This car, affectionately known as 'project wagon', now lives in San Antonio. It's got lots of miles on it and is in need of about $800 of TLC, but is generally a solid car with an excellent interior. It's been 'rode hard and put up wet' - not abused, but neglected.
I arrived at the far end of a 1-way plane ticket to drive the car home and found some significant gaps between the way the car was portrayed and the way it sits. In a 2-week period it went from one rust spot to three, frozen hand-brake cables, an unmentioned botched windshield replacement with a new nickel-sized chip, a CEL and 5 error codes, an exhaust leak from a bad weld between the cat and first muffler, broken D/S mirror, spare won't hold air, and a valet key for the doors. And speaking of air...no AC. But the tires are brand new!
The other good news is that in spite of some mystery Penzoil in the 1-quart overfilled crankcase, and two dead glow plugs, the 2150 mile drive back to San Antonio went very well - decent mileage (39 - missing underbody panels in the rear, half the trip in limp-mode due to N75 error and every vacuum line in serious need of replacement) and didn't use a drop of oil.
I'm just finishing putting the interior back in after inspection and a whole lot of vacuuming and steam cleaning. Wiring and grounds have been repaird in the rear of the car. I still have some wiring and ground issues under the hood. How did the previous owner break that back-up light wiring anyway?! All the vacuum lines have been replaced, including the segment in the ECU and all the error codes are gone except for the glow plugs. (Thanks Uwe - VagCom has paid for iteslf about 6x over now!) Replacement DS mirror is enroute, as is AC compressor, lots of brake parts, and other odds and ends. (Jerry at Impex - Thanks for the 5% sale on parts!)
Gotta wait until morning to get back at it. I haven't yet been able to get the lower bolt for the right rear shock loose...I hope those new rotors and brake pads get here soon...
Andy
