My brother is an idiot / what car..
Discussion
background, my brother is an idiot that is granted, he is 19.
had a 1.0 1999 corsa, was mint and had done only 16000 miles, but wasnt "cool" enough,
his girlfriend gave him a mk3 golf gti that her dad had lying around (he is building a mint mk2 gti track car but thats besides the point) Its externally mint no rust etc.
gti had dodgey fuel pump problem, spent £300 on diagnostics and getting it fixed
now complaining that golf is too thirsty and too dodgey, might break down.
so wants to buy an old landy, or old 'truck'
Please all confirm he is an idiot so I can show him this thread and tell him to go back to a 1.0 euro s
tbox.
or infact, keep the golf.
had a 1.0 1999 corsa, was mint and had done only 16000 miles, but wasnt "cool" enough,
his girlfriend gave him a mk3 golf gti that her dad had lying around (he is building a mint mk2 gti track car but thats besides the point) Its externally mint no rust etc.
gti had dodgey fuel pump problem, spent £300 on diagnostics and getting it fixed
now complaining that golf is too thirsty and too dodgey, might break down.
so wants to buy an old landy, or old 'truck'
Please all confirm he is an idiot so I can show him this thread and tell him to go back to a 1.0 euro s
tbox.or infact, keep the golf.
To be honest, I'd say go for it. When youre young its be perfect time to own something a little odd, maybe unreliable but fun.
I had a 1991 hilux, 2.2 petrol. Battered, rusty, only needed the pickup side of it 5% of the time. But to be fair, it was fun, you could fix it with a hammer (sounds like he knows how to use a spanner). Even then it wasnt really unreliable, it had a hole in the top of the radiator and did a few thousand miles like that, including many 150 mile runs. Just soldered it up then it was fine.
much more fun than the rubbish euroboxes everyone else was driving.
Ok, now I'm older, I doubt I could stomach something like that, but back then that thing was fun.
edit to add: It was converted to LPG, so not very expensive to run. I used to get the equivalent of a little over 30 on petrol.
I had a 1991 hilux, 2.2 petrol. Battered, rusty, only needed the pickup side of it 5% of the time. But to be fair, it was fun, you could fix it with a hammer (sounds like he knows how to use a spanner). Even then it wasnt really unreliable, it had a hole in the top of the radiator and did a few thousand miles like that, including many 150 mile runs. Just soldered it up then it was fine.
much more fun than the rubbish euroboxes everyone else was driving.
Ok, now I'm older, I doubt I could stomach something like that, but back then that thing was fun.
edit to add: It was converted to LPG, so not very expensive to run. I used to get the equivalent of a little over 30 on petrol.
Golf mk3 GTI isn't a drivers car but as you say it is self-evident it will be more economical and will almost certainly be less work than a landy.
In terms of buying a stbox, always bear in mind with budget cars it's better the devil you know. I'd trade 5mpg for knowing a car for 6 months anyday.
In terms of buying a s
tbox, always bear in mind with budget cars it's better the devil you know. I'd trade 5mpg for knowing a car for 6 months anyday. I'm the same age and find it most annoying when mates of mine, again same age, refuse to try and diagnose their own problems. They may not be good with a spanner but I get majorly annoyed when I spend a lot of time round other people's houses fixing their car's that they cannot be bothered with. Not asking them to rebuild engines or anything but just general up keep of a car, oil changes etc.
My words of advice, which I've given to the person I'm always helping, is to get a car which is reliable... Don't modify it unless you have a tonne of money to pay someone to do it, or you have the knowledge yourself.
I'm slightly different to most 19 year olds, I drive a self built Ibiza Cupra R which is fully forged and about to be running around 400bhp
My words of advice, which I've given to the person I'm always helping, is to get a car which is reliable... Don't modify it unless you have a tonne of money to pay someone to do it, or you have the knowledge yourself.
I'm slightly different to most 19 year olds, I drive a self built Ibiza Cupra R which is fully forged and about to be running around 400bhp
Maybe your brother just needs to find a better mechanic. £300 to diagnose a fuel pump related issue is a piss take. That said presumably now it has a new pump+fuel pump relay it will be fine.
What is the millage on the golf as a 2.0 8v Digi3 is more than capable of running way past 200k without any big issues and its more likely rotten arches will claim the golf before the engine dies.
Strangely enough I have been looking at Land Rover Defender/discovery for a few days as I need to buy one for a works project and to be honest i am stunned at some of the ridiculous (expensive) prices for Defenders that have spent 20 years on farms and appear to have had little or no maintenance. Not one has had any kind of service history an people want £2-3k for late 70s/80s models. Id sooner keep the golf.
dave
What is the millage on the golf as a 2.0 8v Digi3 is more than capable of running way past 200k without any big issues and its more likely rotten arches will claim the golf before the engine dies.
Strangely enough I have been looking at Land Rover Defender/discovery for a few days as I need to buy one for a works project and to be honest i am stunned at some of the ridiculous (expensive) prices for Defenders that have spent 20 years on farms and appear to have had little or no maintenance. Not one has had any kind of service history an people want £2-3k for late 70s/80s models. Id sooner keep the golf.
dave
I bet if he switches for something big within 10 minutes he'll be complaining its too slow. And landys are not good on fuel. It will be thirstier than the golf. As long as the golfs in good condition I would definatly stay with that. It will be barely worth anything at all to sell anyway.
aka_kerrly said:
Maybe your brother just needs to find a better mechanic. £300 to diagnose a fuel pump related issue is a piss take.
true, he was away and the mother took it to her 'local garage' who are a joke, they took 2 years and still didnt find the problem on her corsa that PH diagnosed and fixed in 5 minutes.
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