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Comments
Thanks:
CharO
Merritt Is. FL
Thanks:
CharO.
Merritt Island, FL
VW has the regular bolts in stock at the dealership which sell for about $7 each bolt and about $1.5 for each plastic cap. There was a recent design change on the cap so you want to make sure you use the part numbers below:
867601173 Lug Nut Cap
380601139 Lug Nut
I thought the dealership price was a bit steep for 1 bolt. I did find on ebay several sets of bolts for sale and much more reasonable price. In the end I just bought from the dealer since I only needed 1 bolt two different times.
Taking it back to the ford dealer but assume they will have limited knowledge and options...it may go back but my daughter is in love with it so...thanks for any knowledge/experience sharing
I was told that this might have something to do with air bubbles in the coolant circulation, is there anyone here familiar with this problem? What is the best way to deal with it? Thank you for your help
-B
The speedometer and tachometer in my 2000 Cabrio works sporadically. I can get in and start it up and it works. Then drive it a couple miles (I live in a town of only 3000 people) shut if off and the next time I start it, minutes later...no speedometer or tach. The odometer and trip meter continue to work as does the gas gauge and temp gauge. Has anyone else had this problem and if so, how can I fix it?
I have been living without the speedometer for the past 5 years and frankly do not miss it. Seems today I just drive the way I want which is not too fast anyways.
this is a new development. but the car did have an issue with the horn not working for the longest time. and that is still intermittent.
any suggestions? it is not a fuse correct?
I am still having the engine skip/missing problem. At one time before the distributor was changed out the car completely died & would not start so I had to have it towed. Note one mechanic said the top of the distributor was toast in is words.
Note: I believe I have also hearing exust noise under the car for a short while now & I am planning on looking into this also just in case it has something to do with the skip problem. :confuse:
Pleas help if any one as any ideas.
Thanks:
The'02 cabrio is the worst of them all. Within les than a year, the driver's side window has failed 3 times. Catalytic converter failed crossing the US and got stuck in Omaha for 4 days. The dealer did not have the part and the computers were down so he could not even order it from the distribution center. He could not use a 3rd party part wthout charging me about $600-$700.
A few months later, coming back from TX the car begins shake on accelleration, Find a dealer, bring it in, they do a diagnostic, and replace some electronic components for $900. I start driving it and the problem is still there. They never even road tested it to determine the problem or verify the fix. Turned out it was an axle part that they fixed but did not charge me for. This is not one isolated dealer, but is typical of their maintenance philosophy: start fixing things until you get it correct.
I visited this board to see if I could determine a fix for the window. What I learned is that VW does not get to the root of the problem, but fixes a problem with components that have design flaws.
The second '91 cabriolet cost me $4,000. Within 5 years I put $5,000 into it.
Go ahead, waste your money.
Actually, I had fairly good success up until the Cabriolets and the Cabrio. I didn't buy the Cabrio, a family member did, but I get the calls in the middle of the night and usually foot the bill.
The Bugs, Fastback, and Ghia were reliable. I mean, what is there to go wrong? That simplicity and low cost are what made the VW name. Too bad they got away from it. Remember that in the 60's and 70's there were not many inexpensive imports to be had. VW pretty much had the import market all to itself.
I also had the '81 diesel pickup.That was probably the best of the lot. I think in the 3 years i had it all I had to do was change the oil.
My Audi was
The dealer wanted to put a new (third party) cat converter on it for a $500. I said no and researched the issue on a VW newsgroup. Some one suggested that it could be the fuel pump relay. I purchased it from a local shop for half what VW wanted and that solved the problem. I know a failed converter can make a car run like crap, but this was totally intermittent.I would have had some respect for the dealer if they just said "I don't know."
That brings me to a friend's new Beatle turbo. Not long after the warranty expired, it ate the turbo. So that is the end of the engine. And the car. She liked VWs, but that was the last straw for her. She had minor electrical problems with the car from day 1. Her son's Jetta gets a new catalytic converter every two years, courtesy of VW since it is covered under the emissions warranty. With that history, the woman who owned the bug sold it for salvage and bought an Accura. Her daughter just bought a Mazda 6.
I just traded sold a '95 Accord wagon with 202,000 miles on it that has been trouble free and still runs well. I have a '98 Civic with 126,000 miles on it and it has never had a problem.
As much as I like VWs, buying one is a crap shoot. It is either they run perfect, or that will be constantly in the shop.That is where the Nissans, Toyotas, and Hondas beat VW, hands down.
Now the Merc with 68k I had nothing but headaches. It was one thing after another. I had to get rid of it.
Now I've driven air cooled VW's since the 70's. You just can't kill those thing. I was glad when they came out with the Cabrio though. It was a better quality car then the junky Rabbit and it had better, updated features than the VW convertible. My mechanic was doing my brakes and he call my Cabrio a Rabbit. I got very insulted "don't call my car a Rabitt!" I still see Rabbits on the road though. Amazing. If someone gets a lemon on a certain make of a car than that's the name of the game in the car world. You can't say the all those cars are bad though.
The heated seats in the Cabrio was heaven! My boyfreind calls them the "Vital Warmer".
The early models took the heat (whatever heat there was) right off the engine, so the window needed to be open, initially for fresh air, and later in the trip to stay awake. And the trick to beat cross winds was to open both windows so the wind would blow right through the car.
Ah, to be young and stupid again. Driving amongst the 18-wheelers on skinny re-capped tires with taillights as bright (6V back then) as a penlight flashlight. I'd leave NJ at midnight and get into Knoxville at noon. I'm surprised one of those rigs didn't do me in.
The funny, or sad, part of it was the 18-wheelers fully loaded would pass me going up hills.
That car didn't even have a gas gauge. Just a 1-gallon or so reserve tank. I'd fill the 10-gallon tank and know I was good for 250 miles or so.
And the distinctive rattling sound of the two failed tail pipes.
Blew the first engine on the NJ Turnpike near Penns Grove. Towed it home friday night, pulled an engine from a '65 bus on Staten Island saturday morning, had the new engine in and on the road again saturday night, only to find it has a bad clutch. Got a clutch locally sunday morning and was back on my way to Tennessee monday morning.
The second engine blew on a bitter cold day in Manhattan while I was leaving the city. Crossing Riverside Drive, it sounded like the engine just fell out of the back. That was the end of the Green (and Orange) Hornet.
Maybe Tata can reintroduce a peoples car???
Written by: Luke N. Townsley
The other night I stopped by the grocery store to get some things for the house; some ant poison, some cat shampoo for Minu, and some Mountain Dew. Okay, so only one of those items were for the house, but that doesn't really matter. When I came back outside it was raining and I found myself running out to the car and scrambling to get everything inside the car before I got too wet. Then I was reminded that it didn't really matter how wet I got, because even after I got inside the car it was still going to be raining on me. Those of you with a Cabriolet will most likely know exactly what I am talking about.
The weather here in Oklahoma isn't exactly what one would consider to be Cabrio-typical. One minute you think it would be the perfect time to curl back the top and bask in the sun and open air, the next you are wading through ankle deep water, glad you were too lazy to even bother with the stiff old thing. But it is still nice to have. Even if the old vinyl top still lets the rain in.
Don't let that last little bit make you think I hate my car, because I don't. In fact, I absolutely love it and all of it's quirks. I love how only the passenger side heated seat works, I love how heat only blows out of the center vents, how I have to nearly sit on the ground to get into the trunk. It is a wonderful little car that has just as much character as my little kitten does, and just as many oddball little habits and faults.
In the eight years since I became legally able to drive I have owned my fair share of vehicles.
First was a 1983 Honda CRX, a car that I will never forget. Not only was it my “first” but it was a wonderful little ride that handled extremely well. My dad bought it off our neighbor for $500 and had a rebuilt engine put in for another $500. Not only was it quick but it took the abuse of a speed crazy sixteen year-old with little complaint.
Second was a 1984 Honda Prelude. Now, before you decide to stop reading this because you think I am just another little Honda dork buzzing around with a coffee can on my exhaust pipe, hear me out. I will admit I was a bit addicted the the H at the time, but this car convinced me to go clean. Sure it was a sound ride when I bought it. Indeed it had a powered sunroof and windows when I bought it. The only thing it needed was a paint job... when I bought it. Shortly after I bought it, however, it was a nightmare. Thus leading to my third vehicle, another Prelude that generously donated it's heart in an attempt to revive the the earlier. A failed attempt...
On my fourth car I decided to try something a bit different, quite a bit different. So, I picked up a 1983 Datsun 200SX, one of the elder Silvia sisters, for $250. It took me a good weekend of work to get the thing road worthy, but I have to say, it was the best $250 I have ever spent. For my birthday my dad found me a set of old Supra wheels to bolt onto her and, after a few more weekends of scrubbing and tweaking, she was steadily prowling the streets. I guess the extra meat from the Supra wheels stressed her a bit and soon after the transmission was making noises similar to that of a blender full of gravel, but for another $200 I picked up a used one and had her running like a champ again. Sure, it might have been a brick on wheels with the handling characteristics of a Cadillac but it had just enough character to make me proud.
Eventually I got bored and found myself craving more. Front wheel drive as a bore and the underpowered, rear wheel drive, 200SX was just a tease so I went out and found my fourth baby; a 1984 Nissan/Datsun 300ZX Turbo 50th Anniversary. It had everything one could possibly want; t-tops, rear wheel drive, pop up headlights, a manual 5 speed transmission and a reliable turbocharged V-6, all topped off by the gleaming gold 50th Anniversary emblem. I can't even begin to tell you what a great car this was and I only paid $2500 for it! However, I was fortunate enough to purchase this car on it's last leg and soon found myself sitting at work with a blown head and a hole in my number 6 piston the size of a quarter which lead to my sixth vehicle, a 1986 300ZX donor car.
Well, when I started writing this I didn't think about how long this list would be so, for the sake of whoever might read this, I am going to simply list off the last bit of cars and give quick comment on them.
After the 300ZX came my worst buy ever, a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am. Need I say more? Next was a 1986 Toyota Corolla, my attempt to be a drifter. No, it wasn't a 4A-G, not even an SR-5, just a crappy California spec tin can, but no one else had to know. It was still an AE86 and it was interesting to see the looks from the other kids that were falling into the drifting craze. The ninth car in my sordid past was a 1993 Acura Integra I bought off a wrecker service for $500. It came with a SCI Ignition System, DC headers, and Eibac springs. After some hammering and panel replacement the car turned out to be a wonderful investment, despite the fact that anything under 5000 RPM's made your ears bleed.
Finally, came my 1993 Volkswagen Cabriolet. Now, to be honest this was not my first pick. When my wife and I first started dating I was broke, without wheels and leaching off my best friend, so when she insisted on buying me a car (despite my many attempts to talk reason into her) and started looking at various Camaro's and Trans-Am's, I had no choice but to turn her eyes onto something I not only knew she would like, but trusted would not fall apart at the first speed bump.
After racking my brain and using up all other options I showed her the Cabrio. I knew there was no way she could say no to it. It's four round headlights, the convertible top, and loads of character did the job and she was in love.
We ended up finding OUR baby (my wife hates it when I call it “hers”) in Oklahoma City for sale along with a red 1992 Cabriolet. The 1992 was in good shape but had the ugly steel wheels and, if my memory serves me right, they were asking around $800 more. Condition and anything else that may have made the red one a better buy did not really matter anyways, the wife wanted the black one. In fact, she wanted it so badly that we paid the man his asking price of $3,850 and left. I did not even look it over, we literally paid the man and drove off.
About half way home I was slapped across the face with our speedy decision when the oil buzzer started sounding and pulled over at the first gas station we came across. After giving the car a good once over and checking the oil I decided there was not much to worry about, thanks to the stock oil pressure gauge that held a steady 2 bar's. So, we hopped back in and headed on home.
The car surprised me with it's ride quality. I was expecting it to either be stiff and noisy or soft and drafty but it was neither. It did great on the highway at 70mph with only minimal wind and ro
As you were probably able to tell from my list of past vehicles, I really like cars that are pre 1990 but post 1980. I guess an easier way to word it would be, “I like cars from the 80's.”
Just looking back at the cars I owned, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that the 80's were a prime time for the automotive world. The years gave birth to the Mazda RX-7, the Nissan 300ZX (wait, I think I had one of those.), the Toyota Supra ('78-'92), the VW Golf GTI Mk I (Still faster than the Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV and I would wager the Mk V and VI), and lets not forget some of the more odd-ball designs like the Porsche 944 ('82-'91), the Audi Quattro ('80-'91) and the Merkur XR4Ti-zxTtRsQ46559... T ... whatever ('85-'89).
I often times find myself wondering exactly what year my Cabriolet is. The Vin Number, and every other number that means anything on the car, says it is a 1993 but the hazard switch says '92 and every ounce of its styling tells me it is from the 1970's. This car is a mutt. I get the distinct feeling that Volkswagen, at the end of the MK I Cabriolet's production, simply took all there overstock and extra parts and bolted them together then shipped them out hopping that they would sell. And sell they did.
On rare occasions of automotive history, a manufacturer gets lucky and designs a car that is not only fitting for it's time, but manages to set the standard and hold it's own well beyond its expiration date. I will venture to say that the birth of the VW Rabbit/Golf was one of such occasions.
Not only is the Golf GTI considered the be the first “hot hatch” but it pretty well set the standard for every subcompact car and created yet another die-hard fan base for Volkswagen. Even today Honda, Toyota, Mazda, Ford, Nissan, Chevy, and even Volkswagen itself hasn't been able to match the styling, speed and overall exhilaration the Golf GTI brought to the middle-class market. Yet, I digress. This is not about the GTI, this is about the Cabriolet.
I think that to an extent VW knew they got the formula right with the MK I. The sad thing is, they didn't really design what everyone loved so much about it, and that shows with the Mk II-VI. Instead, the Mk I was styled by an Italian by the name of Giorgetto Giugiaro, and if you look at his wrap sheet, you will see that this guy knew what he was doing. Just look at the BMW M1, the Lotus Esprit and ever the DMC Delorean. All cars penned by him and still easily recognized by anyone and everyone to this day.
I am convinced this is the reason why VW kept building the Mk I Cabriolet unchanged for as long as they did. They knew they got it right and they were going to suck the life out of it. Not only did it hit the niche for the fun loving hippies of the 70's, that painted their Bettles in pastels and daisy flowers, but they also found a place in the hearts of the younger crowd. From what I have read and observed, it was not uncommon to spot a Cabrio with its top down parked in front of the local Universities. Even now you can still see the influence they had on the culture of the late '90's and even the early 2000's in films such as “10 Things I hate About You”(1999), “Shallow Hal” (2001), “The Hot Chick” (2002), and one one my favorite films “Crank” (2006) featuring the Cabrio in a very intense chase where, I must say, it holds it's owns quite well.
The only thing that initially made me shy away from the Cabriolet is the fact that it is a girls car. Just look at the movies I named off, all of them owned by stuck up, blond haired, bimbos (with the exception of “Shallow Hal”, where it was owned by a fat man with a tail). Needless to say, I really wasn't looking forward to being seen cruising around in the little thing but, the first time I folded back the top and got in, all my insecurities dissipated in the wind.
There is something about the Cabriolet that I just can't place my finger on. Never have I held so much pride in my vehicle. Every day I walk out of the house and see it sitting in the driveway a smile comes across my face. I peek out from under the carport to check on the weather is just to see if it is possible to put the top down. Somehow this simple and confused concoction of nuts and bolts manages to make every mundane trip into an event. Whenever the sun is shining, it finds a way to make even the most stressful days feel like a day at the race track (I would have said “beach” but I find beaches the be very tiresome and boring, my ideal day is spent on asphalt and enjoying the smell of freshly spent gasoline).
People always say: “You can't buy love”, but I am going to have to disagree. You can indeed buy love, and all the stuff that comes with it. Just go find you a MK I Cabriolet.
Thanks to www.cabby-info.com, www.edmunds.com, www.vwvortex.com for all the very useful info, and to Jeremy Clarkson for inspiring me to write this and showing just as much respect for the little guys as you do for the big guys.
Copyright © 2010 by Luke N. Townsley
I just had the coolant housing replaced and there are no leaks.
I seem to have lost one however Volkswagen does not make the part anymore. I'd like to buy it from whomever can provide one or has the OEM part number.
Hope someone can help.
Erwin
About a 20.00 repair.
http://s775.photobucket.com/albums/yy35/tkominsky/bertha/
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It takes an allen wrench socket on an extension from underneath the car. I'm going to try it tomorrow. Good luck: Dempsy.