1993 Volkswagen Cabrio from North America - Comments

I was excited to get one of the first Cabrios of this model year in the U.S.

Things went well for about 6 months and then the cruise control would not work. The dealer lent me a new Honda for most of the 6 weeks they had my car apart. My dealerships calls to VW Technical services did not seem to help. Finally someone diagnosed and fixed a small vacuum leak.

I later noticed one of the tires had been repaired in the sidewall with a tire-puncture repair plug. I swear to God I did not have it fixed and it had only been in the dealer and my possession the entire time... except for being in VW's possession while being shipped to the U.S. My service manager said it must have come in to them that way; VW stood by it's "12-point Qulaity Control System" which would have caught it sooner. They refused to budge, but did offer me a key chain and a T-shirt (which I returned to them and suggested they store out of the sun).

Then the heating system began to emit a foul odor which could only be avoided by using the recirculation feature which would have been OK, but in many weather conditions this causes condensation inside the car on the windows. Three different service managers promised a fix; none delivered. When the car was out of warranty, the 4th service manager suggested a new heater at my expense.

The fine leather seats quickly tore on their sides, not where anyone would sit.

The multi-layer convertible roof came apart at a seam.

The airbags needed to be replaced.

I got rid of it.

VW refused to fix anything on this car or even share in the responsibility for the repairs.

Well well, I have an early 1993 cabriolet. I was really not lucky with the seller... Honesty ZERO, but after a good service at Volkswagen the car just runs like... GREAT! I did so far more than 100'000 km with it, changing the usual stuff, no troubles. Even driving very long distances (like a return trip from Switzerland to Corsica (more than 2000 km in two weeks, in the summer).

Funny troubles: the water temperature works when ever it wants, event Volkswagen seems not be able to fix it.

Having two kids who love this funny good looking small car, and being 6.6 told... No room problem.

By the way: I just bought a second one from 1990, about 160'000 km, same little troubles and same pleasure to drive. Very reliable!

You may not get the reliability of a typical Honda or Toyota

with a Volkswagen Cabriolet, but overall they are a good little car. It's seems that you owned the vehicle for years

and put over 80k miles on it, so you must have gotten some enjoyment out of it.

My '93 Cabriolet still has the original top on it and it's probably good for another year or two. In my opinion you can ask more than that out of a convertible top.

I believe the key to keeping a VW in top condition is to regularly maintain the vehicle. 3000 mile oil changes,

coolant flushes, tire rotations etc.

That is not to say that things won't break or wear out, but you can get a lot of enjoyable years out of these fun little cars.

Just a correction to my above comment.

In my opinion you can't ask more out of a convertible top.

Getting over tens years of service from the original top is

excellent. Volkswagen puts quality tops on their convertibles, and in my opinion are they are the best tops

in the industry.