Mk 4 GOLF SDi - what to look for?

[KillerHERTZ]

At lunchtime I will be going to see a 02 reg SDi Mk4 Golf, 100k on the clock for a friend.
Its listed as £3000, is black, no alloys, manual windows, casette player (shes not bothered)

Apart from the obivous, what should we be looking for?

Thanks!

 

[nimishashar]

i would say that the sdi is the budget range of the diesel's that VW produce, and with that kind of milage you would probably get a tdi with fewer miles on the clock, also not forgetting that the sdi only has around 68bhp which is ok for a polo but not good for a golf.

If you already knew about these things then the main thing i would check for is serivce history. Frequent oil changes in this car is very important

 

[KillerHERTZ]

She basically wants a car that can go from A to B, no frills etc.

That said her current Mk3 is a 1.8 so shes going to find 68Bhp extremely slow isnt she, I didnt know that they had so little power...

 

[flango]

At lunchtime I will be going to see a 02 reg SDi Mk4 Golf, 100k on the clock for a friend.
Its listed as £3000, is black, no alloys, manual windows, casette player (shes not bothered)

Apart from the obivous, what should we be looking for?

Thanks!

That particular car is a dog, non turbo and dealers can't move them on. With 100k on the clock I personally wouldn't waste my time looking. It's also well overpriced. But if it's what she really wants then who are we to argue, personally I'd go for a TDi even if it had more miles on.

 

[d w124]

Well overpriced.For that car should be 2k tops

 

[J400uk]

Don't buy the SDI, its dangerously slow. Its got far too little power for a car of its size. I don't think the fuel economy is fantastic either, pretty sure the 1.9 TDI PD100 beats it.

They are cheap for a reason. Your much better of with any of the petrols or a TDI.

 

[J400uk]

1.8 MK3:
Fuel consumption (urban)25.4 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)44.8 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)34.4 mpg 0 - 62 mph12.1 seconds Top speed111 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power90 bhp Engine torque107 lbs/ft



1.9 SDI MK4:
Fuel consumption (urban)39.8 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)64.2 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)53.3 mpg 0 - 62 mph17.2 seconds Top speed99 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power68 bhp Engine torque98 lbs/ft


1.9 TDI PD 100 MK4:
Fuel consumption (urban)41.5 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)64.2 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)53.3 mpg 0 - 62 mph11.3 seconds Top speed117 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power100 bhp Engine torque177 lbs/ft

 

[Iain]

1.8 MK3:
Fuel consumption (urban)25.4 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)44.8 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)34.4 mpg 0 - 62 mph12.1 seconds Top speed111 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power90 bhp Engine torque107 lbs/ft



1.9 SDI MK4:
Fuel consumption (urban)39.8 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)64.2 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)53.3 mpg 0 - 62 mph17.2 seconds Top speed99 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power68 bhp Engine torque98 lbs/ft


1.9 TDI PD 100 MK4:
Fuel consumption (urban)41.5 mpg Fuel consumption (extra urban)64.2 mpg Fuel consumption (combined)53.3 mpg 0 - 62 mph11.3 seconds Top speed117 mph Cylinders4 Valves8 v Engine power100 bhp Engine torque177 lbs/ft

Says it all really!

 

[dervdoc]

iv had both i think you would be better advised in buying a tdi, sdi get really noisy, real unpleasent drone off them, tdi hold better value. the best engine out of all the tdi's i wud recommend he 100pdtdi

 

[Chattonmill]

When we bought a MK5 we were told the same, Avoid the SDi, no power and difficult to resell. There are plenty of Golfs out there to choose from so I would avoid this one if I was you!

 

[BaldGuy]

I've just bought a Mk5 2.0 GT TDI with all the toys to replace the rolled 1.8T.. I've got a beauty with the following high spec...

Full black high backed leather seats
3rd rear headrest
Heated seats
Wide Screen satnav
Cruise
6 Disk centre console mounted CD changer
Auto lights
Auto wipers

Just needs detailing to get some scratches out and the X is away in her own car again...

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Just an aside, but the 1.9 TDI motor is old and rough sounding.

On the positive side, it is tougher than old boots

 

[Gridlock]

The SDi is the Delivery Driver Special - avoid at all costs. It's the most comically underpowered engine in the world.

The 1.9TDi is a real star, my friend's does 55mpg every day and with a £40 'tuning box' from eBay is surprisingly fast. The turbo wastegate can stick sometimes but this is easy to spot.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

Agree with all the comments above. Don't buy the Golf SDI, its dangerously slow. A friend of mine has one almost the same as you describe, he's had it from new and hates it. Only reason they still have it is that they live in Central London so don't use it very much...

 

[J400uk]

The 1.9TDi is a real star, my friend's does 55mpg every day and with a £40 'tuning box' from eBay is surprisingly fast.

Thats some bad advice there, those tuning boxes should be avoided at all costs. They do more harm than good, they are cheaper than a proper remap for a reason.

Just an aside, but the 1.9 TDI motor is old and rough sounding.

Very true, but I think the point been made was the fact its still considerbly better than the SDi!

If you were buying a brand new Golf, the TSi would be the one to go for, but thats a whole new topic.

 

[GrahamC230K]

Get out and run faster, as it seems everybody has already told you. If you didn't already get the message, AVOID! I say this actually from experience of trying the next model up, I think a ~90BHP model which was a TD but also hideously slow.

I've driven the 110PS model which was great and worlds apart from the lesser model and I lived with the PD 115PS engined GT TDI for a while which was ace.

 

[w124coupe]

So, the answer to the OP is "a TDI instead!".

We have had a 110 and a 130 of the 1.9 engine over the years - the 110 is well balanced, quick enough and cheap to run.

The 130 is fast but irritating in traffic as the turbo boost on/off is quite extreme!

My view is the 110 suits the car well.

Not sure when they started but the "Match" versions had a lot of extra useful kit and were very good value.

 

[dervdoc]

better of with a pd tdi rather than a 90 or 110bhp as they use conventional injctor pump instead of unit injector system which is far better

 

[w124coupe]

I'm pleased to say I had no idea they were different - they both needed nothing but servicing and tyres for 4 years/50k miles each!

 

[GrahamC230K]

The 110 I test drove felt good. The PD 115 I could rave about all day. Fab car that I would have back any time. Wouldn't have sold it if it hadn't of needed a pesky cambelt change every 40K.