1988 Volkswagen Jetta Carat review from North America

First thing to go was oil sensor, it would go off after a few minutes of driving. An easy fix.

I was working on my car at a buddy's house when we noticed antifreeze leaking on the driveway. Got new coolant sensor and cap.

The car had been sitting for a year before I bought it, so I took it in for normal maintenance (brake check, fluids, engine check, had to replace valve cover gasket, had to replace a cv joint and an exhaust downpipe, not cheap, but routine stuff for an 88.)

Relocated from Vancouver to Calgary, car made the trip (1000k+) pretty easily, but as of now needs:

master brake cylinder (brakes very light),ebrake retightened, block heater, idle fixed.

All in all, this is a great little car for my first one. The engine as rebuilt 6 months before I bought it, so I'll never really have to worry about it. The interior is great (those krauts know how to make their cars, practical, but still roomy enough for four people) and the 1.8 engine is great for acceleration and highway driving.

My only complaints are that my car is a 3 speed automatic (sounds like a giant mosquito on the freeway doing 140km at 4.5k rpm in 3rd). I wish my car was a standard, better control on Calgary roads, not to mention the whole 3 speed thing, my kingdom for another gear at least)

One thing that I was hoping to get some help on though was my idle. it used to idle very low (and sometimes stall at intersections and stop signs if I didn't keep my foot on the gas all the time. I had it fixed (changed both fuel pumps etc), but after a few road trips it's doing the same thing again. it's never stalled on the freeway or anything like that, just at stops or really low speeds. Shoddy electronics maybe? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.