would like a GTI vroom vroom

not to bothered about age though i seem to remember mk IVs getting panned

anything i should be looking out for?

A mkIV GTI? Get a MKIV GT TDI instead if you like the look of the Golf.

what he said

anything i should be looking out for?

Another car? 😉

I had an 05 TDI 2.0 and it was awesome. Loads of torque and 50mtg. Fitted my bike in without needing to take a wheel off as well – which can't said for other 'larger' estates (like the a4).

Had a few MK4 Golfs over the years, well me and the Mrs 😉

The GT-TDI are great for economy as well as safe overtaking performance.

I have had both the 150bhp and the 130bhp, which are both good.

You are not going to win any handling competitions, but great motorway mile muncher, I get near on 55mpg at motorway speeds out of my current gt-tdi.

Common problems to look out for-

Plastic blades on oil pump can give up, replace when you have the cambelt done with the metal blade version (70k service).

Electric windows motor fittings can play up, will drop and then jam.

Some have problems with the MAF sensors, but I never had a problem yet.

Spare keys are expensive to replace, so make sure it has two working key fobs.

The MK4 Anniversary GTI versions are desirable, just watch out for copies if you go down that road.

Now if you know where there is a nice MK4 180bhp 1.8T GTI Anniversary going let me know 😉

Its the only MK4 GTI I would go for.

I have a MkIV GTI 1.8T 150, which I have to say is plenty fast enough for anything I've needed it for just yet, and it's better in corners than my bottle! low 30 mpg with 'energetic' driving, high 30s-40 on a long, 70 mph motorway run.

I'm sure it's not the quickest 'hot hatch', but it's damned good fun, and actually a pleasant place to be on a long run too. That said, coming from a diesel, £50 for 370 miles was a bit of a shock….

Mrk V GT-TDI 2.0.

Brilliant piece of kit. Plenty fast enough in the twisty stuff. Easily went from Provence to Amsterdam in a day and on just about a tank and a half of fuel with some heavyish spells of right foot. £120 road tax (i know it's not road tax but whatever…..)

My only complaint was the fact i had to get the discs and pads replaced and then the radiator went within 15 miles of that, but got a £150 voucher for the next service.

Oh and for some reason the rear driver side doorseal comes off. Seen it on at least three, seal hanging out the bottom of the door

MK2 with a 20V turbo conversion.

My MkII 16v GTI has just been to the Nurburgring and back without any issues 🙂

I think you need to decide on your budget and what you want first. It reads as though you just want a GTI and you aren't bothered which, but realise the MkIV is a bit rubbish. (The MkIII's were rubbish too, so ignore those unless you look at the VR6 variety).

If you can afford a MkV buy one of those.

Mark 4 GTI was slow, it got owned by a Skoda diesel in a drag race on Top Gear as I recall.

I test drove the Mark 5 TDI and GTI. The TDI has decent straight line speed but I found the front end wandered a bit when pushed hard. I went for the GTI which is a great car, I still haven't found anything I'd change it for. It depends how much that extra 20% performance matters to you I suppose!

One thing to bear in mind is you won't get a roofrack on a Mark 5 GTI, you need a rear mounted bike rack.

dont worry cant afford a mkV anyways, couple of grand max looks liek a mkII then, mmmmmm

kimbers for a couple of grand you will be over-paying as the Golf has a perceived level of quality with punters for what is an average reliability-car. I reckon you would be better off with say a Skoda, Ford, or similar for c2k. If you do below average mileage why not a tidy/cean Audi Coupe? Not fast at all but for 2k you could get a minter.