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Brother-in-law's new (used) car..

Arkaign

Arkaign

Lifer
Hi guys. This has been an excellent forum to gather/share info in, so I thought I'd go ahead and post in here to see if anyone had anything to share info-wise regarding a VW Cabrio. My Brother-in-law (nice kid, 21 years old, works for GeekSquad), needed a car after his old '95 Altima gave up on him. He had ~$2k available, and was looking for a decent cash car, which for some reason we just couldn't find a match for him that he liked.

That being determined, I decided to take him to a couple small independent dealers (he's only been on his current job 2 months, and current apt 1 month) to check if they might be able to help him out. We looked at lots of cars, and finally narrowed it down to a few, and he finally picked this thing as his favorite.

Obviously his extremely young age and scarce employment/residential/credit history made things a bit of a challenge, but I think he ended up getting at least a decent deal. Anyway, this is what he got :

2001 VW Cabrio GLX Convertible
2.0 I4 SOHC (115HP/122TQ)
Black on Black
71k Miles
5 Speed
~2800LBS
All Power
$1,500 down, $175 biweekly for two years, total ~$9900.

Drives really smooth, though the shifter linkage seems a bit noisy. Fun car though.

Questions :

(1)- I know VW isn't the most reliable brand, is there anything particular to worry about with the Cabrio models?

(2)- It's probably better that this isn't a road rocket that will get him into trouble, but is there anything he can do to affordably boost the performance a bit? Would a custom ECU tune + Intake/Exhaust do much?

(3)- The factory audio system is locked, and wants a 4-digit key to activate. Does he have to take it to the dealer or is there a workaround? He's planning on buying a better head unit anyway, so if the dealer wants to charge for the code unlock, he'll just wait I suppose.

(4)- Anything else he should know / plan for?

Thanks AT Garage!!
 
A buddy of mine had one of those, and from what I remember:

1) It was pretty reliable, since there weren't a lot of electronics in it (manual roof, no heated seats or anything... power windows was about it)
2) Forget about mods, it's an old engine design and you'd be wasting your time/money trying to get more power out of it; just accept the fact that it's a slow vw cabrio.
3) If the radio is locked, there should be a four digit code pasted somewhere in the users manual or on a card that came with the owner's manual to unlock it
4) It's definitely a chick's car, though it could be worse (a beetle)

Personally, I think $9900 is way too much; maybe if it were around $5000-7000 tops... and even then, maybe

 
Originally posted by: swtethan
The only people I see driving vw cabrios are women and gay men.

other than that, I dont know about those cars.
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Fixed.

I wouldn't buy a VW simply because I've owned them in the past and they were absolutely horrible cars as far as reliability.
 
Well, keep in mind that this is $9900 financed, for a 21-year-old with no ability to get a bank loan, scant job history, and a 1-month residency record and zero credit. I agree that the cash retail value is a bit less, but he didn't have that much money to throw around.
 
This girl I know has it, we had to drive it for her because she wanted to ride with my other friend on his bike.
It felt like a total piece of shit and that's way to much for it. I'm comparing it to my 2002 Dodge Neon SE too which is a total piece of shit too, but way better then that car.
 
nearly 10,000$ for that car? bad economic decision on his part. he shoulda just gotten a japanese beater like a 95 or even a 96 civic for close to 2000$ instead lol and then save more money and get a better car lol. he might have to replace the timing belt/water pump on the car if the dealer didnt. atleast its a manual 😛
 
Oh god, I had a Neon. There must have been something wrong with that VW, because my brother-in-law's Cabrio is about ten million times nicer than my old Neon. My Neon was a white 4 door sedan with the 5 speed, and it died with ~70k miles on the clock. Along the way, I had a knock sensor go out, head gasket replaced, EGR valve fail, fuel injection system fail, along with the rattles, shitty paint flaking off.

That Neon was the biggest turd I've ever driven, and it was a new car and dealer serviced.
 
Originally posted by: K3N
nearly 10,000$ for that car? he shoulda just gotten a japanese beater like 94 civic for close to 2000$ instead lol and then save more money and get a better car lol. atleast its a manual 😛
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We looked, but couldn't find one with under 100k miles for any decent price. The last thing we wanted was for him to buy a car with ~175k-200k miles, then have it die on him two months from now. The dealer is giving him a 24 month limited drivetrain warranty on this car, which gives him a bit of peace of mind.
 
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Oh god, I had a Neon. There must have been something wrong with that VW, because my brother-in-law's Cabrio is about ten million times nicer than my old Neon. My Neon was a white 4 door sedan with the 5 speed, and it died with ~70k miles on the clock. Along the way, I had a knock sensor go out, head gasket replaced, EGR valve fail, fuel injection system fail, along with the rattles, shitty paint flaking off.

That Neon was the biggest turd I've ever driven, and it was a new car and dealer serviced.
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Hah really, what year?

According to the junk yard, a lot of 1st generation Neons die around 80,000 - 120,000 miles, lots of them looked good on the outside (ie, not smashed).

My Neon has 48,000 miles and it's a 2002. I really hope it will last me another 2 or 3 years.
 
Originally posted by: SoundTheSurrender
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Oh god, I had a Neon. There must have been something wrong with that VW, because my brother-in-law's Cabrio is about ten million times nicer than my old Neon. My Neon was a white 4 door sedan with the 5 speed, and it died with ~70k miles on the clock. Along the way, I had a knock sensor go out, head gasket replaced, EGR valve fail, fuel injection system fail, along with the rattles, shitty paint flaking off.

That Neon was the biggest turd I've ever driven, and it was a new car and dealer serviced.
Click to expand...

Hah really, what year?

According to the junk yard, a lot of 1st generation Neons die around 80,000 - 120,000 miles, lots of them looked good on the outside (ie, not smashed).

My Neon has 48,000 miles and it's a 2002. I really hope it will last me another 2 or 3 years.
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It was a '99. It remains the most soul-crushing, horrible experience of my life, that car. I swear they used old rusty pots and pans to forge the drivetrain from, and it was assembled by drunken blind people with epileptic fits. I drove the car mildly, always changed the oil, always took it for dealer service, but it just didn't want to work for very long. At one point something under the hood actually caught fire and started billowing smoke from the hood and vents.

I hope your '02 does better. Seems like you either get a lemon, or you get lucky. One note : if you see any evidence that the head is getting suspect, SELL IT IMMEDIATELY before it's dead. My head cracked shortly after having the dealer do a head gasket replacement due to water in the oil/etc.
 
Does your sister know that her husband is...uh...sweet?

Sorry, ignore that question, it's not relevant to the topic 😀
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Does your sister know that her husband is...uh...sweet?

Sorry, ignore that question, it's not relevant to the topic 😀
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Eh? This is my wife's younger brother we're talking about here, so I'm confused as to your meaning 🙂 😕
 
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Does your sister know that her husband is...uh...sweet?

Sorry, ignore that question, it's not relevant to the topic 😀
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Eh? This is my wife's younger brother we're talking about here, so I'm confused as to your meaning 🙂 😕
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I think he's sarcastically implying he's gay for buying a VW Cabrio
 
Originally posted by: programmer
http://www.automotiveblogger.n...you-bought-a-girl-car/

"This is the quintessential girl car. It?s impossible for a guy to drive one for a week and not hear comments about how ?girly? it is from guys and ?cute? it is from girls. As if they just plain gave up on any semblance of masculinity, Volkswagen even used the French word for ?car with a folding top?."
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lol, well, he likes it enough. The car does seem popular with girls already! He came by work earlier with some hot chick from the place next to his work.
 
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: programmer
http://www.automotiveblogger.n...you-bought-a-girl-car/

"This is the quintessential girl car. It?s impossible for a guy to drive one for a week and not hear comments about how ?girly? it is from guys and ?cute? it is from girls. As if they just plain gave up on any semblance of masculinity, Volkswagen even used the French word for ?car with a folding top?."
Click to expand...

lol, well, he likes it enough. The car does seem popular with girls already! He came by work earlier with some hot chick from the place next to his work.
Click to expand...

She thought he was gay. Wanted a new gay friend.
 
Originally posted by: swtethan
Originally posted by: Arkaign
Originally posted by: programmer
http://www.automotiveblogger.n...you-bought-a-girl-car/

"This is the quintessential girl car. It?s impossible for a guy to drive one for a week and not hear comments about how ?girly? it is from guys and ?cute? it is from girls. As if they just plain gave up on any semblance of masculinity, Volkswagen even used the French word for ?car with a folding top?."
Click to expand...

lol, well, he likes it enough. The car does seem popular with girls already! He came by work earlier with some hot chick from the place next to his work.
Click to expand...

She thought he was gay. Wanted a new gay friend.
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:laugh:
 
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
geez lil over 10k for a 2001 cabrio?
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Man, did you miss the part where he's 21 years old with poor/no credit, limited employment/residential history?

If he were 25, had worked a job for at least 6 months, lived in the same place for at least 6 months, then he could have easily found a better deal.

On that note, we're at nearly ~20 posts, and only PCMarine had anything remotely useful to contribute. I'm kind of surprised, but then again, threads do have a habit of jumping the tracks around here.
 
Maybe you could've loaned him 3k and just bought a used honda, definitely a better choice over a pos VW, no offense. Actually take offense, since it was a bad economic decision. I know he has no credit, young but maybe someone should've loaned him some cash to get a decent deal...my 2 cents
 
Originally posted by: cr2250
Maybe you could've loaned him 3k and just bought a used honda, definitely a better choice over a pos VW, no offense. Actually take offense, since it was a bad economic decision. I know he has no credit, young but maybe someone should've loaned him some cash to get a decent deal...my 2 cents
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my 99 passat is doing just fine with 130k on it.

10k seems expensive for that cab.. then again, my passat was a steal at $5k.
 
I believe the code can be unlocked at the dealer, if not, time to rip it out and put a new one in. The engine, 8 valve, is a good solid engine. Can't go wrong with it. Most likely the bushings and the little ball underneath the shifter need to be replaced. Is it sloppy or just loud?
 
Originally posted by: Cdubneeddeal
I believe the code can be unlocked at the dealer, if not, time to rip it out and put a new one in. The engine, 8 valve, is a good solid engine. Can't go wrong with it. Most likely the bushings and the little ball underneath the shifter need to be replaced. Is it sloppy or just loud?
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It's very slightly sloppy, but again, I'm comparing it to a Prelude SH, an '02 E39 M5 6Spd, and my current '08 Focus S 5Spd, which are all very tight shifters. It is noisy though, not in a broken/grinding way, but a sort of clank/clink way. Is the linkage easily worked on in this car? The only linkage I've ever worked on was a '92 Mustang 5.0. One day the shifter just fell flat to the side, lol. Had to take the boot off, and reassemble everything down there.
 
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