Oahujames

I need a little advice. Would you hestitate on buying a '97 Jetta GT that is from San Diego with 140,000 miles ??? I have a friend who wholesales cars, he is willing to sell it to me for his cost plus $200.

$2,700.

I am worried that the engine is going to cause me headaches. 140K of So. Cal highway miles. The car is black and dent free. 5 speed, manual windows (no tint). Cloth interior is perfect. Looks great, drives great.

What do ya think?

Also, the stock tape deck just says 'SAFE'. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

ZackKVtec

the gt is still a 2.0 so it is going to be extremely slow, but my buddy's dad handed him down a jetta gl with 160.??? and it lasted until 200,000 when he sold it, not too many problems, but well known as the slowest car in our school lol

my3.1is #1

in my opinion, do not buy a jetta, volkswagens are totally stupid and i think youd have a better time with a chevy, get a camaro or something dude

spasticone

I have a 97 jetta trek (same as a GT with a dif badge) with some mods that runs all over camaros and DESTROYS vteck hondas. my last jetta, a 95 had 243K on it and still ran great. $2700 is an ok deal. figure on changing the timing belt as soon as you buy it.

ZackKVtec

dude, come on give yourself a break, your 2.slow does not beat camaros, and does not destroy anything, you are definetly lying lol , yes vtec hondas are slow but those 8 valve 2.0s are really slow man, your not fooling anyone... i beat one in my moms manual saturn, no lie.

fortytons

I've had my 98 Gt for 2 yrs and love it. It's not fast, but a hell of alot better looking than all of those posers in their hondas and camaros.
Euro is the way to go!
If I want to whip someone's Butt, I just Grab My Galant.

spasticone

I'll admit if a 500hp camaro pulled up beside me in my jetta.. of couse he'd blow my doors of.... but come on.... there are what, maybe 2 hot camaros in every town. big deal. I'm no little high school kid with a runny nose driving my mommy's maxima for the night. I know my stuff. you CAN make a 2.0 run. you just have to be able to do more than change an air filter and pop in some splitfires.

beast2.0

I have a 2.0 with an auto trans help me out. What can I do and how much will it cost? All suggestions welcome. Thanks!

cmedrive

If you like working on cars go ahead. I have a 97 Jetta GLS with a 2.0 engine and I wish I never saw this car. It has been one nightmare after the other. This is the worse car that I have ever owned. There is way too many cheap plastic parts. These problems are not from hard driving or lack of maintenance. Just cheap parts and poor engineering. I will never buy another Volkswagen. My daughter bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer and we have had very good luck with it and she drives alot of miles in it. She has had it for 2 years and put 62,000 miles on it. The only thing I had to do to it is replace the front brakes (2 weeks ago), change tires, and change oil every 3000 miles.

Purf02

Runaway dude runaway... I've only had problems from my 98 jetta and it was from a reputable dealer and checked out... Things just keep breaking all the freaking time... I spent 6 grand on mine and have already put 1000 bucks into it and still have around 500 bucks more to put into the thing till I can get rid of the pos for around the same price I purchased the thing for... Just hoping to not loose any more money...

Tacuvito

I have owned a lot of Volkswagens and I will admit that the company while shooting to upscale the VW badge has forgoten about the thing that put them on top, Quality.
I hate it when people start making stupid accusations that the reason for the poor quality is that VW's are made in Mexico's Puebla plant. I will have you know that I own a 1963 Mexican beetle and to this day that car starts like a champ. and the replacement parts are all made in Mexico by the way. I also own a 1995 VR6 Jetta and everything that has broken down in that car says Made in Germany.
Lets be honest who has not heard of a faulty window regulator, crappy electrical systems, vital engine parts made out of a crappy composite plastic that sooner then later cracks, making your car "mark" its spot everywhere we go. The reason its poor quality control and what I call "Engineered Absolesence" People now days are nervous when their Volkswagen hits the 75k mark. I remember my 1983 rabbit GTI had 190k when I bought it and it didn't quit on me until a despot police officer, in a rush to get to Krispy Kreme, killed my car at an intersection.
I also had a 1985 Golf that I got with 160k and when I sold it, it had 220k on it. The only problem I had was a bad gas regulator that I replace at a cost of 15 dollar by buying it at the salvage yard. In 1996 I bought what I thought was my dream VW a VR6 GLX with all the bells and whistles. About a year after I bought it both rear window regulators went out one month apart. I replace them then it was involved in a flood and that was another $4000 lucky for me it was fully insured. Today my car does not want to start. I think it is the ECU but well this is what I bought and I have no problem fixing the problems since it is my second love. The first being my wife. I find pleasure working out the kinks in my car, but I also understand that many people need their car for work and lately with a Volkswagen confidence is something that most people don't have everytime they turn the key. That is sad to say specially for someone who bleeds Volkswagen Blue. I guess what I am trying to say is that "if it sounds like a great deal, it probably isn't."
Tacuvito