I've got a friend who is looking at late 90s Golf hatches as a possible beater. These things don't hold their value like Civic hatches. What are the major things that go wrong on them? Are there particular models that were more reliable than others? Does the A/C last or does it always get leaks?

He's open to manual or automatic but manual would most likely have better fuel economy. Can anyone tell from firsthand experience what kind of real world gas mileage they are getting? He probably would go for whatever base engine they had.


[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 2:05 PM. Reason : .]

8/18/2010 2:01:33 PM

93-98 is the mk3
2.0 is the base engine
tdi is a good option for awesome fuel economy, but they cost more
auto trans is junk
a/c is usually decent. from what i've seen the compressor is usually the part that breaks and a new replacement is a few hundred dollars.

the 2.0 is cheap to buy, cheap to fix, easy to work on, and pretty good as far as reliability. parts are also easy to find, and i know a guy in greenville that would have just about any used part you could need.

fuel efficiency - the 2.0 should be in the mid 30s on the highway and around 28-30 city. tdi would be in the 40s.

suspension wears out over time, just like any car. the rear bushing in the front control arm are a big one on this (shitty design, but there is an upgraded part). they don't "fail" but they wear out and make the front end all sloppy.

stuff breaks, but usually due to age. sensors and crap, typically.

the 2nd and 3rd generation golf/jetta and the corrado/passat have a lot of parts that interchange.

on the 2.0, the obd1 engine is typically considered more desirable, but mostly because of the internals (forged crank). personally, for a beater that will be left stock, obd2 might be the best bet because it would make diagnosing problems easier.

lmk if you have more/specific questions

8/18/2010 2:49:48 PM

good god dont do it.

8/18/2010 3:20:56 PM

i had a mk3 jetta gl and it kept developing transmission issues. as far as gas mileage goes, i think i averaged 30 mpg's

[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 3:43 PM. Reason : ]

8/18/2010 3:39:47 PM

any major electrical problems like bad switches, bad non-engine sensors, or cold solder joints on various things? A friend of mine has had a '99 A4 for 6 years that he's maintained decently, but that thing has a sagging headliner and the typical christmas tree of stupid warning lights

8/18/2010 3:51:30 PM

like i said, stuff breaks. broken window regulators are not uncommon (on any car this age), but easy to fix. the 2.0 with a manual is pretty solid for a beater.


this is nothing like a 99 a4, which had all sorts of common non-engine/drivetrain-related electrical problems (abs, cruise, instrument cluster display screen, side airbags, heated seats, etc etc etc etc).

[Edited on August 18, 2010 at 4:01 PM. Reason : ..]

8/18/2010 4:01:14 PM

window motors/regulators and oil sending units only common ones.
Get a 1.9l crank and put it in a 2.0 motor and stroke it.

Just don't shit in it.

8/18/2010 4:36:39 PM

VMSJ

8/18/2010 5:37:28 PM

I've been looking at early 00's models (manual only). Does the seemingly good track record for previous Golfs continue?

8/18/2010 6:08:14 PM

Quote :

"any major electrical problems like bad switches, bad non-engine sensors, or cold solder joints on various things?"

Quote :

"VW"

8/18/2010 7:11:30 PM

yeah that was one of the dumbest questions ive seen asked on here in awhile

8/18/2010 7:16:17 PM

^ What I was trying to do was ask about which specific things fail, not whether or not they have stupid electrical problems

8/18/2010 7:19:45 PM

You don't want a VW.

8/18/2010 9:23:15 PM

^wrong.

8/18/2010 11:04:40 PM

If he is mechanically inclined mk3s with the 2.0 are cheap all around. to buy, to maintain, to replace things on, to turbocharge, etc.

The automatic trannies are junk, it will need a new a/c compressor eventually but thats going to be it for the big stuff unless you have to replace everything else at once.

8/18/2010 11:37:58 PM

great cars. my '95 2.0 golf ran like a champ with 140k on the clock. a/c died tho

i never saw mid 30s unless i drove 55mph.

8/19/2010 2:41:23 AM

my buddy has a '00 tdi 5speed. beats the snot out of it redline everywhere, does not keep up with maintenance. runs like a champ and is pretty quick for what it is. finally changing timing belt at 155k

8/19/2010 9:45:27 AM

yeah redline is 3000 rpm. lets try again.

8/19/2010 10:01:58 AM

Yeah man, but when you hit that redline and get that turbo spoolin'...

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

It's almost like you're driving a car with a respectable amount of horsepower.

8/19/2010 10:48:45 AM

IT HAS 200 FOOT LBS OF TORQUE MAN

8/19/2010 10:50:08 AM

My friend already has a 2005 Legacy GT and 1994 Rx-7. There will be no temptation to make this thing faster.

8/19/2010 11:21:48 AM

Quote :

"yeah redline is 3000 rpm. lets try again."

actually 4700 smart ass

the jetta will be running when the rx7 is broken

[Edited on August 19, 2010 at 9:21 PM. Reason : .]

8/19/2010 9:20:16 PM

Quote :

"the jetta will be running when the rx7 is broken"

A stunning endorsement of reliability.

8/23/2010 4:32:53 PM

Quote :

"the jetta will be running when the rx7 is broken"

I'd give that a 50/50 chance.

Owning a RX7 and a late 90's Golf will take the same amount of effort as it does to keep like 10 Hondas running. So as long as the guy doesn't mind owning 10 decade old vehicles he should be set.

8/23/2010 5:15:01 PM

unmolested Hondas are too expensive for the mileage on the odometer they tend to have. Thousands of dollars for 150-200k mile cars is just too much. My friend actually used to have a '96 civic sedan that he got a crazy deal on because it had a CEL for a typical Honda distributor related problem. He sold it a while back and bought the turbo Legacy which is his nice daily driver, but he wants a shitbox that he can take to job sites.

it doesn't sound like the 2.0 motor is known for major internal problems so it shouldn't be that bad to maintain. the question is the nature of the stupid electrical problems--does the blower motor fail? headlight switch burn out? expensive engine sensors crap out? That's the kind of stuff that's frustrating to have to fix.

I assure you that a '94 Rx-7 beats almost any non-Ferrari-class vehicle in terms of maintenance, electrical problems, cooling problems, internal engine failures, leaks, etc. There's nothing intimidating in comparison.

8/23/2010 7:03:05 PM

Quote :

"My friend already has a 2005 Legacy GT and 1994 Rx-7"

if he has a fun car and a fun practical car, why does he want to buy a complete piece of shit?

8/24/2010 8:29:21 AM

because the commercials are funny.

das auto!

8/24/2010 9:52:01 AM

He doesn't want to always drive the Legacy to job sites where it will get trashed. Plus the fuel economy is ok but nothing impressive.

8/24/2010 4:00:37 PM