1976 Volkswagen Rabbit review from North America

Car burned oil, about 1 qt per 1000 mile - it was more like a fine mist out the tailpipe. I never changed the oil, just put more in.

Clutch cable broke, and had to fix that.

Replaced the struts; at the time I was a (very) poor student, and thought I was being screwed, now I think it probably did need it, but I could have done without.

Car was hard to keep aligned, I always put cheap tires on it, because they'd wear out in 10-15K.

Only got it tuned up once (it had to have it's valves adjusted, they were not hydraulic).

Rebuilt the carb after I was fender-bendered and it wouldn't start.

Put new brake pads in myself.

Windshield wipers quit (and I drove through many storms without them, stopping at every exit to wipe off the windshield - man, what was I thinking). Eventually got them fixed.

Brake line rusted through.

After owning a Fiat 128, this car seemed like a paragon of reliability. Bought it while in the service in California, so it had all the CA stuff on it. Cost me $2700, and I bought it from a divorced young woman who knew less about cars and car care than I did. It was one of the first rabbits in the US, I think, so it was extremely basic, with cardboard door inserts and just a few dash lights. No A/C of course. When I got out I had it tuned up (by an ex-WW2 POW, it turned out, neat) and drove it from California to Illinois, where I parked it on the street and didn't see it for months at a time while I went to college - did that for four years. Twice the city impounded the car when they redid the curbs next to it, which shows how little I looked at it. I am amazed now that it would start right up after sitting for months in the winter, but at the time I was mad that it had to crank 2-3 times. I'm not sure a modern car would do that, every time. Drove it to Mom and Dad's in Wisconsin every holiday, and when I met my future wife (and ex-wife), I drove 150-200 miles one way to see her on many a weekend with it (maybe I had 150K miles on it, can't remember). When snow melted on it, water would seep into the car, and freeze on the driver side floor, a nice little ice rink. After college I drove it down to Texas to get a job with NASA, on the way I lost my brakes (the brake lines run through the passenger cabin next to the drivers feet; my ice rink got me) and had to replace the brake line in a hotel parking lot - after driving to a parts store using my emergency brake. Car was awful in Houston - no A/C in the summer, almost got heat stroke, literally - and eventually my new wife and I got a Dodge Omni to replace it (a horrible car, but that's another story). The Rabbit sat so long (and it's hugely complex vacuum line anti-smog setup deteriorated enough) that I reluctantly decided to get rid of it. When I went out to drive it one last time, it was very rough, and my feet went right through the floorboard - my skating rink getting me again. Finally sold it to a junkyard, and ever since have felt bad I didn't maintain it better, it would probably still run. I really do wish I had changed the oil more, kept it up, fixed the ice rink. Like Old Yeller, I finally had to put the old dog down. It gave me outstanding service, and was just what I needed, when I needed it.