Bangernomics A Golf GTI for under £500?
Our Deputy Ed bags a bargain to get a friend back on the road
James Walshe
We motoring writers often get asked by our friends for advice on buying cars – both classic and otherwise – but I have personally found it to be a total waste of my time. They have usually already decided what they want before even asking and are inevitably miffed when I don’t agree with their choice.
For instance, about 20 years ago – despite clearly stating they had an eye on a base-spec Volkswagen Golf MKIV – my friends David and Lynn asked for help. I suggested they ought to consider the Golf’s sportier, swankier sister, the SEAT Leon. For the same money, they could own a highly desirable and, in comparison, a fully-loaded Cupra version – the one with the Audi TT engine. Yet the car was, basically, still a Golf underneath. My thoughts were, unsurprisingly, dismissed. ‘Never heard of a SEAT!’ said Lynn. And so it was, they bought the Golf and enjoyed a few joyless years in a car with keep-fit windows and lethargic performance.
Nowadays, I point-blank refuse to assist, given that most people have their sights set on a Personal Contract Purchase for a shiny new SUV they’ll never actually own. It goes against the common-sense rules of Bangernomics. It was therefore refreshing when my friend from Singapore, who had recently moved to the UK to work in the medical profession, asked if I knew of some cheap transport. Dawn gave me the magic words: ‘I don’t care what it is. As long as it goes, stops and isn’t on its last legs’. She was looking at spending a couple of grand, but – given the state of the market right now and the ridiculous number of usable cars being scrapped – we all know you can pick up a decent runner for a quarter of that.
Enter this rather tidy Golf GTI, which I snapped up from a mate of mine, for whom it had served as a handy runabout. With a hefty 180,000 miles on the clock and little in the way of paperwork or bills, it nevertheless felt like a car that had been looked after, with dent-free bodywork and a very clean interior. The occasional blinking of the ABS warning light would need sorting in time for the next MOT, due in July 2020, but everything else looked good for the money. I snapped it up and enjoyed a good month with the car, before Dawn arrived to pick it up.
All versions of the GTI were fairly well-appointed with air con (which still works), electric windows and a sunroof. The 115bhp 2.0-litre engine under the bonnet isn’t exactly going to set Dawn’s pants on fire – and given that it was launched around the same time as the original Focus, the Golf MKIV lacks the Ford’s on-the-road sparkle. It is sufficiently refined, though, and that chunky shape is improving with age. The fit and finish of the cabin is absolutely second to none for this period, with doors that thud shut and switches that wouldn’t seem out of place in a brand-new car. Okay, you’d probably want one of the racier versions, but Dawn drove off in it last week with a massive smile on her face; so if she’s happy, I’m happy.
THE VERDICT
Probably the cheapest Golf GTI you can get these days, the MKIV is no road-burner, but it’s well built and terrific value for money.
Get ’em while they’re cheap!