Nothing outside routine maintenance.
This is a driver's car, not a passenger's car - the back seats do not fit an adult. All the enjoyment that is to be had with this car is the driver's alone.
It is very quick and nimble, the 90hp 1.8L 8 valve engine is peppy. I have an '88 16V also , but it is a slightly different animal, with more horsepower, performance suspension, and braking. I love them both equally.
As a 1980's German sports car, it has all one needs with no extra bells and whistles. Not a lot of fluff here - one of the things I like most about it.
Being a well-executed simple car, it is easy to work on and maintain. That means there's very little need for dealer service.
The engine seems immortal - My '85 has 156,000 miles on it and it is running as strong as ever. I have no doubt it will be running strong at 200,000+ miles.
The shifter bushings wear out easily, giving a sloppy feel to the shifter, but an inexpensive replacement of the bushings restores the feel to 'like-new'.
Overall, this is an inexpensive to maintain, easy to maintain, high gas mileage, fun to drive car. Who could ask for more? After 20 years of ownership, I surely can't!
Is it just me, or has VW quality taken a nose dive in recent years? On this site, it seems VW's best reviews are for its older models! When do you figure quality started to go down? Seems to be around the early 90s. I wonder how the Golf 5 and New Jetta will hold up?
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