1984 Volkswagen Scirocco GL from UK and Ireland - Comments

Carburettor is incredibly complicated and inefficient - car won't idle. The clutch release mechanism is awful. The friction pad between the exhaust manifold and downpipe has worn away and can only be replaced by a main dealer. Alternator regulator/brush unit failed.

A dreadful car. Bodily sound but mechanically flawed. Bulkhead flexes when the clutch cable is depressed. It rattles and the handling is poor. Bumps in the road feel like canyons.

Come on. that's a bit unfair don't you think? I have owned 3 Sciroccos, one being a 1984 GL. I agree with the bulkhead flex, but it can be modified. Anything else is a tad unfair!

I agree with the unfairness. The Scirocco is a good car. It would outlive many other cars, those problems mentioned above are probably due to bad maintenance and disrespect for the car and would be evident in any car.

Most unfair it has to be said, I covered 170,000 miles in my trusty old friend, no problems that could not be easily fixed, get rid of the carb though.

A Webber carb conversion is not complex and transforms the car. The wheel bearing problem is normally due to fitting oversized wheels and tires, the scirocco does not need them, they do not improve handling and cause tram-lining problems. Clutch cable and bulkhead, £10 and a steel plate fixed mine. Lovely cars, easily tweaked and bombproof if maintained.

I added the Weber replacement carburettor to my scirrocco 1983 1.6 gl. Following this upgrade (probably not directly adding this) I ran into lots of problems. One was the oil leak into the clutch - resulting in my new clutch slipping (only done 10000 miles) and another problem, the thermo-switch coroded due to excessive heat? ultra-expensive to replace at £48.50!!! ouch! my car has only done 67000 miles, it is a Y-reg and I still love it. Small spots of rust have appeared on the doors and wheel arch, and I must repair them soon!

Sorry to ramble folks...

I think I'll acquire myself a golf 1.8T next or possibly buy a lot cheaper CRX 1.6 v-tec 1991 si or something...

Whoever owned your car before you got it must have seriously mis-treated it! It's a Volkswagen! How can you say that the mechanics are no good?

I own a "b" reg gtx it has covered 190 000 miles, I blew the engine and decided to do something different. it has a 242 bhp g60 1.8, puts 190 on the deck and does 152 mph, hits 60 in 6 seconds. I love it. and it still looks like a £300 old car... its only give away is the twin pipe out the back and a full remote locking and toad alarm.

Yours chris.