Mk4 golf appreciation thread

Is the mk4 golf the best car for a young guy?
>easy to work on
>great engine options, vr6, 1.9tdi
>reliable when taken care of
>room to fuck in the back
>seats taller drivers
>can fit a bunch of skateboards or bikes
>great mileage
>germany yo
>most were manual

Best for a young guy with a garage full of extra cv axles and a ton of disposable income maybe, otherwise no

I bought a 2002 GTI 1.8T as my first new car when I was 22. It didn't even make it 2 weeks before it back at the dealer for a leaky sunroof. Then it started to throw check engine lights ever other month.

"Oh user, its a bad mass airflow sensor, dont worry, we will get a new one to replace this one in 3 weeks"

Then the window regulators went
Then the coilpacks went
Then the leaky sunroof returned
Then the MAF sensor died again
Then 3rd gear syncro failed (dealer said that my transmission was installed incorrectly causing wear)
Then the second window regulator failed
Then the clock would go backwards randomly
Then the radio presets would erase themselves when I restarted the car
Then the coilpacks went back again but dont worry user, VW said that these will fix the issue.
Then the trunk hatch button broke
Then the radio knobs came off in your hand
Then the seat recliner handle broke off
Then it overheated on my way to work because the water pump failed
Then I traded it in for a Subaru in 2006 with only 61k miles
Then I never looked back.

I had a MkIV 20th Anniversary Edition many moons ago. Basically a normal GTi except with a black headliner and super comfortable Recaro seats.

I had no issues with it and liked it more than many of my other well regarded meme tier cars I've owned.

It died when I hydrolocked it a few feet from my garage. The cold air intake sucked up a ton of water about 50ft from my garage.

As mentioned above, if you try to get real aggressive with it you'll burn through axles due to wheelhop. The car has a really poor time of putting even flashed ecu levels of power down with it's open diff.

Postan muh golf

well user


yours was just gay

Judging by the MK4's legendary lack of reliability, his was probably par for the course.

I think they are cool and I'm in my thirties. Always wanted a hatchback.

13 years old and runs just like it did off the lot, had to do a little bit to make this car amazing, thinking about turning it into an AWD god.

Mine was a POS but had some positives.

GOOD
>sounded good (VR6)
>lots of grip in the wet
>interior was generally screwed together well and didn't rattle
>looks pretty good imo

BAD
>slow
>average fuel economy
>sensors made out of cheese, coolant and ABS sensors broke on mine repeatedly
>when (not it) an ABS sensor breaks, it disables the 4motion system (lolwut)
>passenger window motor packed up
>handled like a fucking boat
>horrible clunky gearbox
>slow
>embarrassingly slow for a 200bhp car
>literally beaten in a straight line by my girlfriends diesel Civic
>tiny boot thanks to chunky rear diff
>"seats a tall driver" if you have the seat all the way back
>Finally, the 4motion/quattro system is fucking shit, it's FWD until the wheels slip then it unceremoniously rams 30% or so of the power to the rear wheels turning your manageable understeer slide into a hellish nightmare of unpredictability.


10/10 would own another one just for the noise.

>pic related, my old shitheap

Alternatively Seat Leon, AR147.

I love my mk4 Jetta and driving it feels good. It was an autotragic and of course the transmission fucking broke. It's currently parked, as I drive a Nissan that's mostly zip ties, duct tape and rust.
Fuck that car honestly. When I could be saving for one of my 'dream cars' (cheap 90s Jap shit) I'm going to be getting another, better version of that automatic transmission.
Because I love driving it.
But seriously fuck that car
>8 grand in to a 4 grand car

>Inb4 manual swap
Too difficult, I'll be doing the work myself.

all of you faggots are ignoring the glorious ALH (I have an ALH golf that will be my DD for at least 4 more years) I grew up learning to drive our family's 3 TDIs (all were crashed by my step-dad, but they were his cars so it's cool) and I was an assistant tech at a shop that specialized in TDIs. Let me shed some light on this glorious engine
>confirmed 40-50 mpg
>can tune it to go decently fast for pretty cheap
>I have seen well over 20 of them with well over 300K miles and still running well
>fucking bullet proof engine
all you need to do is maintain it well and buy one that was maintained well and you will have the best DD ever created
I'm a college student now but my next car will either be another ALH golf or a 2004 R32

>buys a golf
>does not play golf
why is this allowed?

>easy to work on
No.
>great engine options, vr6, 1.9tdi
Fairly shit engine options really.
>reliable when taken care of
Nope
>room to fuck in the back
Nope
>seats taller drivers
Nope
>can fit a bunch of skateboards or bikes
This is a con
>great mileage
Not if you get the "great" VR6.
>germany yo
That's not inherently good
>most were manual
Nope.

How can one person be so fucking wrong?
golfs were literally built as shit boxes for women in europe.
They were cheap, unreliable, and small.

It's for the young vape cucks.

got a golf 4 from 1998, 101 hp no turbo
its fast but not REAL FUN fast
reliability is okay, motor is healthy, i have almost zero options so almost nothing gets broken down and needs replacement the biggest problem i had was having to change transmission plates


imo its the greatest car i've ever had. . . . though i've only had one

signed.

i bought a 2007 volkswagen golf with about 65k km, sold it at 95k km.

leaked or burned oil. other than that no problem

was a mk4 2.0l 5spd

slow as fuck

???

My parents still have their TDI they bought new. Very reliable, and my dad is 6ft 6in, dailys it no problem. Room to fuck, no, but he isn't completely wrong.

"It's fast"
To be naive, broke, and in high school again

10 to 100
190 max
nothing to be sad about especially for the prize of the car

the only true thing you just said is that they are a bit rough to work on and that the Vr6 doesn't get that good of mileage, but everything else is just shitposting

>best car for a young guy
>no rwd for hektik skids
every day i get more disappointed by my br/o/thers

you can get an AWD golf

I absolutely adore Golfs but always shy away from buying a used one because of all of the horror stories I've heard over the years. If I had an extra $40k to spare I would pick up a Golf R though.

I love my mk4 but posting about it on Veeky Forums is generally a bad idea.

If you can call a shitty first gen Haldex """"""""AWD"""""""" system AWD, then sure.

>As mentioned above, if you try to get real aggressive with it you'll burn through axles due to wheelhop. The car has a really poor time of putting even flashed ecu levels of power down with it's open diff.
How much power can the stock transmission handle? Is there a LSD swap available?

Did someone pay you to shitpost this badly, I'd ask for the money I gave you.

There is, can't remember how much they are, there's 2-3 options.

paid for by the fucking epa huh?

Same shit happened to mine and it's only at 93k on stock tune and boost

also two fuse blocks melted and I'm on my third set of coil packs and soon to be on my third set of shocks and springs

Two sets of mid range fk shocks failed after a year and stock feels like shit I don't know what to do

>Is the mk4 golf the best car for a young guy?
No
>>easy to work on
Not really
>>great engine options, vr6, 1.9tdi
VR6 is underpowered, TDI only good for muh mpg
>>reliable when taken care of
kek, doesn't matter how often you change your oil and coil packs, the interior is going to fall apart and the electrics will fail
>>room to fuck in the back
just like most cars
>>seats taller drivers
just like most cars
>>can fit a bunch of skateboards or bikes
just like most cars, bikes go on a rack and won't fit inside
>>great mileage
average for its class
>>germany yo
overrated
>>most were manual
Small consolation prize

average for it's class? when in the hell did 40-50 mpg become average?

>40-50 mpg
40-50 Miles per IMPERIAL gallon is very much average for a diesel yuro shitbox hatchback, you nincompoop

What is with you young fellas and these European cars?

I just saw another thread about some idiot and his Volvo.

GET. A. RELIABLE. JAP. ECONOMY. SHIT. BOX.

do I really have to repeat this over and over again?

Unless you know how to spin a wrench, can deal with breakdowns/major annoyances, and your boss doesn't give a fuck about you missing work/being late: DO NOT BUY OLDER EUROPEAN CARS OUT OF WARRANTY.

I'm willing to bet my old 450,000km benz is more reliable than any car you've ever owned.

Year and model.

I bet you it's not a Daimler-Chrysler era or present. In which case the old D models are the REAL german cars I remember and still see running.

>implying that i'm yuropoor
sorry pal, I'm from freedomland and I use freedom gallons