1987 Volkswagen Scirocco Reviews - Page 3 of 3

Purchased with broken clutch - turned out to be clutch cable fouling as well.

Wheel bearings all needed replacing.

Fuel filler neck totally corroded, filling tank with rust particles and causing fuel pump failure.

Front suspension assembly corroded and out of alignment.

Engine mounts worn out and replaced.

Leaking oil from gearbox due to cheap clutch repair.

Gear linkage failure combined with oil leak (above) necessitating gearbox rebuild.

Passenger side front constant velocity joint failed.

Rear shocks and suspension mounts worn out and replaced.

Water gets into cockpit - don't know where from.

Despite low body, plenty of room for tall drivers.

Fast and economical.

Comfortable driving position.

Looks great!

Replaced:

- alternator

- distributor

- starter

- spark plug wires

- various hoses

- drive flange (out of differential)

- fuel pump

- front struts

- tires

- valve cover gasket

- timing belt

- other small things.

Good maintenance is absolutely key to longevity, no matter what one drives.

When I bought this car, maintenance was terribly neglected, hence the large initial investment in repairs.

This car is 15 years old and still outperforms many sports cars of today (ie. Honda).

The car is easy to work on as the engine bay is not cluttered or crammed.

Gas mileage is between 6 and 7 l/100km on the highway (even at 140 to 150 km/h!!) and about 8 l/100km in the city!

It is still easy to find factory parts or good German OEM parts.

My engine has 200,000 km on it and the compression reads 175 ± 5 psi on all cylinders. New engine spec for this is 145-189 psi according to Bentley!

Keep in mind the car had only 28k miles on it at 10 years old. So although these are low mileages, the car was 10-13 years old for these repairs.

31,000 miles: replaced fuel transfer pump.

35,400 miles: replaced rotors, fuel injector seals.

37,400 miles: replaced CV joints.

39,000 miles: replaced oil pressure switch (leaking).

45,500 miles: replaced clutch due to a broken bearing in the clutch plate.

56,100 miles: replaced leaking fuel pre-filter.

56,400 miles: replaced alternator.

58,300 miles: replaced engine mounts.

61,900 miles: replaced A/C compressor.

Supremely reliable and long-lasting cars (people often forget how old they are when they complain about reliability).

The pinnacle of enthusiastic driving. Fantastic handling, great brakes, "let-me-at-him" acceleration and responsiveness.

Fits like a glove for drivers under 6'2".

This car has no real flaws except that they're hard to find in good shape. Fantastic seats. Out-accelerates a Porsche 944, out-handles a Ferrari 348 in stock form.

Keep in mind the cars are old and the chassis design borders on ancient. With that said, this car is nothing short of a classic waiting to happen.

Learn more about the Scirocco at:

http://www.scirocco.org (the homepage of the Scirocco List).

Transmission self-machined itself 1 week after ownership, resulting in a nice hole in the case. It had the typical grounding problem as well.

GREAT CAR.

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Let me put it like this, I also own a 2000 VW Jetta... I drive my Scirocco anytime we (the wife & I) have to go anywhere.

Just about everything went wrong with my car. During the time I had it, the car had to receive a new clutch, transmission bushings, fuel pump, alternator, 3 coolant hoses, about 10 gallons of anti-freeze, and re-wiring was done inside the dashboard after an electrical fire started when I flipped on my headlights one night.

I really racked up about 105,000 miles, but the odometer was also messed up when the electrical fire happened, so I didn't fix it.

The power steering went out, but this car is easy to turn without power steering.

Condensation built up in the engine and it was EXTREMELY hard to start in cold weather. I usually had to flick the key back and forth about 30 times before it would start, then I would hold the gas in half-way for a while to get it to idle for me.

The final straw was when I got some new tires and noticed the axle boots were worn and all this dirt was between the axles. I just up and sold the thing for $1900.

Although all of these things went bad with my car, for some reason, I still loved the thing. I went out and did something stupid by getting some Pontiac Sunbird Convertible and I sold the Roc. Now I want it back so badly. This Sunbird is too reliable. I used to enjoy hitch-hiking after one of my roadside disasters with my Scirocco. Call me an idiot, but I liked this type of stuff.

I used to get it in first gear, and hit the gas real hard repeatedly. It would bounce up and down like it was doing the worm. It was really loud because of the holes in the muffler and exhaust system, but it gave it a kind of ringing sound when the engine was around 7000 rpm. I used to think I looked so cool in the Roc. I was always smiling in it and waving. I would be cruising down a LONG stretch of road, and I would have it in 5th gear. I would get tired of just sitting there and smiling, so I would hit the clutch and yank it into 2nd gear. Then I would work my way back up to 5th gear just for the fun of it. This was SUCH A FUN CAR. Roc, wherever you are, I'm so sorry I sold you to that local punk rocker with the blue hair. I love you, Roc.

Motor mounts and cold-start valve need to be replaced.

This is a car I've wanted since it came out (I think I was 11...), I finally found one that was pampered and in very nice condition. I LOVE THIS CAR! It needs a few age/maintenance-related fixes, but the twin-cam motor is a screamer and the close-ratio trans is a pleasure to bang through.

The Recaro seats are great, and add to the fighter-jet ambiance of the car. I've had a lot of cars, but this is my favorite and I'll never sell it.

Since acquiring car have replaced/repaired:

Valve stem oil seals.

Exhaust system (manifold back).

Front discs/pads.

Rear brake cable.

My third Scirocco and the best yet. Early carb version means performance is only average, but very reliable (except consumables given above).

Good looking and eye catching.