purchased: VW Bora

[Cliveski]

Girlfriend is looking at VW Bora's . . .

Anyone know anything about the 1.6 (16v) and 2.0 models ?? things to look out for, etc . . .

Also she has her Alfa for sale so if anyone is interested just PM me or ask . . .

Cheers

Edited May 14, 2007 by Cliveski

[Saz]

Girlfriend is looking at VW Bora's . . .

Anyone know anything about the 1.6 (16v) and 2.0 models ?? things to look out for, etc . . .

Also she has her Alfa for sale so if anyone is interested just PM me or ask . . .

Cheers

PM DickyP - he's had 2 Bora's, 2.0 Sport and 1.8T

[NOCK]

Only 1K for an Alfa 156 are you joking? I would snap your arm off, but my insurance would be more like 100K! lol

NOCK

[telf911]

I currently have a 2.0 SE Bora, 2000 on X reg. Had it 2.5 years, its covered 90000 miles and i've had one or two probs;

Window reg failure, on both front doors

Passenger front door wouldn't open, either from inside or outside

Rear sub frame bushed need replacing

Front ARB droplinks need replacing

MAF sensor needed replacing

Waterpump broke (should have been changed when timing belt was done)

On the plus side, its very comfortable, all round leccy windows, rain sensing wipers, auto dip rear view mirror, leccy mirrors, remote central locking, nice (dealer fit option) BBS RXII alloys, pearlescent black bodywork. Its a capable cruiser, but not very quick. The engine is an old design 8valve model, and only has 115BHP and not much more torque.

I'd have another, but not a petrol one. I'd go for a 130 or 150 TDI if iwas to have another (which is what i wanted originally but were too pricey).

Let me know if you want any more info.

[MattyB]

I'll tell you one thing - avoid the 1.6 and the 2.0 8v!

Always liked DickyP's 1.8Turbo though, went for a song at about 5k. Nice cars, better looking than the Golf too (and drive better aswell)

[nfbr]

try and avoid getting a sport model - Try getting a well equipped SE instead... The seats in the SE arent quite as good, but the sport comes with Ridiculous amounts of fake wood splattered all over the dash board, which would make anyone want to create a Sea of Vom.

[Rob GTI]

Could you post some pics of the Alfa please? And some more info on it

Cheers

[Tigz™]

Id get something more reliable.

Like a Vaxhaull.

[Cliveski]

Thanks for the info people - it's funny you mentioned a Vauxhall as the other car she is looking at is a Vauxhall Astra Coupe 1.8

I hear what you say about the 1.6 and 2.0 models but she wants to get a year 2000 (or newer) car with less than 60k miles that is cheap to insure . . . . . all for £4k max . . . her budget won't stretch to a 130/150 TDI and the 1.8T too much on insurance . . . . . there is however a 1.9 TDI in 110bhp /115bhp form that might be cheap enough . . . . will investigate . . . .

Is it just on performance you are all saying to avoid the 1.6 / 2.0 ???

Anyhow, Alfa Pics / Info:

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1998 car, 3 owners from new, Metallic Burgundy/Red, 76k miles, Serived every year (all bar one Alfa / Alfa specialist), Last Serviced in December, MOT December, Tax July, All MOT's from new, Cambelt done at 50k something miles, Multi-CD, 4 x Electric Windows, Electric Mirrors, Electric Sunroof, Remote Central Locking, Leather Wheel, Alloy Wheels, Climate Control.

Bad Bits:

Climate Control has stopped working - I acquired a new compressor thinking the old one had packed up but prior to changing it over I topping up the gas in the system and would you believe it - it started working so the original compressor works fine. I assume there is a leak in the system somewhere as it stopped working again after a couple of days.

Still have the new compressor (to sell on) and would give any buyer first refusal on it for £100.

Sunroof did leak (a common problem) but that has been fixed by me - but when doing so I cracked one of the interior plastics on the B piliar. Sunroof needs adjusting as there is slight wind noise.

Front near-side wing has a couple of nasty scrapes and needs replacing really. I have a replacement wing (in the correct colour which appears to be an excellent match) to include in sale.

The nearside rear corner (where the tail light is) was clipped by something big leaving a nasty bump/scrape on the corner (metal beneath tail light / on bumper) I have since touched this in with Alfa Paint as I imagine it would be expensive to fix (I reckon I did a good job too).

Front nearside door has a small dent which I also touched in.

Mirror caps are now black (not colour coded) as one got broke and I replaced them with standard versions

Lots of small marks on the paintwork, stone chips, feint scratches etc due to age. Many have been touched in.

Alloys all have build up of brake dust. Front lower grille mesh has a hole in it.

Overall it's not ever going to look mint unless you spend a lot of money on it - it looks reasonable at the moment and for £1k your getting a decent car and decent engine (worth at least £500 alone I would guess).

[leddy]

cliveski id highly recommend an astra coupe.

the 1.8 isnt a bad engine either. its about 128bhp if i remember correctly and do pull quite well.

Idle control valves seem to go all the time on them though although they are cheap to fix. i used to have a 2.0 sri hatchback which was a cracking car. just would have prefered the 1.8 as its a much better engine. Aim for a 2.2 coupe though. they arent expensive to insure and they are a very good engine indeed. quite a hidden gem in vauxhalls crown id say.

Edited May 11, 2007 by leddy

[Cliveski]

Well we took all your advise on board and bought a VW Bora 2.0 SE style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" /> girlfriends budget simply wasn't enough for a decent TDI with ok mileage.

We looked at an Astra Coupe but it was a bit dodgy - too many small things 'wrong' with it.

Looked at a different Bora and it was a good one but too many marks on the bodywork for my liking - did however negotiate a really good price on it - but said I wanted to sleep on it. Finally we viewed the one we eventually bought and all was good. Better still I was able to use the other Bora 'deal' I had been offered to negotiate £800 off the asking price and we picked it up for £3,000 in the end.

It's a 2000 W reg, 53k, Silver, Alloys, Multi-CD, FSH (just done), Long MOT, Short Tax.

First Impressions - BIG boot, well built, refined, performance is adequate.

Need to get the Timing Belt / Tensioner done but at least then I know it really has been done! I have also learned that the standard water pump is pants and it's better to fit one with brass impellers so at least I can ensure that is done at the same time.

Reliabilty wise the 2.0 seems to fair a bit better than other models - I have read however that the 2.0 8v engine can use a lot of oil so will have to keep an eye on that (something to do with a design fault with the piston rings that VW deny).

Will post some pics if anyone interested?

[leddy]

yeah mate get some pics up!!

hope im doing the lupo proud btw mate. im glad to see you still have the interior pic in your avatar style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />