Need some advice and help?

FoxCruiser · 05-05-2012, 04:48 PM

Alright, my first post on this forum and hopefully not my last. I don't currently own a MK3, but I've wanted to since I was a kid. Been looking for one for a little while now.

Ended up going far out of my way to try out a potential trade for my current car; the other party was offering an '89 NA, 5-speed Targa. I was led to believe that the car was in serviceable condition when in fact it wasn't.

Firstly, by the sticker on the timing cover, the T-belt and water pump were last done in 1996, at 114K. The car had 165K on it, and the speedometer was broken. That leads me to believe that the car had far more on it than just that. Upon startup, there was a very strange loping idle; it would idle around 1500 or so, go up to 2000, then go back down every two seconds or so; that pattern wouldn't change at all. Also, coolant was forcing its way out of the radiator cap, and you could actually hear the water pump bearings grinding. When driving it, the car would hesitate if driven straight away; I had to push in the clutch and give it plenty of gas to 'overcome' the hesitation; the only way I could describe it as if hitting fuel cut in a turbo car.

All that said, I'm assuming the car has or is at least working on a BHG. Am I right about that? Also, considering the body and interior are in decent shape what would be a decent cash offer for this car? Call me crazy, but I'm thinking about offering $500-1000, towing it back here, selling my current car and using that money to just do an engine swap. The seller was asking $2600, but with the problems I don't think it's worth anywhere near that. Any thoughts and opinions on this?

05-05-2012, 04:48 PM	#1
FoxCruiser Stock Join Date: May 2012 Location: Colo. Springs, CO Posts: 2	Need some advice and help? Alright, my first post on this forum and hopefully not my last. I don't currently own a MK3, but I've wanted to since I was a kid. Been looking for one for a little while now. Ended up going far out of my way to try out a potential trade for my current car; the other party was offering an '89 NA, 5-speed Targa. I was led to believe that the car was in serviceable condition when in fact it wasn't. Firstly, by the sticker on the timing cover, the T-belt and water pump were last done in 1996, at 114K. The car had 165K on it, and the speedometer was broken. That leads me to believe that the car had far more on it than just that. Upon startup, there was a very strange loping idle; it would idle around 1500 or so, go up to 2000, then go back down every two seconds or so; that pattern wouldn't change at all. Also, coolant was forcing its way out of the radiator cap, and you could actually hear the water pump bearings grinding. When driving it, the car would hesitate if driven straight away; I had to push in the clutch and give it plenty of gas to 'overcome' the hesitation; the only way I could describe it as if hitting fuel cut in a turbo car. All that said, I'm assuming the car has or is at least working on a BHG. Am I right about that? Also, considering the body and interior are in decent shape what would be a decent cash offer for this car? Call me crazy, but I'm thinking about offering $500-1000, towing it back here, selling my current car and using that money to just do an engine swap. The seller was asking $2600, but with the problems I don't think it's worth anywhere near that. Any thoughts and opinions on this?