1985 VW Jetta? $950 OBO

"JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!" (jqj213)
03/06/2015 at 09:45 • Filed to: npocp, jetta, vw jetta, craigslist

Somewhat of an odd find today on Craigslist. Its a manual 1985 VW Jetta with about 190,000 miles. New clutch and CV Axle. New tires. Supposedly runs and drives great. She's asking $950 but said she is willing to go down. Are these any good? I like the looks.

Here's the ad wording (Im on school computers and cannot into Craigslist):

Perfect running 1985 Volkswagen jetta has a 1.8L gas 4 cylinder gets 35 mpg easy. has ice cold a.c ,brand new tires, put New clutch and c.v axle in 1350 miles ago. 190,xxx miles No problems no dents clean title call or txt 950 obo

Good idea? Bad idea?

DISCUSSION (21)

Tohru > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 09:50

Only a good idea if you get a pizza delivery job.

Coty > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 09:51

Any car that runs and drives and won't break in half from rust when you leave their driveway for under $1000 I always consider NP.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Tohru
03/06/2015 at 09:51

This seems like the perfect first car.... 10 years ago

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Coty
03/06/2015 at 09:53

Supposedly second owner Florida car its whole life so should be rust free. And if its good mechanically I would be sold. She said the seats are rough... but I could easily swap something nice in

Twism > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 09:54

at that price, you can't go wrong.

worst case scenario, it's a junker and you can sell it to a scrapyard for half that price.

best case, it's a solid little veedub with years of faithful service remaining in it.

from those pictures, it looks fairly okay.

I'd say go for it

Coty > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 09:55

Good aftermarket too.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Twism
03/06/2015 at 09:58

Looks surprsingly clean honestly... hasn't been too customized; which is rare

jkm7680 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 09:58

Good idea, if it doesn't work out, it's worth it's weight in parts.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > jkm7680
03/06/2015 at 09:59

This seems like an easy car to learn stick on honestly... if i kill it i can scrap it

Twism > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:01

you mention the owner is a ''she''... if it's an older woman (30's and up) it could mean that the car was well-maintained by a mechanic...or that the clutch was slipped often and that the interior is full of makeup products (that ''woman driver'' stereotype can go both way!).

jkm7680 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:03

Yup, they're extremely easy cars to learn to drive stick on. Pretty cheap to repair, good aftermarket and parts community, fairly reliable and it's never hard to find anything you'd need for one. I'd say go for it as long as the car checks out!

MultiplaOrgasms > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:04

It's a Jetta II. Not exactly an exiting car, but cheap and practical. If I am not mistaken this is also a german made Jetta so quality should be ok, too. These things can live forever if taken care of. If the car in question is in decent condition as the ad suggests, $950 seems fair. Try to get that price down as far as it gets.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Twism
03/06/2015 at 10:06

Exactly! May be some older lady who babied it or some college teen who abused the hell out of it! Hopefully going to look at it soon

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > jkm7680
03/06/2015 at 10:06

This is early enough to not be part of the horrible unreliable jokes for the most part, right? Its very basic, unlike anything 90s

jkm7680 > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:07

Yeah, haha. They're easy to work on and are before all the unreliability jokes set in from what I remember.

TopSirloin > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:08

For something that runs and drives, anything less than a thousand is not a bad deal in my opinion.

Twism > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:14

Since the plastic bumper looks to be whole and without any bruises, I hope it's the former.

Keep us posted, and remember, you can fit a VR6 in these things, if you ever get bored of those 90 horsepower!

Jayhawk Jake > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 10:20

A 200,000 mile VW? What could go wrong!

This is one of those cases where it's probably not a terrible idea unless you're spending all your savings to do it

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Jayhawk Jake
03/06/2015 at 10:35

Im hoping that since its an 85, its before most every joke about them being unreliable. It's quite simple.

DocWalt > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/06/2015 at 14:44

Mk2 owner here... That car looks pretty clean, and that price isn't too bad, but I'd try talking her down to $750 or so. It's missing the rear bumper cover, but it has a hitch.. Semi-valuable 7 slat grille, which is nice I guess.

The CIS system is likely in great shape assuming it's been driven regularly, but some seafoam in the tank once or twice won't hurt making sure everything is nice and clean with the modern ethanol content in fuel.

Otherwise there's nothing that really stands out in my mind as major issues, besides normal old car stuff (door handles, bad seals, bad suspension bushings, rust)

gmctavish needs more space > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
03/07/2015 at 17:35

It probably won't be the most reliable car in the world, but they're dead simple, and old VWs are basically lego, so if you like the gti grille and seats better, you can have them. If the old 1.8 isn't doing it for you, just throw something else in there with more power, or a tranny from a diesel with shorter ratios. Also yeah, tons of aftermarket support, and parts are cheap.