What should I do ....

[Beakersloco]

Hello all .. I am new to Jetta but not to vw .. I own a scirocco that is currently down for a electrical issues.



Hopefully in the next 2 weeks shop will have it fixed. And I will be back driving a VW soon. This is long winded and more of wanting a 2nd or 3rd opinion from some folks that know jettas. I will include pictures to break up this post and for those too lazy to click on the links.


My dilemma is that I need a 4 dr car so that I can comfortably pick up my kids and if I want to travel with them etc. And I like that MK3 body style Jetta/Golfs … I recently picked up a 94 jetta car that I had seen sitting for several months because the user stated that he was out of town and the car went into 3rd gear and it would not come out of 3rd. He drove it back in 3rd and parked it. Car is faded and he pulled starter and battery as he was going to sell engine and buyer backed out. I will have around $500 in the car just to see if the engine will crank. Currently awaiting the a used starter to show up (via mail) and hope to have car cranked by Sunday weather permitting but trying to think out a few things.




Other information I was told about the car is that prior to the person I bought the car the engine was replaced with one that only had 89,000 miles on it .. body of car has 300K miles on it . Car will need drivers door as somehow the previous owner damaged the lock mechanism and its missing all the lock parts and inner door panel (door is held shut with 2 screws). Interior is pretty clean as I was told prior owner swapped the interior out of another car in. Missing 40 split in the rear back seat. Also while cleaning out the garbage from car, literally there was a 24 pack of beer cans in the car when I first saw it., and looked over car and found rust in the gas filler area , and I think this kinda has me perplexed and unsure if I wanna fix car or part it put.

I mainly picked car up in hopes of repairing it or using it for parts. Hopping that that it just needs a transmission shift kit and not a transmission. I do realize that MK3 have trans issues.

To be honest once I get my rocco out the shop I will be less pressed to get a working car. I currently am driving someone elses vehicle to save on gas because my Yukon is killing me on gas and the gas gauge is not working meaning I have no choice but to fill it up when I goto the pump. And while I have unlimited access to this vehicle we all know that there is nothing like driving your own.

I am looking forward to doing the work as I have never pulled a trans before but car looks like hell and other then me flat blacking it a paintjob would probably not be in the works. On top of that I work full time and have a full time class load, so my time will be limited. I have seen several other Mk3 jettas/golf that look more appealing in the $1000-$2000 range. Since I have one hatch not really looking at Golfs but I saw this one (turbo 2.0 that needs a trans)and it has me thinking about them and if the price were right I may pull the trigger on one it(http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3228766398.html )


Anyway back to the post ..
Really considering just using my car as a parts car and scrap it eventually or slowly repair it. Part of me is saying to fix this one as even with a new trans I will still be under $1000, but the other part of me is that I need to get something that looks nice (my daughter is at that age where she would be looking sideways at having to ride in it .. lol ) and just needs mechanical work vs something that needs both. Another thing about the current car is that I actually would probably challenge myself to fix the car only using money from side jobs which I probably could do since I believe that I could do most if not all of the work myself. These are the main 2 beauties I am thinking hard on.





This one a 96 trek $1000 and owner claims it needs a trans seal (link if you wanna see it
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3260364574.html ) . I like that and its sharp and I hear that as far as reliability an 2.0 is the better option long term as far as maintenance costs compared to a VR6. AC works with is a plus as it gets hot as hell here in the summer months. Overall I like this car as it would not take much in my opinion to get the car drivable and it looks clean.



Now this one is a VR6 and as a previous Nissan maxima driver I like the pep of a 6 cylinder so this car definitely has its appeal. The owner has dropped the price down to $1300 ..Link http://forums.ncdubs.org/showthread.php?t=24348 I contacted user and ac non working , timing belt has been done , rear caliper locked. What scares me about this is that I hear the timing belt replacement is expensive on these cars. Long term maintenance costs scare me on a VR but I have found from owning a scirocco that lots of VW stuff can be expensive and/or a headache. I love the color and like custom. I love how they have detailed the engine bay



Like I said these are just some examples and I have seen several other 2.0s and VR 6 in these the $1000-$2000 range and of course the closer to $2000 the better the cars seem to be in condition. So all that being said what does the community think as I currently am going on the assumption that the engine will run with no issues after sitting for 8 months.


Another option is also to just slowly fix this car as I would love to turbo it ...

[csrgti]

Id go with the jetta trek you posted, a new clutch kit, seals and shift.linkage rebuild will cost less than $300 if you do the work yourself, and the rest of the car seems to be well taken care of.The 2.0 is very dependable and easy to maintain add another $200 in preventive maintenance and you have a solid good looking car.
the turbo will be buying someone else's headache and will spend most the time not running.
VR6s are nice but harder and more expensive to maintain and looks like it was owned by a boy racer.
The original Jetta you bought probably has more hidden rust under the hideous rattle can paint and once you put the money into a used transmission, clutch kit, tires, and maintenance parts just to get it running you'll still have an ugly rust bucket that cost you more time and money than the well taken care of Trek.

[reynolds9000]

The VR looks like a basket case. Avoid at all costs.

[euro tra5h]

The VR looks like a basket case. Avoid at all costs.

^ This

[nemo1ner]

I say the Trek. The 2.0 is very dependable and easy to work on. Parts are relatively cheap as well. Also, the Trek interior is great. Other than the bolsters wearing, the material is quite good and the seats are nice and supportive.

You don't want to deal with someone's old bastard child. You don't know what corners were cut when the sidewalk mechanic was working on it.

[Retiredonce]

Another vote for the Trek; you have enough headaches in your life right now between work, school, two kids and an already broken car. The Trek seems worth a few dollars to fix up for your needs. Don't buy someone else's nightmare...

[E-RustBox'er]

Trek ftw

[VT-MKJett]

TREK...that thing would be double that if it was for sale where I live. Seems as if you couldn't go wrong with that.

[Beakersloco]

Thanks all for the advice , now the hard part getting the funds together and if I am lucky the car will still be there when I have the cash in hand

Also FYI thats not a rattle can paintjob the paint is just that faded .. lol but if it does crank up up when I install the starter tomorrow (supposed to deliver today) and I can get it to come out of gear .... there is a pretty good chance it will see a rattle can paint job.

[germancarnut51]

The Trek looks better in the photos, but you gotta make sure that the metal under the fresh paint job is not as rotten as the Jetta you already have.

The leaking transmission may not be a seal, it may be a bad transmission with SMS (if a 5-speed), or your typical bad automatic transmission. You should be prepared to replace the transmission.

Your existing Jetta is a parts car. The transmission is wornout. Overshifted and stuck in 3rd gear is a common problem when the transmission is tired. The transmission needs a rebuild.

[1VR62NV]

the Trek, but personally I would keep looking

[germancarnut51]

Looking at the photos of the car in the link, the car does not look near as nice. Actually looks like it's had some body work done, and the paint is actually in pretty bad/worse than average condition.

Also sounds like the transmission is definitely trashed. If you're considering this car it's going to need a transmission and clutch replacement.

The wheels are nice. I would try to bargain the Seller down a little, especially if you're planning on paying someone to do the repair work. If you aren't able to do the repair work yourself, keep looking.