Well, I am completely sick to death of this Golf GTI now. I have had this car about 4 weeks so far give or take a week or two.... and I've spent the following on it:-

Cambelt + Tensioner -

If you can sell it without much of a loss I would. I bought a Mazda 323 1.8GT 3 door 3 years ago (140ps MX5 engine) to use it as a track-day car for

Old(er) cars are a way of life, not a commodity. You buy something older and you've got to expect running expenses. Hopefully even with the expenses (which are always higher just after purchasing it), the running costs (don't forget depreciation on a new car) are much lower.

Just do the arithmetic:

Fabia cost around 11k? depreciation of say 2k/year, servicing costs maybe 300.

Golf cost around 1k, depreciation nil, running costs so far from what I can see maybe 250 (I'm not adding up with a calculator here, just guestimating).

If you sell it and buy another, you will have the startup costs all over again, unless you're very lucky.

Nick, i was thinking not of buying another Golf GTI, but just something a bit more down to earth, something that I can get looked at by a mechanic and is known to be very good... this is what I was going to do in the first place, but I decided I wanted another hot hatch, so I went and found one out of Autotrader, and took my mate with me who knows about cars (although I'm not 100% sure how much he knows - more than me for sure - but perhaps some of these issues could have been spotted?).

I'm not that convinced that buying second hand hot hatches as daily drivers is a good idea ATM.

I'm not that convinced that buying second hand hot hatches as daily drivers is a good idea ATM.

Suspect a lot have been driven quite enthusiastically, so for reliability something like a Micra might be better suited to the task...

Or, alternatively, you could keep with the RAC subscription, enrol in a night course in basic motor mechanics, and then at least all you'd probably be paying out for on the GTI is parts, most of which could likely be sourced from a scrappy...

Rob.

I've usually bought cars worth a shade under 1k, spending fairly little on them.

Really bad luck so far though :(

Nick' date=' i was thinking not of buying another Golf GTI, but just something a bit more down to earth, something that I can get looked at by a mechanic and is known to be very good... this is what I was going to do in the first place, but I decided I wanted another hot hatch, so I went and found one out of Autotrader, and took my mate with me who knows about cars (although I'm not 100% sure how much he knows - more than me for sure - but perhaps some of these issues could have been spotted?).

I'm not that convinced that buying second hand hot hatches as daily drivers is a good idea ATM.[/quote']

All I was saying was, don't despair. You have to expect a few startup expenses. Look at me - bought an MGB GT for 1400 quid last year. Now it's had to have a new head gasket. The new gasket still leaks (further expense on the way). Total expense - maybe 80 notes. Cost another 80 to get it through the MOT - tester "found" a noisy wheel bearing so I let him replace it - it was pretty cheap.

What would be a real p*sser would be to buy another, and find it needs the same spending on it just after you buy it. You will only remember the money you spent on this one and think "but I was so close - why did I sell it?".

You may be right to sell it, I don't know, but if you go all out for reliability and low running costs, you will b downgrading cars each step of the way. I think you have found a happy medium. Even a spare engine for one of those won't cost you a fortune. My advice would be now you've bought it, stick with it. I recognise you will get other points of view also, and it's your job to weigh them in the balance. Good luck!

PS - a Golf GTi Mk II is not a particularly "hot" car. It's a standard hatchback with a very common and mildly tuned engine in it. As such, repairs are bound to be reasonably cheap, as the skills are very widespread. As I said, don't panic!

I am really tempted to get it sorted to a standard and then sell it. Hopefully I wont lose too much on it.

What should I do? I'm at the end of my tether with it TBH...

If you get the various bits sorted on it then you should really keep it. On the positive side they won't be going wrong again. If you don't want to spend anymore cash on the car it is probably best to get rid ASAP.

I'd take it to a reputable garage and get them to give you a price for doing the required work. To get the car back up and running sweetly might be worth the investment.

A great thing about the old golfs is that you can find good parts in abundance at your local scrap yard. When I bought my first car (golf mk II 1.6), it was full of little glitches, but a trawl around the local scrappo's yeilded most of what I needed. My cousin has an mk II GTI and he did exactly the same thing. Those cars are like big lego kits - they are pretty straight-forward and as such, make a good introduction to motor mechanics. Be brave mate...

We brought a Sunny ZX 1.8 16v hatchback about three years ago for

The only car that cost me a fortune to repair (looking at it's value) was the Rover 100. Brake system was replaced twice (once under warranty on the parts, as the NEW parts were faulty).

Most cars I've had were French, had two pug 205s (main problem: door switches plus the high beam taking out the lights occasionally. Strangely the same on both) and an Renault 21 (main problem, engine couldnt be converted to unleaded, I had to have the only one in that series that couldnt grr. Car went after the Renault garage 'repaired' the heater matrix at 300-odd quid, after which the cooling system started blowing up everywhere.. Coincidence - nope, later found that garage had a reputation for introducing little faults... Should have found out myself).

My Fiesta - starter motor went on it, and the spark leads needed replacing as it would never start in the wet. Worked out WD40-cost was starting to outweigh replacing the spark leads so did that in the end, which sorted it.

Thinking my avg spend was a few hundred tops a year on bits. Main thing to remember with an older car is to try and make it safe & as reliable as possible/reasonable, rather than spending cash to make it perfect.

Thing is with Golfs is there are 5hit loads of spares kicking round for them and thet are fairly cheap!!!

If your motor is playing silly buggers just ditch it! It's only held in with 3 bolts!!! Pick up a low mileage 1.8 8v block for

Thanks for your comments. I've had time to think this weekend (whilst drowning my sorrows ) and combined with your comments it looks as if i will keep it - i guess at least the parts i replace wont go wrong again, the only thing that concerns me is that the car was starting to overheat (obviously after the fanbelt went), but I've been told that it should be alright?

Fanbelt broken would cause that for sure - just hope you didnt continue driving with it in the red for long, as that's never a good thing.

With some luck most parts will have survived, the only thing which may go is the thermostat as that's wax-based on most cars so if there is no water it may go ape (read: melt).

Not usually too hard to change for a new one if that does go - you'd need that + new seal.

Once you've got it all back up and running again just see if it keeps the temperature like it ought to. If it does, you're sorted

Nowt to see here

I only noticed the temp guage was heading east at the roundabout on the motorway (this was probably a mile or so after it first happenned - the first sign was the battery light lighting up). As soon as I realised this I slowed right down. About another mile or mile and a half back to mine from there, but much of the way I free-wheeled the car and the rest just drove very gently.

FWIW the temp never reached the very top, but about 3/4 or just after.

My dads fitted a new fanbelt for me tonight, and I'm gonna bump start the car when I get home and drive it back to my dads place, so I guess we'll find out if the temperature stays down by then.

Paul, It's part and parcel of running an older vehicle I'm afraid. I know it might be a bit of a ****er but even if you have to spend

Luckily for me I know a lad who fits them for VERY reasonable prices.

Example, I got a front engine mount, new oil filter, heatshield rattling sorted for

I owned a mk2 Golf Gti for 3 years until some nob ran into the back of it and wrote it off 2 months ago........

I do 20000 miles a year and it was the best car I have ever owned. I did have a few problems with it though, and the first was overheating. I found out that the route the hoses takes is not all that clever, and causes an airlock where the pipes go into the bulkhead to the heater. You need to make sure it is bled properly. Also there is a aluminium valve there with a bypass pipe. These valves have a brass sprung loaded piston inside them which sieze up causing poor flow. Rip that valve out and put a bit of 15mm copper pipe in its place and block off the bypass hose. Sorted.

To show how bullet proof these engine are, I ran mine very low on oil for 20000 miles! I checked the dipstick one day and it fell apart. On inspection, I found that it was already broken and had been glued back together with a bit missing, meaning the dipstick was going in too far. When I got a new sleeve, the oil didnt even register! Once it had the correct amount of oil, it caused excessive crankcase pressure and burnt a fair amount of oil, so I took the head off and rebuilt it with new guides (common to wear out) and re-cut the seats and valves with 3 angles which cost around

i owned my mk2 golf gti for almost 5 years, i spent alot renewing parts etc but i was really wanting to restore it to a very good condition.

my golf only once didnt start due to a dead battery but saying that it did have to get repaired a fair but but for a car over 10 years old you cant expect trouble free motoring. i know how frustrating they can be but stick with it because when you get it fixed you will remember how great a car it is.

so much so im on the look out for another!

If its a mark 2 I presume its nearer 20 years old? Or am I way out???

Persevere mate its worth it ,the Mk i and ii are great cars

15 years old, its a 1990 model, big bumpers, bbs alloys, upgraded brake hoses (metal), rear discs, apart from that totally standard. No air con or PAS.

The thing is, despite everything, its a lovely car to drive. OK its not fast (0-60 in 8.2 seconds and 119 mph), or particularly revvy (maximum 112 bhp @ 5400 rpm) but its handling is sublime, and it feels like you are going faster than what you really are.

stick with it mate, unfortunately the cars age is against it but with mine once i overcame the things that needed replaced i had trouble free motoring most of the time, i ended up putting 280mm drilled discs and rear discs, new lowered susp and replaced alot of the engine wear and tear items. adds up to a wee bit but really worth it.

get a good garage to give the car a look over and they will be able to tell you what work might need done in the future.

good luck

Luckily my dadsd mate is a mechanic and he is a top bloke doesnt charge much at all....

And my car is fixed.

And I feel like such a muppet!

Nothing wrong with the car. The bloody immobiliser was knackered!

Total cost to repair including new fanbelt (which cost

good news mate

better change ur signiture