Micah

All,

Well, I'm thinking that I need to get a VW for my girlfriend. The original plan was that, when I graduate in May, she gets the 85, I get a Turbo, and we get rid of the 83. However, her current car (a mid-90's Olds Cutlass) is turning into a heap, and I think I'm going to expedite the process, so to speak.
My plan is to save money, and avoid getting the Turbo for another year. I'd like to use the 85 as my daily driver, and trade in the 83 on another German car. I would just give Les the 83, but it doesn't have power steering, so it's hard for her - and she'll be in Bloomington (college town) for another couple of years, getting her Masters.
I'm looking at VW Scirocco's, because I can get a moderately newer one (87 or 88) for probably an equal trade for the 83. My question is, do any of you have any experience with these cars? How is mait? Do they have belt or pump issues? Weak points in design (other than being, well... Sciroccos <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> )

Anyway, thanks for help

Micah

nickhance

This might not be too useful advice, but put a supercharger on one of those things and they REALLY move.

I couldn't get away from one in my 951. (I've got the K27/8 too!)

Tom R.

i would recommed a much newer celica over a scirocco if you want a sporty fwd 4 seater. didnt they stop making the scirocco in about 88 when the corrado came out, which means you are putting your gf in a car at least 15 years old?

i had a 74 vw dasher the was the biggest POS on the planet. it was replaced with a 77 celica in 80 and then a slew of rx7s. i didnt look at german until the 944, and i bought the 944 over anoter rx7 mainly because it had airbags & abs, and my wife said if you want a porsche you better do it now or not for another 20 years.

i think the rx7 is a much better car than the scirocco, easier to repair/find parts, easier resale etc.

L8 APEKS

Micah,

I would instead suggest an 85-92 GTi/Golf/Jetta. Reason being is that these cars use the A2 chassis (same as the Corrado) and they offer a little more room inside as well.

Nothing wrong with Roccos though!

I've had a number of VW's ranging from 83 to 95 models. My Jetta has 181k and still runs like a champ, netting 31 mpg highway if I keep it under 70.

The 8v motors don't have too many issues, and the issues they DO have are cheap and easy to replace. This is why I have stuck with 8v VW's for so long. Parts are cheap and labor is easy (I can rebuild the motor in-car in an afternoon if need be!) Poke around <a href="http://www.vwvortex.com" target="_blank">www.vwvortex.com</a> . It's like Rennlist, but for VW's instead. Good luck, and drop me a line if you have other Q's!

Micah

didnt they stop making the scirocco in about 88 when the corrado came out, which means you are putting your gf in a car at least 15 years old?

Yeah, this is one of my concerns. However, I only have about 3k in cash to spend (ignoring the prospect of unloading the '83 in a trade.) She'd be in it for a year or so, until I could save up enough of that big LT pay to put her in something newer. However, the car she has now is 6 years old, and has mushy brakes, poor steering and a nasty habit of refusing to start.

My goal is to get her out of this, and then work from there.

Micah

jim968

Micah, I had an '83 Rabbit GTI from new until '89; traded it with ~90K miles on it, and kept track of it until the gal's son totalled it at around 180K (odometer broke at 165K)... no major repairs, just maintenance & a few minor things. Was totalled with the original clutch, despite my pounding it when it was new...

My '89 Jetta GLi 16V was equally good during my ownership; dunno about it later in life. The earliest ('87?) 16V engines had some issues with cam breakage; I'd guess all such have been broken & fixed by now. The 8V cars are probably a little more likely to give you maximum engine life with a questionable maintenance history.

IMHO, pass on the sporty Sirocco and get her a full-sized GTI Rabbit / Golf, just for the extra room & comfort, unless she's hung up on wanting a sports car.

Jim, "RMS Titanic. The boat sank; get over it."

Red 944

I think sciroccos are pretty fun cars to drive, they're getting old .. but it really isn't expensive to fix and they're pretty reliable.
Since it's for your girlfriend though (as already said) I would probably get a jetta/golf/gti. There's more room, and if you do need a scirocco specific part, it probably wouldn't come as easily as a j/g/g's.
If it is a room issue and you do like sciroccos, the mk1s (&lt;82) are a little more roomy

Eddie McLaughlan

I used to own a Corrado, and it handled really well. I know the prices have gone down alot so you may be able to find one cheap.

Micah

Thanks for the solid comments, everyone. I'd like to get her a Corrado, but I'm afraid that I'd end up getting a pretty tired one at the same price as a nearly perfect Scirocco. If I did try to pick up a nice Corrado G-60, then I'd also be well within range of a nice 924S... and let's be honest here - I don't have the will power

I'm going to look more heavily at GTIs. Thanks a load

Micah

L8 APEKS

You could always buy MY Corrado G60. But it's a little more than a 924S would cost (I'm looking for 8500 ish). Did I mention she weighs 2400 lbs and makes about 250hp? =o)

As far as the 16V's go...they ARE reliable. But when they have trouble in the head, it's twice as costly as an 8v. The 8v motors are NON interference. If a timing belt goes out on an 8v, you're just left stranded. No engine damage unless you happened to be at 7200 rpm when the belt snapped.

With the 16V, if the timing belt snaps, Mr Piston meets Mr Valve. They tend not to get along too well. If you were to ever port the head, replace the lifters, etc, it's just a little more costly.

But the 16V's are almost as solid as the 8's, and last above and beyond the 150k mark if maintained well.

Dave H.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Tom R.:
<strong>i would recommed a much newer celica over a scirocco if you want a sporty fwd 4 seater.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">a tinny little jap car instead of a good german car? <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva"><strong>didnt they stop making the scirocco in about 88 when the corrado came out, which means you are putting your gf in a car at least 15 years old?
</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">that's not a valid point. as he stated, he'd be doing that anyway by giving her the 85 944...

there's nothing wrong with sciroccos. though a golf/jetta would be a little easier to drive in city traffic...

Tom R.

david,
shouldnt that be:

a new tiny little jap car instead of an old tiny little german car? <img border="0" alt="[ouch]" title="" src="graemlins/c.gif" />

or should it be:

an excellent little jap car (rated tops in its class for reliability and low maintenance costs) instead of a good german car?

or should it be:

David has blinders on and is either brainwashed and thinks the so called prestige of owning a porsche cascades down to VWs, or is still in 1969 before the japs landed on the american shores.

<img border="0" alt="[burnout]" title="" src="graemlins/burnout.gif" />

Manning

I had an '88 16V for a few years until some dumbass come over into my lane and totalled it head on. It was a really fun and reliable car and fairly cheap to maintain. I think it is a better looking car than the Golf that was its contemporary, but it is still mostly A1, versus the slightly improved A2 chassis of the Golf/Jetta.

To Tom R's comment, the Scirocco was replaced in the US by the Corrado, but over in Europe the two models existed together for a few years.

924Superwagen

I can only suggest what others have already suggested. Although a Scirocco is a very nice, sporty car, I would also recommend the mk2 gen Golf/Jetta be it Golf Gti, Jetta Gli. What I will add is that the 16v engines require more frequent servicing than the standard Digifant injection 8v. My mom had an 8v that lasted 350 000 km's without any major problems and still had a perfect engine.

If you want upgrade potential than get a later mk2 (90-92) w/Central Electric fuse box. This makes a VR6 swap a simple plug and play setup in terms of electrics. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> Even suspension parts from a mk3 VR6 can be swapped over to the mk2.

Manning

Tom R,

Actually, the first Japanese car dealer was open in the US in the 50's. I think the first Toyota dealership in the US was open in something like 1957, Datsun in 1958 and the first Honda automobile dealership was opened several years later.

I have to say that while I had very good luck with my Scirocco (until it was totaled), the mid/late eighties to early nineties was a period of notoriously bad quality control and customer satisfaction for VW. Toyotas of the same period are quite well known to be bulletproof (though bland).