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Advice on mk3 g40

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:17 pm
by markie
Hey im new and jsut joined for some advice on a mk3 g40.

Right well ill fire off with all the questions i have in a list :lol: .

What are they like to drive?

What kind of prices i should be looking for, iv saw a g40 locally which i meet to owner at a meet the car has a cat c but has been repaired and only has a dent in the rear quoter and will need a respray and i think he was looking for 1500, but i think for this it should be more close to 1000?

What kind of mpg etc do you get?

Are the parts cheap?

oye this will be my first car if i go for one and iv got cheap insurence as iv checked.


thanks in advanced

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 2:31 pm
by DanDiesel
welcome to the forum!

g40s are great little cars, fast and fun. they are getting rarer though so prices are likely to rise.
the youngest examples will be nearly 15 years old so expect many to have some damage to the exterior unless they have been wrapped in bubblewrap all their lives :lol:

there are a few things to check, the first and most critical thing to check would be the condition of the supercharger. has it been serviced or even rebuilt.
most people recommend that a charger should be rebuilt at around the 60k mark.
many will have been ragged silly so check service history is upto date aswell.

there are a couple of people on the forum with a G40, one being my brother, hes trying to get his back to a factory condition. i'm sure they will be able to put more input into this thread than i have.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:48 pm
by markie
cheers. i think im looking at 2 grand well about that for a decent one.

and im swain to the g40 as its the cheapest car i can insure for the power lol.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:45 am
by jonboy
g40s can be a bit nasty, they have a lot of power for their size, are you sure its a suitable first car?
a lot of people will say they are expensive to maintain. the thing is a lot have been modded and they obviously require more looking after. mine is pretty much stock engine wise and is reliable as hell. allow for two oil changes a year and put a bit of cash away for charger rebuilts and they arent anymore expensive to run than a normal polo. mpg wise its just as good as the other polos, till you boot it, then you can watch the fuel gauge drop!

i really wouldnt recommend it as a first car as its likely to put you in a ditch, of the 6 foot down variety

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:55 am
by olop_chris
I used to own a G40 for a while last year, they're great cars...I personally thought mine was..."kind of" reliable, never let me down apart from a few coughs down the line!

As stated, reliability will vary greatly, dependant on the tune the engine has received.

To drive, they are great fun, sound great, but don't handle great...or brake great! However, there are a few mods out there that can help solve this!

I think a sensible power output for the G40 would be circa 150bhp to keep it fairly reliable and is still rapid at that in my opinion!

As Dan said about the supercharger, the service intervals can depend on what sized pulley is used...the smaller the pulley, the quicker it will need servicing.

Example: a 68mm pulley, charger should be serviced around every 40,000 miles.

Hope that comes of some help to you, others on here will be able to help you out!

Cheers, Chris

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:54 pm
by SpikeyG40
you may need a bit more than 2k for a decent G40! i paid £1800 for mine and it had one foot in the grave!

out of interest, would you mind me asking what your insurance quote is for the G? they're group 15 and i'm pretty dam sure equivalants are lower, i.e. uno turbo, R5 turbo.

Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:27 pm
by jonboy
[quote="SpikeyG40"]you may need a bit more than 2k for a decent G40! i paid £1800 for mine and it had one foot in the grave!
quote]

i paid 1300 for mine 2 years ago, only needed a good polish

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 11:18 am
by DanDiesel
jonboy wrote:i paid 1300 for mine 2 years ago, only needed a good polish
u got lucky then fella :D

Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 8:39 pm
by G40_steve
Paid £3000 for mine about 6 months ago, its in showroom condition with original paint, original stereo, original spare wheel and tyre from new, 84,000 miles with full VW history, Jabba History for the charger (stage 4) and 3 owners! I love it to bits, fantastic little car BUT I would not have one as a first car! Don't take this the wrong way but one of these beautys in inexperienced hands could be lethal and also another G off the road!