RE: Good Model Years<?>(was Ridiculously HIGH maint costs!)

["Brubaker, John" <JBrubaker@AMF.com>]

rubaker, John wrote:
>
> ...85 through 87 (possibly even later) are notorious for quality
> control problems

This statement really got my attention!  I'm patiently shopping for 
the
"right" 16V Scirocco and I've been lurking here to pick up any tips.
The car I'm looking for will be a daily driver and "toy" so basically
I'm looking for a car with all the options(thinking Wolfsburg, 
leather,
power windows, etc.) and the "85 thru 87" comment above hits right in
the heart of the model years I've been considering.

First thing I should mention, this is largely from my own personal 
experience.  I have had two 85's and my good friend has an 87.  I have 
also heard from a few other VW souls who have had the same QC 
problems; and I hope I don't get killed for this but I believe I am 
correct that the mentioned years VW's did not get very good reviews 
from Consumer Report Magazine (if you believe what they have to say). 
 But...like I said, this relates to minor annoying things, not 
anything major (at least not in my experience).  The mechanicals of 
these cars have been pretty much faultless (other than wheel bearings 
which is explained by my style of driving).

Now I'm curious as to which model years I should consider and if 
there
are any to stay away from.  Are these "quality control" problems
something that can be fixed(BTDT) or are any "fatal"?

For someone who likes to work on these cars, they are very easy and 
cheaply fixed (as long as you have a nice local junkyard and this list 
to help you).  Here's an example from my latest 85 GTI.  When I 
purchased the car it was missing the drivers side visor (known for 
falling off - $3), the rearview mirror was in the backseat ($1 for 
glue), both door handles were either broken or didn't work very well 
($13 for new handles and an hour to remove entire latch 
mechanism-clean-grease-reinstall), replace mounting plate for the 
sunroof crank (was torn up-$1) and a few other minor odds and ends. 
 Most people don't want to deal with this type of crap and probably 
wouldn't have purchased the car believing that if these aesthetic 
items were bungled, most likely the rest of the car is.  I on the 
other hand see it as a rough gem.  I now have a nice GTI that women 
don't think twice about before getting in (which is much more than I 
can say for my Scirocco which looks like it's going to fall apart...ON 
THE OUTSIDE).

Anyway, HTH,

John
80 Scirocco S
85 GTI
85 Jetta GL (from days gone by)

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