30th Sep 2007, 11:59
You know something? All of the complaints you people have could have been avoided with some preventive maintenance. Brakes should be checked periodically, along with CV joints and boots. Hosing out the underside of the body every spring will help keep the salt from rusting the body, and washing and waxing will keep the paint looking good. Every car should be waxed in the fall to protect it during the winter.
It does not matter what brand of car you drive; they all need to be serviced and cared for. Things wear out and have to be replaced. If you do not want to pay a mechanic to repair your car, learn to do it yourself. Buy a maintenance manual and a tool kit and you can replace spark plugs and other ignition parts. Brakes are so simple I don't know how these repair shops stay in business. Any 8y/o can change the oil and filter if they are shown how to. Belts and hoses are not hard to figure out. Its not brain surgery; if you screw something up it can be corrected.
Some of you buy used cars and expect them to perform like new ones. If it didn't need anything done to it when you bought it, the previous owner would still have it. When you buy a used car you have to remember that it is used! You are buying it problems and all! Stop whining.
2nd Nov 2007, 13:05
I have owned my 2 door 1989 Jetta Flair since it was a new demonstrator. I have kept it maintained and cleaned regularly, replaced lots of accessories due to normal wear out, like starter motor, heater core, radiator, fuel pump, the automatic transmission rebuilt once and so on. For a while arcing distributor caps stranded me on occasion, but not recently. It has never had the valve cover off, has all the original body and paint, other than a hood replacement due to a rear-ender, and continues to be a good-looking, reliable car. I've got lowered springs, Bilstein shocks, Magnaflow exhaust, K&N air cleaner, Brembo discs, and much more, but left the engine alone. I now have 497,000 kms on the car! No short trips, regular oil changes and stayed off dirt roads. It will never die - I love it. Chris N Nov. 2007.
4th Apr 2007, 20:17
1989 Volkswagen Jetta Review:
I bought this car as a commuter, 13 miles to work and 13 miles home... everything worked good for a while, but keep in mind, I bought it this year (2007) so it wasn't in perfect condition, but nonetheless... it worked alright. About two weeks into it though I was dumping more money into it than I paid for it. And overall, I only have one thing to say about this car; The brakes went out while I was on top of a mountain with my cousin and three of my friends in the car... luckily we survived the wreck, because I know how to drive. I'll never buy another piece of crap like this again!