my Jetta died over the holidays, thought it was head gasket, so sorted it, skimmed head etc, but on test run found problem was actually an oil seal (either pump or crankshaft seal), just wanted to ask oppinion on whether it's worth bothering with or if i should just cut my losses and give it away. car is tatty but a work horse,(when it works. lol), is a 1.3 with a weber conversion and just had a recent clutch and replacement gearbox. i like it cause it's cheap to run. will need about 200 spent on it to sort all the problems on it. but i've not got the time or effort now i've got used to not having it. (was off road for two months due to gearbox) and my insurance is due next week and i'm thinking about getting something 'fun'. ideas anyone? regards Ali.
not really, single 25yr old student. but i have a thing about saloons over hatchbacks, hence why i didnt get a golf in the first place. was thinking about replacing it with a TD (i'm a very dull student as you can see. lol)
depends what people are prepared to pay for it, 100-150 maybe cause of the parts value. i was thinking of breaking some of it, parts wise i would've expected to get off ebay 100+ for weber(DTML, fuelling was sorted for last MOT) with K&N (6 months old, still have filter oil and cleaner etc) and the manual choke. 50 for alloys, tyres have good tread Sony head unit 20 MB Quart standard replacement speakers in dash and parcel shelf. ? 1.3 head skimmed 20 30 for jetta front 15 jetta Big Rear bumper 10 White front big bumper other bits in the shed, Have a Helios Blue GTi boot lid, along with some M3 tail light, smoked front indi's and my set of 5 TSW imola's although you'd have to offer me stupid money to get them as they are my fave alloys and would consider putting them on next car. regards Ali.
Hmmm I might be interested in taking it at end of month to fix and use as a run around as I hate driving the Golf around in winter. What exactly needs doing? Is it just the seals?
right ready for the essay? lol Honestly i don't know, i spent all my week off sorting the head gasket(with it being new years nothing was open monday and the engine shop took a day to skim the head) i literally put everything back together, took it for a test run and when i stopped i noticed oil dripping out of the block (it was wasn't flowing but dropping frequently, so it looks as tho it's burst the seal, not just leaking.) i don't know seal which it is, but inside lower cambelt cover looks pretty covered. i had to leave for london on train so i didn't get time to look at it, will know more when i can get back up to brum. the coolant was leaking out of the bottom rad hose as well, but i know that's just cause i hadn't put the clip on properly (after fighting with it for two hours the night before with a pair of longnose pliers, on was on. lol) as explained above, the '200 work' that needs doing to the car is tidying up stuff, needs a new hazard switch on the steering column, needs the brakes refreshed, might need some new shoes as hand brake travel is longer than i'd like. it's got the dreaded jetta **** sag, rear bump stops were advisory on last MOT, but to be honest i think the springs and shockers could do with being replaced. and it could do with some trims on the dash (person who fitted the manual choke didn't do it properly, i removed a dead immobilzer when i put the gearbox in, and didn't put the lower dash back in cause i was going to replace the damaged bits.) when i get up to brum next i'll get a better look at whats wrong, decide what i wanna do, and if i decide a can't be arsed (as that is blatantly what it's down to) i'll take some pics etc and if you wanna come have a look then we'll sort something out. regards Ali.
With the price of other Jettas, it doesn't make sense to fix it. It sounds like the combination of issues (rear springs, leaking oil, tatty interior, leaking coolant) mean its reached end-of-life. Realistically even if it were all fixed its value will be 400 max. I'd spend your 200 towards something a little less worn out, for example Golf Mk2/Mk3, Passat, another Jetta or Vento. Its a quiet time for secondhand cars so you should be able to pick up a good car for not too much. If you don't have the time to break it yourself, it would be worth a free ad (or follow up interest shown already) as a 'spares' car.
PS if you have the space to store it, it would make sense to buy another Jetta of similar model, and if needs be use parts off this one for the new one.
cheers for the info paul, much appriciated, think i've had enough of dubs for a while (sacrelige to say on here i know!) but i've spotted a TD vento on the trader. and i've started a fun cars thread which has got me thinking. lol regards all Ali.