Who still makes a simple, well engineered car nowadays?

[theman53]

I love the mkii, but I have more into it than I do my MKIV and I have driven the MKIV about 2x as much.

That said, I wouldn't own a new 2.0 clean diesel, I would buy a Toyota before that.

I can see the reasoning for that. I am curious, if you had put into the MKII only what was necessary to keep it running and driving good, i.e. bone stock, would you still have spent the same amount, less? (assuming your car isn't stock).

If you factor in labor to get it going then for sure. Just cost of parts about the same. The Mkii needed everything so even if I went to stock for all it wouldn't have been that much less than what it was. Just the front end suspension needed like 500.00 of the cheap stuff to get it drivable. And I have pretty much replaced everything on the car except the rear axle beam bushings. Funny thing is it needs most of the suspension stuff again as all the boots for the tie rods and ball joints are wasted and letting all the crap pile in on them. That is why it needs a small car payment worth of crap monthly to keep it going good.

That said, the way some go here and don't take care of stuff and run it into the ground with no maintenance, then yes you could put one big bucket of parts and scrap it when it wears out. But to keep it nice and drivable as the mkiv I have that I don't have to do that, then I have to keep up on it.

[Dakotakid]

Yes, yes, of course.....but, if I quit driving the Mk. II's now, the bottom will drop out on UPS and Fed Ex futures and, THEN, where will we be....huhhhhh? Think about it.......

[srgtlord]

hahaha that gave me a good chuckle as I hav'nt been driving anything but my beater nissan maxima lately which probably needs parts but I havnt ordered any for the past 4 months lol

[brownni]

the early 2000's Suzuki SUV's are simple and seem to be holding up quite well. I have a few friends with xl-7's and those things never require maintenance. Just keep up with oil and filter changes. It's a full ladder frame construction and everything in there is pretty basic. You can even find them with manual transmissions in America. Not a lot of people know about them and they sell pretty cheap. Most in my area have 100 - 150 thousand miles and are listed at $3500 or less. One of my buddies has one with over 250k miles and he has only ever changed the timing belt and water pump (at something like 60 or 100k intervals) and oil and filter. Runs and drives like an economical but well designed vehicle.

Also, older Nissan small trucks and suvs with the 3.0L v6 seem to be holding up quite nicely.

As for American manufactured vehicles, I have a lot of respect for the 90's and 00's ford trucks. There are so many of them out there that parts are cheap, and there is a lot of knowledge on keeping them going. Furthermore, I have heard plenty of stories of the 5.4 v8 getting 600-900k miles with just regular maintenance.

[smutts]

Just been catching up and enjoying the thread, keep the opinions rattling in, I am looking at getting some gas mig welding kit and having a go.

[smutts]

The die is cast, I have just bought a seat leon (spanish version of the golf mk4 with the 110 pd engine). So looks like the two GTD's will be passed on. Farewell two brilliant cars, but age catches up with us all. So looks like I will be off to the TDI forum to see what I have just let myself in for. Sooted turbos and weird engine oil and electronic weirdness and shock horror.........catalysts! 

[bbob203]

You can get rid of all that crap and make it essentially the same workings as your old mk2 TD.

[745 turbogreasel]

I had the chance to  see them putting some Teslas together, and in a way they are really simple, and the chassis/powertrain engineering is fantastic.

[mystery3]

You can get rid of all that crap and make it essentially the same workings as your old mk2 TD.

They have inspections in the UK. I'm not sure how the system works exactly but I'd bet you need all the OBD bits and emissions control devices to be present and in proper working order.

[smutts]

Oh joy! Two days in and the power steering has puked its guts everywhere. Drat!

[mystery3]

Who needs power steering? Can you loop the lines on the rack or did the rack itself blow up?

[Dakotakid]

Smuttlies, you have a digital camera or a palie with one?
Let's see that four-un car.

[smutts]

Well, it looks a bit like like a cross between a corrado, alfasud and something more boring, but looks better than a Mk4 Golf, in my opinion. Just getting used to the design quirks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SEAT_Leon_I_ABT.jpg
http://www.tuningsuche.de/imgdata/CACHE/3729/580702-620-0-seat-leon-1m1-01-2003-von-dany.jpg

Most annoying quirk so far is the instrument panel lights on with the ignition, instead of on with the lights...........Doh!
And who thought up that stupid oil filter that belongs back in the 1940's?

The other problem, it is too bloody quiet! Nice dirty gruff growl accelerating at low rpm though, but the Tdi certainly deserves its reputation of running out of puff at higher rpms, the old GTD would rev to the moon in comparison, but the TDI feels like a big bungee cord tied to the horizon at lower rpm in a GOOD way.

Will be saving up for VCDS so I can play!

[Dakotakid]

Ya, after I did not hear back, I found some photos of the cars. To me, it seems like the front end is really vulnerable to any sort of light collision. The back of the car does not seem to "match" the front. The back has sort of a Hyundai look about it. Is it easy to see out the sides and back (like looking for traffic)?

[TylerDurden]

Most annoying quirk so far is the instrument panel lights on with the ignition, instead of on with the lights...........Doh!

Many drivers here fail to turn on headlights for that reason (particularly during storms).