I have a chance to buy a 1997 VW Golf, 2-door, 5-speed, black with sunroof, tint, and it has 90,000km on it. The car is in an excellent shape and clean inside. I know the owner and the car was maintained by a mechanic who is the owner's brother. This is the car's second owner.

I can have it for CDN $9,500. What do you think?

Thanks!

 

If it is not a GTI or turbo, that sounds about right and actually not a bad deal. Ask why he is selling it if it is such a good car. I know a guy at work who had a '96 or '97 Audi A4, fully factory serviced with around 100,000km on it when he traded it on a new Acura 1.7EL. Less than 2 months later, the guy who bought from the dealership had to have the tranny replaced after it blew, along with several other driveline pieces to the tune of $5000 that the dealer had to pay for. Buyer beware.

 

The A4s are nice cars, but they're well known for their tranny problems, especially when they up the boost on those hunnies, the trannys are really weak on those cars.

That Golf sounds like a really good buy, especially for $9,500cn! Hell, you'd be lucky to find the same car for $9,500us down here!!!

 

Thanks for the replies.

She's selling the car because she just got a New Beetle that she wanted all along. I will drive the car this afternoon, so I'll see if it goes as well as it looks.

 

I just got back from a test drive. Like I said, the car is is a good shape. It has a power sunroof.

It does have a couple of small rust nests under the paint around the rear license plate holder. Other than that I couldn't see any other other rust problems. However, I do have a couple of questions. The brakes squeaked a little. The owner said it's just a dust buildup and that the brakes were sprayed recently to correct the squeaking. That doesn't sound right to me. Or is that OK?
Also, the tranny shifted precisely, but I could hear and feel the notches as I shifted through the gears. Pulling the stick back from 5th into neutral required a bit more effort than I think it should. Is it just me not beaing used to these trannies or should be worried?

Thanks.

 

The reason I mentioned the audi A4 (fwd) like the guy at work is because the Audi A4, Beetle, Golf all share the same basic floorpan and mechanicals; which means beware of the tranny.