Possible new Golf - Thoughts would be appreciated

[Degudodger]

Right,

After the various issues i have had with the GT TDi i'm after a cheap run around until i decide what i'm going to do long term. My daily commute is approx 90 miles so it has to be a diesel which may be boring but if i went down the road of petrol i would be dry raped by the petrol station!

I want another Golf and would prefer a 2ltr as the 1.9 is a little too slow for me so after having a wee flick through Autotrader i found this. On the face of it the Golf is a steal especially given the amount of toys it comes with but it does have some issues.
http://tinyurl.com/8dnkqs3

Toys
- MFD2 with roof mount Shark fin.
- CD multi changer in arm rest (will be replaced with an Media-in)
- Highline display
- Heated cloth seats
- Cruise
- Xenon headlights with washer jets

Plus points
- Taxed until April 2013
- MOT until March 2013
- Four new Pirelli tyres
- New front brakes
- Cambelt changed 15k miles ago

Faults
- Instrument cluster screen is cracked
- Driver side fog light lens is cracked
- leak in boot which i suspect is due to a failed weather seal in near side rear light cluster
- small dent on drivers side front wing at the bottom near the sill
- Paint work could do with some attention, nothing a REALLY good wash, clay, polish and wax wouldn't fix. Mopping would be better but i don't have the kit or experience.

These aren't major issues but will still need to be addressed and will cost in the region of £300 to fix. After chatting with the dealer we have agreed on £4,700 which i'm happy with BUT before i hand over the readies i thought i would get a second opinion.

[Edition30]

If you are doing 90 miles a day is it really a good idea to be buying a high mileage car?

If its a short term solution, why spend 4k+? Get a diesel Clio for about £500 to put you on if its short term. Don't tie up so much money in something thats not your long term solution.


Im also looking for a dirty diesel at the minute and have a budget of around £10k and I still think that isn't enough for a Golf in good condition that will last me the duration of the finance. I will be looking at a 4 year old car and by the time it has been paid off it will be 8/9 years old.

Do you really want to have to spend money on putting things right on a 'new' car?

If it was my money, i'd probably look at something newer and less mileage.

[Degudodger]

I hear what you're saying but i just don't see myself in another French car. I've had a couple and just don't like them.

The Jetta which i bought with 90k on the clock and sold nearly two years later after nearly 40k miles was apart from needing a new clutch and DMF drove with out fault. I could drive a banger but want the refinement of a more modern car with out spending a massive amount of money.

[Edition30]

Clio was just an example.


What are your long term plans?


Im a mileage man you see so generally don't agree with buying them with anything over 30/40k on. Unless like RR he has had his from new and knows the history and upkeep of his car.

[v2brett]

looks and seems ok to me bud, and if the dash cluster is similar to the gti i have some spare pieces of glass for the dials it helps  

only thing i can think of on a 2.0 derv is the turbo going which iv only read about a few times on here, oh and maybe injectors but i think vw cover that prob now

[Degudodger]

Picked the car up this afternoon and i'm well pleased with it. Okay it isn't in the same league as the 170 but for the money i paid for it it's worth every penny. It does have a couple of problems but these are going to be sorted under warranty next week.

The drive home was enjoyable but it's going to take a while to get used to 3 doors!