Rabbit convertible/Cabriolet daily driver

[trevor]

Hi,
New to the site. I gave up my Cabriolet many years ago and when I see them I would like to have one again. One problem though; I would want to use it as a daily driver instead of just a weekend car and have been told it won't work that way.
Would anyone like to add a 2nd opinion? I won't be working on it myself but can afford to pay someone to.
I also have a Mini Cooper and an Austin America.
Thanks in advance,
Trevor.

[Briano1234]

I have a 92 and a 93 that are both Daily drivers.

[eric4321]

Their is no reason a Cabby/Rabbit vert can't be used as a daily driver. VW has used the same drive train in many other cars that are daily drivers. My 93 was a daily driver for 6 months without a probelm. I have a friend with a 91 Cabby that is a daily driver. I am in the process of building an 81 Rabbit 4 door to be a daily driver. These cars are like any other car- you take care of them and they take care of you.

[kamzcab86]

One problem though; I would want to use it as a daily driver instead of just a weekend car and have been told it won't work that way.

In my Buyer's Guide it says, "While Cabriolets are best used today as secondary or pleasure vehicles, thousands of Cabriolets throughout the world are still performing daily driving duties." That's a recommendation, not requirement.

Here are the reasons why it's recommended that old cars (any old car) be used as secondary vehicles:
1) Their age... parts wear out and need replacing, which means time off the road and money out of your pocket.
2) People buy $500 Cabriolets for cheap transportation to work/school and then bitch about them breaking down all the time and costing money (and time) to repair them. They find forums or other sites online and bitch about how unreliable the cars are and many don't bother to listen to repair advice (i.e. what might be wrong, what to check, how to fix/replace the part yourself to save some cash, etc.). These people, 9 times out of 10, do not have another vehicle.
3) People buy $2500 Cabriolets and complain about the car having one issue after another: first it's the fuel system, a year later it's something electrical, another year later it's the transmission not shifting... They too whine about the cars being unreliable and costly to repair and usually have only one vehicle.

These are 20+-year-old cars; parts wear out over time and need replacing. What the previous owner(s) hasn't yet done, you will be doing. Do not buy an old car -- any old car -- no matter how well it's been maintained, and expect it to be 100% problem-free for the next 5 years.

You have two other vehicles so you're already ahead of the game. Should a problem arise with the Cabriolet, you have back-up transportation. Buy a Cabriolet that's been well-maintained (with the records to prove it), and keep up with the maintenance on it, and by all means, daily-drive it.

And now, I'm off to change some wording in the Buyer's Guide.

[CalAltaDubber]

Having owned my Cabby since new (24 years next month) I feel I can comment here.

For a daily driver, a Cabby is an excellent car. Th water cooled 8 valve engine is a work horse and, with proper regular maintenance, will last.

But as Kamz stated, these are old cars and it is getting harder to find parts.

I drove my cabby for 15 years as a daily here, and the cold winter climate is hard on engines, bodies and many other parts of the car.

A couple of years ago I did a minor restoration on the car and that is why it is only a summer car now. I don't want the salt and ice of winter driving ruining the car.

If I lived in the southern US I would probably use it as a daily.

[gull]

I've used mine that way for quite a while, although the term "daily driver" may not be appropriate because I don't actually drive to work every day -- especially in the summer, when I often bike. I do, however, frequently take long road trips in it.

The thing to remember with any old car, especially a compact car like this one, is it will probably have been given minimal maintenance at best by the previous owner before you get it, so you may have to "catch up" on deferred maintenance. For example, I paid about $1200 for mine, and almost immediately put another $1200 into it getting the timing belt, oil seals, and engine mounts done. I had to sort out a couple of fuel system issues, as well. That was four years ago, now. I've driven it in all kinds of weather, on all kinds of roads; everything from commuting to vacations. It's only let me down twice -- once when the oil cooler seal blew, and then recently when the clutch went out. That's not to say I haven't had to put money into it -- I've also done the front wheel bearings and the struts -- but the cooler seal and the clutch are the only two times it hasn't taken me where I wanted it to go.

So yes, a Cabriolet can be reliable, but you'll probably have to put money into making it that way. The fortunate thing is most of the mechanical parts are easy to get because they're shared with legions of Rabbits and Sciroccos. And it's certainly cheaper than paying car payments on a new Eos or Mini.

These are also reasonably easy cars to drive on a daily basis. They handle well, have a reasonably comfortable ride, are fast enough to keep up with traffic, and (assuming you have a good top) they're not noisy or drafty. Unlike a Beetle or a Bus they're suited to modern traffic conditions and you don't feel like you're making a lot of sacrifices to drive them. About the only negative issue I've noticed is fuel economy -- as you can see from my signature, I get 26-27 mpg, which isn't so hot for a compact car. The aerodynamics are pretty abysmal, worse than some small pickups.

[trevor]

Many thanks to all who gave feedback here. It was good to hear from all of you and hear your wisdom from experience.
I needed to hear all of that.
Trevor