So my subie finally died on me, Blew a head gasket. Tired of paying money to fix the damn thing. So I'm picking this up tomorrow.



1987,85k miles,Basic everything.

What did you do with the Subaru? I swear to god ill come trailer it home if i can have it.

Posted by big dave What did you do with the Subaru? I swear to god ill come trailer it home if i can have it.

It's sitting in my driveway right now, Taking up space.

Gas/Diesel?

How many electrical fires so far?

so much win.

1.8L?

Posted by Professor Chaos so much win.

lulz

I like it... but if you thought the Subie had annoying problems, you're going to need psychiatric help when you're through with a Mk 2.

Try changing your antifreeze on a regular basis...

Posted by steponmebbbboom Try changing your antifreeze on a regular basis...

Heh, that IS what my friend does on his rust-mobile.

It's gas,1.8L.

And I did have to change the antifreeze on my last car on a daily basis..
Spent more on Antifreeze then gas..

And as far as I know, No fires.

And it is NOT staying stock.

Let me guess the VW's getting turbo charged!!!

Ah I have a VW of similar vintage and I love it very very much and and spending far too much money on it this summer

1989 Fox GL


Not to threadjack

People either love vintage VW's or hate them. There is no in between, this is something you will come to learn driving one

Edit:
One more thing. Old VW's have a bad rap, but these 1.8L's are BULLETPROOF. I have same engine in mine, but with different throttle body, etc. and it has never failed me, not once.. Besides a new alternator and cooling fan when I first bought it, but nothing since then and it's been about 15k miles

Just service it regularly and it will keep on turning over

I love vintage VWs... and have owned over 25 of them. I'm also a licensed mechanic and daily drive a VW with well over half a million KM on it.

BUT... the three worst cars I have EVER owned?

An '86 Jetta
An '88 Fox
An '84 Rabbit

The Jetta liked eating alternators, starters, and wiring associated with the two.
It also had an appetite for exterior door handles and plastic cooling system components. And the exhaust loved to break in exciting new places weekly.

The Fox left me stranded with a new problem every time I drove it. The worst was when I broke a clutch cable, fixed it in a mall parking lot, then the car wouldn't start. Replaced the fuel pump... car started and ran for about 10 minutes. Then the car died and I smelled burning... fuel pressure differential regulator was on fire. Put it out, replaced that, and the next day my starter totally failed. No click, no warning, just DEAD. Replaced the starter, and on my way to Toronto, smoke started billowing out from under the dash and the car died. Got it to re-start, parked it at Northumberland mall, pulled my CD player from the dash and said goodbye.

The Rabbit had more electrical issues than a 70's Jaguar. The wipers would only work if the dome light was turned on, the brake light circuit burned itself to a crisp, the heater blower liked to smoke, and the cooling system was just plain fucked.

i briefly had an 87 Golf 3door... the 1.8L may have been bulletproof, but the rest of the car was a rusty piece of shit.
everytime i drove it, something new would break.
it blew every coolant-related line on the fucking thing. I kept 5 gallons of water in the trunk and a huge roll of duct tape with it.

the coup de gras was when i was going 70mph, hit a bump and the hood flew up and THROUGH the windshield.

i suppose it wasn't a bad car for the $25 i paid for it... Yes. TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS.
(as an aside, we got the car in 96 with 148,000 miles showing. the odometer had quit working four years previous to that. the girl i got it from figured that the car had 250,000 or so miles. After i got done with the car, i sold it to a friends' uncle who drove the car another 3 years, fixing things as he went. When the car finally was too rotten to drive, we figured that it had over 300,000 miles on it.)

Thats too bad you guys had bad experiences, I lurve my Fox..

I have heard many nightmare stories from 80's VW owners though, so I think you either get lucky or you dont

Posted by insanebuslady Thats too bad you guys had bad experiences, I lurve my Fox.. I have heard many nightmare stories from 80's VW owners though, so I think you either get lucky or you dont

I do have to admit, the Fox was a blast to drive when it ran, and I love the utilitarian styling. Wish I could find a wagon... (Yes, I'd own another)

remember the Dasher?
my cousins had one... died in my grandmothers' driveway and that was where it sat for two years.

Yup... another car I'd like to have!

Posted by Samurai remember the Dasher? my cousins had one... died in my grandmothers' driveway and that was where it sat for two years.

Werd. My folks had an '81 Dasher diesel. It's still around, but is rotted pretty bad. It's the same I car I though would be a good idea to borrow from my folks when I was 14 and go riding around in. Still haven't lived that down...

Posted by bandi I like it... but if you thought the Subie had annoying problems, you're going to need psychiatric help when you're through with a Mk 2.

My '87 ran great. Just had to replace the transmission and keep a healthy supply of fuel pump fuses on hand. I'll admit that it was at least easy enough to push backwards though when it lost reverse.

Never burned oil, even at 190k though.