Need advice on a first car Golf/Polo

Hello there, I am currently in the market for my first car, and I am mostly interested in a Golf or Polo, problem is most of the ones in my price range are 100k miles or more.

I've heard however that VW's last forever, and they can and will run beyond 200k without any major mechanical malfunctions.

My question is basically what do you reckon the max milage I should look at, and also, are there any ex Golf/Polo owners who can give me their experiences on a high mileage G/P

Would greatly appreciate it, thanks.

Reply 1

Bezaberry

I should also add that it will be my first, and probably won't have it that long before I upgrade a bit, a year or so.

Reply 2

NOBODY MOVE!

thankyou for sharing all important details like your car age requirements + budget with us, so we can give you the best possible advices :suith:

.............

Reply 3

Bezaberry

Original post by NOBODY MOVE!

thankyou for sharing all important details like your car age requirements + budget with us, so we can give you the best possible advices :suith:

.............

Why does my budget matter, I already told you the ones I can afford are 100k plus.

I asked a general question about VW engines.

Reply 4

NOBODY MOVE!

Original post by Bezaberry

Why does my budget matter, I already told you the ones I can afford are 100k plus.

I asked a general question about VW engines.

£500 can easily get 100k+ car at a 10+ years old, and £5,000 can possibly 100k+ car (most likely used by businesses as fleet cars) at 3-4 years old too.
cars specifications change all the time - experiences of a 10+year old car aren't likely to be the same as those of a car that is a well-used but still-young car.

so just how rich are you, damn it

Reply 5

Bezaberry

Original post by NOBODY MOVE!

Heh, I see your point :P

Mk4 Golf, ranging from 00 to 02, 1.4-1.6 between £1000 and £2000

Reply 6

Xyls

Its a golf - It will probably run forever so for your price range looking at 100k miles isn't horrific. I hardly doubt you are going to be pulling off business style miles in the car anyway so you should be safe for a few years - Plus you will probably upgrade when the times right.

I found some for your interest - Don't know if any will suit but the first one is particuarlly interesting - 58k miles on a 1.4

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3237277.htm

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3368417.htm - 89k miles

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3308394.htm - Bit older but low millage.

Reply 7

GTAMADDOG

Buy on condition and service history, but I wouldn't worry about 100-150K miles on a Golf really. They're easily capable of 200k+ if they're looked after.

My step-dad has a 1996 Golf GTI MK3, far from the most looked after example but it's still going well at 186,000 miles.

I saw one for sale on eBay a while back with 225,000 miles. 100,000 is nothing for modern cars.

Reply 8

Nuffles

Original post by GTAMADDOG

It's not that much for classic cars either :rolleyes:

My '68 Morris Minor was just about to clock over 200,000 miles when I sold it a few months ago and it still started on the key every morning and never failed to get me where I needed to go.

Reply 9

Walter Ego

VW's keep running, but minor components break A LOT. Euro Car Parts, German & Swedish and ANdrew Page have built very successful business on selling replacement parts, mostly for VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda. I've had five VAG cars (2x VW, 3x Skoda) and all have been money pits and woeful on reliability. I've also owned a Honda and a Subaru which were faultless. The Subaru did 60k miles in 3 years, 24 trackdays, and was driven like my hair was on fire, and yet never broke, not once. My mate took his Seat Leon (Golf based) on track and it exploded after 30 minutes with a turbo disintegrating into the engine leaving him with a £6k repair bill. My cousins company Passat had to be returned early on its lease after it went back 17 times in 18 months for serious faults (mostly DPF failure) which often left him stranded, requiring rescuing by the breakdown cover.