Why?

[srgtlord]

Dont get me wrong I love my vw's gas mileage, and repairs are fairly straitforward but Ive replaced damn well near everything, and just when I think Im ahead, something else breaks. Ive bought a machine shop worth of tools, done shocks, timing belts, wheel bearings,accessory belt BS, Everything related to brakes, worn out pedal clusters, transmission, CV joints, the floors rotted out, 1 shock tower went over the summer, Had my bumper fall off, my windshield leaks, the valve cover pissed oil everywhere,  My fuel filter froze, My febi timing belt tensioner seized after diesel and oil leaked into it, I had my rear tire pass me benny hill style......Why do I keep this stupid thing?   The one thing i can say though, is Ive only been stranded once in 40,000 miles. I think in total Ive spent about $2500 and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time.   I end my rant

[mystery3]

Thought about leasing a nice new golf tdi?

We do it because we love rattly old pieces of crap mostly. It's visceral.

[srgtlord]

I cant complain too much though. When I had $0 I returned cans to buy fuel for my 45 minute commute to college and back and I have been able to slowly fix everything.

[libbydiesel]

Dont get me wrong I love my vw's gas mileage, and repairs are fairly straitforward but Ive replaced damn well near everything, and just when I think Im ahead, something else breaks. Ive bought a machine shop worth of tools, done shocks, timing belts, wheel bearings,accessory belt BS, Everything related to brakes, worn out pedal clusters, transmission, CV joints, the floors rotted out, 1 shock tower went over the summer, Had my bumper fall off, my windshield leaks,

It was a worn out POS when you bought it.

the valve cover pissed oil everywhere

You installed it wrong.

My fuel filter froze,

You used the wrong fuel.

My febi timing belt tensioner seized after diesel and oil leaked into it

You didn't fix the diesel and oil leaks when you should have.

I had my rear tire pass me benny hill style

You didn't torque the lugs to spec.

......Why do I keep this stupid thing?   The one thing i can say though, is Ive only been stranded once in 40,000 miles. I think in total Ive spent about $2500 and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time.   I end my rant

It's sometimes funny to me to see this type of thread.  When assembled correctly, these cars are very reliable.  The car is inanimate and is not doing anything to you.  While I can understand your frustration, the fact is that YOU are the one doing the things to the car to CAUSE it to fail or you are failing to do the things necessary to prevent failure.  Provided you can learn from your mistakes, you will do fewer and fewer things that cause it to fail and you will become more and more aware of the things necessary to prevent failures...

[steevz]

It was a worn out POS when you bought it.

the valve cover pissed oil everywhere

You installed it wrong.

My fuel filter froze,

You used the wrong fuel.

My febi timing belt tensioner seized after diesel and oil leaked into it

You didn't fix the diesel and oil leaks when you should have.

I had my rear tire pass me benny hill style

You didn't torque the lugs to spec.

......Why do I keep this stupid thing?   The one thing i can say though, is Ive only been stranded once in 40,000 miles. I think in total Ive spent about $2500 and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much time.   I end my rant

It's sometimes funny to me to see this type of thread.  When assembled correctly, these cars are very reliable.  The car is inanimate and is not doing anything to you.  While I can understand your frustration, the fact is that YOU are the one doing the things to the car to CAUSE it to fail or you are failing to do the things necessary to prevent failure.  Provided you can learn from your mistakes, you will do fewer and fewer things that cause it to fail and you will become more and more aware of the things necessary to prevent failures...

Well done sir.

[maxfax]

I took mine to the crusher and got another... Problem solved 

[ORCoaster]

It's a mindset as well,  these cars were built in an age where mechanics were in your neighborhood or the drive next door.  They needed attention on a more regular basis then what we would like to give them with our busy schedules.  But paying attention to the small things and repairing them prevent the big ones from arriving later. 

I think with all that you have done there are two possibilities.  One is that you bought a highly neglected POC and are paying the past maintenance sins of the previous owner.  Two is that now that you have it all reconstructed it will now stop acting up and give you the years of pleasure driving we all talk about. 

I once owned a Triumph GT6 plus.  It was only 5 years old when I bought it but the types of repairs I had to do to it sound a lot like yours.  It was highly neglected as American owners didn't understand the English idea of weekly maintenance.  So I did all kinds of repairs on a high school job budget.  Yeah rode a bike a lot between breakdowns.  But after a couple years I sold it to another "kid" who had his mechanic look it over and drool over it.  Two weeks late my dad comes home from work and reports the car is crunched big time in the kids driveway.  What can you say?

So keep working on it, you are about over the hill with it I predict.

[745 turbogreasel]

I replaced everything on my Caddy 2-3 times, and concluded it was easier to drive a Chevy and put 4x more gas in it.
Some cars of a given type will be more lemony than others,  some from being cursed, others from neglect or bad service.

[dieselweasel]

Dont get me wrong I love my vw's gas mileage, and repairs are fairly straitforward but Ive replaced damn well near everything, and just when I think Im ahead, something else breaks. Ive bought a machine shop worth of tools, done shocks, timing belts, wheel bearings,accessory belt BS, Everything related to brakes, worn out pedal clusters, transmission, CV joints, the floors rotted out, 1 shock tower went over the summer, Had my bumper fall off, my windshield leaks,

It was a worn out POS when you bought it.

That's the best explanation right there.  Any vehicle 15-25 years old with 150,000 miles + is gonna need lots of love, depending on how well it was cared for by the POs.  I too have asked myself "why?" before.  If you perform repairs correctly and use quality parts, those repairs should last another 150,000 miles. 

[bajacalal]

Yeah, our cars are going on 30 years old...

If you want to have a 30 year old car that's reliable, you kind of have to rebuild it from the ground up. It's more work to go that route but when it runs, you're done. If you just keep patching things here and there when they break, it will be something new to fix every week.

[srgtlord]

I picked up where the last guy left off. He bought it as a replacement shell for his rusted out 1990 jetta diesel which he purchased with a rebuilt engine. The golf was originally an 8v gasser. He replaced lots and lots of items. He stopped replacing items and sold the car to me because  quote "I dont need it anymore". I quickly discovered that the real reason he was selling it was because the alternator wouldnt stay tensioned due to a hackjob A/C delete job and resulted in a worn out alternator bushing......I bought it because it appeared to be rust free and the rebuilt engine. I learned within the first month that even galvanized vw's rust, and hide the rust very well. Oh well, live and learn. As for the repairs, Yeah, I guess thats what I get for daily driving an antique  

[ORCoaster]

I find it amusing that some of the cars these boys are driving have birth-dates that are earlier than they are. 

[srgtlord]

              Guilty as charged lol. My dad had a 1987 gti for nearly 11 years. Drove it for 200,000 miles. Ive been hooked ever since then The other 2 vw's I have owned are a 1992 8valve gasser golf and a 1992 cabriolet gasser converted to a 2 barrel holley carb and points ignition with mechanical fuel pump. I put waaay fewer miles on them because of skyrocketing fuel costs.
             Vw's are much simpler to work on than my first car, a 1987 porsche 924s *and a lot cheaper to boot*. I just wish they produced the MK2's until a much later date. I looked at MK3's and 4's but was put off by over complications of an ecu on a diesel and the rust they can accumulate in a relatively short amount of time.

[8v-of-fury]

The mk3 and mk4 diesels are no more complicated than these to work on. Easier if you really think about. Plug in the scanner, and it tells you exactly what part is malfunctioning. The wrenching aspect is just like the mk1 and mk2. It is all the same stuff. Lotta 10mm and 13mm bolts

However they as well have over 300k on them and have been neglected.. so its hard to find a good car.

[ORCoaster]

8 V   look no further.   Bwahhhh hhhhaaaaa haaaa haaa.   http://www.smartusa.com/comparevehicles/