WTB-VW jetta, manual

[goodWIN]

Car-shopping has proven a tedious task. And it doesn't help that I am really picky about buying a car. So I need some help...here is my wishlist

1.) vw jetta
2.) years (1999-2004) -I like that body style the most
3.) Under $8000
4.) under 100,000 miles
5.) manual

Preferably:

-leather seats
-GLX or GLI edition
-Oh yeah and in the state of VA-or MD or NC

Let me know if you guys see anything!! Pasibo/Gracias/Thanks!

-<3 Kwin

[Ken]

No wolfsberg edition?

[Jake]

Could be worth checking out:
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I think you'll have a harder time finding a GLI with the "low" miles you want at that price. I don't know my VW pricing but that's a guess based on other makes I've looked at recently. Might want to look at higher mileage cars... like up to 120k?

[SlimKlim]

Let me see what I can do today at work. If my boss will let me I'll hop on and surf the dealer network to see if we could get you anything. Are you picky about color?

[V1GiLaNtE]

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posted on facebook too

[Mike]

make sure you don't get the crayon year.

[Jake]

make sure you don't get the crayon year.

So, every year then?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[.RJ]

[Mike]

i thought it was only a couple years...

edit: nope. see reports of every year. i couldn't live with that.

[SlimKlim]

Are you talking about the crayon smell from the insulation?

My E46 was plagued with that, but I kinda liked the smell.

[Jake]

Are you talking about the crayon smell from the insulation?

My E46 was plagued with that, but I kinda liked the smell.

Yep. Every friggin German car from like 2000 onward smells like that after a while. The Crossfire reeks - but only in the trunk, because the roof comes off and lets it out of the cabin. I've been in a few Jettas that all smelled, some worse than others. Oddly enough the older BMWs I've been in (E36, E34) do not have the smell, they just smell like "old BMW" or whatever. Change in material?

[SlimKlim]

Are you talking about the crayon smell from the insulation?

My E46 was plagued with that, but I kinda liked the smell.

Yep. Every friggin German car from like 2000 onward smells like that after a while. The Crossfire reeks - but only in the trunk, because the roof comes off and lets it out of the cabin. I've been in a few Jettas that all smelled, some worse than others. Oddly enough the older BMWs I've been in (E36, E34) do not have the smell, they just smell like "old BMW" or whatever. Change in material?

You haven't been in one new enough. The white car had a very faint essence of crayon, but not nearly as bad as some stories I've heard. I thought it smelled nice, made it smell new. But people would get in and ask why it smelled like crayons. :dunno:

[goodWIN]

1.) I am confused now as to what I want.
2.) BMW?..hmm...why not a jetta again? E36=sexy...E34=not so much
3.) I like the smell of crayons
4.) I don't want a "fixer upper" here, I AM A GIRL...yeah crazy, I know. I kind of just want something that doesn't need work all the time, I do babysit quite often and I need a car that is SEMI practical (Throwing the kids in the trunk doesn't count *cough-JAKE-cough* and I am literally going to be broke after I buy a car so I don't want to be putting money into it all the time.
5.) Oh yeah the wolfsburg...forgot to add that on my wishlist.
6.) Thank you guys so much for the help!!! You guys are the best. -seriously.

[Goodspeed]

1.) I am confused now as to what I want.
2.) BMW?..hmm...why not a jetta again? E36=sexy...E34=not so much

For me it would simply come down to RWD versus FWD. You're probably going to have a lot less fun in the latter

4.) I don't want a "fixer upper" here, I AM A GIRL...yeah crazy, I know. I kind of just want something that doesn't need work all the time, I do babysit quite often and I need a car that is SEMI practical (Throwing the kids in the trunk doesn't count *cough-JAKE-cough* and I am literally going to be broke after I buy a car so I don't want to be putting money into it all the time.

I can't comment on the reliability of VW's (though all the CEL jokes and burning shop manuals from experienced MM'ers leads me to believe they may be unreliable money pits), but I think you're best bet would be to find a nice E36 sedan owned by an enthusiast. They'd be more likely to have properly serviced the car (cooling issues, rear subframe stuff, etc) for performance driving than you're average Jetta thats been driven into the ground by many a teenage girl before you. Plus, picking up a decent E36 from an auto-x/RR forum would probably mean it would come with some tasty bits as well...

[.RJ]

An E36 will definitely not be less hassle than a MK4 Jetta in any shape or form. We joke about the CEL's but they're not that bad.

[Jake]

1.) I am confused now as to what I want.

Nothing wrong with options... find nice examples of both cars (Yetta & E36) and drive them, see what you like and dislike. You may drive both and end up liking both or neither.

2.) BMW?..hmm...why not a jetta again? E36=sexy...E34=not so much

Like Goodspeed said, RWD vs FWD. It's not that Jettas are bad cars - they appear to do just fine for all of Tri-Delt and Tri-Sig :roll: but the driving dynamics of each will be different. The E36 is comparable in size to the Jetta, the E34 is larger and not a sports car - it's a cushy ish sedan that has a sportier driving feel than a Lexus of the same era.

3.) I like the smell of crayons

The kids you babysit will feel right at home as well!

4.) I don't want a "fixer upper" here, I AM A GIRL...yeah crazy, I know. I kind of just want something that doesn't need work all the time, I do babysit quite often and I need a car that is SEMI practical (Throwing the kids in the trunk doesn't count *cough-JAKE-cough* and I am literally going to be broke after I buy a car so I don't want to be putting money into it all the time.

Hey now, being a girl is no excuse for not knowing or being able to work on your shit. I see where you're coming from - and my car falls into the category of "doesn't need work all the time" too - but I enjoy wrenching on it when I decide to upgrade things or do oil changes, etc.

Definitely find a car that has past maintenance records from the seller. I keep a binder of receipts and log the work I do - date and mileage - to help myself remember when stuff is due for upkeep, and also to prove to a future owner that I took care of my whip.

I know - at least with the BMW, probably with the VW too - that it is easy to find clean, needs-nothing cars for sale on enthusiast forums. Check out bimmerworld.com and bimmerforums.com for the E36, and vwvortex.com for the Jetta. Craigslist is fun to look on, and occasionally you'll get a good ad that's worth calling about - but WEN THE AD IS IN ALL CAPS AND SAYS TEH CAR HAS LOW MIELS AND A MANUEL TRANSMISSION - you should keep looking.

Oh, and demand good pictures. If you're selling a car, you should either own a digital camera (not a cell phone cam) or have a friend who will let you borrow theirs. You want several large, well-lit pictures of the car's exterior, interior and engine bay. Cleanliness should match all around... if the car is dirty everywhere but has a shiny engine bay, they may be trying to hide a leak of some sort.

If you want advice on potential cars, post ad links here, we are always happy to critique and spend other peoples' money!!

[ScottyB]

if it's a 1.8T car (glx/gli sounds about right) i would strongly suggest being 110% sure the timing belt/tensioner was serviced on time (every 60k miles) and that it received synthetic oil changes on a regular basis with a large filter (they changed over to a larger filter sometime in '00 i think). they are an interference engine so if the t-belt goes kablooey you are trashing alot of parts in that 20-valve head.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Dont dismiss craigslist completely. Every single car aside from the Lexus was bought off of craigslist. My GSX had only 54k miles, the guy didnt know what he had. Sold it for less than at car dealer auction, and was beautifully dealer maintained. Outside was pretty bad from being in DC non-garaged, but I cared more about the engine. Didnt have a single breakdown till 2.5 years later. At which point I blame my modding problem.

My m3 is also one of the cleanest and best high mileage m3s ive ever seen, guess where I found it? Harrisonburg craigslist...no shit.

[.RJ]

Craigslist FTW.

I looked at a bunch of slightly higher (80-100k) Jettas and GTi's before I bought my '03 GTi last year. There were a few problems (window tracks, coil packs, and a few others) on the VR6's that I looked at but it was relatively consistent and they seemed like mostly solid cars as long as they'd had regular maintenance. The thing that scared me off of the higher mileage VR6 was the potential for a timing chain+clutch job, and that was an expensive bill, but I'd own another VW. Just avoid VW Vortex. That place makes me want to punch a baby.

A higher mileage E36 (and now the E46's) will generally nickel and dime you no matter how well it was maintained if you try to keep up with it... or just keep driving it into the ground but it wont be much fun to drive that way.

[goodWIN]

1. Thank you guys for the replies.
2. "It's not that Jettas are bad cars - they appear to do just fine for all of Tri-Delt and Tri-Sig but the driving dynamics of each will be different"-bahaha eff those sorority oompa loompa's!! They can take thier daddy's money, fake tans, and bought friends and go......ok that's enough for now. I don't want to be like them! , But I still like the jetta
3. "and occasionally you'll get a good ad that's worth calling about - but WEN THE AD IS IN ALL CAPS AND SAYS TEH CAR HAS LOW MIELS AND A MANUEL TRANSMISSION - you should keep looking."-OMG!!! It is amazing how often I have come across this!! STUPID PEOPLE!!
4. " it's a 1.8T car (glx/gli sounds about right) i would strongly suggest being 110% sure the timing belt/tensioner was serviced on time (every 60k miles) and that it received synthetic oil changes..."-Uh yeah I talked to some dealer guy that works on Audi's and BMW's especially-he is good-but he said 1.8T are the worst, and stay clear, so I am not looking much into those
5."Dont dismiss craigslist completely"-psh, I LOVE craigslist, check it daily.-No dissin here
6. "That place makes me want to punch a baby."-LOL...punch a baby?..hahaha. That's horrible!!!
7. Still convincing the padre to buy Maeng's car (did I spell that right..Brian M-ya know with the Miata..anyway)...working on it