Question about 1985 Jetta DELUX 2S

[dyoungen]

I just got a call from a friend asking if i could find out some information on a car he is thinking of buying. The car is a 1985 VW Jetta DELUX 2S. He's wondering about the usual things like how reliable is it, any problems inheriant with this car how hard is it to work on etc. He is also wondering about places that might work on it around here. The last one I"ll figure out.
Thanks for your time. I have a Ford F250 Diesel so I"m kinda out of ideas for him.

[8v-of-fury]

Well this little 1.6 is a lot easier then 6.9 or 7.3 to work on. You can easily remove the head without rippin' the whole engine out 

Being an 85, depending on what has been maintained you could very well be walking in to a money pit... I mean 24 years old.. could have had NONE of the majors replaced.. ie. Struts, BJ's, ANY bushings, Bearings... Take it for a test drive! and push it near its limit a little bit (within reason of course). This will tell you what all it needs. If you bottom out on rough bumps, it will most likely need strut mounts or struts.. if it feels loose in the corners then it may need tie rods and ends.. if it shudders along the road (like a tuner with cut springs) then you will be lookin at springs..

its all common sense really. Volkswagens are a bread all there own. There is a good motto I learned once... "Nothing minor ever works, nothing major ever breaks" Parts are cheap and readily available.. GO FOR IT 

[dyoungen]

That's what I was wondering. He didn't have much info on the car other than what he had from running it around the block. Thanks!!

[88jetta350]

Problems inherent of VW Diesels? TIMING BELTS! Ask when the timing belt was changed last, if he doesn't know change it AS SOON AS YOU GET IT, or you could end up with a 1.6L paperweight if it breaks.

Aside from timing belts, there's nothing else that I can think of that would cause a catostrophic failure soon after you get the car.

Super reliable engines. VW IDI diesels are known for being bulletproof if maintained. It's not uncommon to see one with 300,000-400,000 kilometers on it, and still running like a champ.

[SolarSteve]

Problems inherent of VW Diesels? TIMING BELTS! Ask when the timing belt was changed last, if he doesn't know change it AS SOON AS YOU GET IT, or you could end up with a 1.6L paperweight if it breaks.

Aside from timing belts, there's nothing else that I can think of that would cause a catostrophic failure soon after you get the car.

Super reliable engines. VW IDI diesels are known for being bulletproof if maintained. It's not uncommon to see one with 300,000-400,000 kilometers on it, and still running like a champ.

Mine has 305,000 miles and has never been rebuilt/overhauled and has been running on straight vegetable oil for the past 16,000 miles.

[8v-of-fury]

Friend has an 80 rabbit, with the 1.6 N/a in it.. and 405,000 miles on the clock this year :O  Alll original and completely bone stock. Runs better then my gasser jetta thats for sure lol

[Rabbit on Roids]

gas vw's seem to run like crap if they have lots of miles on them. there are too many vac hoses to deteriorate and make the idle mixture too lean and make them idle crappy. plus, how many VW owners actually "love" there cars like we do?