81 VW Rabbit Convertible

Anyone have any experience with these? Got offered one for $450 today. Nice body, no rust. Needs a new top and tires. Guy says he thinks the fuel pump is weak. Opinions please.

Regards John

I learned to drive in one of those...well near that year anyway. It seemed like a good little car. Since I was just learning to drive I don't really remember handling and such but I do know it was more fun than my parents Dodge Omni (yuck). It was my sister in laws car and I know she loved it because she almost divorced my brother when he traded it on a pickup.....without telling her...LOL.

Fun car! They handle very well for a FWD car, it's hard to make them unstick. Tops are pricey though, check on the condition of it before you decide.

My wife has an '89 Cabriolet. I replaced the top, which costs the same to buy as an MGB top even thought there's a lot more material. It would be very expensive to have it done, but it is a doable DIY job if you have time and patience. I found a good website with step by step instructions, but no longer have the link. The hardest part was installing the cable that holds the rear seam of the top onto the body. That part alone too me three hours by myself, but with two helpers I'm sure I could do it in 20 minutes now...not that I'll ever have to do it again! The glass rear window is pretty easy to remove and reinstall, but make sure and use a good sealer or it will leak.

The tops tend to leak near the top front on the side windows, and when the door is open and it's raining it drips there badly. The driving position is fine for a small person, but I'm only 5'9" and am too tall to be comfortable driving. Sure, the seat goes back far enough, but since I don't have ape arms I then can't reach the steering wheel or shifter! I end up with the seat back up more vertical than I like.

They are easy to work on, and the parts are cheap and easy to find, just like other older VWs. We've had instrument cluster problems with this car, as well as our Scirocco which had a similar cluster. The rest of the electrical system on our '89 is pretty good, but we had lots of problems with the '82 Scirocco fuse box, etc...so the '81 may be similar in thbis regard.

The engines run forever. We sold our Scirocco with almost 300k on the engine. The Cabriolet engine has 240k and is still going strong, even though my wife ran it out of oil once when the oil cooler/adapter seal blew! :(

Our Cabriolet has two fuel pumps..and I had to replace both ours because my wife liked to run the car on fumes against my advice....a booster pump in the tank (easy to change and only $50 or $60) and a main pump under the car (harder to change, and much more expensive).

The trunk stinks to actually try to use.

You should be able to get over 30MPG easily. They are a mixed bag as far as cars go, but can be a lot of fun.

I own and operate a VW repair/resto shop....have had quite a few waterboxers and the old Cabrios are my favorite. as stated...great gas milage, great in the snow..easy to work on.

And if you drop in a VR6, they'll scoot, too.

I've got a set of valve adjusting tools and a few assorted shims for one of those, used through one valve adjustment. I think an '84 diesel and '81 gas engine are the same in that respect, anyway I want to sell the tools. Jack probably knows if they'll work for sure.