Opinions on 1988 GTI?

New Axles?

And of course plugs, wires, and filters are cheap and part of routine maintenance

The

$2800 still seems like quite a bit for a 16 year old VW. What about the suspension, tires, how does the engine run and sound. How does everything look under the hood. Is the tire wear even, or did he recently throw a new set on it to cover up other problems?

||I am thinking of buying a 1988 GTI. It has 80000 original miles. It ||has a new clutch, exhaust, axles, plugs, plugwires and filters. The ||body is in good shape as is the interior. I basically want a car I ||can get decent mileage out of and would like something that won't cost ||a fortune to keep up - if I get 20,000 miles out of it before a ||major($1000) problem, I would be fine. I do most of my own ||maintenance/repair work. I have never owned a VW before, but have ||always liked the GTI from the 80's. The guy wanted $3200 but has ||dropped his price to $2800. So you guys are the experts, what do you ||think? Thanks for your help.

That price is at the high end of the spectrum, at least here in Texas. I would expect a nice car to be about $2000, and the air should work. At $2800 it had better be a creampuff. But if it's in decent shape, it should go another 88K before seeing that $1000 repair. Texas Parts Guy

If the car is loaded with options and in mint condition, you are still being way overcharged at $2800. Check

or for approximate pricing. My brother has an '87 GTi (8 valve, I believe all 88's were 16 valve) with 185 k miles on it. He has had it for 9 years and bought it with 115 k miles. Over those 9 years he has put in 3 transfer fuel pumps, one main fuel pump, 1 set of front wheel bearings, new alternator, water pump, radiator, a few switches and sensors, master cylinder, some gear linkage pieces, repaired the odometer, repaired a few pieces of the ventilation system (flaps that no longer moved) and suffered a complete loss of oil pressure (broken seal, dumped every last pint of oil on the highway). Still going strong.

Don't let that list scare you, though. If you are moderately handy with a wrench, the car is easy to maintain and repair. Parts are easy to find at the wrecker, and even new parts from the dealer aren't too expensive.

The car has been my brother's daily driver for these 9 years. With a 20 minute (mostly highway) commute he is getting just above 30 MPG.

If you buy the car, get yourself a Bentley service manual (Haynes is >

I second replacing the $2 seal. Mine luckily broke when I went in to get something I forgot and came out to a driveway full of oil. I was only in the house for 1 minute. Dan

85GTI 230K

Run the price thru kbb.com or edmunds.com. 80K miles is low...even double that wouldn't be a lot for the age so to some degree the price is going to reflect the very low miles and be a bit higher than most other '88s out there.

It's a great car. I agree with everything everyone else has said. Also make sure the timing belt has been maintained too...you don't want that breaking or you'll have more than just a $1K repair. Everything sounds normal that he's done except axles. Does he really mean front wheel bearings? CV joints?

Personally, I don't think you can really put much stock in the "price guides" for a car like this - a low mileage, seemingly unmolested somewhat desirable and rare car. It is worth what someone is willing to pay for it - if it is worth the asking price TO YOU, then buy it. If not, don't. I just paid $2900 for a 90 Jetta GLI 2.0 16V that needed a fair bit of work. But it was also unmolested, rust free, and with a perfect interior. And the only one I have seen for sale around here in ages. Rare as hen's teeth. So I paid up, and I will have a great car when it is done. And besides, when you are talking about a car that is worth less than the depreciation incurred driving a new Jetta off the dealer's lot, what's $500?

Kevin Rhodes Westbrook, Maine

84 Jetta GLI 325K miles and still going strong 90 Jetta GLI 16V 115K

Just my 2c worth, but personally, I would have doubts about the 80K miles, although I'm not saying it's impossible.

The reason is, the VDO speedometers used in VWs and Audis of that era were notorious for having an internal plastic gear on the odometer that would deteriorate and not rack up miles even though the speedometer itself kept working, ESPECIALLY if the car is in the heat down south like Florida or Texas.

When I lived in Orlando in the '90s, I had an '88 that I drove for several years with a bad odometer before spending about $75 at a speedometer shop to have the gear replaced.

- FM -

Wow. Specialized speedometer shops in Florida. They must be making a killing.

:-)

Besides which, the way the KBB and others are put together is through insurance registrations. When cars start getting old enough to be only sold privately (not thru a used car lot) there is the problem of people under-reporting the cars value, skewing the statistics.

I bought my '84 Rabbit GTI for $2200 (canadian) but reported it as $500 at the insurance office.

-A

There are actually a number of places around the country that specialize in VDO Speedometer repair:

The place I dealt with was a mail-order place in Gainesville, FL. They used to have a web site but I can't find it anymore. For all I know, it might have been one guy working out of his garage, but he did good work, and much cheaper than buying a new unit from the dealer.

- FM -