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I bought a £400 snotter 2004 Golf GT TDI earlier in the year for general running about whilst I rebuilt our main family car.
It's an awesome little car and I love the grunty torquey nature of the engine but it's MOT is coming up and it's got 191k miles on the clock and I'm wondering what to do with it now it's not really needed.
The sensible options are;
1. Scrap it
2. Rebuild it - probably needs £1500/£2000 of parts to make it 'nice' again (I do my own spannering) and keep it.
3. Sell it and get my £400 back
The less sensible options are;
4. Crumball rally it to Mongolia/somewhere (once Covid allows?)
5. Strip/race lighten it and make it into a trackday hack / Nurburgring road trip.
6. Erm....something interesting and exciting that STW thinks of!
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/400-vw-golf-bangernomics/
3 definitely sounds preferable to 1, don't waste a reasonable car, let someone else use it.
4 sounds like a lot of fun, would love to do that one day.
6, I had the same question with an old Yaris a couple of years ago and we ended up with Gnusmobile, the STW hive can be a really good place
Keep it. Appreciating classic
Swap it with a fellow forumite who seems unhappy with their current new car...
Swap it with a fellow forumite who seems unhappy with their current new car…
You jest, but given a snotter like this I reckon he'd have it stripped, rebuilt and Dakar ready within the week.
Option 3, you get a few quid and the car stays driving a bit longer, greener than a new car being made.
Swap it with a fellow forumite who seems unhappy with their current new car…
This^^^ 🤣🤣🙃
Test it see how bad it is
Swap it with a fellow forumite who seems unhappy with their current new car…
If you go back through that thread a few pages you'll see I offered to swop the entire RNP fleet (V70, Transit and this Golf)!
6, I had the same question with an old Yaris a couple of years ago and we ended up with Gnusmobile, the STW hive can be a really good place
I remember the Gnusmobile thread - the problem is this Golf is a bit more worn out than the Yaris and would be more of a hindrance/burden if given away to someone who doesn't do their own spannering.
Miles are pretty irrelevant at that age and price (and not that high imho), all about how much MoT. You bought it as a stop gap and I've bought similar stuff as a stop gap.
If you reckon it will pass the test, it's worth a punt and will sell easier.
EV conversion?
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10
Full MemberEV conversion
The engine and drivetrain are the thing I really like about it - it's the legendary PD130 with a later 6speed box conversion and it pulls like a train although I accept it's a dirty diesel and ideally should be converted
Saw this and thought of RNP last night
#3 is what the person I am would do. #2 is what the person I'd like to be would do.
had a 130 tdi pd from new (well 9 pdi miles on the clock) until very recently ... 259k by
this time.
Needed clutch, suspension, ac, steering bushes, major service and my commute is 9.5 miles so
it went the way of the crusher as I could only get a couple of hundred private and the breakers
scrappy offered the same - sad day as it was a good little car 🙁
Put it through its mot and then come back and let us know how bad/good it is. Then we can make an informed decision.
At 191k you should try and get it to moon mileage. Test it at least so you can decide if you want to a) do any work yourself prior to sale with a full ticket; b)do work & keep; or c) sell as spares/repair with disclosure of issues.
It's MOT is due in mid November - our main car is booked in for some paint at the beginning of November and after that the Golf is redundant.
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matt_outandabout
Full MemberSaw this and thought of RNP last night
That's the same as mine - brilliant car, paid £300 for it and we abused the absolute shit out of it for years with big snowboarding and bike trips to France and Scotland. The interior was minging from constantly being wet and muddy so I ripped it all out so it could be hosed out! Probably why it rusted to bits quicker than I could weld it.
Keep it. Appreciating classic
Many LOL's 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
6000 miles since it’s last MOT, no advisories since 2013? Either the last owner had a friendly tester or it’s a solid little car.
As duncancallum, I’d stick it in for another test.
bluearsedfly
Free Member6000 miles since it’s last MOT, no advisories since 2013? Either the last owner had a friendly tester or it’s a solid little car.
As duncancallum, I’d stick it in for another test
It was serviced and MOT'd by the son of the previous owner who works in a good reputable garage but it's got an EGR delete pipe on it with the engine light on so it's a 50/50 between a friendly MOT who ignores an EML and it not being a deathtrap for his dad who did 15k a year commuting in it.