quote:

Originally posted by Oldrider:
I've gone through teen-age driving learning curve three times, so I'm qualified to speak. If your teenager has just got his license get a cheap but semi-dependable first car for them. Due to youthful enthusiasm coupled with inexperience they'll have their first accident maybe the first time out.

I mean no insult to you or your son, or anyone else. Just my observation. Buy him what you want; them getting 75,000 or more out of it is a rare occurrence.

This is my third go with kids and cars, my son has had license for a year now and he’s been driving our 2017 Accord. My daughter is taking over this car and payment. My son has had a few incidents while driving this car - shoes stolen from the car in our driveway, hit by a golf ball while driving past a golf course, rear ended while stopped at a light - all within 1 week. Then last month he clipped a car while changing lanes. That was the only at-fault incident. So I’m getting him something where a few dings won’t be an issue.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Yeah, Scotty is a little bit different, but I still think his advice is generally at least as good as yours is in this thread, even if he’s a “complete moron”. And there’s no apostrophe needed in your use of “Toyota’s”.

Scotty is an enormous PINHEAD! My advise would be to never buy ANYTHING from a dealership if one can help it - they specialize in ripping people off. If the OP could get that car for $2500 or less and it was kept care of, it would be a great deal. A steal actually, for a Golf (arguably one of the worlds best selling cars worldwide) built in Wolfsburg, Germany. Good luck finding a car that never fails or has any issues though! Thanks for the expert spelling advise too!!!!!!!!!!

So, you agree with Scotty (the enormous pinhead) about not buying used from a dealer. Got it. I agree.

“Thanks for the expert spelling advise too!!!!!!!!!!”

It’s “advice”.

OP - I think I saw the car you were looking at on Car Gurus. Was it a 5 speed?

As much as I was bitching in the other forum about VW maintenance on my mkv Jetta 2.5, now that I have fixed a ton of stuff, it actually rides pretty nice. I'm impressed with it and like others have stated, the 2.5 is the motor to get.

However, just from what I have learned, the common issues are the following:

- oil leak from brake vacuum pump (fixed myself, I think the kit was like 130 bucks to just remove the pump and replace it with a block off plate.) This was about a 4 hr repair because on the auto trans, it's very hard to get the stupid thing out. On a manual I heard it's very easy.

- Door wiring is all messed up from the factory. Doors will need to be fixed if they haven't already. Apparently on mine, two were fixed and two weren't, so my passenger rear door won't lock. This is very common with the Jetta and I think the Rabbit as well, but I am not sure.

- Headliner will droop (cut too small from factory) - cheap to fix yourself but a pain in the ass

- Flex pipe cracking - $90 part, about 6 hours to repair.

Unless you are planning on doing the work yourself, I wouldn't consider it. But as a learning car or for someone who likes to work on cars, you might like it. I consider my Jetta a mechanics badge of honor at this point

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
So, you agree with Scotty (the enormous pinhead) about not buying used from a dealer. Got it. I agree.

“Thanks for the expert spelling advise too!!!!!!!!!!”

It’s “advice”.

Yes, that was a joke on the spellling.

No - I disagree with ole' Scotty. I don't believe that you shouldn't buy a used car from a dealership. Just do your research and pay a fair price. Countless sources for vehicles involve shady dishonest people. A car is a complicated item to purchase and knowing exactly what you're getting into is most of the battle.

Secretly I want the OP to purchase the Rabbit so I can maybe sell these OEM hubcaps I've had in my crawlspace for 10 years.

AirmanJeff - yes it was a 5 speed. I have no desire to tackle those kind of repairs. I’m going look at an ‘02 Toyota Camry tomorrow, 88k miles and just under $5k list price. The search continues