Newbie saying hi

Hi I wonder if you can help me out. I'm going to buy a mk1 golf convertible today. Only on the log book it says saloon. It's an early 1981 golf convertible. Could it be that due to the age it was regestered as a convertible. Looking in the Internet i cannot  find any info on the golf mk1 saloon. Any help would be great thanks.

Welcome to the club first of all.

To be honest I don't have a definitive answer for you but back then they may well have been classed as such or its just an error on the part of the DVLC.

I really don't think it will impact the car in anyway as the never made a real two door unlike the Polo.

It's the weekend and I don't know we've got enough time today to get you the right answer.

Anyhow if you buy it take some photos of it now and tell us all about it.  

Oh and good luck!  

That sounds odd. The V5 should state it's a convertible.

Be extra cautious and make sure you check VIN and engine numbers - HPI check it too

Thanks I have pics already of it. Just don't know how to upload them. Hahaha.😂 

I have done the hpi and that comes back the same saloon.

The button just below the text box as seen here, you can use this button to upload pics from any hard drive!  

Uploaded a couple

Steveo135 said

Uploaded a couple

Where?
No stress mate you've got enough on your plate at the moment!  

Some strange reason further up the post. Hahaha

As above mate.
If in doubt wait it out.
There is often a paper build sticker on the rear cross member in the boot.
Plus it's stamped into the metal work under the water deflector tray in the engine bay.  You need to peel the seal back to lift off the tray.
On later ones there's a plastic window to see through.


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Can't see pics bud?


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I agree with everyone's comments both here and on your other post where RichardHall made this comment:
"Could have been because it was a two door might have been classed wrongly, could be down to the dealer registering car wrongly in first place, there has never been a mk1 Golf saloon, only a Jetta."

I saw similar makes back then and made one ot two myself filling the forms in!  

I mean what else could it be?
A 3/5dr chopped?

I just don't see it myself but then that's a bit like the pictures!    

What is stamped on under the tray bud. The chassis or cabriolet bit.

Sorry if I'm sounding stupid. Pics are present when I look back through the post. Crazy.

Could I what's app them anyone on here to try and upload. Haha 

Steveo135 said

Could I what's app them anyone on here to try and upload. Haha 

What OS and browser are you using?
The system we have now is the easiest of all to use for uploading pics, so I don't get the problem.

Or PT me your full mobile number and I'll do it for you.  

I've just done a insurace quote  to see what that said and it says it's a 4 door jetta. Completely durrferent again to the hpi. Urm god knows.

Steveo135 said

Hi I wonder if you can help me out. I'm going to buy a mk1 golf convertible today. Only on the log book it says saloon. It's an early 1981 golf convertible. Could it be that due to the age it was regestered as a convertible. Looking in the Internet i cannot  find any info on the golf mk1 saloon. Any help would be great thanks.

I wouldn't worry too much, back in 1981 the DVLA and dealers (who supplied the information) were quite sloppy and there's loads of mistakes in older V5s. Its going to be blindingly obvious from pictures (you've seen pics of the car?) and seeing the car if its a genuine convertible or not, no matter what the V5 says for bodystyle. Just make sure the chassis number on the V5 matches the chassis number on the car (which will be in one place definitely, and another place 95% of the time).

The chassis number should be on the scuttle panel (ie the tray area above the firewall between engine and interior) and if its not here, or the scuttle is missing, walk away. Also 95% of the time there's a plate with the chassis number on the front panel, but sometimes they're missing eg after a respray or simply the rivets rust away or the letters fade away etc so it shouldn't stop you buying an otherwise reasonable car.

Get the seller to show you the V5 and the chassis number on the car (and check they match), if the seller is unwilling to do this then ask why!!!

Steveo135 said

I've just done a insurace quote  to see what that said and it says it's a 4 door jetta. Completely durrferent again to the hpi. Urm god knows.

Follow the VIN number and decode it for the truth along with the engine number.

You can decode the whole number on a number of websites including www.cabby-info.com.

Takes a few minutes to understand but it works.
Oh and do tell the seller nicely what you've found out. 👌

Oh and VW Austria thinks my 1990 Cabrio is a 94 Corrado when they have the VIN number and all I asked for was an air filter.

I gave up after the third wrong one! 😟

Steveo135 said

I've just done a insurace quote  to see what that said and it says it's a 4 door jetta. Completely durrferent again to the hpi. Urm god knows.

Given the above, then definitely check chassis number on the V5 and car are the same. There is a small chance that someone's trying to ring the car but its unlikely (but still worth checking). It might be something like someone simply lost the cabby's V5 but found another one and has mis-associated one with the car, then the current owner didn't even realise etc.

If/when getting insurance quotes (assuming the V5 and car chassis number match okay) obviously you can't go off the registration plate, you'll need to tick the box saying "this isn't my car" then select the make, model, engine size, body, trim, etc etc