having said that, I picked up an older Jetta for my kid for $900 in good condition. Needs a few things, but basically everything works (except the expected window regulator issues, two need to be replaced).

 

Reliability scale:

VW ----------------------------------------------------------Honda

 

just wondering but is the commute fairly far?

 

Honda----------------------Subaru (making point, Hondas are reliable).

A $900 car that gets him around is better than an overpriced cheap Honda that every moron on CL thinks is worth gold. People think that a Civic that is lowered with a fart can is somehow worth more (and then wonder why they can't sell it to anyone but another high school kid)? We know the person who had the Jetta and it was fairly well taken care of; something that most cheap Hondas were not.

 

There are always exceptions. If you know and trust the history of a VW, by all means go for it.

In my personal experience, and my relatives', and my friends', VW is a disaster.

As for the Civic... I think what you said was true about Civics from the 90's era. Once the Civic went frumpy and the owners moved on to WRXs, G37, Z's, BMW3xx, etc that left econo-buyers. 2000+ Civic are pretty boring and the drivers choose them for their reliability.

 

no not very far. Maybe 30-40 miles there and back

 

QFT! I've had friends with VWs that are less than a year old have weird electrical issues/gremlins. I wouldn't want to have to rely on a $1,000 VW's electronics in a daily driver, that's for sure. Knowing the history of the vehicle is helpful, but that only goes so far IMO.

-Brian

 

Yeah, my latest "VW story" is my friends 6 mo old Golf R. The press fit timing pulley work it's way loose while he and his family were on the freeway in SF. Catastrophic valve destruction and they were going no where and a flat bed had to come get them.

When it worked, the car was awesome. Great interior, great operation, great driving experience; even in stock form. I had to mod my WRX to get it to feel like that. Plus the Golf R got better MPG. BUUUUUT my WRX did not leave me stranded and as of now I'm at 97k miles and still going. My buddy couldn't get 10k/6 months out of his VW.

 

I would try for a high mileage 2.2 Imprezas. Sometimes they"re out there for around $2k. If you get one that might need a little work you could probably get it for around $1k. Ill let you know if i run across anything.
1997 subaru impreza something like this.The 2.2's last forever.

 

A few months ago I could have sold you a '99 Solara for $1.5k. Ended up getting absolutely nothing for it in trade in.

 

The problem for my kid is he wrecked the clean tilte 98 OBS we got for him within a month of getting it... So he can't afford another one in good condition and the Jetta was cheap. As I mentioned, I expected electrical issues, which it has, but it will get him to work for now.

They tend to be around the price listed too. The ones that need a "little work" are often the ones that need expensive work, otherwise owners don't sell them My 96 2.2 has 266K+ on it.

 

Bastard! My sister had a similar experience though it wasn't her fault. Brand new '01 Outback totaled by some kid the day she got it. She ended up with an '01 Legacy GT wagon instead

This.

-Brian

 

Yeah, that kind of stuff just blows. I posted pics of it before, but his was pretty bad. He was determined to be 51% at fault as well.

 

Exceptions. That's what warranties are for.

I've heard of Subaru's blowing up within a few months. My folks lemoned a chevy suburban AND a toyota avalon. To respectable cars. Both lemons.

My folks other suburban has like 275k miles on it and was fine until my brother got a hold of it.

For $1000 you're not getting a new VW with a lot of electrical crap in it. You're getting and old *** golf with a manual transmission.

 

I have a 1995 Honda Accord LX 5 speed commuter I use every day that will be on the market soon because my dad will be giving me his 1994 Accord LX auto. PM me and I'll give you details.