Potential MK2 gti owner, opinions on price & condition?

[slknv]

G'day guys, my first post on this forum though I've been lurking for about a year now!

Been interested in the late 80s/early 90s cars for ages, it's about when I got my licence and my neighbour in london had a mint 3 door mk1 gti that he was going to sell me for 500quid, except insurance was going to cost me 4 times that amount

Anyway, now I'm back in Australia I'm looking at picking up a mk2 gti 5 door (australian delivered model) as a bit of a runabout spare car while my main car is in the shop getting another 120kw added to it

Can I get a few opinions on this one I've found? Haven't got any pics unfortunately, but here's some details.

1990 5 door with just under 200,00km. Just had new discs & pads done front and rear last week, lady driver. In pretty good condition, no obvious rust anywhere, spare wheel well is clean and so it other areas under carpet. Passenger window winder is broken, but I imagine it's not too hard to fix up. Aircon gas is gone, unsure of price of regassing. Electric mirrors seem to be on the way out too. Long service history from volksrepair in airport west. Interior is immaculate except for a few small rips in drivers seat which doesn't bother me, can get it retrimmed. It's the best one I've seen in the last year, and I figure the ask of $3500 with rego and rwc is pretty reasonable. The price isn't as important to me as condition, originality and reliability.

Can anyone suggest any particular issues I might need to look out for that I might have missed on the first look? I took it for a drive and thought the brakes were pretty soft, so I imagine the new brakes for RWC should do a lot towards that! Also a little soft on corners, but this might be the norm (didn't drive any of the other mk2s I looked at as they were rubbish!)

I was also looking a few Civics between 89-91, but always had a soft spot for the legendary gti

[Jarred]

hi, and welcome to the forum!

firstly rego and RWC for 3.5K is pretty good I'd say. because it's got roadworthy, means that it should (but won't nessecarily have) good brakes and suspension at the least, so you should be able to knock off those two as potential repair issues. The brakes probably havn't bedded in properly yet if they just got replaced recently.

The engine while, it seems high km's should still be fine, unless poorly kept. Look for leaking/using oil anywhere, blowing smoke etc. These 1.8's are pretty bullet proof and generally quite reliable. Check the service history for when the waterpump was last replaced, as this could set you back a bit if you get a shop to replace it for you. listen to the engine, it should still be running smooth and shouldn't sound tapety at that age.

Seems you went over it pretty well though, and that's all the advice i've got, or atleast I can't think of anything else atm. Just make sure you check everything real good, check the oil level etc. Check over the service history (actually read through it) and see if there are any reoccouring issues, ie things that keep getting replaced etc,

Good luck with the purchase if you decide to go through with it.

p.s. what other car do you have?

[static1800]

The heater matrix often goes, check the service history to see if it has been replaced.

It will probably 'track' up and down on idle this is a common thing, nothing really to worry about though. Unless it stalls on you while it does it, my car does it a bit but only on first starts cold or warm then its fine.

The engines are bulletproof, if it's been serviced well 200k on the clock wont be an issue.

The big let down with the engines in them is that they are restricted heavily, but a few little tricks can fix that quite cheaply and you have yourself a euro specced GTI in no time.

Shocks may be on their way out if its a bit soft, they handle really well and will cock the inside rear wheel when going hard, but thats all fine means you are going the right speed

Aircon shouldn't cost you more than $100 to be regassed.

They are a top car mate, i've had mine now for 18months and have not had an issue ever with it, mines got 170k on it drives like a dream and awesome on fuel.

[the scotsman]

They are quite basic, but the suspension parts will be getting a bit soft and old, check the gear linkage for sloppyness, sounds like the brakes could do with a bleed. There is not that much that cant be fixed if you have the space to do the work. The good thing is unlike every uk gti they will not have very much if any rust. Also you dont need air con.... that why windows wind down.

[golfmeup]

All good advice here.

Ebgines i agree are bullet proof, as long as the fluid levels have been watched carefully.

Check the suspension bushings. they can get tired around the 150,000-200,000 k's mark .

you wont regret this car if its a good one.

I have had less dramas in the last 12 months in my Mk2 than my mum's 3 year old Mk5!

Good luck with it and welcome to the forums!

[slknv]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it pretty well matches up with what I've heard elsewhere. I should be picking the car up this coming wednesday I figure I might have to replace the shocks, but will probably be doing mild OEM+ mods like crosshair headlights and a nicer steering wheel

My current car is an 04 wrx which is hopefully getting worked over for circuit work; though there's an equal chance I'm trading it in on a 2004 phoenix yellow M3 SMG (has to be SMG as my fiance can't drive manual )

[vwthunder]

Hey did you used to have a SLK

Is that you Tim lol

[Jarred]

good too hear buddy,. make sure you pop up some pics when you get it!


If you're loooking at doing the suspension, for the price of OEM+ you may as well just get coil overs from the Uk/europe, really, it'll end up *around* the same cost, and well, then you have adjustability!!

M3 = good, better than a rex IMO, but SMG = not so good...

[slknv]

vwthunder: yep, this is tim; who are you? I haven't had the SLK in years!

anyway, turns out the bugger sold the gti to someone else a couple of days before I was meant to pick it up. No big loss, since then I've worked out that I want something a bit newer and more powerful, so it's most likely down to an E46 M3 or a porsche 993/986, depending on how business goes for the next few weeks