Advice needed on used Golf purchase...

[Drewie]

We have a 2009 Golf TDI and my daughter loves it, so she is looking at earlier model Golfs that are more in her price range. I don't know a lot about the earlier ones so I am hoping for some good advice from you guys. She has looked at 2 cars, one is a 2002 Golf with the 1.6 lt engine and manual trans, the other is I think a 2003 or 2004 Golf with a 2 lt engine and manual trans, she is set on getting a manual, they are both low km for their age. Are there any major issues with either variant, the 1.6 is the cheaper car but not sure if there are any problems with the manual 1.6lt, or would the 2.0lt be the better buy, she is mainly after a good reliable vehicle. Both are very similar in quality just that the smaller engined car is quite a bit cheaper. But I don't want her to buy problems. Appreciate your thoughts.

[h100vw]

Go a 2 litre, a much better vehicle and the 1.6s seem to have a weak gearbox.

Gavin

[craig_the_german]

Hi Drewie,

Have a troll through the threads in here regarding the 1.6L manual. The car itself is great, the 1.6L engine is economical and reliable, the issue is the manual gearbox. The 1.6L manuals are renowned for their gearbox issues (I should know, I have one ) Having said that, treated well they are as good as any, treated badly and they will hurt you usually with broken reverse gear teeth which are expensive to fix.
Don't be put off by this, just be wary of any unusual noises coming from the gearbox when test driving.

Good luck in your search

Pete

[rikard1]

My opinion, go for a Corolla or a Civic if all she wants is reliability. If she is unique and appreciates european design and engineering then by all means she should join the VW club.

GTI is the only MKIV Golf worth buying. 1.6L and 2.0L are pathetically slow and the GTI in stock form is merely acceptable not fast. Maybe your daughter doesn't drive fast but even just keeping up with traffic and moving off from traffic lights is painful, you have to give it plenty of revs just to keep up. I know because my mate had a 1.6L on his P's and he couldn't wait to get rid of it for a GTI. Another friend had a 2.0L Generation (auto) and that was also painfully slow.

Apart from that GTI's have climate control, sunroof, electric windows, nice interior (some are leather interior), keyless entry, alloy wheels. I'm not sure how many of those features the smaller engined Golfs have.