Feeler - '96 Jetta "GT" with Mods! (also up on MiVE)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Serious Feeler........
'96 Jetta GL (w/ all the GT goodies added).....has performance and suspension mods.
2.0 OBD II
5-Speed Stick
Sequoia Green w/ Black interior
Power Moonroof, Door-Locks, and Remote Keyless Entry
Cold A/C
Kenwood 2032 CD Stereo (new in summer 2006)
Has: GT Silver-Faced Guage Cluster, Leather-Wrapped Steering Wheel, OEM Fogs and Rear Deck Spoiler, Smoked GLX Tails, and super-supportive Trek-model Seats (courtesy of Jake)..I think the only thing it is missing is the roof mounted antenna.
***Mods include a GIAC Chip, Magnaflow S/S Cat-back exhaust, and a hi-flow catalytic converter...........Aggressive Ferodo Front Brake Pads w/ OEM rotors*** Car pulls HARD for a 2.0 motor...........people always dog on the 2.0 MK3 cars as slow, but this car suited me just fine, it is a hoot to drive, the exhaust is pretty loud & sporty on the outside, but mellow inside w/o any droning.....I love it!
***Brand New adjustable Koni Reds w/ Neuspeed Sofsport Mild-Lowering Springs, new bump stops and bushings.........rears are installed, fronts need to be installed (plan to do this before selling the car, and it will have a 4 wheel alignment then also)***
Borbet Type-B Alloys w/ brand new Blizzak WS-50 snows (14") sitting on the car, with a set of inexpensive Kumho All Seasons tires w/ lots of tread left for summer use (not mounted).
At about 120,000 miles, the PO (a friend of mine who is a VW Mechanic in West Virginia) bought the car, replaced the timing belt, installed a new clutch, and rebuilt the transmission (reverse gear was chipped) and installed new 1st and 2nd gear synchros at the time.
I bought the car from him at about 140,000 miles..........I went through and replaced all the belts (except t-belt), hoses (I'll never do *that* again!), battery, some misc trim pieces, front brakes, Power Steering Pump w/ feed line, Starter, Valve Cover Gasket, Plugs & Wires (I think cap & rotor too).........I basically went through the car and fixed everything that needed fixing. When all was said and done, I had about $8,000 into the car.
My wife drove it for about 2 years, and we sold it to my brother this summer ......he has put another $1,500 worth of new snow tires, rear brakes, clutch cable (manual adjust), oil pressure sensors, parking brake lines, new shifter bushings, and the suspension kit on the car........
Car has approximately 175,000 miles on it.....I can't remember for sure, the instrument cluster was swapped out 3 times (OEM one died, replaced with another stock unit, and upgraded to the silver-faced GT cluster later ........I have all mileages recorded, and can get you a relatively accurate mileage if you're interested in it.
Overall, the car is in great shape........it drives GREAT, pulls hard, does ABSOLUTELY AWESOME in the snow (skinny Blizzak snows), has lots of passenger and cargo space, and I think it's one of my favorite cars that I've ever owned.......it's got distinctive character, for sure.
The car is not perfect. Body is clean, no major problems, and is 99% rust free, no major accidents. It looks great from 20 feet away. It has a small dent in the RF fender (looks like a rake-handle or something fell over on it in someone's garage), the LF fender has some etching in the paint from something (I think the car was egged previous to my owning it), and the Rear Bumper cover has a crack in it. Trunklid has a small dent in it, but the car comes with a spare MINT trunk lid, in same color, ready for you to install (because I never bothered). The car had a couple bubbles of rust when I bought it 3.5 years ago, I simply ground them down with a dremel tool and touched them up with a touchup brush.........they've never re-bubbled or gotten worse.
The hood has a small rust blister near the leading edge, but we touched it up and put a BRA on the front of the car and voila, it's gone!!!
Interior is very clean and nice, even has a new set of OEM VW carpeted mats. The PO converted the car from tan interior to black, including the dash and door panels....... The door panels are a bit shabby, and the car could really use a set of stereo speakers, because the ones in the car are tired......
Mechanically, the car is great..........starts up first time, every time, no CEL, pulls hard, gets 30+ mpg......no strange quirks, just a solid, reliable car that has all the right mods and is still a practical Michigan car.
As I mentioned, I had about $8,000 into the car (which is irrellevant, I realize).........I sold it to my parents for $3500 this past summer, and the money they've put in it, I think they'd settle for recouping their original $3500 back from the car.
I think it's worth every bit of the $3500, with the mods it has, and I would not have a problem selling this car to anyone I know (I sold it to my brother, ya know:) It does not drive like it has 180k on it, for sure.
The only reason they're selling it is because my parents want my brother in an AWD Audi A4 or Passat 4Motion..........it makes no sense, I can't reason with them on it, but their minds are set, so I won't argue.......
So, if anyone is interested, please let me know..........I'll get some pictures up ASAP.
Thanks, Ben
