How old is too old???

[PeteG40]

I've owned g40s since 2002 (when i was 23) and g40s weren't that cheap to buy,  but you paid up to £3000, got a decent 10 year old car which hadn't been to the moon and back and had a decent service history.  Being 23 it was quite a lairy car, fun and not too uncool!!(jeez my best mate had a micra!)

6/7 years later, I'm still running around in a red g40 (albeit a different one)  the state of cars for sale is awful - real sheds, even decent ones are showing their age.  People stripping underseal off are finding holes in shells etc. etc.  I drive around in a car everyone thinks is old and knackered!

So - are they cars getting too old to pick up and use a decent one regularly? or are they getting to the mk1 golf stage, where they need to be restored - should we be retiring g40s to weekend cars and buy something 10 year old like when i was 23 (polo gti?)

Or am i just getting old??? do i feel the pressure of colleagues etc to be a consumer and get something new or the need to do more and more work on my car?

your thoughts please

[Max]

Because the prices are falling with them, they get into the wrong hands and get unloved and just get progressively worse.
Mines retired to a weekend car now.

[NeilG40]

Well I've had mine since 1997 and I'm now 36, granted it's been sat in the garage for at least the last two years but I've no intention of parting with it.

[Nick_S]

I would say its time to retire the G40 to some garage space. When parts for these have started to go obsolete then that tells you something!

[supercharged spaniel]

well im 24 and i always wanted a g40... two years ago i gotmine..it was in a bad shape.  ive slowly tried to get it to a good standard and i love it..it does cross my mind though that i should buy something else and keep this until the time comes that i can fully restore it 100% interesting thread. i shall add more when i come back.

[hayesey]

Well I'd have to agree with you Pete since I've consigned my g40 to a "weekend" car and bought a ten year old passat to drive around in. Although it's certainly not a performance car, I do a lot of miles in it.  It's a proper tank of a thing too, I reversed it into a tree today and there's not a mark on it!

[G-spot]

Well I original gave up Polo's back in 2004 when I had a Mk2 Coupe S which amitidly I bought as an in between car in 2001 as my 928S2 was eating a large hole in my wallet just as I was buying a house.  But within 3 years I saved a bit of cash and toy'd with the idea of having a G40, but the few I seen had been overly abused for the asking prices, so instead I bought myself a New Civic Type R(thanks to a little cash windfall), which I wasn't keen on when they first came out but the rave reviews convinvced me it was the car for the job, so then the Polo Coupe S left me.......(not far though as my father took it of me as it was in top shape for its age).
13 Months later(May05)  the Civic burst into flames on the way to work along the M4, eek couldn't believe it but though with Honda being the repitible company it was I'd be back on the road with a new car within month.  So armed once again with my old Coupe S, I relised how simple and reliable the old VW was.  A month passed and still no help at all from Honda as they denide there car was at fault.  I realised I was going to need a full time replacement, and with my previous knowledge of Polo's and the hunted out my current G40.  Now a family man of 33 I still use it daily despite its reasonbly high mod status, and currently have know intention of giving it up.  With a garge full of parts and good engineering knowledge I pretty sure I can keep it usable past its retirement age.

Oh, I did eventually get a full payout from Honda, but not outta there own pockets but from there insurance company, and they had the cheek to invite me to buy another when everyone new it was soon to be replced with the newer(softer)CTR.  Sorry Honda, great car, but crap people to deal with!!

[giorgio]

I rescued my G from a life of abuse. 3 owners in about 2 years meant they would buy it, smash the living shit out of it and then sell it.

I use my G as a daily and have racked up nearly 1000 miles on it in the last month. I have sorted out so many niggly problems that I can honestly say wouldn't get fixed if it was a weekend toy.


Its not so much the age but the quantity. There is an inverse relationship between Supply of Parts and Demand. My part breaks, meaning total supply has gone down. At the same time I now need a new part from the diminishing supply.

The problem was always inevitable although at 15 years alot of the cars are showing their age

[dannyb.G40]

depressing thread boys n girls, i feel really guilty for driving mine daily! The worst issue with mine are little rust patches coming through and quite a lot of lacquer peel, im just saving up the pennies at the mo for a respray.

[wozzaG40]

Well i use mine a a daily, wish i didnt have to rack up the miles as it's getting near 135,000 but im quite happy to get a full rebuild done (helps to know mechanics who own G40's cheaper parts an labour) even though people keep asking me why i waste my money on an old car. I think the problem is people just can't be bothered to plow money into them hear an there, they expect all the fun out of a 15 year old car without considering that it might want something back one day.

But even my plan is to retire the car to an occasional/weekend car an buy a motorbike for commuting so maybe its inevitable that the G40 will only ever be seen on a sunday or at a show, i meen how old can they get untill all the mod cons & technology take over completely or they ban cars over a certain age?

[giorgio]

[quote pid=1940 author=wozzaG40 date=1214427669] i meen how old can they get untill all the mod cons & technology take over completely or they ban cars over a certain age?[/quote]


**put on tin foil hat**

Viva La Revolution.

Gordy B will have your money, if not by cars by some other means

[wozzaG40]

[quote pid=1942 author=giorgio date=1214427977]
Gordy B will have your money, if not by cars by some other means[/quote]

Aint that the truth

[supercharged spaniel]

[quote pid=1929 author=supercharged spaniel date=1214418475]well im 24 and i always wanted a g40... two years ago i gotmine..it was in a bad shape.  ive slowly tried to get it to a good standard and i love it..it does cross my mind though that i should buy something else and keep this until the time comes that i can fully restore it 100% interesting thread. i shall add more when i come back.[/quote]

right im home and ive been thinking...just been to a local cruise/meet thing a bit chavy to be honest and i havent been for nearly a year and lo and behold the car still attracts attention!  even in standard looking form!  you see people and can lip read them say 'Gee forty'...which is nice and i even had someone check it out..so its true the g40 does still 'have it'

for me the engine isnt a big worry when it comes to longevity afterall they can be rebuilt over and over if needs be and there will always be parts if you really need them although finding some parts will get more difficult.  its the shell thats the worry but aferall look at what state some mk1 polos go from - to.

i love mine as a daily and milage doesnt worry me either but yes they are getting older but if you give it love don't stack it then they should last and as the people who ruin them ...ruin them that leaves the good ones left more and more rare.  keep as many original parts together and have an honest original car is worth more as time ticks by...just look at old beetles 1950'5/60's, even in horrendous states if they have the period features they fetch fortunes!!

end of the day anythng can be restored/rebuilt if you have the time and the money to do so!

[Alex]

I stopped using mine as a daily last September, it's actually quite nice not to be worrying about niggles because I can take my time sorting them out and not be faced with them every day on the way to work. But I do miss driving it, and every time I take my car out I remember what it is I like about it.

The time apart has made me appreciate it more though. TBH, I think now I'd rather run a cheap daily than run mine into the ground as a workhorse.

[Andy]

I retired my G40 (conversion) to a weekend car over 18 months ago - because I kept tinkering with it, it encouraged me to drive like too much of a twat, and mainly that it was embarassing in certain situations turning up in a 15 year old shopping trolley.

I'd started to find myself making excuses for it to friends, family and colleagues - the educated amongst them understood, but to a non-petrolhead it's just a shite old chavved up car.