owners recomendation required

Hey kids, new to the forum. i know this question has been asked before but…

Im currently driving my beloved '83 gti (1100k) and have been faced with loads of problems over the last few months.  think it went alternator,water pump, head gasket then …. o no (probably related) engine seized. You can imagine how much its cost me as i know nothing about mechanics. The eyes of the guy at me local garage (smashing VW) light up when he sees me now with pound signs.

Sooo, ive kind of lost confidence and dont want it to take it on motorways etc which i need to do sometimes for work.  ok i if was sencible i would move on and get myself a more reliable car… but i cant, want another mk1.

My logic is the newer the better and to go for a '93ish cabby - 10 years younger = less hassle. but there are so many modles out there what would people recomend?   Im hoping to get about ?1,500 for mine and could go up to 2,500/3000 for a replacement.  Questions abound but what should i look out for/avoid?

Claireblue Leeds x







 :roll:

get a mk1 diesel  :wink:
you can cancel the AA membership then  :mrgreen:
Bert

sounds like you had some bad luck………the later cars can be more reliable but later dont gaurantee they will be perfect  or better sometimes :wink:

You need to take someone along when you look who knows what to look for mechanically, most people can spot dents and rust and bodged spray jobs but mechanical stuff is a little more tricky and to be fair failure of some stuff is impossible to diagnose!

i would avoid any heavilly modded stuff if its a daily driver

its teh car really, my 83 gti is far more reliable than my old 89 cabby...

I've always found smashing to be pretty expensive (not that helpful I know, sorry)

At least if it's all replaced you know it won't break. :wink:

I think sometimes it's a bit of a lottery with reliability, some break and others don't.

If you become friendly with some places they'll do you nice discounts. I'm over the road from a car shop so in and out and get some nice money off.

Ps. whereabouts in Leeds are you. I'm over in Garforth (Selby way).

Yeah smashin have been a bit expencive but may have sofened to me in recent months, im Holbeck so within walking distance which is always good when the AA drop me off there!

claireblue said

 '83 gti (1100k)

to be honest, a car with over a million miles on the clock has to be worth something :wink:

Buying a newer car isn't neccesarily the answer. Sounds like your GTI has been poorly maintained in the past, how long have you had it? There's no guarantee a 93 cabby will be fault free if not well maintained in the past, it's still a 15 year old car with essentially the same parts as your mk1 GTI. A well maintained mk1 will be good for everyday use, my golf C covers 80+ miles a week with no problems, although I never use garages which helps

Out of interest, did the water pump, head gasket then it seizing all happen one by one or at once?

Cheers

i'd be tempted to stick with the one you have, sounds like your getting backlash of previous neglect.  sometimes better the devil you know, at least once you have fixed the problems car should last . just be careful of getting ripped off not everybody likes to help a damsel in distress. don't be worried if you need any of help or advice  plenty of decent folk on here willing to help.

For the price of a new car these days you could refurb your engine or even transplant, and if the body is in good order then you could save your self a lot of money by sticking with what you know is good.

Worse case, you spend money on a new car, same problems, or dare I say it, could even be worse.

I've had about ?1,000's worth of stuff go wrong in the last year, in the last 3 weeks my clutch has pulled itself throguh the bulk head, my front offside and rear offside suspension springs have snapped and my car spat out it's idle adjustment screw, but there's no rust so I see it as worth replacing..

If you have had the engine fixed now and the body is rust free stick with it.  :y:

I'd stick with it too, if you spent a lot of ? on it already you should get your ?'s worth out of it rather than passing it on and wasting ?.

I'd also try a different garage in future, at least for quotes to see if smashing charge fair prices.

What does it look like? I come of the M621 at Holbeck/Beeston junction on a morning and used to see a Lhasa green one before I got mine.

yeah, s funny i just got it in my head that the younger the better.  I dont know much of the history but i got it 2 1/2 years ago and i know it had been garaged for a while.  My dads a mechanic and has does loads on it but he lives in blackpool (more motorways).  water pump went first then headgasket then it seized about a week later.   I know its an old car and because im doing lots of miles would a carbretta model be more reliable?  whats the lastest clipper?  ooo were into the performace Vs reliable arguement arnt we!

But points taken about keeping mine.  Yeah Im the Holbeck Lhasa green, havent seen another mk1 for a while now, you ever notice its like busses you dont see any then 3 in one day!