Gti Help!!!
Gtiloveem85
01-13-2004, 01:28 PM
Im new to this forum and im also new to cars, but I do know I am in love with GTIs. I need some help though, I have been looking for weeks now but I am having problems finding information about GTI's and their overall reliability. If i am ever going to get one i need to convince my dad that they are not bad cars like he believes! I just need any information on GTI's made from 90 on
Slick13
03-19-2004, 08:24 PM
Im new to this forum and im also new to cars, but I do know I am in love with GTIs. I need some help though, I have been looking for weeks now but I am having problems finding information about GTI's and their overall reliability. If i am ever going to get one i need to convince my dad that they are not bad cars like he believes! I just need any information on GTI's made from 90 on
hello mate,
right i'm gathering you are quite young from the whole dad aspect of your post,
i just bought a 89 golf gti as i love the shape so much more agressive than these new rounded shopping trollies they are making, golfs as a standard are great cars, manufactured by the germans, they have a reputation for solid engineering as long as from here to the sun and back, the engines are usually good for 200k plus, unless driven consistently by a twat who revs tits of it. The thing you have to watch with the 16valvers is that they have a problem with the heater valves in the engine where sometimes they can sieze and thus give you no hot air. this can be fixed easily enough by removing the valves but you do have to be careful of the pipes cracking after the valve removal and spurging boiling water onto your feet. (bubble and scream anyone??)
also with the 8 and 16 valvers the oil choice can be critical, i have just had the bottom end rebuilt on my car as it was fairly old and i had the cash and a mate to help me do it. so everything was replaced. i have 5/40w in my golf but that is cos the engine has had fully synthetic in it before try to find this out before hand when you by the car otherwise you could end up doing more damage than good, either that or stick with 10/40w its all about viscosity basically.
Top mounts on the front of the car are always a good thing to check on the car (where the top of the suspension is mounted in the engine bay) this is easily done by jacking the front of the car up and then trying to push the front wheel into the arch, again it is nothing major and the new mounts only cost £20 each. also gives you a chance to increase the camber (extra handling or top end speed fun fun)
if you don't do a HPI check just look in the engine bay and underneath for panels which don't fit correctly and also for any chassis damage. As for rust these cars are renowned for staying rust free underneath due to a waxy coating they are given. the only place to check is the tailgate but the rust on there is easy to get out with some sandpaper, primer and top coat. Also clutches on these cars do tend to give out after about 100k so it is always worth keeping an eye on them, although if you hear a rattling which goes away when depressing the clutch don't worry, this is the clutch release bearing, these go on for ages and do no damage to the car or the clutch. (can be annoying though)
All round they are great cars i have had mine for about 6 months and its done 140k without any hitches and having a new bottom end done will keep it like this. One thing i will say is if you do get one then treat it with some respect mine has thrown me some curve balls in the time i have had it and i drive fast cars all the time, don't think you can do anything in it because they can and will get you back for it mine has done on many occasion even when being driven sensibly.
At the end of the day mate treat it like your girlfriend, carefully and lavish money on it, they are great little cars and i will never be without one.
take it easy mate
Slick13
hello mate,
right i'm gathering you are quite young from the whole dad aspect of your post,
i just bought a 89 golf gti as i love the shape so much more agressive than these new rounded shopping trollies they are making, golfs as a standard are great cars, manufactured by the germans, they have a reputation for solid engineering as long as from here to the sun and back, the engines are usually good for 200k plus, unless driven consistently by a twat who revs tits of it. The thing you have to watch with the 16valvers is that they have a problem with the heater valves in the engine where sometimes they can sieze and thus give you no hot air. this can be fixed easily enough by removing the valves but you do have to be careful of the pipes cracking after the valve removal and spurging boiling water onto your feet. (bubble and scream anyone??)
also with the 8 and 16 valvers the oil choice can be critical, i have just had the bottom end rebuilt on my car as it was fairly old and i had the cash and a mate to help me do it. so everything was replaced. i have 5/40w in my golf but that is cos the engine has had fully synthetic in it before try to find this out before hand when you by the car otherwise you could end up doing more damage than good, either that or stick with 10/40w its all about viscosity basically.
Top mounts on the front of the car are always a good thing to check on the car (where the top of the suspension is mounted in the engine bay) this is easily done by jacking the front of the car up and then trying to push the front wheel into the arch, again it is nothing major and the new mounts only cost £20 each. also gives you a chance to increase the camber (extra handling or top end speed fun fun)
if you don't do a HPI check just look in the engine bay and underneath for panels which don't fit correctly and also for any chassis damage. As for rust these cars are renowned for staying rust free underneath due to a waxy coating they are given. the only place to check is the tailgate but the rust on there is easy to get out with some sandpaper, primer and top coat. Also clutches on these cars do tend to give out after about 100k so it is always worth keeping an eye on them, although if you hear a rattling which goes away when depressing the clutch don't worry, this is the clutch release bearing, these go on for ages and do no damage to the car or the clutch. (can be annoying though)
All round they are great cars i have had mine for about 6 months and its done 140k without any hitches and having a new bottom end done will keep it like this. One thing i will say is if you do get one then treat it with some respect mine has thrown me some curve balls in the time i have had it and i drive fast cars all the time, don't think you can do anything in it because they can and will get you back for it mine has done on many occasion even when being driven sensibly.
At the end of the day mate treat it like your girlfriend, carefully and lavish money on it, they are great little cars and i will never be without one.
take it easy mate
Slick13
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