Many of us car fiends rationalize the purchase of an older car in need of work by repeatedly telling ourselves that we’re saving a piece of history from the crusher – keeping a worthy example of automotive art on the road for all to enjoy. I’m certainly guilty of this myself and will continue feeding myself these lines as long as I can, even as the devil’s advocate says that no one cares about your silly old car and you’re sinking good money into a project that would be better spent elsewhere – perhaps even just on a nicer example of the exact same car.
But, as I said, I’m still a believer, and appreciate that this seller took a beat example of a cool car – the Mk2 Jetta GLI definitely counts as a worthy entry in the book of notable German special-edition sedans – and worked hard to bring it back to life. The salvage title means it will never sell for market value, but the seller clearly knows his VWs (note the collection in the background of the pics) and he put some serious time and energy into making this a decent car. Nothing here is perfect, but a lot of it is really cool. Quad headlamps – check (but that S4 badge – booooo). Porsche 928 wheels – check (but “stretched” tires – lame). Decent roof rack – check (but permanently mounted?! What’d you do?).
On the path of keeping misfit examples of cool older cars on the road, I’ve learned that we must be accepting of imperfections. Overall, I like the gist of this car, and believe it can continue making VW fanboys smile for years to come.
Click for details: 1991 Volkswagen Jetta GLI on eBay
Year: 1991
Model: Jetta GLI
Engine: 2.0 liter 16-valve inline-4
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: n/a
Price: Reserve auction
1991 Jetta GLI 2.0 16v
The Story:
It was always a dream for me to own a Mk2 GLI. Before I bought this car, I took my personal mechanic who is a VW specialist to inspect it, and he gave me the green light for purchase. I bought the car November 2013. When I bought it from the previous owner, the car needed a lot of work. That is when I began my resue to save this car and make it reliable.Vehicle comes with the following:
-Momo Shift Knob
-Bilstein Suspension (shocks/springs)
-Bosch O2 sensor
-Porsche steering wheel
-New Cool Xperts Oil Cooler
-New Battery
-New Fuel Pump Gasket
-GTI front grill
-GTI interior dash red stripe
-Yakima roof rack with bike attachment (permanently attached to the top of the car)
-Re-did Headliner
-LED interior dome light
-LED rear turn signals
-LED rear license plate
-LED rear reverse lights
-smoked tail lights
-Viper Alarm with power locks on drivers side. I can be blocks away from sight of the car, as soon as I hit the button it responds right back.
-16 inch Porsche D90 rare wheels! 9s in the back 7.5s in the front. Falken Tires in the rear
-Adaptect adapters all around
-Sound: Kenwood auxilary headunit, Clarion equilizer, two 12 inch Kicker Subs, four 6×9 speakers (2 are Alpine, 2 are kickers)Areas of Improvement:
-Cluster stopped working at 64,461k miles (this is not the original cluster). A new speedo cable may be needed, or the speed part of the cluster is bad. RPMs side of the cluster does work though. -Salvage title; previous owner said it was salvage since the previous owner before him had junked the car; no reported accidents; read Vehicle History)
-Sunroof is closed. eBay sells sunroof cables for $50-60. It hasnt bothered me that is why I have not fixed it.
-Front fender flares are on the car but need to be re-attached since they are slowly disattaching from the top portion about 1/4 of an inch. Very minimal can’t really tell (shown in pics). Should take no more than 20 minutes
-Paint looks fresh, but it wouldnt hurt to clay polish and wax to give it full life 100%
-needs alignment and front tires
-dash is slightly cracked from the top
-will need front tires
-Driver side Recaro seat works great, passenger side Recaro occasionally works
-when lights are on, electrical tends to minimally flicker. Does not affect lights they work great
-fog lights are not connected
-one of the high beam bulbs needs to be replaced
-AC works but needs to be recharged
-plastic container that holds winshield washer fluid needs to be replaced (the one it has shows signs of wear)
-paint on the lower left and right corners of the front bumper needs to be touched up
-Fan tends to turn on after 20 minutes of driving; does not affect the car (was told this is common). -I dropped the alarm control and somewhat cracked in half so it is being held by a zip tie for reinforcement (works fine). -Wheels have minor curb rash (1 wheel is missing a cap in pictures but will be included with the purchase)Recently did the following on 11/4/14:
-Oil change
-New Spark Plugs
-New Spark Plug Wires
-New Cap
-New Rotor
-New Knock Sensor
-New Fuel Filter
-New Air Filter
-New Oil Pressure Switch
-New Thermostat
-New Coolant (old coolant flushed out)
-New Alternator Belt
-New Power Steering Belt
-New Water Pump BeltThe interior of this GLI is amazing. It is fully complete with original Recaros. Very attractive for its age, headliner to the seats to carpet to the dash, it all stands out very nice. I’d give it a 9/10. Black is the original paint color, and it was re-sprayed by the previous owner a few years back. The paint is not perfect has minor scratches, but it is in really great shape I’d say 7.5-8/10! Nothing serious or structural. I have been using this as a daily all over Los Angeles and So Cal from the beaches to the desert, without any problems! My goal was to make this car reliable. For being a 2.0 4 cylinder, it pulls really strong. I drive it on streets and freeway. The car runs smooth, responds very well. Its tough to find one of these, but to find one original and in good shape is difficult. I have receipts to show for all the purchases since the day I took ownership of the vehicle. The work on the car has been done at R&R Performance located in California, it is a shop owned by a friend that specializes in VWs (many of you in So Cal know who he is). It needs very minimal things to make it complete. Rare car!
Passed Smog without any problems
Tags are good til June 2015
It’s hard to nail down the appropriate value for a cool-looking, salvage-titled, overall-decent-but-flawed Mk2 Jetta, and apparently I’m not alone as it sits with no bids at time of writing. I can’t imagine spending more than $5k on it, and even there I run into strong cognitive dissonance – It looks cool pretty good and is a GLI, that’s worth it! But it’s salvaged and a project – go get a car that will at least have a decent resale value.
Such is the state of mind of those who embark on the long, arduous, emotional trainwreck that is keeping cars we see as cool, classics, or future-classics on the road. We say we’re stewards keeping automotive culture alive, and to those who care we may well be. To the majority of the world that doesn’t give a damn if it’s a Mk2 GLI or a Mk6 Hybrid (BARF), we’re just goofballs who have intense imaginary arguments about cars with ourselves.
-NR
The “stretched” tires are a part of car culture I’m not sure I’ll ever understand. Not only are they lame but also hideous IMO. All that said, I still think this is a cool car….I guess its part of the “sickness” of being a car lover!
Staggered wheels on a FWD car… I don’t get it. Also don’t get how the passenger seat only works “occasionally” (!)
A serious shake up to the usually Japanese heavy import section of the junior college parking lot.
I only joke because in my younger years I had at least 3 different sets of subwoofers myself (from 10-15″), and might have taken a semester or two at my local junior college. I’m pretty sure that present day me would want to punch 19 year old me in the face though, for a slew of good reasons.
As Kenn, I too like the GLi – on paper, at least. But when I start to consider the alternatives, it’s less special to me. For example, for around $3,000 you can get into a limited production 200 20V Quattro, 90 20V quattro, or S4. Granted the repair bills on those three will far outstrip the Jetta, but in the case of the two turbo cars they’re much better made, nicer and faster cars too – still with the same period VAG quirks. A quick look near my house found a pretty awesome looking S4 – with no salvage title – for $2,800. Seriously. Plus, the Audis need to be saved, too! The 90 20V is damn close to extinction.
http://providence.craigslist.org/cto/4793319051.html
LOL @Ry, I had one year at a Junior College which coincided with my 1984 GTi ownership. Dubbed the “Rusty Rabbit”, it had a full (read: LOUD) Techtonics Tuning exhaust and yellow wheels. I received many a stink eye for it, and it was one of maybe two Volkswagens in the lot at that point.