'97 VW Golf MK3 CL 5dr 5spd

[Umai Naa!!]

Hi everyone,

My little sister has decided to move on from her first car. It's a '97 VW Golf MK3 CL 5 door manual, with 230,000klms on it. I bought it back it January 2010 as a fixer-upper, with a plan to down-size from my Commodore. By the time I went and picked it up and paid for it, my partner and I found out we had a baby on the way. Still, we went ahead and bought the car. It had a few niggly issues, including spluttering when the fuel was low, a non-functioning reverse gear, and blinkers that wouldn't stay on.

Over time, the rego ran out, and the car sat dormant in the driveway, as we had quite a rough pregnancy and introduction to parenthood. By March 2011, my little sister was close to getting her P's, and was on the hunt for a cheap first car. I suggested the Golf to her, as it would be safe with it's dual airbags, cheap to run, and easy to drive. After some thought, she took the plunge and wanted the car. By then, it was May, so it was then time to get stuck into fixing everything, and getting it registered.

Firstly, the gearbox was removed, taken to my work at the time (A VW dealership) stripped, and a rather toothless reverse gear was replaced. While it as apart, everything else such as the bearings, synchros, seals and clutch (Replaced previously at 153,000klms) were inspected. Besides the gear itself, I only needed to replace one driveshaft seal, 12 driveshaft bolts, and the 2 driveshaft nuts. Once the gearbox was re-fitted, a couple of shift bushes were replaced, and new oil was poured in.

Next on the list, was the replacement of the battery, indicator stalk, power steering belt, and alternator/water pump belt. To cure the spluttering with a low tank of fuel, I removed the fuel pump and cradle, to find that the fuel pump had previously been replaced. However, it was sitting too high in the cradle to pick up the fuel if the tank was close to empty. An easy fix. Also of note, was a severely leaking rear shock. I replaced the rear pair with new KYB units.

The car got a blueslip quite easily at the end of June last year.

In December 2011, the decision was made to pull the car off the road for further work. I then embarked on replacing the timing belt and pulleys, water pump, thermostat, coolant, and any suspect heater hoses. The car was also given a service, with new oil and filter, a fuel filter, and a thorough check-over. With all genuine parts used, the car was handed back.

Shortly thereafter, the coil died. This was replaced, and the car has not missed a beat since.

I've been using the car for the last week or so for my daily commute from Goulburn to Campbelltown, with no real issues evident. My only real gripe is a lack of antenna mast, which our hot Aussie sun scorched to nothing over time, and a clutch cable that's on it's way out. The car drives quite ok still, although with much less clutch pedal travel.

The car itself presents ok, however, it's earnt a few scratches, dents, and blemishes over time. There's a dent on the left front wheel arch, which happened the same time as the one on the left rear wheel arch. There's also a few small dents in the bonnet. The clear coat on the roof is non-existant, and the 15 inch alloy wheels have a fair amount of gutter rash.

On the inside, it's in pretty good condition besides a completely detached roof lining, and a slightly crumbling steering wheel.

Here are a few pics of it when I first bought it, but I will post up some more recent ones once I've had a chance to give it a good clean up.







We've decided to advertise it with $3,500ono on it. We're negotiable, but wont be giving it away.