Garage find--what's it worth?

I stumbled upon this little caddy via a good friend. Here are the particulars I know of right now:

*Unsure of the year at this point, I suspect 82-83
*It has what appears to be factory air and cc
*Body is in decent shape from what I've seen so far. A cursory look shows a little rot on the passenger door and in the front of the bed (see pics)
*It has been stored in the owners garage for a number of years. He was a VW mechanic and used it to commute to work. Odometer shows 80+k, somehow I doubt that is the true milage.
*Intake shows signs of oil, so I suspect rings are bad, maybe a candidate for a runaway. I have not started it yet but the owners son says it runs.
*I left message for the owner to call me--he wants $2k for it

Looking at the at the pictures and assuming it runs, does that sound like a reasonable price? I will investigate more when I meet the owner. Until then, here are some pics to view.

No pictures of the interior, so I don't know.

If you want to buy it and drive it, $2K for an unknow condition truck is more than I would pay. If you want a project and the Caddy is what you want, well there a a lot of people trying to sell worse trucks for more money. At least at first glance. But there has to be a reason the "mechanic" just parked the car, rather than fix it and drive it. Right? So I would look at this as a shell for a project, rather than a bargain.

john.jackson9213 said:

No pictures of the interior, so I don't know.

If you want to buy it and drive it, $2K for an unknow condition truck is more than I would pay. If you want a project and the Caddy is what you want, well there a a lot of people trying to sell worse trucks for more money. At least at first glance. But there has to be a reason the "mechanic" just parked the car, rather than fix it and drive it. Right? So I would look at this as a shell for a project, rather than a bargain.

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I have pics of the interior, did not want to overload the thread with them. Suffice it to say it would need a full interior redo.

The reason it has sat in his garage is that he retired. He is now just wanting to get rid of it. My reason for purchasing is two-fold. First--get it to daily driver status. Second--do a TDI motor swap down the road.

I will know the full condition when I actually meet with him next. I met with his son just to get a visual of the truck. So I will be able to assess it much better soon. Obviously if the motor is bad, I'm not paying 2k for it.

Thanks for the input. What would you think is reasonable?

aslspiderman said:

I have pics of the interior, did not want to overload the thread with them. Suffice it to say it would need a full interior redo.

The reason it has sat in his garage is that he retired. He is now just wanting to get rid of it. My reason for purchasing is two-fold. First--get it to daily driver status. Second--do a TDI motor swap down the road.

I will know the full condition when I actually meet with him next. I met with his son just to get a visual of the truck. So I will be able to assess it much better soon. Obviously if the motor is bad, I'm not paying 2k for it.

Thanks for the input. What would you think is reasonable?

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Well, first of all, my fat gut does not fit well in the Caddy. Had one in 1988/89. Even looked at one about a year ago. It does look straight and finding one straight is worth paying something extra for. The interior can also be expensive to fix properly. Not much in junk yards, so you will have to buy new, replacement parts or install crappy parts.

I suspect at $1500, I would call it a good buy, even if the engine doesn't run, given the apparent condition of the body and the fact that most of it is still there in the right places. A TDI engine and a CTN trans in the 2200 lbs truck is nice.

I actually thought about buying a Caddy/2 door Rabbit stretched shell with some rust issues for $1200. Just because of the extended cab. Maybe I am not the best person to give you a value estimate?

Hope you find it a good project!

That is pretty nice.

When those trucks come up for sale in the east, they are usually consumed by rust. The strut towers are likely to rot out. IMO, $2K is probably a really good price, judging for the photos. People pay good money for those trucks when they are in good shape. I've seen exactly one in recent years that was a 'looker'. If I ran across that car in that condition, I'd be all over it.
It could also be an interesting M-TDI swap if you are so inclined.

quartersaw said:

When those trucks come up for sale in the east, they are usually consumed by rust. The strut towers are likely to rot out. IMO, $2K is probably a really good price, judging for the photos. People pay good money for those trucks when they are in good shape. I've seen exactly one in recent years that was a 'looker'. If I ran across that car in that condition, I'd be all over it.
It could also be an interesting M-TDI swap if you are so inclined.

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Actually I have thought about going the M-TDI route. I understand they are they are an easier swap. Still waiting for the guy to call me back. The son was supposed to tell his father that I came over to look at it and was very interested.

Strut towers are pristine and body is very straight. When I see it next, I will have him pull it out of the garage so I can examine it more closely. Hopefully it will start, he's had a battery charger on it.

Stay tuned

Talked to the owner today. Going to see it again on Sunday. He says the current motor is out of an 86 Jetta. Also the cluster has been changed. He wants me to hear it run and drive it, then talk money. The implication is that it does actually run, so that's positive.

So I'll update on Sunday

Well, I talked to the actual owner on Sunday. He has had the little truck since 1985. It's a 1981 bottom of the line model. Here are more details.

* He bought it from the dealership he worked at when another mechanic routed the timing belt wrong and damaged the head. Put another head on it and used it to commute from San Jose to San Mateo.

* At some point a water hose blew on the freeway and before he could get pulled over and it took out the motor. He picked up a junk yard motor out of a 1986 Jetta and installed it. It has the original tranny.

* Took it for a test drive, motor seems to pull pretty strong--for a n/a diesel :roll eyes: The tranny shifts easy and smooth. Needs a new battery.

* Suspension feels like riding on marshmallows--to be expected.

* Non power steering truck

* A/C is there, no longer works

* He's got a 175 degree thermostat in it. That being said, the fan seemed to come on quite fast. I drove maybe two miles. By the looks of the radiator reservoir, I'm sure the radiator needs to be cleaned out.

* Odometer quit working at 80k. He thinks the truck itself has a total of 90k, engine milage unknown.

* No damage to speak of underneath, other than the jack points being abused.

* like I said in a previous post, interior is pretty ratty, will need a complete refresh.

He's pretty firm on $2k. I told him that I didn't feel I could give him that much for it. He said at one point the state would give him $1,500 for it to get it off the road, he refused (thankfully). I'm almost willing to give him the $2k just to spite the "peoples republic of CA" :roll eyes:

I told him I would give him a call in a couple of days to let him know my offer. Registration due in April.

Here are a couple more pics

So a fairly rust free, collectible car for 2k...what's not to like?

If you don't want it, post it in the TDI Automotive classifieds and let somebody else scoop this up.

aslspiderman, Know I said $1500 earlier. But if I wanted the truck, I would not argue too much over $500. I like what I see in the new pictures. Kind of depends your lust for the project and how much you are willing to put into the truck. I suspect for another 5K you could have a very nice little truck.

If you decide to pass on the project, Please let me know how to contact the seller. I am working in Sacramento for the week and would take a look at the truck on my way home next weekend. Not trying to steal the truck, just saying if you pass on it., please let me know.

Buy the truck, flip it on Vortex.

Strut towers look clean. Seats need to be redone, but the dash and door panels look OK from here. If the floors are solid, I think it's worth the $2k.

Buy this thing. Wash it/wax it and either flip it for nearly double the money on Vortex (as to Bill reco) or spend some coin and reupholster the seats, rebuild the suspension, and clean her up a bit.

GoFaster said:

Strut towers look clean. Seats need to be redone, but the dash and door panels look OK from here. If the floors are solid, I think it's worth the $2k.

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The dash is a lot worse than it appears in the picture. I'm waiting for my retro paycheck tomorrow to see if I have the funds. It all comes down to that. I'm gonna wave 15 $100 bills in his face and see if he bites. If not I'll go up.

Goal is to get it and slowly get it back to the point where the wife is willing to ride in it. Then go from there.

Question--is there any resource that shows what dash options there are for the MK1? I really like what vw-nut did with his caddy, but not sure how much work that would entail.

Best resource is probably VWvortex. Mk1 parts are getting rare. If you don't mind being non-original, any auto upholstery shop can deal with seats and carpets, but the dash could be tough.

Score!

Well I pulled the trigger--or as my wife says "REALLY!!!" Got it for $1,800, gonna pick it up on Wednesday. Look for an upcoming project thread

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and opinions.

Well, I got it home on Wednesday. Drove it about 15 miles, then realized the seller didn't sign the pink slip. Drove back, got it signed then drove home. A total of about 75 miles. Little truck ran good, 0-60 in a 1/2hr. Forgot hour slow these little n/a diesels are. Definitely getting a TDI transplant one day.

Yesterday I started putting a little elbow grease into the paint job. It actually is cleaning up better than I thought it would. Passenger side has some kind of overspray on it. Taking it to work next week to pressure wash the engine compartment.

Funny thing happened yesterday. My wife's phone died the other day so she was using mine. She noticed that I had called a good friend who owns a high end body shop. She said: That thing is not getting painted until you paint my car. Ooops, guess I have priorities set for me :roll eyes:

Here's a few glamour shots of the old girl:

Before


After rubbing compound and lots of elbow grease

Looks great. I'd say you made out really well for $1800

Nice Caddy, I wish I could pick one up over here for a project. My Caddy in Germany had a GTI 16v out of a Scirocco and all sorts of goodies, as for the dash, mine had one from a GTI in it, also the seats.

Caddy 16v said:

Nice Caddy, I wish I could pick one up over here for a project. My Caddy in Germany had a GTI 16v out of a Scirocco and all sorts of goodies, as for the dash, mine had one from a GTI in it, also the seats.

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Wow! that one looks real sweet. Did you do the dash or was it already in it?

I just stumbled on to this one via a friend. I have a lot of work to do but the bones are good

The dash was already in it but it is a straight swap since it is basically a Golf mk1 inside.

Has anyone used these springs and struts before or have an opinion on a good strut/spring combo?

My goals are stock ride height and a little stiffer than stock

Thanks

Glad you pulled the trigger on that, a really clean original example even if a bit rough around the edges. I think there was really only the base and LX trim versions on that truck. The LX gave you the dash with the faux stitching and some other things IIRC. That tailgate is absolutely pristine, and those are tough to find. I had a perfect one a couple years back for a project I eventually sold off and it didn't take me long to sell the tailgate. I think I even still have the mechanical guts to a tailgate somewhere, rods / handle and latches...wonder where that stuff went...lol.

I've heard good and bad things about parts place but have no personal experience with them. They've been around a long time though.

Steve

I was gonna do suspension first, but found an 85 cabby with good interior so I picked up a full interior yesterday. Got seats, dash/knee guard, console with gages, carpet, mirrors, cluster(gonna try and adapt tach), even a good aftermarket radio. So I may do interior first.

I know the door cards are too long, but I'm gonna try and cut them down to see if I can get them to work.

1800 is a heck of a deal, Congrats on the purchase , I sold my 81 non running truck that was rough for 1500 and it went no questions asked

They are harder to get all the time

A mtdi will be sweet

Awesome find! You did well at $1800. I have an 86 Golf Diesel N/A and it was super slow as well. That is until I sent my pump to Canada and had Giles rebuild it. I would highly recommend this! It wont win any races, but it makes a significant improvement!

Great find. You will love this. Here's mine.