tdi with gti badge ?

snipped-for-privacy@lycos.co.uk ( snipped-for-privacy@lycos.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Yes. Some are badged GT TDi. Some are GTi TDi. Some are just GTi but diseasel . A quick glance at Parkers shows that there were both GT TDi and GTi TDi in the range at various times.

Mebbe, mebbe not. If it's been done properly, does it matter?

No, it was a Golf. Overpriced and lardy.

Golf 4 taillight lens. £34.50 from GSF, or £37.50 if it's smoked.

Hmm parkers only lists one 'gti tdi' it's the aniversary 150 BHP BTW my friend had a 150 BHP diesel one and it was really quite quick..

Cheers,

Simon

negotiate a price reduction THEN

insist they replace the light cluster (I'm sure its an MOT failure or something.)

But have a look and make sure water hasn't leaked in and caused other damage

Walk away, therewill be other examples on offer, with 55 plates now out, there is plenty of choice for the used car buyer at present...

You'd walk away from a perfectly good car just because it had a cracked rear cluster?

The message from "R. Murphy" contains these words:

I saw an Estima the other day which had the whole OSR light cluster covered over with silver duct tape. You could see from the shape that it had been smashed....

If the car was perfect then the cluster would not be cracked, the cluster wouldn't crack for no reason. if the car is well looked after the owner could have easily and pro rata cheaply replaced the cluster, 10k is not cheap of anybody's money. As someone else has mentioned, water could have leaked in causing other yet to come damage.

True, and if it's a dealer selling it then it's very slack of him not to have spent a few quid replacing it. And no, it wouldn't crack for no reason - it's probably had a very slight knock, or whacked into something protruding from a fence or similar. To call it evidence of a botched repair job is jumping the gun just a bit! Lots of people have little knocks that involve cracked lights, with no other damage than just the light (or some very slightly markings to the bumper or bodywork). Though I'd be walking away due to the price - unless it's literally almost brand new, that's a lot of money to pay - you could probably get something equally good for a good grand or two less.

Well, potentially, yes, but the worst that'll happen is that it'll rust the connectors in the bulb holders, or where the multi-plug plugs in. But there are also seals in place to prevent this happening, and if it's only a relatively minor crack and it's happened fairly recently then I wouldn't worry too much - worth having a look at the connections though - worst case is a new bulb holder if they're all completely rusted up (or just clean up the connections), but if it's only slight I'd have a quick check of the connections (take the plug off, remove all the bulbs one by one) and worry about more important things, like when the cambelt/water pump were done.

I ought to have a look at more Golfs and find out all about them before i spend this sort of money. It's a fact that the most I ever speant on a car in my 16 years of driving is 1600 quid, is this unusually stingy do you think ? Simon

Not at all - there are loads of decent cars around for that sort of money. But sometimes it's nice to get something new, and if you can comfortably afford it, then why not?

But, get something that's really good, and a lot better than anything else around in its class - do your homework. Avoid models that, in general, are dogged with faults. The motoring magazines will tell you what they're like to drive, and in terms of comfort/practicality and stuff, which is all well and good, but it's no good if it's going wrong every 5 minutes, warranty or not, so you want to find out what models (and possibly what particular features) are generally worth avoiding -

is a good place to start - also check out the owners' reviews on Honest John (from the Telegraph) has a website at which is worth a look too (especially at the forums, which give real world ideas of which cars don't have too many problems).

A lot of problems with cars are easily avoided by keeping a careful eye on things (like coolant/oil/fluid levels) - don't let people slate Alfa TwinSpark engines because they run out of oil, because that's just the way they are, and if the oil's regularly checked and topped up (taking care not to overfill) then you should have very little problems. Another big thing that people might tell you to avoid cars for is cambelts - again, this is just down to maintenance - it's always good practise to change a cambelt early, with all tensioners/water pump etc, and you'll probably find that most people who have had cambelts fail on them haven't been all that diligent in doing this (or just not bothered at all). Most problematic cambelt designs have since had modified parts fitted so that the problem is no longer there, but be wary of buying mechanically neglected belt-driven

16/24v Vauxhalls.

So, you've found a model that's good amongst its peers, looks nice (if that's important to you), drives well, is comfortable and well specced, and you've done your research and found out that it's generally very reliable and doesn't have many issues in terms of things going wrong/falling off/general build quality. And you've looked into how much servicing's going to cost so it's not a big shock - you don't *have* to use a main dealer within the warranty period, but it does make it a damn sight easier to claim if you have - you'll have also looked into things like wearing parts (brake discs/pads), and roughly how much they cost, including fitting, and if there are any nasty surprises like brake discs behind the hubs which are a real bitch to change on anything with that design.

Anyway, having done all that, you'll want to buy something decent at the best possible price. Main dealers charge more than small dealers, but small dealers will still charge way over the top compared to a decent private sale, and most won't be able to offer any decent warranty above the remaining manufacturer's warranty or the basic warranty required under the sale of goods act (3 months). So the whole "peace of mind" aspect of buying from a dealer really isn't there, unless they're very well established and can provide a decent extended warranty - this can include some main dealers selling cars on the manufacturer's "approved used" scheme, but these are usually pretty expensive.

Best way to find out what a good price to pay is to go on

do a nationwide search (you'll need to register, but it only takes a minute) for the specific model, specifying age and mileage if neccessary, and see what the cheapest decent ones are priced at. Play about with the min/max price bands so it doesn't fill the maximum 200 (which means you'll only see a selection).

Also, look at the completed items on ebay to see what similar models are actually selling for (compared to asking prices), and you'll have a good idea of what a sensible price is, and what a "HFM?" price is.

A lemon is a lemon at any price, not to say VWs are lemons I had a Mk4 1.8t myself and paid just short of 10k 3yrs ago, I looked at plenty and other than minor scratches anything broken and not fixed to demostrate before a sale I walked away from, saying that I have now spent double the amount on another Golf, if I find myself in the position in future I would do it all again...