Ibiza Gti scarcity

This is my first post on these forums so let me start by saying "Hi all" to everyone here.

I don't actually own a Seat right now but I'm looking to purchase one in the next few weeks or so; due to work commitments my girlfriend and I have agreed that we need a second car and for some time now I've been seriously considering the Ibiza Gti as a small, fun car with a bit of oomph under the bonnet.

However I've noticed that they seem to be few and far between these days on the carsales websites and when they do appear they seem to be pretty expensive. I live in Melbourne and one example (a black 1996 SEAT IBIZA GTi ) currently advertised on carsales.com is going for $6300. It's fairly low mileage for it's age - 114,060kms and seems to be in pretty good nick and well looked after, although the rego needs renewal. So I'm wondering is this a reasonable price to pay for what could be a great little car to drive? Is the scarcity of the model driving up the price?

Another Gti I found in a used car dealers had over 200k on the clock, had been lowered, fitted with alloys and had a botched speaker installation on the boot shelf. Also the interior was in shabby condition in addition to scuff marks on the exterior panels, exterior window seals starting to peal away in places and other minor stuff. It was advertised on the web at $4999.00 but when I spoke to the dealer he reckoned it was going for $5999.00 - I pretty much walked straight out of the door....

I have a budget of around 5 grand but I'm starting to suspect that an Ibiza Gti in decent condition is slipping out of my price range? Would you Seat afficianados agree with this?

I'm also considering going with a Cordoba if all else fails but my heart is set on the Ibiza Gti.

Thanks fellas - looking forward to hearing your opinions :bowdown:

They hold their value well cos they are the most fun to drive IMO 8v GTI is where its at.

I reckon $4.5k for one with decent ks should be achieveable, cheapies will have big ks and have had a hard life, but will still go well. Should be paying $3k for one of these.

There are not that many out there, they only sold 1000 Ibizas in Australia and lots were not GTIs.

I reckon if you are patient one will pop up, probably as soon as you give up, there will be 3 for sale.

Cordobas are cheaper and not as fast, but are more easily attainable in good nick at decent prices.

I curently have a late model manual cordoba for sale for $3300 in VGC.

I may have an Ibiza GTI For Sale in a couple of weeks, nothing at the moment.

Well my need for a new car is not urgent at the moment so I'll wait a while and see what pops up.

I remember looking at Seats a year ago and there seemed to be a few more up for sale back then - Cordobas for the most part - perhaps more people are cottoning on to their VW heritage?

The Cordoba is another option but the little Gti looks the business in my opinion - I might take the old one at the dealership out for a test drive this week to see how it goes.

If you do have a Gti come up for sale then please get in touch as I'd most certainly be interested.

If you can get hold of a well maintained gti you wont regret it.

I know the Loon loves the early 8V gti ( & he knows a hell of a lot more about them than I'll ever know :bowdown:) but I luv my cupra.

And welcome to the forum, heaps of helpful & knowledgeable people on here, I was going to sell my Seat about 18 months ago & then one Saturday morning I broke my dipstick & VW wouldn't/couldn't help me. I jumped on line & found the forum, read some threads, gave Matt a call & had a new dipstick in the post. Since then the car has been to the Nats & a couple of cruises & I remember why I got the Seat in the first place, just a great little car thats a bit different. And to think that without this forum & the people on it I probably wouldn't have my baby any longer..:brutal:

cheers

Phil

Thanks for the welcome!

Yep with a little patience and a bit of luck I can hopefully get hold of a decent Gti. Currently drive my other half's Hyundai Excel to work so I can't wait to get my hands on something a bit more fun.. and different too.

I must say I don't think I've spotted any Cupra's on the roads around Melbourne yet but I'll keep on the look out :)

Si

Personally I've driven a couple of biza GTI's and they handled and went ok for sure. However if you want a car that really handles and goes you can't go past a pommie GTI like this one.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newf...hlight=mk2+gti

That's a nice ride and looks great for it's age - definitely a lot of TLC gone in there.

There's a 1999 Cupra currently on Ebay for $5000.00 - heavily customised although personally I'd like to see one left pretty much stock - to each there own I guess...