[Closed] Advise me on MkIV/V VW Golfs please

We've had a MK5 GTI for nearly 9 years and the repair bill so far has been a new AC compressor and a driveshaft gator, that's it. 80k and still on the original brake discs and pads!

Mk4 1.4 engine is inherently badly designed.

Nikasil coated aluminium pistons in a steel block.

2 issues burns oil for fun as the clearances are large to allow for material expansion coefficient differences

Second is the nikasil wears off.

Actually it has 3 .it's woefully under powered so at 70 on the motor way it tears through fuel at a rediculous level

Oh and the interiors nasty.

mk4s are awful.

Get a Focus.

Mk V is a much much much nicer drive.
Mk IV is a bit less plasticky and nice inside imo but it's stodgy although rides nicely.

Certain variants of the 1.6 engine were troublesome (idle control valves were one of the issues and afflicted two that one of my relatives owned). There were a few other known issues. Later ones were better I think. There was a 8v and 16v version at one point and they're not all equal in various areas.

The 2.0 petrol was a bit naff.

1.8T (petrol) was a nice engine for its era (had it in a 1997 Passat and sister has had one in a mega miles Audi A3).

The later 1.9tdi engines were i think generally pretty bomb proof. I found the 150hp variant a bit rough and noisy vs. the 130hp and 105hp variants I've driven. BUT they are smokey old school diesels.

If it were me and I HAD to have a Golf I might look for a late MkIV GTI with the 1.8T or a V5. In the Mk V I'd be after a TDI of some sort as I'm not sure the 1.8T made it into the MkV.

Edit: as others have said for the money "get a focus" - actually I'd get a MK3 Mondeo or Mazda 6 as I think they're nicer cars at that price point than the Focus and I don't mind bigger.

Mkiv gt tdi 130 pd ... 250k, 1 alternator drive pulley, 1 dash module.
The rest has been regular services and hasn't missed a beat.

Mk4 Golfs I think are actually half decent places to sit. Well built and comfy. A billion times better than things like Focuseseseseseses of that era. 1.8T and 1.9 TDI are the ones to look for. The 2.0 petrol is woeful. There'll probably be a few 2.3 V5s floating around - they're actually not too bad. Bit thirsty. For that kind of money I'd rather get a decent mk4 than a mk5 which have their own problems with things like rusty wings.

Even better, find a mk4 Golf estate. So un-cool I reckon they're actually awesome. Plus they're cheap.

therevokid - Member
Mkiv gt tdi 130 pd ... 250k, 1 alternator drive pulley, 1 dash module.
The rest has been regular services and hasn't missed a beat.

Ooooh good. 237k tdi 130pd estate pulley needs replaced have tooland everything.

Only rac moment eas when i chinned her on a speed bump.

No motorway miles but a solid 1to2hours of commuting dveryday.

She sips diesel. And pulls like a train.

Thanks for all the feedback chaps.

Sounds like late MkIV diesels are the way forward IF I get a MkIV golf?

I'll have a looksie at focuses.

Even better, find a mk4 Golf estate. So un-cool I reckon they're actually awesome. Plus they're cheap.

Mines white. Horrific rustywings though and the boot doir suffered the popped of washer pipe mean plenty ofredstuff on that too!

Just ended 9 years with a MK IV Estate 1.8T
Re-mapped.
Nothing added apart from consumables
Best car for me,the dogs and bikes

Check the front sills really carefully. A known fault on the ones circa 10years ago - the inner plastic wheel arch rubs and lets the rot get under. Ours was done under warranty but we hadn't noticed until the garage mentioned it when doing some other work.

+ another for the 1.9 GT TDI 130. Sold mine with 130k on the clock, and it needed the alternator pulley doing, but it was a great little car. Replaced it with a mkV GT TDI 170, which somehow I never liked quite as much, despite being a 'nicer' car.

MkV GTIs are nice, but I'd question the condition of one for £2k, and would get a better mkIV. .

MkIV 2.0 estate is a pretty sensible, poorly valued car.
My uncle ran one for quite a while, he did have the same but with 1.9tdi too, but when they went down to one car, he could sell the diesel for more (in rougher condition) and the petrol had cheaper maintenance.

As others have mentioned, I'd get a Mk3 Mondeo at that price point.

Had a MkV 1.6 petrol for a while. Quite liked it, in a 'no complaints way' apart from it being fuggin ugly. And visibility isn't great out the back.

Mkiv estate 130 tdi. It is comfy but takes up to much of my time fixing it.
The common rusty wings are the least of my concerns with it.
So
Clutch pedal snapped
Door lock issues
Drivers window ( next weekends job )
Its had a steering rack
These are common issues and don't inc the diesel only problems it's had

It was cheap and keeps working with tlc so has been cheap Ish motoring

Plus side there's a large on line following so it's easy to find fixes for all the common vw failings

Got it with 130k ish I think and now on 190k ish

Thanks all for the help.

Any ideas if the lower bhp MkIV 1.9 diesels are as good as the GTs?
Reason for looking is that I've just written off my car, so insurance premium will be painful and the 130bhp one is group 27 😯 .

My MK IV TDI 130 is just about to hit 280,000 with only minor issues in the last 5 years if that helps to add. I have heard that the cams in the 150s can wear.

I had a mkIV 1.8t GTI about 10 years ago. Might have been a Friday afternoon car but had several problems with ignition coils and a window falling into the door due to an actuator failing. Also snapped a coil in the suspension so after 10 months when I had the opportunity to go car free I was pretty pleased. Lovely to drive when it worked (for the era and type of car) but not sure I'd buy one now.

If you are looking for mkIV Golfs don't forget that the Bora is the same car with a big boot. You lose the hatch back which is a bit of a faff when loading a bike but they are often cheaper than the equivalent Golf.
[url= http://uk-mkivs.net/topic/230116-new-mk4-platform-diy-guides-index/ ]This[/url] is an excellent source of fix it guides and shows you what goes wrong.

mk IV that i have a s a loaner from the VW place is brilliant. 130k miles on it and the interior is in amazing condition. Its the pinnacle of engineering - they purposefully made the mkV interior cheaper to differentiate from Audi.

I'd buy a gti - plenty of decent ones for £2k

There's also a mkIV 2.0 GTI, which is far less sporty than the 1.8, so less likely to be abused. No turbo, bit of an old mans car, but as a consequence less likely to be mucked about with. 2k should get you a decent one. Nice inside and solidly built.

I'd skip the mkV for the reasons above. They're just not quite as nice inside, and the paint wasn't as good - well that's what I think anyway.

I'd be tempted to pick up a 1.6 petrol mk4 for about a grand and then hang onto a few hundred just to sort out any issues/servicing that might crop up. The 1.6 might be a bit easier on the insurance than a diesel and it shouldn't struggle too much with about 100hp. My mk4 2.0 'GTi' had 115bhp and drunk almost as much oil as it did petrol, it was a nice place to sit for a long commute though (and got lots of nice comments, it was white which was unusual at the time!)

As mentioned above Boras are a good alternative. I managed to find a 2006 with less than 100k on it in very good nick. It's the 100bhp version but it's a Highline so comes with all the bells and whistles. Best thing is everything works including the air con and in 18 months it hasn't missed a beat. Hasn't got the oomph of the 130bhp but brilliant on diesel.

I've owned a late mkiv gt tdi 150 for nearly the last 8 years. Had a few turbo hoses pop off but once I fixed those, it's just been consumable items to keep it going. Pretty decent MPG, fast enough and great on long journeys for a small car although mine has comfy leather seats and cruise control. Might have it for sale soon for less than 2k ;). Will be sad to see it go though.

My mkiv TDI PD was terrible. All the plastic coating in the interior wore off and looked terrible, it had loads of annoying issues, and eventually blew its head gasket.

Girlfriends 1.4 petrol had the above mentioned piston clearance issue, which meant it wouldn't pass an MOT due to emissions (burning too much oil).

I'd get a Focus 1.6.

Thanks all, this is a real help.

Might have it for sale soon for less than 2k ;).

my boss has a vr6 bora. looks ace sounds awesome. i think it's manual too - a lot of the golf vr6s looked to be autos when i was looking a couple of years back.

Insurance is going to be the deciding factor I think.
Just had a few dummy quotes and it looks like 1.4 MkVs seem to be the cheapest.
If anybody has any wise words to share re 1.4 MkV Golfs, that would be very helpful!

I had a mk1 Vrs that used the mk4 gold platform. Also had a mk4 golf tdi estate. That chassis is the biggest pile of sh!t ever designed. Mk1 focus is a million times better. The Mk 5 might be better, in fact it can't be worse that's impossible, only a pallet with casters on each corner could be worse.

Don't buy one, think the tsi engines had issues.

From my experience there isn't much in life less reliable than a VW. I had a saga with a TFSI engined car. I had to get the engine replaced, twice. All three engines the drank oil at near enough the rate of petrol. In the end I traded the car in.

I've had countless issues with the two VW's I've owned. People in my family have also had countless issues with their VAG products.

The Fords and Vauxhalls I've had, and the ones family member have had have had zero issues though. Even the new fangled small capacity turbo petrol ones.

Look at the reliability surveys like this. I wouldn't buy a used one without a warranty in a million years.

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer