Hello everybody, should I buy or walk away

I set out quite excited tonight with the intention of buying what is described as a solid good condition 1983 1.8 mk1 Gti, completely original and with 112000 miles on the clock.  It is advertised for £4000.

I had spent hours researching them and reading buying guides before I went to look at it so that I wouldn't fall short and buy a rotter. On inspection the car was not completely as described.  It is original and the interior is in good condition.  The bad bits;

Rust around fuel filler cap, bu not in the neck
A 3" section of rust under the boot seal
A couple of small patches of rust around the sunroof, this is only surface rust but the sunroof is pretty rotten
the inner wings have been painted with stone chip so I peeled it back and found rot
the door had a badly repaired dent and the entire car is victim of a terrible paint job that was done at the same time as the door repair in an effort to improve the look of the car, but it has ruined it in my opinion.  It has an orange peel effect all over and has a couple of drip marks (not sure if I could cut this with an orbital buffer and cutting compound?)

I told him I wouldn't pay 4k, and I was thinking more 2-2.5k.  He has to contact his brother, the owner of the car who now lives in Australia, to check how low he can go.

The car comes with a service history and every MOT and only 3 owners, the current one has owned it for 20 years.

My main concerns lie with the rust and Im not sure what I would need to plan to spend on these repairs.  Should I buy or walk away?  How much roughly am I looking at to repair and paint the rusted areas, and what is a car of this standard really worth?

I'm happy to take on a bit of a project but would not be able to carry out any of the body repairs myself.  I would want to get these jobs done immediately but only have 4k available at the minute.  

Sounds like a rot box, you need to get some pictures up to help people make a better judgement. What are the rear axle mount points like ? I would defiantly want it up on ramps to check

Hard to advise really without seeing it,  , while £4000 is a lot of money for a 30 year old car it dosnt buy the best available, (unless you are very lucky)  maybe someone else can offer more usefull thoughts.

Underneath the car looked tidy and I couldn't see any problems, admittedly I didn't have it on a ramp so couldn't see everything. If I bought the car i think I would be looking at a new n/s inner wing, fuel filler repair panel and a new sunroof, a small amount of welding under the boot seal with all the labour and paint.  The other stuff can wait and any other rust is superficial.  I just have no idea what I could end up paying for this to be done.

This is the car advert -

 http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vw-golf-mk1-gti-1983-classic-hot-hatch-in-original-condition/1014317671

maybe somebody knows the car?  I won't be able to get pictures tonight but I could possibly get some tomorrow.




Edit for bad link

I'm probably out of touch with MK1 prices but I still think you'd get better for the money. You can be sure that there's a lot more rust in the shell than you can see.

Personally I'd walk and find another one

Hairyarse said

I'm probably out of touch with MK1 prices but I still think you'd get better for the money. You can be sure that there's a lot more rust in the shell than you can see.

Personally I'd walk and find another one

I'm with Andy on this one.
What ever you think the repairs will cost, double it.
Mix and match paint jobs just don't work, in my opinion your going to want to do a full proper paint job at some point. Maybe not now, get all the rust out before it's to late!

If you really, really want that one tell him 2k cash and not a penny more. Then you have another 2k to start to get the body right.

If he wants more then walk away.
You have to think about spending on the engine, gearbox, brakes, i could go on…
Those are still an unknown quantity at the moment!

Good luck  

HI there,

Sounds like you need to get it up in the air as said above and give it as thorough inspection. I agree though that 4k won't buy you a mint MK1 GTI but it should get you one better than what you have described.

I would get some pics up of the car with more details and go from there. Plenty of gurus on here to guide you through. Don't rush it and choose carefully would be my top tip mate.

Good luck

Smudger

Thanks for all the advice. I offered 2k yesterday and I am waiting for a response. The only reason I am willing to buy it at 2k is because I am about to move to Germany for a couple of years where I have a tax free entitlement, meaning I could get all the body and paint repairs done tax free.

Johno4048 said

Thanks for all the advice. I offered 2k yesterday and I am waiting for a response. The only reason I am willing to buy it at 2k is because I am about to move to Germany for a couple of years where I have a tax free entitlement, meaning I could get all the body and paint repairs done tax free.

Sounds good matey. Let us know how you get on

Hello mate welcome to the forum I'm no expert on mk1s (I've had 2) if I was you I would look at more than just 1 so you can compare condition etc and like others have said if you're not happy walk away there's always going to be another one…. don't worry about the car you didn't buy!!! J

Johno4048 said

Thanks for all the advice. I offered 2k yesterday and I am waiting for a response. The only reason I am willing to buy it at 2k is because I am about to move to Germany for a couple of years where I have a tax free entitlement, meaning I could get all the body and paint repairs done tax free.

Well if I ever get I your way from Vienna I'll drop round and have a look.
Stay in touch!

Funny thing is I'm in Hamburg next weekend but not for cars but music.

Going to see Mealoaf one final time!  

Im far from an expert but i always say if it feels right then it prob is and if not then its not! And by the fact that you asking says that its prob not!!!

smudger1980 said

Johno4048 said

Thanks for all the advice. I offered 2k yesterday and I am waiting for a response. The only reason I am willing to buy it at 2k is because I am about to move to Germany for a couple of years where I have a tax free entitlement, meaning I could get all the body and paint repairs done tax free.

Sounds good matey. Let us know how you get on

Better than that, take my MK1 out with you too and get it fixed for me!