You could spend the extra on the one you found and still not be at this one's condition.

Hold onto your money. You will find a better one for 1500.
Have you tried Adrian flux for instance? They do classic policy for under 25's (or did last time I checked)

Scott

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This is for sale in classified section for 1300

 

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Yeah I saw that one too just can't do links on my mobile!! There's no contest when compared to the red one and the blue one is even cheaper!!

arf333 said

This is for sale in classified section for 1300

 

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sportlinecab said

Yeah I saw that one too just can't do links on my mobile!! There's no contest when compared to the red one and the blue one is even cheaper!!

There's no doubting that the blue car is in better condition. It is however, an automatic and 2.5hrs away from me, while the red one is only round the corner  Im looking at this one now though.
http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=classifieds%2Fcars-for-sale_2%2F1984-golf-mk1-gti&kfs100=30
 A bit out of my price range, but its very clean and seems to be well looked after.

arf333 said

Hold onto your money. You will find a better one for 1500.
Have you tried Adrian flux for instance? They do classic policy for under 25's (or did last time I checked)

Scott

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I'll give that a go next time, cheers

Unless you're prepared to invest £2,000 on the red one or more and then all your time searching for parts like the interior for the red one just walk away from it and forget it!👍

You will find the right one but it does take time.
Oh and you'll know straight away that it is the right one but buy using your gut feeling and not emotion!  😉👌