RE: Shed of the Week: Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk4)
Discussion
brakepad said:
The silver vs red 'I' on the GTI is not an accurate way to spot the 1.8T from the 2.0. I bought my father's 1.8T which he purchased from new and it came with a silver 'I'. An alternative explanation I was given by a VW dealership was that it related to cars built in Germany vs those built in South Africa, but I can't vouch for how correct that information is.
I worked for VW when these were new. There was no logic in the badging. They were applied at the dealer and we just put on whatever we were given. Sometimes 2.0 to the base model 8v and then the next one would be GTI.Some of the 1.8Ts would be all silver, some with a red ‘I’. It was just luck of the draw.
Same story with mk4 GT TDi 150s. These were sometimes GTI, other times all red TDI
IIRC all 1.8T 180s with the 6sp had the red I badge fitted
My brother had one of these for about 5 years. We took it in p/x where I worked - a one owner FSH 1.8 turbo 5dr W plate in black with just over 60k on the clock - more of that later.
It replaced his 200 BRM - compared with that car, it was less exciting to drive. Performance was similar but the engine was a bit dull. The handling however was nothing like as good as the BRM, nor was the steering feel. As a car it was good - well packaged and quite comfortable - but it was not a great hot hatch.
It really is a good job that not everything in life is as reliable as a VW! Though it never had anything as bad as an engine failure (headgasket was the BRM issue - nothing else really went wrong with either BRM he had), it suffered many faults and repairs in the time he had it. Perhaps it thought it was an Italian car with given all its 'foibles'? The main issues/character traits were:
- new coil packs needed at least once.
- issues with the cooling system/expansion tank/leaks/faulty low level alarm.
- intermittent central locking - sometimes the rear doors and/or boot would not open.
- needed big suspension rebuild including springs/dampers and a number of bushes.
- eventually needed all the calipers replacing.
- leaking rear wash system - into boot lid - caused rust and stopped working.
- major interior trim rattles etc.
- rust on front and, later, on the rear wings.
I am not saying this is terrible, but it is no better, and in some cases, quite a bit worse than 'less reliable' brands than VW.
The strangest one however was an odometer that would reset itself every 8 months or so. This was really odd. We don't know for certain, but estimate the car had done about 120,000 miles when he traded it for a Mk5 GTI Edition 30 (a better GTI but a less solid, less reliable car) however the odometer read somewhere around 88,000 miles - a self clocking car - it made the service and MOT history look a bit out of kilter!
Interestingly my brother swapped the edition 30 for an older, twice the mileage mk5 GTI which he says drives better, feels more solid and has been more reliable.
It replaced his 200 BRM - compared with that car, it was less exciting to drive. Performance was similar but the engine was a bit dull. The handling however was nothing like as good as the BRM, nor was the steering feel. As a car it was good - well packaged and quite comfortable - but it was not a great hot hatch.
It really is a good job that not everything in life is as reliable as a VW! Though it never had anything as bad as an engine failure (headgasket was the BRM issue - nothing else really went wrong with either BRM he had), it suffered many faults and repairs in the time he had it. Perhaps it thought it was an Italian car with given all its 'foibles'? The main issues/character traits were:
- new coil packs needed at least once.
- issues with the cooling system/expansion tank/leaks/faulty low level alarm.
- intermittent central locking - sometimes the rear doors and/or boot would not open.
- needed big suspension rebuild including springs/dampers and a number of bushes.
- eventually needed all the calipers replacing.
- leaking rear wash system - into boot lid - caused rust and stopped working.
- major interior trim rattles etc.
- rust on front and, later, on the rear wings.
I am not saying this is terrible, but it is no better, and in some cases, quite a bit worse than 'less reliable' brands than VW.
The strangest one however was an odometer that would reset itself every 8 months or so. This was really odd. We don't know for certain, but estimate the car had done about 120,000 miles when he traded it for a Mk5 GTI Edition 30 (a better GTI but a less solid, less reliable car) however the odometer read somewhere around 88,000 miles - a self clocking car - it made the service and MOT history look a bit out of kilter!
Interestingly my brother swapped the edition 30 for an older, twice the mileage mk5 GTI which he says drives better, feels more solid and has been more reliable.
Edited by Alex P on Monday 11th March 22:37
I have one of these that I was given for free last year. Its a 1.8T AGU with only 2 owners from new. It needed some TLC when I got it as suffered some of the common issues:
- Rotten front wings
- Split DV
- No brake lights
- Broken thermostat
- No alloys (not common, but it looked terrible without them!)
Since then I've fixed these issues and reaplced many other parts and its starting to look its best again. I still see quite a few of these MK4s about but I think the majority of them are probably quite tatty now. The car is a slow project that I work on when I have the spare time, and I enjoy it as its quite a simple car to work on.
How it currently sits:
- Rotten front wings
- Split DV
- No brake lights
- Broken thermostat
- No alloys (not common, but it looked terrible without them!)
Since then I've fixed these issues and reaplced many other parts and its starting to look its best again. I still see quite a few of these MK4s about but I think the majority of them are probably quite tatty now. The car is a slow project that I work on when I have the spare time, and I enjoy it as its quite a simple car to work on.
How it currently sits:
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