Is rust much of an issue with mk3's?

[Ben J]

So this morning we went out looking at some cars, we'd seen a 97 golf GL advertised at one of the used car dealers so stopped in and asked if they had it, we were told it was not there, getting a roadworthy and stuff, and that it would be back on thursday.

Anyway we had a look around at other cars, and found the golf they supposedly didnt have around the back, looking as though it was in quite shocking condition... didn't look to closely but the skirts, brakes and some of the other panels had quite large patches of rust. I presume they were going to clean it up abit and such before they sold it but still, was a bit of a wakeup call i suppose...

I know cars of this age arent going to be perfect, but is this sort of a 1 off thing, or do all the golfs and such this age have this sort of problem? How much can you really trust photos and stuff when buying a used car, do people actually photo shop them?

Was thinking about buying a vr6 from another state without even seeing it, but not so sure anymore really...

[h100vw]

Rust isn't usually an issue with MK3s in my experience. In the UK though, the tailgates sometimes rotted through around the wiper. Also, if the windscreen was changed by a less than accomplished tech, they would damage the paint which would cause rust to appear under the rubbers.

Certainly there shouldn't be any in the middle of panels.

Gavin

[Tim]

mk3s actually do have some rust issues.

Places to check are
the front corner section of each sill. Drain holes get blocked up and water collects.
Around the rubber seals near door hinges.
Lift the rear seats and check for rust in the floorpan. This is where water pools if there are any leaks in the boot.
If you have a sunroof check around that whilst the roof is open. Most sunroofs were locally installed and some of the jobs can be a bit dodge.

[peedman]

Yeah its not a common thing to have rust in mk3's but u need to look out for it just in case. Tim has pretty much pointed out most of the places, i would also check the rubber strips on the roof as sometimes u will see small rust bubbles.

Ive had x3 mk3's and the worst rust i had was a small patch on the door sill. The others didnt have a spec on them.

[Mrk_Mickey]

Upon taking mine apart for respray, I've found a few patches of rust behind the window seals. They aren't that bad, and I've fixed them now without any cutting or anything, but I didn't truly expect it to be honest.

[Ben J]

alright. thanks for the replys.

Was quite shocked when i saw this one, should have taken a few photos, it was quite bad. The interior looked extremely worn and stuff too.

Need some vr6's up here in qld :S

[Golf Loon]

I`m starting to see a few rusty Mk3s. Mostly ones that have lived by the ocean too long.
Most common is where the door seal meets on the back 2 doors, under the filler flap and in the tailgate as Gavin said.
Mostly if they look good and drive well, the rest is good.
Most Vr6s have had hard lives, so accident repairs and other issues are common.
I would recomend the 1.8 or 2L over a Vr6 for young drivers. Good buying at the moment, there are some real bargains.

[Ben J]

mm choosing a car is so confusing -.- It was reading vr6 on a list of fast p-plate legal cars a year or 2 back which brought me to my intrest in vw's.. pretty much got my heart set on one after reading/looking at em.. but in reality i probably wont be able to affrod to keep one running, especially knowing my luck So maybe ill look for something really cheap, to get around the place, until i move into a real job next year and maybe try and snipe a mk4 r32, or atleast a vr with cash to make it nice/keep it going

[SpeciP3]

Most common is where the door seal meets on the back 2 doors, under the filler flap and in the tailgate as Gavin said.

Yeah i had some rust in the drivers side rear door, underneath where the seal meets. It looked as though the metal joiner in the seal had actually caused the problem in the first place, and the car itself then corroded a bit too. Certainly check this out because it's not an easy job to fix.
Also check plastic strips along the roof and roof seals inside the doors, as water pools under them and does not evaporate out easily.