No history to risky or not?

I am in love and looking to purchase my first mk1 cab gti but the car has no history at all and has had 9 owners.
It seems to be in amazi g condition but wanted to know if any of you would risk buying it without knowing much about its past??
It will be my first older classic car so do not want to get it wrong if I can help it.
Shall I wait for one with history and fewer owners or I bite the bullet.
Thanks in advance.

if you asked the question someone local to
you would probably give it the once over for
you cheers Paul

Its unlikely a 30yr+ old car will have FSH and after 30yrs+ it could be a total molested shed or a well looked after minter.

Some documentation of work undertaken even if only receipts for oil and filters that have been DIY'd would be nice to see but its down to looking at the car closely all over and going on test drive.

If you are unfamilar with cars old or new, niccipauls idea is a good one, its easy to be taken in with a shiney respray over rot box.

If spending many many £thousands might also be worth  investing in an AA/RAC inspection?

Thank you both very good ideas. I am not to familiar with cars especially the older ones that can suffer with rust etc. And good point about looking shiny over a rotten car.
Will be paying near on 5k so a few more £ for a check from the aa/rac sounds like a good shout.
Thank you 😊

While the AA/RAC inspection is worthwhile, you may get a better appraisal as niccipaul suggested by asking if someone from the forum is local to inspect, they are likely to know of specific areas to look at and potential areas of concern. Likely to be cheaper also!

You can check the mot history online back to 2005.

No mention of rust or any major issues throughout the mot history which is good.

Mikkycab said

No mention of rust or any major issues throughout the mot history which is good.

Take that with a huge pinch of salt. Still plenty of hooky mot places about. 

I'd try and find someone who knows their onions with these cars. So long as it isn't full of rust, paint is good, runs well, and the hood doesn't need replacing… history would mean nothing to me. 

Thanks for your input,  I am trying to arrange a viewing this weekend its near Surrey.
I think taking someone who knows these cars is the safest bet like you say.

stick an approximate postcode location where you are
based see if any one comes back to you problem with AA RAC checks would be hard to get an old school inspector you not got any decent images you could
post

I do have some pictures of the car yes. Here they are.

Looks like it's had a repaint, so I would be very wary, definitely take a body guy with you, unless you have images of the bodywork being done.

It could be a really nice one or a badly resprayed 'bondo buggy', it's not possible to tell from those images, you need to be standing next to it to tell.

The trim looks good, so it's a good sign the owner has had the work done professionally , do you have any images of the engine bay, or underside?

I think the colour and the lowering devalues it, but those bumpers are easy enough to replace, but that's only my opinion, you might like the look.

To be honest cabs tend to have a lot of owners as they sell/buy spring and then people find they they leak so they then did into the top section and find that the headliner needs changing the centre section Interliner rots away and the padding falls apart.
The rear window frame rots away.
So they need all checking as these are all big ticket items. If it’s been repainted did they undo the hood and deal with any rust on the rear cable channel and at the sides where the hood trims go.
We’ve had some nice examples come to us for new hoods then we find the body is rotten. Some will just mask around and blow it over then sell on.
The first thing really to do is a service and cambelt change.


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Thanks for the input guys, I will ask for some pics of the underneath and engine bay.
The bloke said respray was done 12 years ago.
Out of curiosity say the body work was done to a good standard what would you be looking to pay for it 🤔?
The prices vary massively.
This one is 4.5k
Thanks again.

It looks like a car that has had an enthusiast owner, with the interior, wheels and the bumper switch, if it was painted 12 years ago don't be surprised if there are some blemishes in the paint, look around the inside of the panel edges for masking lines, round the window rubbers, under the wheel arches etc for overspray. If the paint is really fresh looking be very wary! Find out how long the owner has had the car, is it just a flip for someone to make a pound on? Take a small magnet with you, research the worst areas on cabbies, and see if it will stick to it. Remember it's a small magnet! It won't be powerful enough to stick through deep filler but will easily stick to good metal. Ask for receipts for repairs / parts, check the fuel filler neck, fuel lines and have a good check underneath. Check the bulkhead where the clutch cable comes through for cracks / damage or repair panel. As mentioned above there are things to check on the hood. Ask for it to be properly cold /  un-started so you got it can see it start up ok, a little puff smoke is ok for these older engines. Check 2nd gear for a crunch when it's cold and see what the overall drive is like, and remember it won't be like driving your newer car anymore! Good luck

check area inked

obviously both sides with roof folded back