1980 Volkswagen Rabbit

2 door hatchback Hatchback

Diesel

Manual

Salvage

Diesel

This car has a "Rebuilt Salvage" title. It has evidence of front end damage on the passenger side. Poor quality body work has been done to make the car look good from a distance. Up close the paint job looks like crap. I see no evidence of road salt rust. There is a bit of rust on the front strut towers, but not real bad. The spare tire well under the rear hatch is clean of rust. The floor pans under the carpet do not show rust. The odometer shows a bit over 10,000 (110,000 ???). This may be real mileage as the interior is in a state consistent with that mileage on a 1980 car. Of course it is possible that the odometer has rolled over past 100K several times. There is no evidence of water leakage to the interior. I have had it stored outside during the recent Texas heavy rains and the interior is dry. I had a state inspection done in March and it passed. It came from the factory without air-conditioning, so the engine compartment is open and easy to work on. The engine starts easily and runs well. It does not smoke. I see very minimal blow-by (another reason I believe it is a 110,000 mile car). The 4 speed transmission shifts through all gears smoothly; the clutch operates as it should. I see no oil or coolant leaks. The car has loads of acceleration for the HP. I have read that these are real dogs power wise, but I would not describe this one that way. I have no problem accelerating from a stop light and keeping up with the traffic. My top speed with it was 75MPH on a flat road with no wind. The brakes work very well. I tracks straight with hands off the steering wheel when stopping. The tires will run at least 20-30K more miles. The front end parts seem tight, but the car wants to pull to the right ever so slightly going down the road (may be related to the earlier damage to the front end I mentioned previously). Front end alignment may fix this. I bought this recently to prep and store as my "EMP" around town vehicle. It fits the bill very well for that purpose mechanically, plus the interior is in very nice shape for its age and compared to most others I have looked at. My plan was to let it sit with a charger on the battery until needed. I am selling it because I found and bought a cherry 115K mile 1980 Mercedes 240D w/standard transmission literally driven by a little old lady to church on Sundays. On Jun-24-15 at 16:41:53 PDT, seller added the following information: All glass in intact; the windshield has a few very minor dings but no cracks. Both windows roll up and down as designed. Both doors and the hatchback open, close and lock properly. The seat belts operate properly. Windshield wipers operate. The heater fan operates. The hand operated parking brake lever will sometimes not "catch" when pulled. The headliner is not sagging and looks good. The driver side sun visor is missing. I have not opened the sunroof as I fear having trouble making it seal properly. Sometimes the battery charge indicator light stays on for a minute or so when the engine is first started. On Jun-25-15 at 12:36:39 PDT, seller added the following information: This car is sold as-is with all faults. In answer to a bidders questions: I do have the sunroof crank handle. I removed it and put it in the glove box so no one would be tempted to open the sunroof. I am afraid that if it is opened then it may not seal properly when closed. General comment in reply to questions: This is a 35 year old car. It has been wrecked and had low quality body work done to bring it back from salvage and the scrap heap. Please understand that this may or may not be suitable as a "daily runner". You will have to make that decision yourself. As with any as-is used car, you may find problems that I, the seller, have not mentioned. I have tried to describe it honestly to the best of my ability. If you have more questions, then please refer to what I have written above.