My only comment about this car is that the 1980 and later models were
such characterless imitations of their german-made Golf counterparts.  I
had both a 1975 german-made Rabbit (Golf) and a 1980 pennsylvania-made
Rabbit as well.  The 1980 was so Malibu-ish.  The plastic wasn't as
good, the seats not as firm or well formed, the upholstery was
distinctly un-Volkswagen.  The front, rear, and wheel treatments were
distinctly American and detracted from the wonderful original design.

I also had a 1981 VW Dasher Diesel which I absolutely loved.  The diesel
was great and I actually managed to make it from Atlanta to Ann Arbor on
one tank of fuel, averaging well over 40mpg at 75mph (of course it took
a while to get it to 75, with 52HP).  Head gaskets were a specific and
common problem with these engines so just make sure you never overheat
it!

I'd love to have a '78 Rabbit diesel myself--but even in this college
town you don't see many old Rabbits.  The US models were specifically
prone to rust.  Not a problem I had living in Georgia.

Donald Baxter
'85 Vanagon GL
'96 Passat GLX
Iowa City IA

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Stephen Steele
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 12:50 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: OT: ever own a VW Rabbit L?

> Hi Folks,
>
> I have a neighbor who is selling his 1984 VW Rabbit L (Diesel) for
> $700. It's a manual, and has 120k on it. Body is excellent.
...
> Any experiences with one you can share would be great.
>
> Thanks much!
>
dave :)
Snare that Rabbit.
If you can manage with the hassles and headaches of a van, you'll love
the diesel Rabbit. I prefer the four door models because of kids' &
dogs' ingress/egress.  The rear hatch and fold down or take out seat
give as much room as many larger cars for bulk transportation. On my '81
with the 5 speed transmission I regularly get 40 plus mpg (not mph). It
does have a little trouble doing over 65mph but it also has 210K on the
original engine and head. I am looking into replacing mine simply
because of the body rust and cosmetics. HTH

--
Stephen Steele*
Chillicothe OH
'91 Caravelle  "Hans"
'87 Westy      "Franz"
'84 Westfalia  "Fritz"  on loan to my nephew
'81 Diesel Rabbit "Ol' Yeller" by PO
'82 Caddy VW Diesel P.U.
'90 Jetta GL  17 yo Sons' "together" car
'74 MGB  My first car...yep, I've kept it since '74
'93 Chevy S-10
*all rights reserved/no portion of this document may be reproduced w/o
prior written permission