just generally what kind of things do i need to look out for? i.e. where should VIN numbers be etc?

going to look at a gti on saturday and not 100% sure on what to look out for, any help would be great, cheers

Panel gaps
flakey paint
Crappy colour match
Worn steering wheels and pedals
Noisey engine
smokey exhaust
Service history and v5 etc

stupidly clean engine bays
paint dabs on parts - usely marked by scrappies
different shades of paint, look at the car in sunlight and at as many angles as you can
paint where there shouldnt be
uneven wear on tyres
rust
bent chassis legs or rust on the
milage discrepencies on mot or services

too much wear for the milage

overspray on the car and windows
check all the doors ad bot open off te one key
if its remote central locking, make sure when you buy it you get both fobs and they both work, and get both sets of keys

maybe save a bit of cash and take it to a aa garage or summit when you down there, they do 125 point checks and will tell you if its a good car

general gut feeling

106 gti? if so ive just sold my vts check for steering knocks! by doing this go from lock to lock with the wheel when still! apart from that they are pretty sound cars! its safe to say i didnt treat my vts the best and i had minimal problems with it and did over 10k in it! but service history and previous mots are a must mate! and be concious of the owner i.e young lad because the likely hood he will of given it alot of grief!

yeah i had the knocking problem on my quiky matey, but peugeot had it 3 times and could never figure out the problem and it never affected my car. lads had it from new and only selling because he's just bought a lotus