My husband and I have found a 1981 VW Dasher (diesel) in incredible condition. It has had one owner and less than 90, 000 miles. Should we go for it? How much would you pay for this? Thanks!
I can’t answer either one of your questions really. Speaking for myself, I would not give much but then again, I never cared for the Dasher at all, but that’s a biased opinion that has nothing to do with the reliability of the car. They’re actually pretty decent old sleds.
You can probably figure it needs, or will need soon, front axle boots and front struts; both common problems.
The plus things are that it’s simple to service although any injection pump repair or injector rebuild can be a bit expensive and they do get great fuel mileage. Sometimes starting can be improved by the use of a Fast Glow kit but I have no idea if this has been done or not.
You should also figure in timing belt replacement costs if the belt has not been changed in recent memory. If that’s the original belt then it’s a miracle it has not broken.
When thinking of a price to offer on that car you should take some of those things I mentioned into consideration. If you can’t do the work yourself it can add up hundreds of dollars. Hope some of that helps.