1987 Volkswagen Golf GL review from North America
"A great German car and excellent alternative to Hondas"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
This is my second Golf. It runs good, but there is a slight ticking sound coming from the driveline, which I am checking into now, may be CV joints or the like.
General comments?
My previous Golf was a '90 1.8 4door with 5 speed. The person before me had blown the head gasket and filled the crankcase with engine coolant. Not ideal conditions to say the least. I pulled the head, had it shaved and reground, and reinstalled it with new gaskets. Only problem was lining up the timing gears, took about 4 tries to get them lined up just right. They tend to run hot. I live in Texas where the temperature gets about 100d F easily and this car had no problems. I ran Castrol 20W-50 which was too thick, except at rpm's over 5k so I switched to 10-40GTX and it did great. I easily got 35 mpg regularly with no maintenance issues.
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| If you get one (new), take care of it, because it will outlive you |
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| Cheap reliability refined to an art form |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | Don't Know |
| Model year | 1987 |
| Year of manufacture | 1987 |
| First year of ownership | 2005 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2005 |
| Engine and transmission | 1.8 Gas Manual |
| Performance marks | 8 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 9 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 7 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 9 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 100000 miles |
| Most recent distance | 100000 miles |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Golf |
| Date of Entry | 10th March, 2005 |