Mk2 Golf Buyer's Guide - Thinking of buying a Volkswagen Golf Mk2? Watch this first! 

Excellent and informative. Anymore classic cars planned as I'm enjoying these?

The greatest car ever made.

I can't help but love the look of this car. True classic.

Very thorough and excellent info - thanks

Nice overview! I have your thread book marked on pistonheads 😁 16v at full chat still gets down the road at decent pace and will surprise plenty of drivers who like to tailgate 😎

Great thorough video, much appreciated. 👍🏻

Good video, mine is a type 19 16v with a GTI Engineering RE2000 engine, totally original, 2nd owner. Fabulous car, very quick and love it to bits ❤

Ahh i think ive been reading your progress thread on pistonheads! (?) when you were talking about your light renovation over the last twelve months the penny dropped 👍👍. Lovely car and yes, standard is the way to go, keep up the great work..

Great video and informative about the Mk2 recently splashed out for a Mk2 GTi 8v as their is no holiday this to year due to lock down love it way better than the mk3 GTi I had before

Can't wait for the Buyers Guide for the Cobra Mk III. So much misinformation about that classic these days, I'm sure Drew will set things straight.

Hi Drew, I know you from founding the mk1 Campaign owners club and attending a few of the annual meetings. I just want to thank you for that. I bet you wish you still had your, immaculate, mk1. I was always envious of it. Mine was always a bit fat tag compared to it. Anyway, thank you.

I couldn't believe it but I learned many things I didn't know, incredible knowledge you share there, thank you very much! What a lovely original car, a real gem!

Awesome video! I love old golf's! I had an 87 golf, wife complained about the rust, then I bought a rust free 85 golf, had it a few yrs, sold it due to needing the room. Now I have a large heated pole building and will be buying a sweet 86 golf in 2 weeks. This one has an automatic gearbox.

Nice thorough review video Drew, v good. Although I have to say it went through me every time you said "agg-zelerate" 😂

Nice to see a video with someone getting the facts right! I noticed yours has the narrower Corrado/Passat inlet manifold (3hp deficit but slightly more torque lower down to counteract the larger weight of said cars). Nice example you have there. In your plans to make it as factory spec are you getting Montreal (bottle top) wheels and non-tinted rear lights? The BBS RA's were only fitted to Big Bumper cars as I recall, along with the half tint rear lights (16v).

I’ve got a 1989 mark 2 gl with power steering central locking it’s so cool I love it, 1.8 as well

thanku drew learnt alot,thumbs up great videos

I’ve had my 92 16v GTI since 98. It’s the last year in the USA for MK2. Still a blast.

That is awesome. My mk2 GTI 8V was one of my favourite cars ever! I wish I could get away with a car that small and fun. Kids, wife and RV do not agree! haha. That is a beautiful example!

thanks it is very informative even though you missed a very important rust area (around the fuel filler) and whether the central locking (if aplicable )works quite enjoyed it even though ,thanks again chas,i know most what to look for

I got my GL (in the us) for $500. Was working at a shop and customer found it in a field and paid $300. Was missing radiator and fans. She now has 345,000 Miles on her! Looking to get that euro headlight swap for her next. Love the mk2!

I just got gifted an 89’ Jetta Mk2 1.6TD 4DR GL. Has power steering and A/C. No ABS brakes. 5 speed manual. All stock original stuff. Interior is nearly flawless. Exterior is in perfect shape minus a couple very minor rust spots. Previous owner bought it new in 88’ and only drove it in Summer. Has 205,000 KMs (like 125k miles?). Needs a little work but I love it. Wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it but decided I’m going to put some money into it. Don’t plan to keep completely stock though, but will keep most original parts

Great review and buyers guide. 17:10 16V cars have half-tinted rear lights. Wipers on GTI models should have a spoiler on the driver's side.

More of this Drew, also do a bit of food reviews, you seem a bit of a person who likes all sorts. Wonderful, if only you could get Doug DeMuro to have a go in your car, or Hoovie from Hoovies Garage. 10 out of 10, love the car, The Escort XR3i and that Peugeot was its poor competitors.

This reminds me of that punk teenager who stole his parents camcorder to shoot a garage video about his new ride but it's narrated by David Attenborough Much love 😁

I bought the 1988 54 hp golf mk2 with just 69k km on the counter. Extremely good condition! A lot of hype on these cars

Ooww nice I got one of these pretty much totally original apart from a power flow exhaust(not my doing but it does purr) in gun met grey

Good informations.

Good comprehensive video. Sadly the correct springs for the gti and 16v are no longer available which were slightly lower than the bread and butter models. Eibach lowering springs are very close to the originals though. The biggest improvement can be made, even to stock height springs is to fit bilstein b4 shocks. Considered a ‘stock replacement’ they are stiffer than the factory ones and sharpen the handling a treat without ruining the ride. A nice compromise. Finally you can get stainless arms for the sunroof win deflector second hand. The original ones rust away with enthusiasm. A nice factory upgrade.

NICE ONE

Bought my Jetta MK2 CL for about 23k Swedish crowns (1,8k pounds) it is a little bit of surface rust but almost no rust underneath. Run for 210 000km (133 500 miles)

Excellent video Drew - I have a pre-big bumper 8v on a G plate in the same Tornado red. I’m in Tunbridge Wells- any specialists you recommend?

01:53 you forgot the 1.6td with intercooler engine type SB/RA a rare 80 Hp diesel

Gl also comes with a 1.6 75 hp carburated engine.

This one has had the scuttle repaired then? 3rd wiper wiper hole has been filled in.

There's also an IC version GTD with 80hp

my friend used to have a 16v gti with ac and it went bad, it was pain in the ass to find a new one so he can replace it

You forgot to say that some of the Mk2 Gti came out with the Digifiz dashboard, the first digital one and looking like a spacecraft

Happy with this info -BUT- NO MENTION ABOUT where to find the bad RUST places- ps I have found many.on my g60.

I belive PL engines got CAT, not shure fot the PG and 1H. Yours is a KR, and I belive it should have a 50mm intake by the year of the car. Also interesting that you don't have GTI steering wheel with straight bottom arcs. MKII 4LIFE 🙂

That grille GTi 16v badge is incorrectly positioned. Mounted the wrong side of the vertical web in the grille so it’s too close to the spotlight

A few pointers not correct such as the fan not working on the 3rd speed indicates fan resistor thermal fuse failure, not 1st but not a bad review

I would add: If buying a Tornado red one be prepared to have it resprayed as it fades badly. PAS makes driving nicer but rare before '89. Check 2nd gear synchro for crunching in cold weather, very common in high milers. 5 speed was introduced as standard in 1980 (same as Porsche 924) IME Digifant gives better urban mpg but K-Jetronic better long distance mpg. K-Jet has snappier throttle response but needs 98RON or they ping and your valves seats will be ruined. Retarding timing will make it take 95RON but it will drive like a slug. Audi based engine is tough but valve guides can wear, look for smoke on hot startup. I would say the listed 0-60 times are about 1/2 second optimistic. If the temperature gauge doesn't go to 85/90c and mpg is pants then it's like to be the sender on the coolant top hose. I've had a lot of VW's

I got mine for 1000$ and it's not in perfect condition but it's pretty clean

I want a mint 1.3/1.6i, nothing special, just the golf 2 in perfect condition, ready to be a collectioners item

The video is really great 👍. You get a lot of facts right but there are some big points that are not correct.

Hi, I have a question, did not exists 2.0 16v golf 2? 9A engine code.

I would purchase the 5 door version. As for the body colour, I would go for turquoish grey. In the early 90's it was common. One drawback is the lack of reliability which means you cannot bring it far away or even on the motorway

So, any hints on what thermal weapons should be outfitted on 16v GTI? I used to go with a linearly polarized beam laser, but would always end up with some overheating issues when entering superluminal speeds. Should I buy a laser frequency stabilizer, or try something else?

Good advice, but you missed a really important potentiial rust spot, it't the area under the fuel filler cap!

Hey, just wanted to ask, does 3.3k sound ok for what looks like a very clean example for a mk2 ryder? Looks really clean, can't see any rust from pictures/videos, supposedly on bbs wheels but they must be replicas since the car is being sold for 3.3k

Great informative video, unlike these carwow or those other knob heads who just make videos on old cars for views..

Drew, why waxoil when dinitrol, buzzweld and lanoguard exist? Waxoil hides rust forming/spreading underneath it. Are pattern parts for Golfs as bad as the ones for land rovers?

You could have turned it on to finish it off correct. Let hear it!

which year is best?

I'm quite new to the car world, especially the Mk2 Golf world, so this was a very informative video Drew! Truth to be said, I found a very nice 1990 Mk2 Golf (owner said: 'it's a Manhattan', I wonder what that means lol) for around 1500 euros (1300 pounds). It looks pretty niche from the outside but I gotta admit it's travelled like 200000km. I'm a young driver, so should I get this one or look for something else? Any help is much appreciated!

So what’s the jump range on her? LoL!! Thx for sharing 🖖🏼👽

What do you make of the new golf8 gti. got one, its awesome

I guess the killer question is do they run on the new fuel? The super unleaded is ok but that may be getting withdrawn within five years.

Guys I need some help, I found a Golf GTI MK2, but in the documents is 1760cc, I repeat, 1760cc. I could not find anything about this capacity, I can see 1781cc everywhere! Please advise!

Very much rust on these mk2: fuel filler neck support and around fuel filler hole.. inside of the wheel arch too.

Nice jam jar ;)_~

can i ask when i want to buy mk2 gti 8v some have in the name PB can you tell me please what does it mean ?

I got my Golf II stolen and crashed. Bought a pimped 59 Beetle after that.

I have some videos with my mk2 golf i just started im definitely in need of some constructive criticism

So you could find a Plymouth/Talbot Horizon and do some cosmetic work to create a "fake Golf"

JTD is more reliable Sir. belive me...restored many and worked on many...

Actually my GL is fuel injected.

when the odyssey launch was so badly received that ED creators have skipped branching out to other games and are now branching out to real life

I know you don't want your comments to just be about Elite stuff all the time, but why do I picture you as a second hand SRV salesman?

Jetta?

These are impossible to find in the USA in anything but clapped condition

#ragtag

Should have shown ALL THE BAD RUSTING PLACES?

Lovely car, but I think the big bumper model is just the dogs….

advice #1: stuff your pockets with money advice#2: find a decent one... goodl. luck, especially for #2.. at least in Europe.. you are reading the buying checklist as these were mk5 Golfs, or B5 passats.. yes you could check them rigorously, but not the MK2, and especially not GTI .. No accident damage.. C'mon....😂

Never liked the golf never seen the appleal suppose it was better made than an escort

Buy a 16v.....miles faster all round