MK1 Values?

Hi people 👋. Seems to be a huge variance in MK1 gti asking prices these days. I've seen some low mileage original condition examples asking 24k, some in excellent condition around 15k, plenty around the 10k again these look to be in excellent condition, and then others that look Half decent with a years test advertised for 5 or 6k, yet some rot boxes "appear" to make 3 or 4k on eBay 🤔appreciate that history and such like matters but why such a huge variance variance and what's a running project car needing a fair bit of work (including sunroof repair 😬) worth these days????? Appreciate your thought?s?

Oh dear, how can I answer that with a short sharp answer other than, "Your guess is as good as anyone else's."Without offending you!

I'd like a quid for every time we're asked this over the years.

But you've told us little to nothing about the car in question, so going on the information provided no less than scrap value.

You've told us a lot of what you seen and prices across a huge range, well we know that.

So please tell us everything you know about the car you want us to give a rough and a very rough estimated price range on and we can come up with some figures. 😊

The more details and pictures the better we can guess and it is just that what the market might stand for it at the moment.

Not sure if this helps but can you imagine I phone you and tell you that I want you to value a house I have for sale and I tell you it's 3 bedroomed needing a bit of work but nothing else at all, what's it worth? 🤔

I've got a fair idea what you'd tell me to do! 😂
Rightly so. 😉 👍🏼

One final thing for free.
This is the wrong time to sell, "Buy in the winter and sell in the Spring."
Trying to sell it in the winter and today is the 1st of December you can loose anything until to a 1/4 of its value. Naturally you will gain in the Spring and into early Summer.

Another trade secret given away by someone who worked for VW Dealership for years back in the day of the end of the mk1 and the birth of the Mk2. 😉

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Hmmm I couldn't find any threads on values…….Anyway it needs a full paint job, interior putting back together, some welding underneath, (full extent unknown) it also requires dreaded sunroof repair and new roof lining and it's not been on the road for 20 years or so…but most of it's there and it runs and drives. Some history and 160k ish miles on clock, mfa not working.  I appreciate it's a difficult question, but this is the MK1 owners club site after all, so I figured this be as good a place as any to throw the recurring question up for a bit of a kick around with like minded folk most of which be more knowledgable than my humble self on subject 😎……?

A grand or less by your description. 

Raul said

A grand or less by your description. 

 that's the kinda feedback / opinion I'm after 👌🏻 

Personally I'd go and kick them hard.

I'd have £500 in one pocket, £200 in another and maybe £100 in another. Plus £50 in my wallet.

Flash the cash and see what happens. If it's been there that long then there's two options to the seller 'I ain't dropping, it's been here this long and i don't care' or 'I need to get rid of this thing, now!'
You're kinda hoping for the 2nd one obviously.

That being said. If it's all there and in good condition, ie no rips in the seats, head liner all good, carpets nice, bumpers on it and all good, paint nice, all glass good and it's all original with only a cill needed or something then I might be persuaded to go to £1500 ish. IF it's a proper GTI, with history and other good stuff.

Some people like projects and they have a car to do the work. Some people just like to own the car and wash it occasionally.

There's more of the later, hence the price for those cars can be substantially more than the cost of repairing or rebuilding one yourself.

Maybe

Ian  

borednow said

Personally I'd go and kick them hard.

I'd have £500 in one pocket, £200 in another and maybe £100 in another. Plus £50 in my wallet.

Flash the cash and see what happens. If it's been there that long then there's two options to the seller 'I ain't dropping, it's been here this long and i don't care' or 'I need to get rid of this thing, now!'
You're kinda hoping for the 2nd one obviously.

That being said. If it's all there and in good condition, ie no rips in the seats, head liner all good, carpets nice, bumpers on it and all good, paint nice, all glass good and it's all original with only a cill needed or something then I might be persuaded to go to £1500 ish. IF it's a proper GTI, with history and other good stuff.

Some people like projects and they have a car to do the work. Some people just like to own the car and wash it occasionally.

There's more of the later, hence the price for those cars can be substantially more than the cost of repairing or rebuilding one yourself.

Maybe

Ian  

 thank Ian, very helpful indeed. It's an abandoned project, needs headlining, the interior is stripped out supplied in bits and  "lets it down" according to the seller, some new parts like alternator and rear arches have been fitted. It it needs a full paint job and the sunroof aperture is rotten. It runs and the brakes work as some work was done here too. It's not been for an MOT test in years……..dry stored for a long time but owner is unsure of it structural condition although he had mentioned there's a hole in the floor under drivers seat…….and the axle mounts are good…I suppose I need to eyeball it but I'm getting the impression 2k mark is optimistic given the potential cost to complete it to a reasonable standard 🤔. I'm also thinking eBay isn't the best place to be gauging real world values 😂

Sounds like a money pit that will take over your wallet and life, however that is the challenge for some people.

I'd look for something complete, still on the road and clinging to an MOT.

 

Now we have a bit more meat on the bone I see you've got some very sound advice but I will add a couple more for you.

The sunroof is a biggy, so again without seeing or at least a few photos I'd say be careful very careful because if you have to employ a body shop to sort it out this alone could cost a small fortune. Obviously if you're experienced in doing such work it's a lot cheaper.
We've had members over the years with this problem, some have got away with a repair while others have had to have a steel panel fabricated for it. Another bought a replacement shell without sunroof and did a swop, while another bought a donor and cut the whole roof off and did it that way.

Lastly youll be pleased to hear and normally one of my fellow members do mention this but rust is like an iceberg.
No matter where you find it, what you can see is only a 3rd of what's there if you're lucky depending on where you find it!

But if you're taking on a project car I'm sure you know most if not all of this but it still helps to mention these things for members less experienced than yourself. 😉

Do keep us informed and if you do get to see it ask nicely and I'm sure the seller will let you snap a few photos from your phone 📱 👍🏼

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Thanks to everyone for the opinions and comments - My thoughts were to get something needing bits and pieces done, which I'd do over the winter nights, but not major structural stuff as I have little (no) experience in doing this. I don't mind having to have it painted as I'd be farming this out to someone anyway……my main concern really is ending up with something costing me more than it's worth. In reality I can't see it being worth than say, 5 or 6k when finished? this being based on my own MK1 gti which I paid 5k for and it's mint with 112k miles, it was refurbed by its last owner then dry stored for around 20 years having only been used for a few hundred miles over that period, I bought it,  put it straight to local garage and it passed its test first attempt with no advisories, it's also campaign spec import in rare metallic black……but then I see others asking way, way more than 5k for similar condition cars……., I'm assuming in reality these asking prices aren't often being achieved…..or…….are they🤔

Well you've been hiding that little gem from us! 🤔 😉

I've got a good feeling even though we've not seen it that you're under valuing your Mk1! 😉

Again let's see this one and take it from there. 😉

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Golf Cabrio said

Well you've been hiding that little gem from us! 🤔 😉

I've got a good feeling even though we've not seen it that you're under valuing your Mk1! 😉

Again let's see this one and take it from there. 😉

Sent from my Smartphone 📱

 again, appreciate the comments and feedback - with regards to my own MK1, I'm valuing it at what I paid for it less than a year ago, but I suspect I did get a bit of a deal….don't get me wrong it's far from concourse condition but there no visible rust anywhere and the paintwork is lovely, interior also in nice condition and it drives perfect. On the other one, im figuring paint job will cost me £1500 minimum, possibly more, plus the welding work and any other work/parts needed for mot, piecing it back together cleaning up the interior, new headliner etc, I'm getting towards 5k without thinking about the cost of the roof repair…………then remains the question, what would it be worth ……..realistically any more than the 5k (ish) mark……..who knows 🤔. Pity it's an 9 hour round trip away or is just pop round and have a look tomorrow….to be continued……

I just purchased a 1982 rabbit convertible 8181 miles on it and it is amazing. I had to replace some shift bushings head gasket changed the oil going to do the brake fluid antifreeze transmission oil and wait for spring

Golf Cabrio said

Well you've been hiding that little gem from us! 🤔 😉

I've got a good feeling even though we've not seen it that you're under valuing your Mk1! 😉

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 this is my one

Banshee101 said

Golf Cabrio said

Well you've been hiding that little gem from us! 🤔 😉

I've got a good feeling even though we've not seen it that you're under valuing your Mk1! 😉

Sent from my Smartphone 📱

 this is my one

Now that is a little gem! How come you've been hiding that away? I think you need to post a load more pictures   !
On the subject of the project car, if you intend on buying it to do up and sell for a profit then I would say no. If you want to buy it, do it up for a hobby and then enjoy the car for a few years then it's worth considering for the right price if that's what you want to do but I doubt you'll ever make a profit by a long way. Ultimatly it's your choice and if the car is stripped down then it's very hard to tell what is required to get  a complete car. The bargain tenners on this and fifty on that suddenly mount up to an expensive project.
 I think you got a good deal on your other MK1 from your description and eBay is a poor price guide. If you watch it carefully you will see a lot of cars sell for what seems like a lot of money and then re-appear for sale a week or so later because the buyer didn't complete the deal, most probably because the car needed more than they thought.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

After reading your further info I'd probably not go higher than £500 for it.

Bear in mind a decent spray job will cost from 1k to 5k.

Welding and structural repairs are cheap if you do them yourself but paying will be expensive.

I reckon you lucked our on yours. 10k car there I'd reckon.

Saulty said

Banshee101 said

Golf Cabrio said

Well you've been hiding that little gem from us! 🤔 😉

I've got a good feeling even though we've not seen it that you're under valuing your Mk1! 😉

Sent from my Smartphone 📱

 this is my one

Now that is a little gem! How come you've been hiding that away? I think you need to post a load more pictures   !
On the subject of the project car, if you intend on buying it to do up and sell for a profit then I would say no. If you want to buy it, do it up for a hobby and then enjoy the car for a few years then it's worth considering for the right price if that's what you want to do but I doubt you'll ever make a profit by a long way. Ultimatly it's your choice and if the car is stripped down then it's very hard to tell what is required to get  a complete car. The bargain tenners on this and fifty on that suddenly mount up to an expensive project.
 I think you got a good deal on your other MK1 from your description and eBay is a poor price guide. If you watch it carefully you will see a lot of cars sell for what seems like a lot of money and then re-appear for sale a week or so later because the buyer didn't complete the deal, most probably because the car needed more than they thought.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Yes it's a cracker I thought it was Schwartz black when I viewed it but it had a good coating of dust at the time, it's only after I bought it I realised it was Schwartz  metallic, I'll pop a few pics on the "fav pic" thread 👍. Appreciate your comments on the project car too, thanks.

borednow said

After reading your further info I'd probably not go higher than £500 for it.

Bear in mind a decent spray job will cost from 1k to 5k.

Welding and structural repairs are cheap if you do them yourself but paying will be expensive.

I reckon you lucked our on yours. 10k car there I'd reckon.

Yeah I was quoted a lot more for paint then got a ballpark quote at 1500……last time I had a mk1 painted it cost me £300….it was 1995 mind you 😂. Cheers

3k for paint earlier this year. I took the windows out and stripped the exterior of all trim and the rebuilt myself.


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Backinblack said

3k for paint earlier this year. I took the windows out and stripped the exterior of all trim and the rebuilt myself.


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 3k! Ouch, I'll bet it's a nice skin of paint 👌🏻