please help, whats this worth, may buy it.

[gribur]

93 golf td 4door, hardly any rust, needs paint job, no sun roof, not sure if thats good or bad? opinions on that please.  Pump recently done, new starter, runs well, drives well. So only downfall i see is that it needs a paintjob. any idea what i should be paying for it?  The odometer reads 238,000km and it says total, so i am pretty sure that means it hasnt turned over the 300,000 km mark before, correct me if i am wrong.  i am also trying to figure ouy, is it better to buy a car that has a good engine and needs paint or should i look for a mint body and an engine that needs work?  thanks for your help guys
cheers

[79rabbit4dr]

hardly any rust, needs paint job, [...] is it better to buy a car that has a good engine and needs paint or should i look for a mint body and an engine that needs work?  thanks for your help guys
cheers

I vote buy it IF "HARDLY ANY RUST" means no holes, just surface rust.

I don't like dealing with sunroofs on older cars so it's a plus in my book.

Is it worth the asking price to you? Try offering a reasonably low offer, maybe they're dying to get rid of it.

Try to tell yourself, "there will be another one, no big deal" that puts you in a better bargaining position.

[gribur]

it has no holes, just surface rust around hatch window. and around driver rear door handle.  i have a golf td right now but frame is twisted so i can use the door off of that one.  i guess i could just strip all of the good engine parts, pump,turbo etc off the the one i have now also so i have back ups in case of any failures.  does anybody want to try to give me a list of parts to take off of the td engine i already have, parts that are expensive, tend to fail or need replacing after a while.

[Patrick]

Keep th whole engine/transmission, you never know what's going to break!

[catlin_cava]

When it says "Total" it hasn't turned over yet...Now from a MK3 Owner...if its got no floor holes and runs good Buy it. 

[theman53]

post pics.
Going through my build of a rusty MKII I would buy the car if it had no rust just to look at. Then I could start kicking myself at the resurection project that I have done. The engine and trans work is cake compared to fixing rust holes and that junk. At least it is for me. I can take the engine down and put it back together in a couple hours. I have done it 3 or 4 times since I have been working on it. It is all good reasons like the TDI crank sproket mod, oil squirter paste, and put good rings in after some hear had problems with the brand I had.
Depending on how picky you are in if the rust is noticable you maybe able to have it detailed and come back to life. 3M has this perfect-it stuff that will buff just about anything:D

[gribur]

i am now thinking that the luxery of having a sunroof is outweighed buy the fact that if i dont have one it will never leak or stick.  I am supposing that if the paint issue does bug me i can take it to maaco for a cheap spray to get me through the year and save for a good job for next summer.  The engine and trans are great, rebuilt injection pump, new starter, timing belt done, new glow plugs, injectors, rad. interior headliner is drooped in 1 section but i am sure adhesive will take care of that.  It is red on black which will be nice once paint is done, i think i will leave all original parts on it until just before repaint and then swap on the textured bumpers and trim, new door and hopefully betwwen now and then find a clean hatch for cheap.  The great thing is that the owners seem very honest , have receipts for work done and live very close and seem to know a lot about diesels. any more ideas, comments on value etc would be great.
cheers guys

[gribur]

getting closer to buying it. its not pretty but a paintjob and some loving and i think it may be great.  i just hope diesels are all they are cut out to be.

[theman53]

What?
Diesels are the bee's knees.

I honestly see no disadvantage of diesels other than some filling stations around here don't have it.

[redneck_vdub]

If I were you, I'd be buying that golf in a heartbeat. So it needs a paintjob, big deal! If your any good with bodywork/painting you can do it in your garage! If you don't buy it, I will lol!

[gribur]

i am going to buy it. in the works right now. no doubt will be good car. present owners are good guys and seem really honest.  plus they know their diesels!