Wow, sounds like you got a bum car if it had problems that early on. I had a blast driving my GTI, especially after I got it upgraded with the APR tune. I found it very comfortable to drive as well, especially being a bit heavier than the run of the mill adult male. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Ohh man, $400 in 1987 for a mechanical fuel pump is terrible. I bought one for my 1980 Z28 a couple years back when it was doing the same stuttering you described. I think it cost me a whopping $12 at Autozone and took longer to scrape off the old gasket than it did to do the install.

I was surprised by it, I had a 2009 GTI and it was a great car. Didn’t realize the new ones were giving some people issues.

Was the MkVI really that bad? I had the last year of the MkV, 2009. So same engine as the MkVI, 2.0 TSI with the timing chain. I thought the car was great. Only had 2 issues with it. 1st was having to get the clutch replaced at approx 75k miles. Local VW independent shop said that this was typical, he had started…

My immediate thought. Everyone is paying gas tax, the whole point of which is to support the road system. The people saying drivers don’t support the funding for road repairs have no clue how any of this works.

Thank you for this, exactly what I thought of when I saw the clip.

Yeah definitely been seeing E30 prices go up.

I’ve found the way to get around the “typical BMW asshat” label is to buy an older BMW. Go back a few generations, and people will just think you’re an old man driving the car he bought new 20 years ago. Until I drive by them in my sweet, black with rock chips and a little surface rust 1995 530i.

My guess is that the NFL drug testing regimen doesn’t look for “spice.”

It’s amazing what decent tires will accomplish.

I’ve passed plow trucks (multiple at the same time, they plow in teams on NJ highways in the winter) when they’ve blocked everything except the left lane. My place of employment doesn’t close for snow, and I used to work in maintenance, so we were considered “critical staff.” Thankfully, I no longer work in…

Double light bulbs was my favorite part as well, close second was the hair dryer.

I believe it was on Car Talk, where Tom said that true freedom is driving a beater, because you never have to worry about any kind of damage to it.

You had a titty bouncer too? My buddy dubbed my ‘97 S10 SS the titty bouncer back when I had it (2006 or so). It was lower than factory, severely stiff suspension as a result, and being a truck didn’t help. I loved that car but it definitely shook you up good on bumpy roads.

Yeah must have been something to do with the big gaps in the wheels, as steino suggested. My E34 does not have the rock magnet, haven’t had any issues besides a cracked dust shield that made a different, but equally terrible noise. Tin snips fixed that up quick.

When I first listened, I immediately thought it was a rock as well. My MKV GTI had a rock magnet attached to the dust shield on the rear brakes. First time I heard it, it was definitely scary. I tracked it down to the driver-rear brakes, got out, looked through the wheels and decided to poke the dust shield. Pebble…

getting 12 miles per gallon because occasionally they have to carry a chair

Came looking for a Bandit reference, left satisfied, thank you.

That saturday night special might have been worth $150, so it’s like a free car.

Always amazes me what will stay around in an engine compartment.