Hey BB...

[toolfan]

Alright - I've been lurking here for a little bit lately (hoping to sell a frame)

But I gotta come back.  And I gotta be a little bit of a jerk.


Marvel - bummer about your luck with that GTI - but I gotta say - if you buy another one, it falls out of the luck category and into the bad decisions coming home to roost category.  

Here's the thing about low cost old vw's - best case scenerio is that you end up with a "project."  Common case is that you end up stranded somewhere dropping dough on a tow truck or trying to convince someone that towing you home with your belt looped around the bumper is a good idea.

When I say "project," what I mean is money pit.  Especially if you are carrying full coverage on it.  




*disclaimer*  I don't think I've ever made a good decision regarding a car - I speak from experience.  I've also never bought full coverage for a ride - I figure the reason you buy a cheap "mechanics special" is that it's cheap - it it gets wrecked, write it off and buy another cheap POS.  

That's all I got to say about that.

Later.

[ryandalling]

Alright - I've been lurking here for a little bit lately (hoping to sell a frame)

But I gotta come back.  And I gotta be a little bit of a jerk.


Marvel - bummer about your luck with that GTI - but I gotta say - if you buy another one, it falls out of the luck category and into the bad decisions coming home to roost category.  

Here's the thing about low cost old vw's - best case scenerio is that you end up with a "project."  Common case is that you end up stranded somewhere dropping dough on a tow truck or trying to convince someone that towing you home with your belt looped around the bumper is a good idea.

When I say "project," what I mean is money pit.  Especially if you are carrying full coverage on it.  




*disclaimer*  I don't think I've ever made a good decision regarding a car - I speak from experience.  I've also never bought full coverage for a ride - I figure the reason you buy a cheap "mechanics special" is that it's cheap - it it gets wrecked, write it off and buy another cheap POS.  

That's all I got to say about that.

Later.

this is why I always sell my cars before the bumper to bumper warranty runs out.   

[bnbmike]

This one looks real stock.  Original wheels are awesome.  The pinch weld is out of sorts from lifting the car with a floor jack, you can only use a floor jack in only 2 spots of the car without damage.  The shot of the engine bay, look at the paint / coating around the drivers strut tower, it may be cracked.

Car in WA, plates are ID, what's up with that?  Make sure before anything else.

I agree with toolfan on old cars, but I'm a gear head and love VDub's too, so . . . you already know how to survive when the old car dies.

Later!

[marvellous]

He bought the car from N. Idaho (Spokane being right next to it) this spring and maybe he hasn't changed it over... *shrugs*  I'll take a look at the struts, that would be a major concern as well.  He has too many cars and needs to liquidate (has an 86 Sirocco as well) that I may consider if this doesn't work out.  Trying to take one for the team here w/o breaking the bank... I'll figure it out I guess...

[ryandalling]

old hondas aren't as fun... but tend to have better reliability.

[Mother]

dewd

stop buying shit old veewee's

they catch on fire

[duc_fan]

Okay now wait a sec... I see lots of old-VW bashing.  My 1986 hasn't burned to the ground (yet).  Neither has my dad's 1985 Jetta GLI Wulfsburg.  Neither of them is a babied garage queen (okay... mine wasn't until recently... now it's a money-sucking pit garage-queen project).  Granted, these are MkIIs, whereas Marv is looking at MkIs.

Anyway, Marv can buy whatever the hell he wants.  Some of you are whinging like he's trading a Duc for a Kawasaki... sheesh. 

If it were me, and the car I had just bought had burned to the ground around me, I'd probably be looking for something different, but still old and interesting.  Right now I'm tempted to get rid of the '86 GTI project (*gasp*) and go buy a Triumph GT6.  Trade an old VW for a Brit car (the only vehicles known to have WORSE electrics than old German cars)?!?  Yes, I am a little nuts.    As such, while I'm not entirely on board with Marv's desire to get another MkI GTi right away, I respect the fact the man has done his shopping around and knows what he wants.  Heck, we're all a little daft for riding Ducatis.  These are *not* rationally-chosen motorcycles.  They depreciate like a stone, require more maintenance than the average Jap bike, typically aren't as fast, have crappy electrics, and are more expensive.  We chose them for passion, because it's what we wanted, not necessarily for any rational reason.

Marv, I'd offer to sell you my '86, except it needs a lot of work to become a daily driver.  I wouldn't try to inflict this car on you.  Only person I'd sell it to is someone who had the time and space for it to be a project, and who knew what they were getting into.

As far as the MkI GTI up on Spokane... like Mike observed, the marks around the driver's side strut tower looks like the cracking that you don't want. The interior and exterior say "outside car" to me, for at least some chunk of its life, and when dealing with an old VW I'd prefer to start with something in a little better shape.

With the interior looking like it does, the potential badness around the strut tower, and the other minor body issues (ding in the back, and the improper lift marks on the bottom pinch weld), it's not worth $2000.  My assessment of the photos says: that car is *maybe* a $1500 project car.  Definitely not worth $2k, and not worth a road trip to Spokane.

[Mother]

... fire...

[Betty Rage]

heh heh heh, fire, FIRE!!

[NEIKOS]

Oh hell yeah... not sure what the wifey would say to yet another bike in the garage... but hey.... better to ask forgiveness then permission... right? Although spending money on me around the holidays is frowned upon.   

If'n it were stored elsewhere . . . say my house . . . who'd know? 

[toolfan]

No veewee bashing here,

just sayin' - if you buy a project car for a daily driver - you're going to get burned.

pun intended.


and if you are buying a project car to save money - you might as well just max your credit card out at the local strip joint, it's going to be a more positive experience.

[marvellous]

OK, with all that being said what about the one in Spokane, what about the one in PDX for $4K?  It's immaculate, looks brand-new, but trying to justify $4K (he will not budge on the price, doesn't have to sell it, only told me about it through Vortex as a 'feeler') is a bit difficult...

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/OliviaReneeJ/GTITheGoods#

My whole concept was to buy something that I could enjoy driving again, maybe work on if need be, it would be garaged (at least over this winter, we'll see about it when we have to move and where we move to this spring), etc...  I haven't driven a 'fun' car in a while and it's eating at me.  I've loved every one of my VW's and after driving the '83, I had a smile on my face again.  The other car I was thinking about was an BMW 2002 but we're in the same boat, and an older vehicle...

*sigh*

[toolfan]

IMO - 2002s are more fun to drive than gtis.

RWD FTW baby.

But I sold mine because
a) cars aren't as fun to drive after you've raced and ridden motorcycles fast - at least to me. 
b) the cost of maintaining/constantly upgrading the little jewel would have been more than a car payment.


I might get another someday (or a 3.0CS) - but I'll have a bigger garage and a little bit more discretionary funding (or a lotle bit.)

[duc_fan]

IMO - 2002s are more fun to drive than gtis.

RWD FTW baby.

+1

Okay, well I can't speak for the Bimmer specifically, but it's this line of thought that has stopped me from pouring money into building a completely custom hot-rod GTI.  So I can pour ten grand into it and build the most cherry MkII GTI 8v... then what?  It's still FWD.

I have the same issue with the Corrado.  Beautiful car!  But... it's FWD, which pretty much ruins it.  I test drove one, the feeling when you slip behind the wheel is that this is a slot car.  The actual performance was underwhelming, largely because it's nose-heavy and FWD.

A late-80's Porsche 944 Turbo will run circles around the best-tuned MkII GTI out there, yet I can get one of those ready to go for $7500-$9000.  It's hard to beat 50/50 weight distribution and RWD.

Some other ideas I keep kicking around: E30 BMW M3, E30 BMW with the sport package, old Porsche 911.

Then again, as I mature, the E34 BMW M5 has greater and greater appeal...

Anyway, Marvs, that GTI in the pics looks fantabulous... but it needs to be a garage and show queen.  That looks like a beautifully restored MkI that should be babied, not a daily driver.  It's worth around $4k... to a collector.  Heck, I've tossed around the idea of owning one of each generation GTI... that would be a perfect example.  But alas, I don't have $4k sitting around.

Also bear in mind... I kick around these ideas for cars, but none of them would be a daily driver (well, perhaps the Corrado).  My '86 GTI is a garage project.  My daily driver is a relatively modest MkIII GTI VR6.

[ryandalling]

Then again, as I mature...

Why would you want to mature? None of us have.