I am looking to buy one of these, had agreed on a price with a seller but think he might have agreed a price with someone else as they were offering more.

It was a 2002 model, 5dr with 72k, what sort of money are these really worth in the Golf world and when is timing belt due on them, is it part of the service shedule, ie if belt due at 60k and car has a FSH, would that mean the belt would have been done?

Also is ESP, traction control and xenon lights standard equipment on them.

And could someone explain the types of A/C available on these Golfs as we only have an old Golf with no mod cons so to speak.

I have seen adverts with manual air con and other with electronic climate control and maybe something else, whats the best one to have, looking to keep the little one cool in the back...when the sun actually does shine.

Thanks

ps. on top of that, if it turns out this car is sold, I know of a v5 for sale, totally different car engine wise and not what want ideally but needing a newer car badly...what is a fair price for a 2001, Y plate, 3 door with just under 90k, the two front tyres are knackered, one was seems to be bulged out and the other is like a slick on the edge, would this be caused by tracking being out or by misuse / accident perhaps.

Also doesn't appear to be service history, can you check these sort of things with VW direct?

I think the timing belt is 60k or every 4 years.

The UK models come with ESP as standard, if it is a European import then it will have ASR (which is just traction control) unless it was ordered with ESP as an extra.

The Xenon lights (assuming they are OEM) were an extra on the golf, I think it was part of the the winter pack which includes heated seats, headlamp washers with a bigger washer bottle and xenon lights.

As for the climate control versus aircon, I think (Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will confirm) UK models from 02 onwards came with climate control as standard, otherwise it will be an European import. As for keeping children in the back cool they will both have vents underneath the front seats to direct air to the back, the controls must be set to direct the air to your feet though.

If you ring 0800 711 811 option 3, then give the VW person the number plate they will tell you the VW service history of the car.

Xenons weren't part of the winter pack. If they are oem, they will look like the R32 ones (double fried-egg indicators). The car should have also been fitted with headlamp washers if the Xenons were fitted at the factory.

If it doesn't have them then you know they were fitted aftermarket.

With regards to the aircon/climate - the main difference is climate can (attempt to) maintain a set temperature regardless of exterior conditions, whereas aircon just pumps out air at whatever you have the temperature knob set at in the car. I have climate and to be honest i would rather just have normal a/c. I never use it on automatic and i don't like the sluggish fan control or the fact that it switches it out of ECON whenever i direct the blower to the screen. Just my opinion.

Hope that helps