VW Golf Mk II (1984-92)

I ran a 1989 8 valve Mk.2 GTI from new for 120,000 miles until I stupidly wrote it off last Christmas going a bit too fast on an icy road which the local council had kindly forgotten to grit. This was the best car I ever had, hence why I kept it so long, and I never had much trouble with it in over ten years. In fact most of the bother I had was caused by other people like the charming young men who stole it from outside a pub in Newcastle in order to remove the alloys. This did so much damage (at 8 years old) that I had to really grovel to the insurance company and garage in order to avoid it being written off. I also used to get pulled over for speeeding quite a lot ...  Read the complete review

I can only agree with everything johnrushton has written about his car, but I've got some things to add [and fortunately I havn't written mine off!]. I bought my 1989 black 8v 2-door GTi in 1993 with about 50,000 miles on the clock, and I've had very little trouble and a lot of fun in it since - it's now at about 110,000 miles. I keep thinking I should change it, but then I think of the cost [I paid just over £4k and the car was worth £3-3.5k for the past few years, and only fell significantly recently with the general fall in car prices - hence my cost of ownership has been relatively miniscule] that I'd have to come up with for a shiny new ...  Read the complete review

We owned a 1991 Golf 1.8 GL auto with the big bumper! It was a classy car in black with grey velour trim. The acceleration was first rate, even when fully loaded, and far more relaxing than a manual drive. Back in 1995 we paid £5000 for it and it was well worth it. With power steering it made every journey a joy, and the superb driving position gave you an excellent view of the road. It handled very well and was quite capable on motorways, delivering speed and security without sacrificing it's grace. Fuel consumption was a little higher, being an automatic, and insurance was at group 12. But, being a VW, and so well screwed together, you expect to ...  Read the complete review

I bought a 1990 red 16v GTi about 3 years ago, it had been run in quite a bit because it had about 70 thousand miles on the clock. By the time i got rid of the car it had done nearly 100,000 miles. I owned the car for nearly two years before i accidentaly wrapped it around a tree, which is surprising because it gripped the road extremely well. I never had much wrong with the car apart from one wheel bearing 6 months after i bought it and the occasional new tyre, it was deffinately a car i would have kept. It already had some TSW five spoke alloys on it when i bought it and them alone made the car look really smart, the standard suspension was brilliant ...  Read the complete review

My mum bought her Golf 1.6 CL in 1989 and it has recently passed on to me - and I can honestly say from first-hand experience that this is a very very good little car. The car has to date done about 50,000 miles. Now, I realise that that's not as many as it could be (one careful lady owner, and all that) but the car has only broken down twice in this entire 11-year period: once when rain got into the engine due to a blocked vent and killed the battery, and once when the accelerator jammed open, which was eventually traced to a manufacturing fault. Not bad considering the problems that some people have with cars that are seven or eight years younger. It ...  Read the complete review