My life with my Scirocco so far (fwd)

[tim at unrealexpectations.ath.cx (stetson)]

The SORBS blacklisting of my mail server strikes again!
Read below for content.

Tim

It's the good girls who keep the diaries, the bad girls never have the time.
		-- Tallulah Bankhead

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2004 09:24:01 -0600 (CST)
From: stetson <tim@unrealexpectations.ath.cx>
Reply-To: stetson@unrealexpectations.ath.cx
To: T0mmylee182@aol.com
Cc: scirocco list <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Subject: Re: My life with my Scirocco so far

Hey Mr. Welcome!
You've found the right place.

I can sympathize w/ the horror of shop costs. It took me $500+ to realize
that most things I was paying for to be done could be done by me @ a
fraction of the expendature (It being Jan./Feb. @ those times of hiring a
shop for fixes was a MAJOR consideration!) with a much greater sense of
reliability and accomplishment when done (plus every wrenching episode
teaches you something about your 'Roc even if not related to what you're
working on ATM.)

I used to wrench ONLY when absolute necessity (either physical or financial)
made it imperative to do so but have found that I actually LIKE to now
because when done I know that what I've done is good, will last a while,
and will not bankrupt me for labor costs (now......the new pieces that
you'll start wanting to put on for performance will bankrupt you instead).

Here are a few things that either my experience, or what I've read from a
lister have taught me:

1.) Get a Bentley. You can find them almost all the time on Ebay for under
$30 and it will be the best money you've ever spent.

2.) If you can, get an ETKA (volkswagen parts database) CD as stealerships
for VofA seem to be extremely remedial about knowing what parts actually
are needed when ordering or juxtapose the part #'s.

3.) You have a 16v that I'm assuming did not come w/ all receipts and
maintenance records so at your 1st opportunity change your timing belt!!!
It's failure can lead to MAJOR head work that will NOT be inexpensive.
Think of the cost and time as an insurance payment. While your there,
change the other belts as well. They're pretty inexpensive.

4.) If you have a sunroof don't play w/ it too much until you're ready to
invest some time in it's repair. I've seen other listers wish testicular
cancer on the designers of the sunroof because of it's complexity and
failure rate.

5.) Read! Read! READ! The problem that lister "A" had last week may be the
problem you have in 2 months! Search the archives for problems/solutions
as it's probably happened to someone else before.

6.) Get familiar w/ your local junkyard/pull-a-part place as there are a
lot of parts that are interchangable between models and the parts are much
cheaper and sometimes more readily available there.

7.) Learn that the VofA stealership is a last resort. It seems that they
are an almost universal disappointment to volkswagen owners everywhere.
I'm not saying EVERYONE is, but it seems quite a few are because of:
   a.) unfamiliarity w/ your car.
   b.) major expense
   c.) 40% chance the part you need and you've ordered from them be be the
       wrong one when it finally comes in.

There are many independant parts suppliers out there that will be able to
get the same part more cheaply and accurately for you in the same amount
of time. There are _definitely_ shops out there that can fix your car more
relibly and cheaper (although the shop @ my VofA is topnotch! So is their
price! Major $$$$$$).

The 16v is your daily driver I'm assuming which makes the above advice
difficult to apply. I think you'll notice that the majority of addicted
listers here are multicar persons (The D.D. reference in signatures refers
to daily driver) that will not subject their Roc's to the ravages of
seasons (in snow areas that means salt) and can afford for their Roc to be
disabled for amounts of time. I had my 1st 'Roc as a D.D. and it was a
challenge! Just because you don't doesn't mean that it'll be impossible
for you to get your 16v in shape, just that planning will be VERY
important. Always research the parts you might need and their
availablility before you dive into a maintenance project.

Remember to ask yourself how many other cars of the same age you see on
the roads and why that is. It's an older car, the previous owner probably
did not do meticulous upkeep, and things are going to break from age/wear.
Make sure that the ones that can strand you are taken care of.
I got lucky and scored a Toyota Camry as a D.D. and was able to let my
Roc sit for 1 1/2 yr. until this spring when I discovered the joys of
upgrading it and making it an even better handling/accellerating car.
So now I'm poor again, but happy!
The Camry, as reliable as it is, almost killed my ability to appreciate
a car like the Roc. Don't let that happen to you!

Tim



Our sires' age was worse that our grandsires'.
We their sons are more worthless than they:
so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.
		-- Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace)

On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 T0mmylee182@aol.com wrote:

>  Can anyone relate with my so far bad luck with my scirocco? I know the owner
> of Project Scirocco from Eurotuner can...
>  I bought my '87 8v Scirocco for $995.00 and it was fine for 2 months, then
> my alternator belts decided that they didn't want to work or keep my battery
> charged anymore, so I paid $70 for a new battery and then $223 to get the
> alternator belts fixed my my friends at Hydrex in Emmaus, PA.  The same week I get
> my car back, my new tires decided to slid through a stop sign into a metal
> guard rail only to result in a busted turn signal lense, which cost me $50 from
> Volkswagen and they told me that they only had 15 left in the COUNTRY!! (can
> anyone prove this?? I don't think so...) The week after I get the lense put back
> on, my linkage from my shifter pops off, I get it fixed my a friend, and have
> my friends at Hydrex check it out, and they tell me everything is fine, only
> for 2 days until the linkage pops off again!  I get it fixed at Hydrex, only to
> take it back the same day because it wasn't fixed right, (3rd gear was where
> 1st was, 1st was in reverse, I don't think that there was a 2nd gear...) so
> about $150 later, my Scirocco is running great again, if the year was 1987, my
> car would be practically brand new.  I realized that I can't be the only one
> with Scirocco bad luck because when my ride was taking me home from work while
> my car was in the shop, we passed a 16v Scirocco broken down on the side of the
> road...here is a quote from my mom, "Get a new garage or get a new car!!"  I
> already said that if something else happens to it, I'm getting rid of it, but
> I love it way to much!
>
> Anyone else have these problems??
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