1985 Volkswagen Jetta Reviews, Pricing & Specs

I owned this car when it was 5-6 years until it was about 12-13 years. It was certainly a nice car to drive. It was quick and handled like it was on rails. The interior was well designed ergonomically and for the most part put together well. As for reliability there was little to none. Something was always breaking. AAA actually called me and said I only had one more uncharged tow left for the year twice. Also the paint was always bubbling and rusting. Overall I liked the car when it ran but then again that was the one thing it had the hardest time doing. I would not buy another because of the reliability.Nov 10, 2012

I like it cause i can fix her up and its my first gli . the engine is a 1.8 8v 5spd made in germany 14inch stock rims all disc brakes 4 door black . Mods going on the car engine rebuild , paint , seats and dash , headliner ,carpet ,pillars , emblems , new headlights with h7 hid kit , new turn singals , taillights ,dome light , rear plate light , h+r cup kit , 272 camshaft , autotech module , and many more .Apr 17, 2009

It gets 50mpg unless you really hammer on it which can bring you down to about 35. Parts are mad cheap I think about 100 bucks to buy almost a completely brand new breaking system. Completely eats up any frost heave you can find and sits fairly high of the ground compared to newer cars. Can really take abuse my friend Kevin was driving it and hit a guardrail at about 40 and only broke a piece of trim on the bumper. Loads of torque no HP (52), what do you expect from a 1985 300k diesel engine. If you really want to up the HP just get a turbo for it. You are very involved in driving when behind the wheel of this car. It is mad fun even if your only doing 40 down some back road. Anyone who loves to rally but is sick of getting speeding tickets this car is great for around town and backroads just cus of handling and size. Interstate this car tops out at about 70 so dont get your hopes up. I got it up to 85- 90 once but that was downhill. Mar 15, 2009