Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 05:29
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - William Brandrick

Hi everyone, so I'm looking at buying a used car to replace my current 1.0L runaround as I crave a bit more power and yeah regardless, I'm looking at upgrading. I've been looking at a 1.4 Golf GT tsi which costs around £2,500 and I don't have the money yet, but I will in 2 months or so. They're pretty rare cars though from what I can see, only 5 advertised on autotrader and only 2 below £3,000 which is my maximum budget. It costs just £1,300 a year to insure with one responsible additional driver, which is actually less than I paid for my current car for the first year. With 1 years NCD, the insurance drops quite a lot and I'd like to upgrade my car as I can afford to. My main problem is that I can't find any cars with a 0-60 of between 7-8 seconds and a top speed of around 140 mph, as well as having a decent amount of equipment and being practical (5 seats, decent boot e.t.c). In summary, I would buy the Golf GT now in a heartbeat if I could, but it's looking highly likely all the good ones for low price will be sold by the time I get round to being able to afford it. Does anyone have any alternatives? Would really appreciate your help. :)

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 08:18
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - badbusdriver

You don't say what age of car this is, but at that price I think it would one of the infamous 'twin charger' golf's. They had both a turbo and a supercharger, but more importantly from you're point of view, a very poor reputation for reliability.

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 08:46
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - badbusdriver

Done some research and i am now pretty certain the golf you are looking at is the twin charged version, so you definately want to avoid that.

As you are on a limited budget, your priority should be on reliability. A look on autotrader shows that there are quite a few honda civic's available with the 1.8 vtec engine. I was searching for cars 2006> and up to 70k miles, there was 30 results. I know the civic doesnt meet your performance requirements, but coming from a 1.0 runabout, i'm sure it will be plenty fast enough. It's 0-60 is 8.6 seconds, i'm not mentioning it's top speed as it is meaningless unless you are on a track or certain sections of the autobahn. Suffice to say its way more than the legal limit. It is also going to be considerably more reliable than a golf, not to mention, roomier.

You could also consider a mazda3 2.0. At that budget, you would have to accept a bit more miles, or go a bit older, but again, way more reliable than a twincharger golf.

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 09:18
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - SLO76
There's few of them around because this was a notoriously fragile engine, not helped also by the Mk V's tendency to rot and suffer from ABS control module failure. It's probably one of the worst things you could buy at this money.

On such a tight budget you must keep it as simple as possible so forget turbocharged motors, petrol or diesel (with notable exception given to VAG's tough old 1.9 TDi PD) and aim instead for something with a normally asperated Japanese engine such as the Honda Civic 2.0 Type-S(160bhp) later 1.8 VTEC (though it will be up in the miles), Mazda 3 2.0 Sport (great fun and cheap to buy) or a Mk II Ford Focus with the 1.8 or 2.0 Mazda L series engines.

There's loads of these three models running around our roads well into their teens with big mileages yet still giving reliable and enjoyable service. My pick if all things were equal would be the Mazda 3 2.0 Sport which is a genuinely entertaining drive and rarely goes wrong. Rust is the main issue with these but they're worth the effort of finding a good one.

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 14:09
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - galileo

The OP says he wants a car with 0-60 of 7-8 seconds and top speed of 140 mph.

Short of drag racing at Santa Pod or track days, 140 mph is seldom safe (and never legal) in the UK and many other countries.

The 0-60 times quoted in road tests are generally achieved by fairly brutal treatment of clutch gearbox and tyres so he is unlikely to match the quoted times without a lot of practice and expensive repairs.

Still, it's his money, his choice.

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 14:48
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - RT

The OP says he wants a car with 0-60 of 7-8 seconds and top speed of 140 mph.

Short of drag racing at Santa Pod or track days, 140 mph is seldom safe (and never legal) in the UK and many other countries.

The 0-60 times quoted in road tests are generally achieved by fairly brutal treatment of clutch gearbox and tyres so he is unlikely to match the quoted times without a lot of practice and expensive repairs.

Still, it's his money, his choice.

A 0-60 time of 7-8 seconds isn't difficult - my 2.2 tonne Touareg has a 0-60 of 6.6 seconds (published as 7.3 for 0-62 but adjusted for 0-60). It also has a top speed of 140mph so that's probably what the OP needs!

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Wed 12 Jul 2017 23:13
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - galileo

The OP says he wants a car with 0-60 of 7-8 seconds and top speed of 140 mph.

Short of drag racing at Santa Pod or track days, 140 mph is seldom safe (and never legal) in the UK and many other countries.

The 0-60 times quoted in road tests are generally achieved by fairly brutal treatment of clutch gearbox and tyres so he is unlikely to match the quoted times without a lot of practice and expensive repairs.

Still, it's his money, his choice.

A 0-60 time of 7-8 seconds isn't difficult - my 2.2 tonne Touareg has a 0-60 of 6.6 seconds (published as 7.3 for 0-62 but adjusted for 0-60). It also has a top speed of 140mph so that's probably what the OP needs!

Needs? Why? For getaways from a bank job? With a £2500 budget reliabilty may be a factor to consider rather than performance.

Edited by galileo on 12/07/2017 at 23:17

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Thu 13 Jul 2017 10:08
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - Ian_SW

I presume the OP is more likely to be using these figures as a rough indicator of finding a car which is moderately quick and nice to drive.

A good option, if you can find one which has been well looked after would be a the newest car possible with the VAG 1.8T 20V engine in. I think it was used until early 2006 in Seats and Skodas. The insurance isn't too bad on these - I had an Octavia vRS when I was 23 and insurance was only about £150 more than for a 1.6 Focus.

Every engine VAG have done since has been less good in my opinion, particularly the earlier TSI engines which have a timing chain made of cheese.

A quick look on Autotrader shows quite a number of Mk1 Octavia VRSs and Mk1 Leon FRs or Cupras for £1500 to £2000. Key with a semi performance car of this age is finding one which hasn't been owned by a Chav, so look for one with original wheels, stereo and a proper service history.

If you can get one for £1500, that leaves enough money left over for the things which will inevitably go wrong with a 11 year old car, and budget for a timing belt/water pump replacement which may be due.

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Thu 13 Jul 2017 11:40
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - Engineer Andy

It never ceases to amaze me how people who obviously have little money (and are likely under 25) expect to be able to afford cars that are expensive to run (including insurance), then complain to their elders at how unaffordable everything in life is (houses, etc) and how much better that generation 'had it'.

I ran a Nissan Micra 1 litre for nearly 8 years and saved up for both that and my current Mazda3, and would never have dreamt of buying a 'hot hatch' when not exactly well-off and trying to save up for my first home (only 10 or so years ago, when prices WERE sky high). I wouldn't even contemplate buying a car that cost me £1300 to insure back then, or, to be frank, even now when I could afford a performance car. There's no logic in buying a car where half the cost is in the insurance premium. The OP should face facts and ask himself if they really do 'need' that 'extra power' or if that is just something to show off to his mates.

The OP ' craving a bit more power' wants to go from a car with somewhere around the 60-80 bhp (unless its a Ecoboost type, and if so, why does he need more?) to one with 160 bhp - hardly a 'bit more'. Why do I think this story is going to end in tears (with his car written off in an accident and more)?

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Fri 14 Jul 2017 22:18
Volkswagen Golf GT - need help finding similar cars - Big John

Octavia VRS petrol (avoid older VRS diesel as they were early adopters of the DPF and it was a poor implementation)

Also how about a faster model Honda Civic (type R, type S etc...)

Edited by Big John on 14/07/2017 at 22:30

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