How Bad is a Cheap Facebook Volkswagen?

Today we decided to buy one of those cheap MK3 VW Jettas you always see on Facebook marketplace! We got about exactly what you would predict...
If you want to save money on purchasing or repairing a cheap VW you purchase, this video should offer some insight. We found oil leaks, suspension issues, mismatch parts, broken and rigged together parts, and so much more.
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[@Deutscheautoparts]

What should we do with this MK3?

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

Scrap it

[@nukesaway4806]

Make it a car that someone can get to work with. Make sure it is fuel efficient. It's what I need right now.

[@t3rr0rdactyl]

@@nukesaway4806 agreed, make it as fuel efficient as possible.

[@Naeromusic]

Question isn't what should you do, but rather what SHOULDN'T you do to it

[@pastedtomato]

See for how little money it can be fixed, either that or VR6 or 07K swap

[@aygwm]

I picked up one of these for $600 back in 2018. $14,000 later it’s a drivable car.

[@albertonword]

That’s the spirit

[@PSNxFTWxRAGOI]

I’m on the second set of coils within 2 years plus 5 front suspension kits Mk3s are rewarding when they aren’t broken

[@Vesperia342]

*coughs in $5k to fix my Volvo after 9 months after I bought it for $3k as a salvage title with 225k miles" I feel your pain

[@Hawk7886]

When you're buying something for less than $5k, the sky's the limit on how much you'll spend to make it decent

[@christopherd2100]

That's dedication. That budget will get you a brand new Mitsubishi mirage. Or a really nice used corolla. So why do I still have my '99? Cuz I like it. Especially considering it's an alh 5 speed.

[@The_Stick]

I have to say, I think this video was more satisfying than 99% of the 'I just bought another 6 figure supercar' trash that is on KZbin. Well done!

[@edfriend7233]

I have the same car sitting outside haha.

[@magellanicspaceclouds]

Couldn't agree more. Fuck the Shmee garbage.

[@brandynshroyer4240]

Yeah those videos are worse than an advertisement.

[@williamegler8771]

The "I bought the cheapest supercar/luxury car" theme has certainly run it's course.

[@Gr8thxAlot]

I agree. This amazing car lived through the most amazing time on earth (mid-late 90's) and is still (barely) going. I envision that this thing transported multiple generations of college and high school kids to get to this state of disrepair. If it was a Honda, it would probably be half rust by now, but it would still be mechanically perfect.

[@1PotatoeMasher1]

Just the fact it’s a mostly intact Mk3 with a straight body makes it quite beautiful.

[@rabbitenjoyer6320]

hard agree. This Mk3's body is comparable to the 1998 Mk3 my friend drove in high school in New England...12 years ago lol

[@andrezesna3920]

the vento is a Granny car. absolute boring

[@davidparker9676]

@@andrezesna3920 The Jetta has less power and more weight than the Vento.

[@RobG1981]

@@davidparker9676 There are several Vento. One is the 1990s European version of the MkIII Jetta, which came with as little as 60hp, the other is the Indian version of the modern Polo sedan sold in India. The least powerful petrol Jetta MkIII in the US came with 115hp.

[@davidparker9676]

@@RobG1981 The US Jetta MK3 is much heavier than any Vento.

[@mattalki]

I totally think you should restore that bad boy. Make it look and drive at least decently again. The body isn't in bad shape at all, and I think it would be doable. Set a budget and go for it. The mk3 Golfs and Jettas in good shape are becoming so rare, and it would be really fun to watch this one come back to life.

[@alexanderjakubowski5673]

Agreed. I think it's actually a pretty cool looking car, I like them from this era

[@yishaibenisreal8050]

When you showed the alarm light blinking and the flashers blinking, my first thought is the alarm horn is disconnected.

[@talkbirdy2me]

Which would explain why it's also permanently hot-wired, because they won't start with the alarm tripped... and the alarm is permanently on.

[@AaronHalpin]

@@talkbirdy2me Also may have something to do with the drivers door not locking/unlocking with the key.

[@pjreynoso15]

This is a common alarm problem on Vw mk3. You can easily bypass the alarm with a paper clip. Whoever Hotwired it did more work than to fix it

[@ghomerhust]

as a mk3 expert (ive owned and built MANY of them), this one is better than 95% of the mk3s in eastern nebraska. i honestly think my golf and my buddy's golf are the only ones left out here that arent absolute rust buckets. my jetta is among the rusty but trusty crowd. both of mine are vr6 powered

[@MrCROBosanceros]

There is a lot of mk3 with little or no rust in Pacific Northwest region, West Coast of Canada, Washington, and Oregon. Interiors of our cars are better preserved because we don't get as much sun or heat as southern states get.

[@KMFDM781]

In Indianapolis, this car would be $3K easy as it sits....you can't find rusted out junk for under $1K here.

[@boostaddict_]

I'm in Ontario Canada, right in the rust belt and managed to find a solid 1997 Jetta TDI. So far it just has coils and an ALH swap but eventually I want to do basically everything to it.

[@kbery]

Manual window, non-sunroof, obd1 mk3. A better start than most of us had with our "nice" mk3s lol

[@kbery]

Honestly looks like a pretty nice start to a mk3 for the money, just having good floors in it is a win.

[@fortitudevalance8424]

In Europe, maybe elsewhere, the 3rd gens were known as Vento. I had a 1.9TD it was rock solid but it wasn’t as well made as the Mk2 Jetta. Wrote it off in an accident on the end but the VR6 versions are collectors pieces now just like the Corrado’s.

[@ghomerhust]

this one i noticed actually has a vento aftermarket grill, as the normal jetta grills were flat slats across, this one has the curved ends of the Vento. IMO, a better looking grill on the Vento

[@fedor5664]

My dad had the vento gt, 2.0 8v slow as 💩but reliable af

[@stefa_]

@@ghomerhust it was actually sold with that grille in the States before it received the more Passat-like "facelift" grille. US never got the early Vento grille though afaik.

[@rinkk8126]

I have a 1.9 TDI 90HP Vento, that's only occasionally 90HP if you roll into the throttle, if you slam it, it's all SDI baby 🤣. Jokes aside, if it weren't for the rust it'd probably go forever, might fix the rust, but if I don't, it's probably gonna have only a couple more years of service left. Still has the coldest ac of any car i have.

[@boostaddict_]

@@ghomerhust Early (1993-1995 ish) Mk3 Jettas in North America had the phase 2 Vento grille from the factory.

[@mixedboi]

Finally a real VW from the old days, where quality was written in their dictionary. I really like the car wizardy stuff. Keep em coming. And TSI chain carnage please, I like a laugh.

[@wed3k]

Nah, my corrado was still built in west Germany opposed to my 98 gti which is hecho en mexico

[@mixedboi]

@@wed3k that's awesome, is it the G60?

[@nmcrar]

remove the driver's door handle and use a flat blade screw driver to lock and unlock the car after reconnecting the battery. If the switch isn't trashed then it should stop the alarm from going off like it is designed to do every time the battery is reconnected. I could always use another mk3.

[@soulside]

Love these types of videos. It would be great to include the estimated repair costs to get these safely back on the road.

[@fredygump5578]

Ah yes, the self lubricating chassis mod! And I'm surprised there was no comment about the high performance rubber on this beaut. That'd cost you $10/corner at the local used tire store!

[@FirstLastOne]

'No name brand' is tres chic these days!

[@nariwalsh]

I was laughing the whole way through. I bought a Golf MK3 almost 9 months ago for $500 CAD. Despite its fixer-upper costs, this all makes me realize what a damn good deal I truly got.

[@russellcharles3269]

That's a mixture of timing belt particles and pcv leakage all over the underside of the hood 😂 3 of 3 ABA mk3s I've had have had that

[@keithkozma]

The fact that it's not all rusted to hell means it's absolutely worth $1000. Especially for a swap. 07k would be awesome.

[@novemberlima1025]

You just became my new best friend for suggesting 07k

[@ParkerGarrett5]

07k or a 2.8 12v would do this car good

[@keithkozma]

@@ParkerGarrett5 Only issue with a 12v would be finding one. 07k's in a junkyard are a dime a dozen anymore thanks to all the beetles that had them.

[@kuan098760]

You have come a long way man! This video is gold. Brings back memories of when i picked a 300$ e36 😂😂😂 same thing as your vw. The humor is golden and the technical part is gold as well. Keep it up man!

[@justinarnold6044]

My friends and I have a saying. “If it casts a shadow, it’s worth a thousand.”

[@rubilacxe033]

This car has set in the sun for years and years. You could repair this and drive it with some love. -Repaint it -Replace common wear items -Change all fluids -Possibile body work due to rust i have spend approx 3000€ to get my 95 mk3 golf driving as a daily and i could not be happier. I change every single item that even shows sign of wear.

[@Jaywatkins0]

Please...keep doing this! Probably the best car video I've seen in KZbin for a while. You could also do a part 2 where you fix the big issues and a part 3 where you give it away to someone who really needs a car but can't afford a $50,000 "new" car.

[@Hawk7886]

Why put new in quotes? You could buy a new car for $20k.

[@brownah]

now restore it and make a series out of it 😀

[@joshua4859]

Paul you are so funny dude 😂😂😂 love the vids! DAP has come a long way!

[@elliot9634]

algorithm showed me your short for this and i immediately came here to subscribe. great content man.

[@jcarey1010]

As soon as I saw the title I laughed out loud. No pun intended... Please more inspection videos. The video was also funny bc I recently sold my mkiv gli for $800. It had many problems, body was much prettier than this one and was a VR6 but I just didn't have the cash to keep throwing into it. Awesome work on the video guys.

[@gongometube]

Best car vid I've seen in years. Thank you.

[@argkatt9040]

I had a blue one of these. A 97 with the 1.8 adz engine. Insanely reliable and cheap to run. Gti spoiler in the front, suspension from the vr6, stainless sports exhaust, electric sunroof, subwoofer that took up half the trunk space. Since I got it it always sounded awful in reverse gear. The car is still alive today but with the transmission from a tdi.

[@AADetailing]

Keep them coming! Love this channel

[@mikesvirtualgarage9917]

Bologna and mustard is the best sammich. As for what you should do with it, I may be in the minority, but it seems solid enough to toss on some used OEM parts and send it back into the wild for somebody to enjoy and drive. I'm not keen on parting stuff out if its pretty usable, especially with how things are now with the EV push. Save what you can while you can! Love this video and would like to see more like it!

[@razvanciurez]

I love these kind of video. Reminds me when I was broke and bought a 1974 Ford Taunus 1.6L for 400 dolars. I sold that beauty four years later, and I'm still broke.

[@4BillC]

I purchased a B5 A4 1.8T for $800 a couple of years ago. After I spent a few thousand dollars on it... It's a good ride! Only part I haven't done anything with yet is the engine itself and I have everything to rebuild it but I back up car is being used so... I love cheap older cars!

[@joshalvarez298]

I need 1000 more of these videos. So freaking funny.

[@rkan2]

Yeah! It should be a weekly series - I'm sure there'd be a marketing benefit to ShopDAP (not sure about VW's sales though) :D But they aren't a dealer so not sure it matters lol!

[@MrJonah30]

Love the inspection videos dude always cool

[@ceddufresne8542]

epic jet always loved your fun touch and the guy who's laughing in the back of the camera ahah

[@endospores]

This is so on point. In 2006 i bought a 1994 Jetta III VR6 (also white) and had i done my homework i would've noticed how bad it was and probably not bought it. That car was neat the few days it actually ran, but the rest of the time it was a huge POS, and everything broke down all the time. Had to import the replacement radiator from Denmark. I pissed away so much money on that. Nothing but regret.

[@iTrinityPlays]

Lol great to see this thing. My first car was a $500 1997 Jetta GLS I bought in 2017. I don't feel too bad after watching this video lol. At least I had leather seats, and power windows(Which failed all the time.) Funny enough that this car has around the same mileage as mine did(274k). Mine was in "better" condition, no leaks but was just rusted on the passenger side rear wheel well. I complained about it sometimes, but it did its job. And I never added fluids for the 7 months I owned it lol. Only got rid of it, after the reverse gear sheared off when going into park lmao. The most sloppy shifter i've ever seen in my life. But hey it taught me how to drive a manual. Wish I could have kept it, and made it nice again.

[@jeffkelly636]

I got a new 98 GT in late 1997. It was fun to drive, had foglamps, handled nice. A couple of things that baffled me was the muffler needed replacing after just 2 years, and - at the 15:01 mark you can see how the emergency brake cable turns upward to attach to the rear brakes. In a couple of years that little flexible rubber sleeve disintegrated letting water go down inside that upward turned emerg brake cable. So one winter morning I went outside, disengaged the emerg brake (it was my habit to use it so it wouldn't seize) and the brake stayed engaged (frozen). Fun little car but it had a couple of quirks.

[@GabrielARojas-hz5tj]

I recently bought 2 MK4 Jetta’s one is a VR6 that I got for under 1k because last owner crashed it and bent the panel and the other one I got it for 400 bucks since it was parked for two years and best part only needed a starter, air in tires and gas(it’s a 2.0) and I gotta say I am impressed with VW quality overall, the only thing I can complain is crayola smelling interiors but it’s a common thing in euro cars

[@notdyingsober]

Love the fact your sneezing wasn't edited out

[@dylanp30]

My second car was a 1997 Jetta GT, also white. Got off my gramp in 2014. He was the original owner. Such a great car, 5speed, black on red tails, factory spoiler and mud guards. Sweet little package.

[@andrewedwards3426]

Yes! More mk3/mk4 stuff! Love to see it.

[@ryonbrand7885]

I got my ‘98 TDI for $700, it got rear ended though, so now the TDI is gonna go in my Rabbit, but it was in pretty good shape, still runs and drives great, it has almost 200k miles on it, original clutch, original suspension, the AC kinda worked when I got it, but the evaporator had a small leak. That car was a great beater, it got great mileage, handled good, and it was decently quick, had hilarious body roll though, and it leaked oil when parked.

[@nutter4butter]

Love these videos!

[@BVA5485]

My first car was a 95 black Jetta, paid 800$ back in 2007, 186k and ran quite good

[@dorkultra]

i can't tell you how much i look forward to these beater car inspections

[@talkbirdy2me]

I like these inspection videos.

[@patrick9316]

Great job 👍😃👍👍 with the show. Really enjoyed this one.

[@ckly]

Enjoyed the video and satire. Just bought a mk3.5 cabrio with some similar and different issues. Also from NC, so maybe will come by sometime.

[@TK--qf4sj]

I just bought a GLS not long ago in much better condition than this for 1500. A small dent on the hood, discolored paint on one spot, and a missing radio faceplate. In addition to the obvious, my code reader picked up a couple things that didn't bother me much (have since been fixed for under $100) and a visual inspection inside the car and under the hood gave me no signs for concern. MK3 Jettas are nice if you can find one in good condition, I got this one to compliment my MK7 GTI. :)

[@ChrisHsuCars]

I totally think this car is worth 1000! I hope you will save it and make it decent again.

[@mikepollock2057]

I had a mk3 Jetta as my first car and lately I've been dying to get one as a project car. So much nostalgia for me!

[@bendcamp4849]

Love this kind of content

[@xxtriplex95]

I laughed so much those getto mods are amazing and creative 😂😂😂

[@c.h.175]

I'm 5 mins in and this car is GREAT!! LOL!!! The radio just tucked in there....nice!!

[@2stroke438]

great vid, would LOVE to see more!

[@Jakiirr]

Love the content !!

[@workingmanaudio2754]

Love these videos.

[@July.4.1776]

Just had an ABA swap into my 82 caddy love it. Twice the power of the old 1.6 diesel, and twice as much fun to drive.😎

[@jermainepeters7637]

I bought a mk4 Golf 1.6 2years ago. Love my crappie car to bits. I've been getting parts to replace the "old" parts. Damn it's hard finding parts but I finally found a place, so I would love to see that mk3 jetta in a safe drivable condition.

[@sletourneau3]

Got a mk4 golf 2yrs ago myself. Yes, parts hunting is fun. Did it all winter, im now putting everything I found on her. She's a great car 🤷‍♀️ She's my 4th mk4, first 3 were jettas. Enjoy 😉 find a great parts place and join all the vw mk4 groups you can. You'll find parts. And NEVER toss old parts, you might need them again. Just sayin

[@mtn0freek]

driving that machine initially, on public roads, props bros!!!

[@KRAMPUS_G60_16V]

Great video, love your sense of humor. 😁 What is the plan wit that "2 point slow"? Full restoration with lots of episodes for us to watch? 🤔

[@Deutscheautoparts]

We might have something planned…..

[@KRAMPUS_G60_16V]

@@Deutscheautoparts Sweeeet! :D

[@paulschoppe1448]

Enjoyed this video. I naturally compared this car with my 2000 MK4 2.0L Jetta with 244K miles on it, which my wife calls 'The Death Trap'. My car's 'issues' which I live with are as follows: 1. Driver's seat has a hole in it. 2. Radio buttons fell apart when I had to remove the center dash to tape over the holes in the ac/heat blend doors. 3. The inside door handle on the driver-side door broke off. I stick my finger in the hole to close the door. 3. The glove box door wouldn't open so I destroyed it trying to get it open. Tossed it. 4. The gas filler cover does not latch closed. The plastic catch broke years ago. 5. The VW emblems on all 4 wheel covers came off and are who knows where. 5. The exhaust manifold has a crack in it. Not too noisy. 6. It's hard to shift into 1st gear when the engine is warmed up. Sometimes. 7. The engine uses a quart of oil every 1000 miles. 8. The cat is probably mostly gone and will activate the Check Engine light about once a week. 9. The Immobilizer would not allow the engine to start on occasion. So I had the computer reprogrammed to defeat this feature. Now the Check Engine light comes on every time the car is started. I can clear the code and the light goes out but will come back on the next start. 10. The Airbag light comes on at every start. 11. The dashboard clock will occasionally gain several minutes. The minute adjust only works occasionally so the clock time is often several minutes fast. 12. The center brake light mounted in the back window has a few LED's that light up (very dim) when the key is turned on. All the LED's light up nice and bright when the brake pedal is depressed. Weird. But the body is in good shape and there's no rust on the car so there's that.

[@klowenstein483]

Jeez

[@NuclearPineapple]

This may just be because I’m in Wisconsin, but for how clean and rust free the body appears this seems like a great project car

[@karstgeo7290]

You kill me dude, great one!

[@randym.4209]

Awesome modern classic video !

[@michaelwood1761]

Love this video. More like it please!

[@AhhSamboi]

Mk3s are floor rot magnets. Mine the seat rails rusted off and the chair fell through the floor, but it had a full driver’s edition interior. The interior was worth more than the car

[@nitsuabro9463]

Love your videos Paul

[@jamesk3565]

@15:20 - 15:35 it's called a self lubricating chassis system!!!!🤣🤣🤣

[@alanburke76]

This was great. Truly love that headliner, keep that. Curious if y’all actually bought this, or just found it and are returning it.

[@RyanSymancek]

More MK3 content!! I own three MK3 ABA's (all OBDII). This one is surprisingly clean underneath! Fix a few things a drive it across the country!

[@Phoenix36582]

I was literally crying I was laughing so hard at this. Amazing. Please do another video with this car

[@borger477]

I bought a 92 Camry for 300 from a friend's family member, and so far it's been reliable

[@paulsz6194]

Can’t beat a SV21 or SDV10 Camry ! 👍🏼

[@tomwalter8536]

Love it. Please make more inspection videos

[@MarioDallaRiva]

Ha! We had that exact 95 Jetta in white. It served us well and our son through his university years 👍🏼

[@SonicSnake666]

Had 2 97 Jettas. A white automatic and a gold manual. My manual only had 137k miles and it was absolutely beautiful. Was crashed by a Suburban who made a blind left turn. I still miss that car. Looking for a MK3 Golf but COVID has made it impossible to find a decent, cheap one.

[@Monacomaverick]

The MK 3 still looks good. I remember being astonished at how much interior space there was inside such a small car.

[@briandugan4054]

Reminds me of when I bought a 200$ scirocco in New Hampshire and drove it home to Pennsylvania. It would only really start using a rolling bump start. So i had to park on hills when i needed to fill it with water driving home.It randomly stalled and died in the Lincoln tunnel. It eventually started back up some how. It did have an untracked dash that I sold for 200 a few years later

[@Birdman_in_CLE]

My first new car was a 1997 white Trek edition mkiii. I loved that car. It was the best daily I have ever had. I still have the Trek bike.

[@Gr8thxAlot]

I forgot about the Trek editions. VW always had great marketing. They're the Apple of cars.

[@MarzNet256]

Cool. I had a 1987 Jetta GL. The cowl had a crack and water got on the fusebox and killed the fuel pump relay. Eventually, the trans just went out on the highway. This was before I knew how to maintain a vehicle. It was fun to drive though.

[@l00tur]

Beautiful, smoked tails, 3 bar grill. Find a decent neuspeed charger for the 2.slow and it’ll be a ton of fun. Love me an MK3

[@nathantaylor6378]

Great video!

[@elcompaboricua5534]

I like mk3!

[@dansanders340]

I got a 1000$ Jetta listing for 950 right before Christmas time. Only Major 🙄 issue was the head gasket put exhaust into the coolant, causing it to dump coolant after turning the engine off. Besides that, no heat, bad paint, interior falling apart, it was great

[@FirstLastOne]

Much respect to you on picking up that Mk3 Jetta by the correct hoist points at the front at 14:28. As most out there have no clue and simply use the rocker rails. What you see in that damaged rolled and flatten rocker rail is due to lazy and ignorant mechanics.

[@jeriwollmann7366]

Yessss man. Give us more!!!

[@drwisdom1]

I have/had every gen through mk7 except mk3. Even so, this video was a lot of fun. I would say it isn't worth fixing because it has 276k miles.

[@sebastiangrimm2701]

That thumbnail hit me!!! 😂

[@autovagauto6329]

Amazing job

[@Prime.Era.]

Just why I need when I’m refreshing my feed at work

[@cbaumy3415]

Epic video. Lmao on the dont judge a book by its cover line.

[@MrBigsky13]

I like your channel. gave me a few tips on checking the front end with the pry bar.. Now if I can just get my wife to let me buy the lift. Mabey I'll go totally URO and dig a pit in the garage and pull the car over the pit to do my inspections. Cheaper to bring it to your shop. . Which is only 3000 miles away.

[@dandeangelo98]

Pauls humor is best humor.

[@michaelcrumlett187]

I’ve driven worse. The way I see it, you could clean it up for a loaner/driver, engage in wanton destruction, or swap in a 2.5 TFSI and DSG.

[@ghomerhust]

the body on that is nicer than the jetta i drive daily. also a mk3. my mk3 golf is VERY nice tho, a literal barn find from an old lady

[@aygwm]

Ummm what. I have no idea how you would make that swap work in this car.

[@lianijohnston7468]

Dying at the 7-11 dumpster parts comment. 🤣 I could watch you comment on these goofy cars all day. 🥰

[@DUYT09]

leaving the sneeze in killed me

[@dubpilot1]

I absolutely love this videos ! , the value of this car is $ free. 99 ,just tell the truth you also just drove off with it 🤫. You should bring it back to life by putting a good ABA 2.0L turbo kit or a 1.8t 20v swap into it. A vr6 interior swap a real paint job .No screamer pipes of any kind please .I would watch that too 😎👍.

[@Gwiz000]

I had this same car and the og key not working got me lmao, legit had 3 keys. I don’t have it anymore but man I still love it

[@aaronknutson2435]

That fun red wire if actually THHN, it's wire used for Fire security systems

[@laioking]

A Wise Man said: “You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but sometimes the cover is an ugly piece of sh!t.” 😂