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Old 02-22-2011, 09:29 AM
 
Location: Beacon Hill
186 posts, read 689,004 times
Reputation: 118

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Thinking of getting a volkswagen cabrio. I've heard they may have electrical problems though.. does anyone have any actual experience with them? Any electrical problems?

Thanks!

Last edited by Bo; 02-22-2011 at 10:18 AM.. Reason: Moved from San Antonio forum.
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Old 02-22-2011, 09:39 AM
 
Location: San Antonio
12,114 posts, read 14,947,592 times
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Had a 68 bug with shag carper on the ceiling and big fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror!! It was cool. Only had it for about a month, found out i couldn't do a stick shift.

sorry, you were looking for serious advice...
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Old 02-22-2011, 12:08 PM
 
Location: Pikesville, MD
5,228 posts, read 15,244,189 times
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What year cabrio were you looking at? The early Mk 1/Rabbit based ones were failry simple and reliable, though the tops could be expensive to replace properly. The Mk 3 Cabrios have all the issues that the Mk 3 VWs have (coil pack issues, window regulator issues, etc) but seem to be fairly good in the convertible department.

Best bet is to cruise on over to VW Vortex and ask in the year specific forums for what to look for.
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Old 02-22-2011, 12:21 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,158 posts, read 56,898,950 times
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Agree with Merc - my 82 Scirocco has had it's share of electrical gremlins over my ownership period, although only one (loss of ignition circuit coming out of the fuse/relay panel) has actually stopped the car from running. Almost all of these have been high-resistance mechanical plug connections where one wire joins another or where the wires join the fuse/relay panel.

If you can handle taking apart and cleaning these connections, if a VOM is a tool you have long been familiar with, it's a good car for you. If you would be paying a shop to do this, not so much.
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Old 02-22-2011, 04:04 PM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix
11,048 posts, read 16,812,223 times
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I worked for VW in the 00's and saw plenty of them come back. Probably the most problematic car VW's sold in the US since the Corrado.

Engine/mechanical reliability is fine, but as you noted: the electrical. If everything's working OK, something's wrong.
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Old 02-22-2011, 05:11 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,158 posts, read 56,898,950 times
Reputation: 18462
Quote:
Originally Posted by 415_s2k View Post
I worked for VW in the 00's and saw plenty of them come back. Probably the most problematic car VW's sold in the US since the Corrado.

Engine/mechanical reliability is fine, but as you noted: the electrical. If everything's working OK, something's wrong.

What gives trouble on the newer models?

On Mark I cars, like I posted, at least in my experience the 5 or 6 electrical plugs on the back of the fuse/relay panel, at least the higher current draw circuits tend to get oxidized over time and develop high-resistance connections. I ended up bypassing the ignition, the heater/A-C blower, and the parking light circuits, putting in wires with inline fuses. I have changed the parking/brake/turn signals over to LED - that circuit previously drew 4 amps with the parking lights on, now it's about 1 amp.

A lot of guys tend to look at the Cabrio as a "hairdresser's car" but I say let them talk, it's a decent car, the top comes down, with a 5-speed it's reasonably entertaining to drive, as someone else posted the main downside is it costs a lot to put on a new top properly if the car needs that.

IMHO convertibles are best for people with a garage, damn near impractical if you are stuck parking on an urban street.
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