Looks like I'll be in the market for a new steering wheel . I am not a VW fan but I do like this little car, zips around corners and is fast enough for a 67 year old cranky, old man, best part is the 1500 price.....Larry
I know what you mean Larry, last year I had to give my son our "spare" car so he could get to work after he had some problems with his own car, and after a couple of weeks I realised that I needed another car to replace it.
Not wanting to spend a lot of dough on a car that I'd only use on weekends, (I've got a company truck to drive to and from work, but it's too much of a hassle to use after hours, tax implications etc) I did an internet search for a cheapie and found a 1995 Subaru Liberty (Legacy in the US) that was a non-runner, but for $450.00, worth a look.
The owners had spent some money on it, and it was running fine until they hired a "Mobile Mechanic" to replace a leaking cam seal, and the cam belts. Once he'd done the work, he couldn't get it running, so he told them that it was just flooded, and to leave the spark plugs out overnight, and it'd be fine in the morning. It didn't start the next day, so they called him again, and this time he told them that the crank position sensor would need replacing, and quoted them 500 bucks to fix it, which they couldn't afford.
Bottom line was he'd messed up the cam timing, so after a few weeks they gave up trying to get it running and bought another car. I liked the look of it, so I paid them and asked if I could come back in a couple of days and try to get it running. Thanks to the guys on one of the US Subaru sites I was able to get some info on how to properly time it, so went back to their place, re-set the valve timing, and drove it home.
I did have a couple of issues with a bad water pump and the typical Subaru air lock in the cooling system, but ace mechanic "Trueblue" here told me how to fix that, and nothing's gone wrong with it since. I've never owned a Subaru before, but it's a great little car, and I actually prefer to drive it over our other cars, as does my wife and oldest son, so the way things are going, I might have to buy another one! Cheers, Terry.