Used Car of the Day: 1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

The forums I pick the UCOTDs from are littered with project cars on this January Monday. I nearly picked a 1969 Opel Kadett that needed a lot of work -- and I still could for tomorrow if y'all want -- but instead I am bringing you a 1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6 that also needs work, if not quite as much.


There are almost 150K miles on the clock and the engine has a Vortech supercharger. The body needs work, mostly from rust and rot on the rocker panel. The interior leather also needs to be repaired. The seller also expresses some concern that the brakes might be too soft but says the engine is "strong" and the car is quick.

There's a manual transmission.

The price is $6,500 and the car is for sale in Pennsylvania.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • CEastwood CEastwood on Jan 09, 2024

    I agree with everyone else - this POS looks like it belongs on a Murilee junkyard find article . It also reminds me of one of the many motorcycle/car/truck finds on facebook marketplace that looks like it needs a little TLC then you read the description to find out it hasn't run in years and has no title .

  • Fed65767768 Fed65767768 on Jan 09, 2024

    This heap is a junkyard find that hasn't been hauled away to the junkyard yet.

  • Tassos ELON ONCE HELPED ME WITH MY COMEDY SCRIPT. WE DID GHB TOGETHER. I STAYED FOR A FEW DAYS AND FED HIS CAT ON DAY 3.
  • Medfordjim my daily driver is a 2008 Sable Premier black/black. Only 48K miles - it was my mom's Sunday car. It's got the Sync system with bluetooth. It works pretty well but will occasionally not pair when the car starts, and then it seems to take 5-10 minutes before it will rescan and find my phone.Otherwise, the only recurring issue is the solenoids that control the HVAC - I just replaced the passenger side one. I think the drivers side one failed a couple of times. Thankfully mom had the extended warranty because that side is a b*tch to fix.
  • Tassos When these were new I was still driving my DEATH TRAP TIN CAN 1991 CIVIC. It was already PAST its expiration date but any extra funds I had were going to REMEDIATING my Eastern Europe bare land purchase and trying to avoid FORECLOSURE on my Midwest shack. I wouldn’t make it out of POVERTY for another 10 years (INHERITANCES REALLY HELPED THERE). Now I am rich TASSOS driving diesel Mercedes through Eastern Europe countryside and bustling Midwest suburb.
  • Proud2BUnion I've always been a fan of the Taurus/Sable, and Husker Du!
  • Irvingklaws 2005 Honda Accord at about 125k miles - oil change, replace bad starter (also intake gasket), front and rear brakes, state inspection, about $1200 at a local garage. Front brakes were replaced free under warrantee because they were done last year. 2015 Mazda CX-5 with 102k - Took to dealer to diagnose "clunk" on takeoff and transmission slow to engage. After pointing out an apparent transmission leak and that nearly every bushing/boot under the car is cracked and/or failing in their inspection video, service techs said everything "looked safe". They tightened the cowl bolts in an (unsuccessful) attempt to address the clunk, completely side-stepped the transmission leak ("...it's a sealed unit, we can't touch it except to replace it entirely...") and charged me $450. About $33k to replace it with a new '24 Forester. Will be working on diagnosing and reconditioning the Mazda myself in the coming days...🙂
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