Blog#2

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 1.9 TDi

So, this is where I’d expect a blog about a Volkswagen mark 5 Golf to show a picture(s) of the car when it was first purchased: I’ve been through all my photos and WhatsApp’s with Mrs Obi and P but I cannot find a single full picture of it when I first bought it so here’s the earliest full picture I have

A year or so after passing my driving test the Mark 5 Golf was released and I immediately fell in love with it. I’ve always loved VW’s, I love the cars and the scene that comes along with it has always seemed super friendly! I’ve always bought little ornaments of VW Camper vans and have owned many T-shirts with Camper vans and Beetles on the front. I remember looking at how much a new Mark 5 Golf would cost me, then calculating how many pay days I’d need to save up to afford one, then laughing to myself and realising that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Here We Go Again

I’d cleverly sold our only car on the Sunday morning, so P kindly drove me to meet the seller who was about a 30 minute drive away. The seller was very honest about the condition of the car, what they’d used it for and the work they’d done to it which included some welding on both sills.

We did the traditional walk around and around the car a few times whilst making small talk, kicked the tyres, started the engine and did some listening. P checked the colour of the coolant and the underneath of the oil cap for any milky looking goo then we all jumped in and went for a test drive.

Lesson time: It’s always a good idea to do the basic check of the colour of the coolant and the top of the oil cap just in case there’s any water/coolant mixing with the engine oil. If the coolant looked nasty or there was a milky goo on top of the engine oil cap, this could mean something sinister was happening with the engine; this would be the right time to say “thank you” and go home.

I immediately fell in love with the Golf, it had some great torque, handled well and sounded quite nice too. The seller explained that it had had a stage one re-map at some point but there was no paper work as proof (turns out proof of re-mapping is one of the most illusive pieces of paper work in the VW community).

Lesson time: A re-map is essentially a change to the software in the cars computer (ECU) to alter how the engine performs. There’s lots of different “maps” that can be done but usually it involves the car having increased power afterwards.

My only niggle about the car was whether Mrs Obi was going love it or hate it, P convinced me she’d like it so when we got back to the sellers house I went ahead and bought it. The seller wanted £800 in the advert but with some professional level haggling we managed to knock £100 off the asking price.

The Package

In exchange for £700 I received:

• A 2007 Volkswagen Mark 5 Golf
• A 1.9 TDi PD105 Engine
• 5 doors
• Cruise control (working too!)
• Adjustable arm rest
• 1st generation iPod docking station inside the armrest compartment
• CD Player
• Automatic window wipers
• Automatic lights
• Electric windows (front and back)
• Full size multi-function display
• Steering wheel controls
• Stage 1 re-map (quite possibly true as it feels fast)
• Straight through and centred exhaust
• Damage to drivers door and drivers side front wing. By the looks of it the door has been caught by the wind at some point and flung open causing damage
• 4 alloy wheels – all quite badly damaged
• Welded sills from rust damage and waxoil sprayed along the sills and about 3 inches up the bottom of the doors in the shape of GTi skirts to protect from further rust.
• x2 rusting wings
• Various stone chip damage to the paint work
• 1 key

I arrived home, excited but kind of anxious as to how Mrs Obi was going feel about it. She’d not been driving long and had got used to driving the 5008; sitting up in a comfortable position, quiet engine, gentle acceleration. Now she’s about to get in and lay down and hear a loud engine with lots and lots of torque.

“Weeeeeeeeeeeee” she exclaimed as she bombed down the road; this was a good sign.

I was extra happy now, she really did like the new car – good times!

A Work in Progress

Obviously the first port of call when I got the car back home was to grab a tyre iron and check every single wheel nut on the car; happily, all the wheel nuts were tight (sigh of relief).

The worst looking damage was the drivers side door and front wing The seller didn’t say how this happened but the evidence suggests at some point the wind took that door and smashed it backwards in ways it should not bend.

I liked the sound of the straight through exhaust and you don’t see many about so it’s unique but the finish didn’t look that great. A piece of the bumper had been badly cut out and there was no end piece.

The interior needed a good clean; although we’re far from being professional detailers me and P pride ourselves on being extra when it comes to detailing cars, our standards are very high. The exterior paint work felt rough and looked dull so this would also need a good clean.

The sills on both sides had been patched up (I’ve never used a welder but I imagine I’d be a lot neater than the welder who did the sills on this car).

All in all though I was super happy with our new car. It was fun and felt responsive and fast when driving; this was like a mirror image of the 5008 that basically felt like you were sailing a big wobbly car down the road.

The Plan

Whilst looking at the damaged door and wing I had a great idea; I’m going to Rat Rod my Golf!

Lesson time: Rat Rodding is a part of the car scene where owners intentionally make their cars look rough and rusty focusing more on the mechanical side of things and swaying away from a shiny paint job.

After getting excited about my new project idea and spending a few hours falling down a Rat Rod black hole on YouTube I eagerly broke the news to my family that I wanted to rust up, batter and sticker bomb our family car.

At this point my youngest and eldest daughter disowned me proclaiming “I’ll never get in that car again if you do that!” and “please, please don’t do it! Mrs Obi expressed (rather aggressively) that she was less than keen in supporting my latest project idea to “Rag Tag or whatever the fuck you call it” the car. The middle daughter, however, was quite excited and liked the sound of the project.

Unfortunately, in this house we live in a democracy and three votes to two wins every-time so the Rat Rod dream was nothing more.

The new, less complicated plan, going forward will be to tidy the car up, detail the paintwork and interior, fix the rust, dents and bangs and make it look fresh and clean, then we can see about a new plan.

Thanks for reading

Obi x