Should I buy a '90 VW Cabriolet?

[Lindsey]

I found a 1990 VW Cabriolet on eBay motors that I'm considering buying. It has about 80k miles on it and seems to be in good condition just from the sales ad; the seller did say that the convertible top needs replacing and the A/C needs recharging. I'm hoping the car would last another 10 years or so if I bought it (assuming I take good care of it), but I'm really clueless when it comes to cars and I don't even know if that's reasonable to expect. The seller is asking around $1500.

 

[acarnut]

Now, I'm on the West Coast of California in the San Franciscco Bay Area where labour costs are among the highest in the nation; hopefully where you are it's less (labour rates per hour run from 100 to 140 per hour at dealerships in the area where I'm at). Convertible tops run in various grades; the original material (the German Happisch type) is expensive and runs about $1200 installed out here, canvas and especially the vinyl (the least expensive to do, but the least durable) are less expensive.

The A/C charge can get expensive; the old freon R12 gas is no longer in production in many countries and runs anywhere from $50 per lb and up, and to get the best performance out of your a/c system you need to run the original gas. You can convert your a/c system to run on r134a (the new gas) instead of R12, but even that isn't that cheap to do. In addition, since the system wasn't originally designed for R134a gas, the a/c doesn't cool as well. I haven't had experience with a conversion to the new gas on a VW, but other vehicles that were converted, most people weren't happy with the cooling of a/c after the conversion. Expect to spend from $300 up to convert to the new gas and more depending upon what else is wrong with your a/c system.

Now, I don't know what a 1990 VW cabriolet is worth; you can look up the kelly blue book or edmunds.com to get some idea of what the car is worth to determine the cash value of the unit.
Deduct for repairs needed, You need to have a service history on the car as well to insure things like the timing belt, water pump and other items were replaced within the last 5-6 years or so, otherwise you'll also need to replace those items as well due to time and/or milage issues.

a 1990 VW Cabriolet is not a bad car; first year with a drivers side air bag, so it has an added safety feature that earlier models didn't have, but it doesn't have ABS brakes or passenger side air bag... Have the car checked out either by a dealership or a independent VW specialist, before buying it. Reject the car if it needs too much work; the mechanic can advise you on this. Best of luck in your hunt, hope this helps, a car nut.