'02 VW Cabrio -- Pros & cons?

[Benzadmiral]

No, not for me. A buddy of mine from my writing group has recently purchased a silver over gray VW Cabrio, a 2002, he says, with auto. I saw it last night at our suburban meeting, a good 20 min. from his home. The interior leather is a little worn, but the convertible top is in good shape. Looks like a fun car -- especially for $900.

Are there any well-respected forums for VW Cabrio owners? I found the "Unofficial Volkswagen Enthusiasts Forum" with a Cabrio sub-forum, and one on VWForum.com for the MK4 Golf which includes the Cabrio. Any others? Any experiences with these cars, raves, strong and weak spots?

 

[Quattro Pete]

http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisplay.php?152-Cabriolet

 

[RooflessVW]

That section of VWvortex is VERY active, and has some VERY knowledgeable members.

The Cabbys are great cars!

 

[Fsharp]

I had a 2001 Cabrio a couple of years ago. The top was in good shape and worked fine, but it had lots of little electrical issues. The electronic door locks wouldn't work, the cruise control was broken, the interior lights were broken, and I had to switch out a relay to get rid of a CEL. Also it needed a new coolant temp sensor.
The interior was also falling apart to a certain extent with the lid on the center console popping off, the leather on the seats flaking off and the passenger seat's seat adjuster was very loose.
I had to replace the front tie rods and tie rod ends too.
It was a fun little car though and is still going strong for my mom with about 160,000 miles on it.

 

[oilpsi2high]

Pros - It's a car
Cons - It's an early 2000's Volkswagen.

 

[Scum_Frog]

Older Cabrio's are great pick ups for am inexpensive drop top weekend toy.

I agree with VWvortex being a great source of info and community for us VW fans.

 

[skyactiv]

If you can handle fixing things yourself, it's a fun little car. Plus it's something you can toy around with for a few years and get back what you paid for it.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Pros - It's a $900 car with air bags, and ABS
Cons - It's an Mexican built VW


fixed!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Pros - It's a car
Cons - It's an early 2000's Volkswagen.
+1

 

[jeepman3071]

VWVortex is pretty good. For 900 bucks you really can't complain. It's just not something you want to dump money into. Drive it until the wheels fall off then leave it lol. I've never really been fond of that era VWs. Lots of little nagging problems and some big ones. Auto transmissions are terrible. VWs have the German maintenance syndrome without the luxury of a BMW, Audi or Benz.

 

[Silverado12]

Just throw $900 in a fire pit instead.

 

[RooflessVW]

Best part about that Cabrio...

It's actually a much older, and simpler car. It is a MK3 with CE-II, skinned with the fancy look of the early 2000's.

Some people love to hate, but they are awesome cars.

 

[Benzadmiral]

It's got about 140hp (? right?), so my friend should have no trouble zipping up to interstate speeds, seeing as it's quite a light vehicle. And if the weather here ever improves to top-down weather (say, around Christmas), he can have a nice open-air cruiser too.

He has a good independent mechanic lined up, so whatever crops up won't mean a trip to the dealer. Does VW make older parts available the way MB does?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
It's got about 140hp (? right?),

115 HP.

 

[Lolvoguy]

it's also not fuel efficient considering it's lack of performance.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
it's also not fuel efficient considering it's lack of performance.

What do you want? It'll do 25 average and just up over 30 on the highway. What's better, a $900 30mpg car, or a $15,000 40mpg car?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
It's got about 140hp (? right?),

115 HP.


I won't tell him, then.