1998 VOLKSWAGEN Golf reviews

Volkswagen Golf GT TDi 1998

Bought from a friend in 2008 with 120,000 miles on the clock and a well-worn interior. I paid £500 intending to keep it a year, chuck it in the skip, then buy another cheapo, since the only thing I use a car for is a 40 mile daily commute. Pleasure driving is a thing of the past. I had it serviced when I bought it, but the oil filter wasn’t put on properly (not that I knew at the time). A few months later, the engine became noisy and we discovered that there was less than a litre of oil in it. I changed the filter, topped it up with oil and waited for it to die. It’s now at 170,000 miles, has had all of four tyres, front brake pads and two more oil changes, and still it refuses to die. It returns a tank average of 62mpg if the onboard computer is to believed, although my maths puts it at nearer 55mpg (50mph commute in single lane traffic tops). I absolutely cannot fault this car. The acceleration is pokey enough on the rare occasion there isn’t a HGV in front of me. Some bloke hit the mirror assembly while I was parked, and it flew into pieces - but nothing broke. It was just a case of clicking everything back into place. Looks well-worn, sounds hideous thanks to the engine damage from running low on oil, but continues to chug along without a problem.