Used Car of the Day: 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

Today we're going back in the past with this 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit.


This diesel with a manual transmission runs pretty well and looks pretty clean. The mileage is high but the speedometer is off -- the reading is about 277K.

The seller has a list of recent maintenance and work, plus another list of major work done over the years, at the listing. There's also a link to more photos.

If you're looking for something historic that doesn't need a ton of work, you can find this one in Idaho for $6,250. Click here for more.

[Image: 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.

More by Tim Healey

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  • Sobhuza Trooper Sobhuza Trooper on Sep 11, 2025

    You'd make your money back in a couple of Fridays worth of Stoplight Grand Prix races.

    • FreedMike FreedMike on Sep 11, 2025

      Yeah, all you have to do is race a skateboarder.


  • FreedMike FreedMike on Sep 11, 2025

    Gawd, the Rabbit diesel. When I was graduating from high school - back when dinosaurs ruled the earth - I looked at a new one. You needed a stiff tailwind to break 60 in less than 17 seconds. Sure, you got 50 mpg, but the gas version got like 30 mpg, and was about 32,774 times better to drive. These were rolling tributes to self abuse (not the happy ending type), and this crudheap is no exception - old, tons of miles, no air, etc. And look at that area behind the front seats - WTF is going on back there? Did Saul Goodman's brother set that up? This seller was probably on peyote when they came up with that six grand ask.

  • Jeff It was the right decision to leave this as a concept.
  • Sayahh Was the Celica Toyota's pony car?
  • Rizzle The price is the same for a manual or automatic. If you want a manual you might want to get a 2025 or 2026 (or older) because who knows if VW will offer the manual in 27. It could be deleted just like they did for the GTI and R. It is too bad you can't get a GLI in S form without the sunroof and with a cloth interior. Same basic car but many $1000s less. Yeah, the red stripes are a bit silly, but someone at VW thinks they are cool. In the good old days they would have put on racing stripes and fake louvers and called it the GLI-X.
  • ToolGuy™ I have always resented how GM did not consult me on styling choices.
  • ToolGuy™ Ford produces 6,819 vehicles in about 17 minutes.
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