2000-2002 golfs

king_of_inismac

Hey guys,

Selling my petrol alfa because I need a diesel.

Thinking of getting a VW Golf 1.9 diesel (hopefully 130bhp).

Are these as solid as their reputation suggests?

What should I look out for when buying (I know my way around cars)?

Is it worth getting a 2000 6 speed or a 2002 5 speed?

Thanks,
M

EPM

Known to have some minor stuff but a 130 with a decent history should be a decent buy. Apparently the 150 eats clutches. If you're on the motorway mostly try get a six speed but if not the five speed would mean less changes

king_of_inismac

I'm undecided between the golf and a 02 corolla hatch (petrol).

I presume the corolla would be more reliable but I'm doing 400 miles a week so I imagine the diesel would be significantly cheaper to run!

voxpop

2003+ are supposed to be the better buys if you can stretch that far. Have a pd130 myself and in the 2 and a half years of owning it, nothing really has gone wrong. There are loads of internet forums dedicated to golfs aswell, so its easy to get help on any issues and the car itself is pretty DIY friendly.


on the 6speed box (I have one in mine) - first gear is very short, but in 6th you can get 60mpg at 100mph so it will give great fuel economy if driving motorway/dual carriageway. There is plenty of torque so having to change gear alot isnt really an issue.

On buying, the checklist I would have is

When was timing belt done.

how often serviced (regular servicing is a must really, in order to keep turbo happy)

Check for clutch slippage

MAF and Temp senders can give issues - MAF issues will mean rough idle, no power above 2k rpm. Temp sender issues will show in engine temp gauge either not moving or moving erratically. Btw both issues are easy and cheap fixes.

They use a bit of oil normally, so its worth checking oil levels - anyone who looks after their car will keep the oil level topped up.

Higher mileage cars (and most tdi golfs are pretty high mileage) will need suspension components changed (bushes,etc) - sloppy front or knocking over bumps are the main giveaways but if the bushes havnt been changed and its over 100k miles then it will prob need doing soon.

Check all electrics



Check out vagdrivers.ie and uk-mkivs.net for buying guides and tips - both sites have great information on all things VAG.

tossy

You won't get a 2000 130pd.

The 130 came out in late 2001 but there are very few 2001 130pd's in this country also only the very early 130's were 5 speed all the rest were 6 speed.

The 150pd's don't eat clutches the are however known for camshaft wear.

GTE

PD TDI's can be (but are not definitely) more messy then their predecessors. (the VE TDI, 1998 to 2000ish)
Getting a used PD you must make sure that they have been well taken care of by a good dealer. Oil is a problem with these engines from what I have researched. Because of changes made compared to the older one there are a lot more high pressure parts in the engine. Without getting into it too much the wrong oil results in early engine wear which I have read crops up around nowish.
Its literally the difference between using the oil with the VW 505.01 stamp (correct) and the older VW 505.00 (wrong)


The PD TDIs do give better performance then the older ones however. I dont know about fuel economy but parkers.co.uk do give good info in that area.

Common problems with the TDI in general would be the temperature sensor for the coolant causing any of the following
- unreliable glow plug starts (almost 80 percent of the time)
- Odd idle speeds (car thinks its cold when its hot so raises the idle to heat up the engine.

Other things:
- The timing belt must have been changed religiously.
- Brake switch can fail.
- The rear window washed pipe can become detached in two places in the boot.
- General wear items, bushings and things.

Im lucky to have a 2000 Golf tdi with full service history and the only problems I have had are

Temp sensor
replace glow plugs
window wiper
brake switch

It was 160,000 miles on the clock.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=268806
Here is an interesting thread for ya.


Oh, regarding the PD's

I cant remember which power outputs this regards, I have a feeling its the 115 hp and another one:

There were problems of the engine stalling when slowing down at low speed. VW have fixed this with an ECU fix however have admitted the fix is beginning to show the same problem and its cropping up around now.

Gearbox problems do ring a bell with the 115bhp PD at least also.

There is a gold mine of info on the tdiclub to be honest. All im saying is what I have read from there.