RE: Décision time

[Geraint Lloyd]

That Golf 2 came from me originally
I have an 87 8v and it's great as a daily driver. 
My biggest hassle though is getting into the driver's seat par the roll cage
with big snow boots on.
Maybe I'm obsessed though. I had my 1st one in 96 and have had at least one
at a time since then (max was 5 with 2 road, one rally and 2 parts cars).
And I hate Mk3s.......

Having had a 97 passat (3B0), I also agree with the maintenance issue. It's
an A4. 
It was a 1.9TDI 110hp wagon and I changed 7 out of 8 front suspension arms
and had issues with the driver's side rear central locking actuator and
sticky window lifter guides that used to make the windows bounce up and down
when closing as the resistance would easily get past the "child's head stuck
in the aperture" level of resistance. I gave it to my in-laws in 05 when I
left France. Failures and servicing were minimal and similar to my dad's
1998 A4 saloon 1.9 TDI 110hp. He had a slightly better interior, but did
mention that he would probably trade that for the ability to transport 2
adults in the back without having to amputate their legs at the knees and
without paying for an A6. Well the intervals were similar, but I used to do
the work myself and I remember rubbing it in a bit when he had a cam belt
change. It cost nearly 4 times as much at the dealer, including buying the
locking tools as well as the belt(s) locking tool, tensioner and roller.

Apart from that it was great and the father in law still uses regularly it
at around 260K km with no major issues since apart from the rad fan choosing
to explode last time I was over there and I took it for a quick "shakedown"
on some back roads.....

Geraint