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victoriaveloster t1_isf84wk wrote

Remember when German cars meant reliable and built like a tank. Mk2 was imo the last great Volkswagen. All the German manufacturers started building crap around the early/mid nineties, and it hasn't changed since.

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korky1318 OP t1_isfjjil wrote

I only rock 80s 90s VW. Got 5 of them. Thought I'd post the jetta though since it's the best example of BIFL.

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victoriaveloster t1_isft3us wrote

I had a 92 8 valve Jetta, and an 89 GTX 16valve. I loved my 8v, 16v was a bit of a mess, but that was for due to Digi swap and other mods. I'd love to pick up a mk1 Jetta project. Easily some of the most serviceable cars

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korky1318 OP t1_isfuqbp wrote

I had a gtx too. Sold it. Same story, a mess and no power under 4k rpm. Don't like the 16v that much tbh.

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victoriaveloster t1_isgi03u wrote

Agreed, 8v had much more personality, felt like diesel levels of torque going up hills

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mbp2781 t1_isg6f63 wrote

I have a n/a 944 and it doesn’t get enough love cuz once you swap the right water pump and radiator on there you’re good to go. I’d take it weekly to San Fran to oc and back beating the piss out of it. And tally valves too but was fine as long as the lifter doesn’t go soft

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lazic_ t1_isgnbha wrote

My brother in law sold his Mk4 1.9 TDI at 450k km’s. It’s still running.

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fheller_0 t1_isk82h8 wrote

>Mk4 1.9 TDI

The 1.9 TDI is just a legendary engine

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Skodakenner t1_iss217j wrote

From my experience they still last espacially the diesel ones but regular maintenence is key. Already had a few in the Workshop with around 400k on them still running fine

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BojackPferd t1_itg7zo9 wrote

crap? bro, the BMWs and Mercs from the 1990s and the early 2000s are very high quality and durable. There are so many on the road with 400.000km and more and they drive like new. In general I would not call german cars low quality, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo are the brands in my country that are very frequently spotted on the used sales market with extremely high mileage and still are sold at very high prices. Its basically impossible to find a reasonably priced BMW or Mercedes with low mileage in Denmark, you either pay a fortune or you buy one with 400.000km on it, or one of the unloved Diesels that are an economical nightmare because you pay 1500-3000$ in annual road tax. There is a reason all the taxis are Mercedes. Further I`d say the BMW e39 is probably the best sedan of its era, apart from rust being something to be careful about, they do last forever. My first car was a e39 and I sold it to my mom later on, its now 21 years old and in a mechanically perfect condition, wear parts break over time but thats it and the engine will never ever ever break, those in-line 6 engines can go for a million miles with no overhaul and barely any wear. It does not even use any engine oil, I topped off 0,5l over 40000km. The only non-wear part that needed replacement was the braking power assist that eventually got weaker and then broke after 20 years of use but gradually and not a sudden loss of braking power. If it wasn't for the insane danish taxation model, id immediately buy another Bmw e39, but the annual taxes are a third of the cars value.

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