Used Mk IV GTI

[dubbed]

As above:
Water pump and timing belt need to be replaced around 90,000 km. It's an expensive exercise (although that comes when owning a VW!).
Window regs will break unless they've been replaced by a previous owner (few hundred bucks otherwise).

And then you have these to consider/check:
Door lock modules regularly fail.
Door lock cylinders regularly fail.
Sunroof pipes often blocked.
MAFs prone to failure.
Temp sensor will need replacing if it's not the new style.
Recirc flap/motor on air con often fails.
Suspension components need refreshing 100,000+ km.
Clutch will probably need replacing around 120,000-150,000 km mark.
Clutch pedals usually snap and need to be welded.
Knock sensor can fail.
Also, I think there's a part that sends power to the coils that usually quit but I the part name evades me.

I really should make a separate post about this stuff!

[defender_sg]

Could be a good Sticky with the different models listing Critical, Problematic, Annoying & Characteristic issues for each model.

[geoff_gti]

I really should make a separate post about this stuff!

Good idea There's been a growing number of posts about 'what to look for' recently...

I'll add in throttle body sensors prone to faulty, causing rough idle & aircon / cruisecontrol often cut out at the same time. Restart the engine and it usually goes away for a while. TB can be cleaned out easily enough.

[Sirocco20348]

Yo dude, I just bought a 2001 golf gti (145,000km) for $9000.. Had minimal service history but drove really nicely.

I had the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, tension belt and dogbone mounts done for $830. (which I think is great value) each to their own really.

Waterpump wont leak when the car is warm! Its as the car cools, the seals must shrink slightly and the leaking begins. Both cars i looked at needed the waterpump done. Its really not that big a deal. (quoted $340 to do water pump on its own). Look for dry coolant on the back of the oil sump. Even fresh droplets of coolant can be seen on the rear of the sump.

If you have someone with vagcom, take it along and run the error codes. It reveals problems you would have no idea to even check.

At the end of the day VW cars are freakin cheap to repair... Parts are very affordable. Look abroad to the UK/US and you have mk4 parts nirvana for cheap. Also the forum support offering tutorials on HOW TO do stuff yourself is insanely good. vwvortex.com, uk-mkivs.net, and vwwatercooled are your friends. Even audi forums.

Whatever your problem is, its been solved, and its relatively inexpensive.

If your going to spend upwards of 15g.. you will get a REALLY NICE GTI. Even mine for $9000 was really nice.

[geoff_gti]

Could be wrong, but I was under the impression that it was the plastic impellers inside the pump which gave way, meaning that the pump wouldn't actually pump or not with enough flow rate etc. That's a pretty big problem when the car is warm! Either way, the part isn't that expensive but the belts should be done at the same time otherwise there's a heck of a lot of labour involved pulling things out twice and so on.

[JustCruisn]

Could be wrong, but I was under the impression that it was the plastic impellers inside the pump which gave way, meaning that the pump wouldn't actually pump or not with enough flow rate etc. That's a pretty big problem when the car is warm! Either way, the part isn't that expensive but the belts should be done at the same time otherwise there's a heck of a lot of labour involved pulling things out twice and so on.

Spot on. Most cars should have had this replaced by now. Any good mechanic would have replaced the water pump at the 90K service with the belts. The water pump is like $130. Changing the pump later would require a new belt also, who would put a warn belt back on anyway.