i bought a Jetta GL 1995.
People are saying I should stay away from VW.
Whats a good car to buy?
( I will stick this one out )
What should my next purchase be?
You picked the perfect car…
…if you want a painfully slow, ugly, wiring/electrical nightmare, girl’s car. 
:kekegay:
Anyway, as for “next” what do you want/need from a car? Keep the Jetta 100% stock as a DD and maybe get a fun/project car? Especially w/ the snow etc. you all face I’m all for having a DD and a fast car. C5s are the best deal going in cars right now. Early ('97-'99) coupes (aka targas) are going in the teens now with high mileage, FRCs are probably the best bang for the buck in all of sports cars in the high-teens to low-twenties, and first year ('01) Z06s are solidly in the mid-20s now. Clean, mid-mileage (40ish) '02 Z06s are higher-mid to high 20s now. So anywhere from a mid-teens to 30k budget a C5 is the way to go.
Of course I’m biased as all F.
Another great, great car would be a LSX FD RX7. I’ve driven a few, and helped build one. A FD roller should be pretty affordable (though they’re going up a bit w/ the popularity of the swap) and since you’d have the Jetta as a DD you could take your time in buying the swap parts and doing the work.
-TJ
no pistons in a rotary please
Some day you’ll all come around. One of my housemates has a meticulously cared for '93 FD RX7 that’s still rotary. He’s a rotar-head through and through. But even he can admit a LSX FD is a much better car. More power, way more torque, more reliable, not nearly the heat issues, more useful compression braking, the list goes on and on.
He’ll leave his car rotary forever, no matter how many times he has to rebuild the motor. But he’s also searching for a roller to start a LSX FD for a track car. His car is a good fun street car, and I really like driving it, but he struggles with heat (w/ the twin oil coolers in his R1 model, MazdaSpeed radiator etc) and the lack of track reliability now that he tracks it a lot is getting to him.
-TJ
Early 4th gen Camaro’s (with LT1’s) are practically free at this point…lol
Sorry aircraft engines dont belong in cars…unless its this
Seriously. I picked up a '97 Trans Am that’s loaded other than no WS6 package and a hardtop, crank window '97 Z28 for $3k TOTAL for BOTH cars. The TA needs an air pump (or live w/ the SES light) and has some miles on it (120k) and the Z28 needs an opti. The plan was to flip the TA to cover my costs + hopefully $2k profit and then build the Z28 into a Camaro Mustang Challenge car. So far they’ve just sat. Haha.
-TJ
stop worring about what people say and buy what you want and not what someones opinion is.
You sure about that advice… didn’t that get him a '95 Jetta in the first place. 
:ugh2:
-TJ
according to your other post you picked the perfect car in being that you don’t know much about modding, and with the 2.0 being such a small engine with tons of room in the bay, its a great starting block for you to learn…
Did it break or something? Why are you regretting the purchase already? Just be sure to go over the car and change the belts and fluids as a start.
Yeah as someone else said who gives a shit what other people say.
1998 Jetta GT 2.0 and I love it, ofcourse it’s used it has its problems but what do you expect?
you are still taking the soul out of a car. take a 911 and drop in a v8 under the bonnet.
Sorry to take the thread :oftopic: but I’m so tired of that “soul” arguement. As somebody who has driven and raced rotary and LSX FDs I can tell you what the real soul of a FD is. It’s not the rotary. It’s the superb balance, the light and nimble feel, the precise steering and its instant turn-in (and the somewhat twitchy feel it can cause).
Yes, the rotaries are cool in their own way. The theory behind them is very cool, but you know what they say:
I would agree with you 100% if the LS1 ruined the RX’s balance, added significant weight or didn’t have decent RPM potential (a RX that could only turn 5k or something would be no fun). But when you ditch the rotary all you lose is an insanely complex network of vacuum lines that cause extremely hard to diagnose issues, big time heat issues, a lack of torque, insanely bad fuel mileage and a very weird exhaust note.
Aaaaaaaaaaaannnnyway to get back on topic for the OP. I’m no VW mod expert, BUT there are a bunch of 'em on this forum. If you really were drawn to the Jetta, and you don’t have the time/money/space for a 2nd car to make your project right now there are some things you can do that will make the car more fun.
I probably shouldn’t have shat all over your idea to do the short shifter, it makes just about any car more fun to drive. Then focus on suspension rather than power. From what I understand that gen VW can be made to handle somewhat well. For me I’d focus on things to get the car to rotate and tune out the FWD understeer. Again, I’m not the VW guy but I’d assume bigger back sways are available and should help a lot. And of course the typical springs/shocks or coil overs.
Avoid dumping it too far, at some point you actually lose performance as you limit suspension travel and compromise suspension geometery. Keep the car driveable in terms of bad roads, driveways, speed bumps etc and you’ll find you enjoy it a LOT more. Further you don’t want to look like every dbag fast and the furious kid (I hope).
Give it a little time before you make another move, don’t spend any $ on it yet but start researching and planning, and THEN decide if you really did make a bad choice and what to do about it if so.
-TJ
finally agree with this kid… get on a VDUB site. start lookin at what others did and what worked and didnt work. intake and short shifter first then maybe a lil spring drop… dont go too low like tj said cause i had a car that was TOOO low it sucks
vwvortex.com = anything u need to know about a veedub
use the search and u can find anything
Here is a good thread with info about Jetta’s…who knows after reading this you may realize you made the right choice.
http://www.pittspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25963&highlight=Jetta+owners
yeah always got to drop the car. but im just mad because the guy i bought it from. completly ripped me off…thats why you see all these posts.
That’s the chance you take when you buy used and from a private seller I guess.
Good luck anyways.
fixed 