Used Car of the Day: 2003 Volkswagen GTI 20th Anniversary

Even that is idiotic. And I don't mean that as "ZOMG IT IS SO EXPENSIVE!!!" I am talking about one who buys and recently purchased a project from this era. That looks like 65,000 hard miles given the dents and duct tape. And at 18 years parked it will need everything rubber and on mid 1980's cars, especially Hondas that is a ton of vacuum lines. My last 80's project had been parked a decade less than this and needed, well...everything. Of corse it was 450 bucks. Yes it will need a new fuel pump and much labor getting the tank clean. It is an automatic which is neither here nor there but it does further decrease the potential customers should you decide to sell an already niche and obscure project car. You have to really want this model for some reason to take this on. These sort of "ran when parked" projects are better purchased locally by word of mouth. Mine was a dude who had twins and no time and needed it gone. That stuff is out there but you aren't typically going to find it on used car sites and certainly not "I KNOW WHAT I GOT" craigslist. Obscure finds like this are difficult to source parts for as well. I doubt the asking price is even half of what you'll need to spend to get it on the road and that doesn't address paint and body. I'd pass on this too.

I was looking at that also - way back in the 1980s, a relative had something similar to this and that's what started all of us down the road into Japanese cars. I don't want to rag on other people's used cars, especially one that at least from the exterior doesn't look all that bad (complete with the last of the late 1970's bronze paint), and $2,500 might not be a bad price...if it at least started up. It has New York plates and currently resides in New Jersey - two places that get four extreme seasons a year, and sitting for too long isn't like sitting for a decade in the dry desert air. I'd be concerned about mold in the interior and vents. Dry rotted rubber - tires, belts, hoses. Crumbling wire connectors...hell, the wires themselves. The engine might last forever - some of those Honda engines probably would - but everything around it, especially since we are approaching (God I'm old...) 40 model years - I have to ask, unless you're are a total diehard Honda fan, or dropping it off in a museum somewhere, I don't see the payoff. Getting that car to move under its own power again is going to be well into the five digits being ripped out of your checking account. And if you do get this moving again, and titled/registered, you've spent, what, $10,000 minimum to get this going again + the many, many hours of labor. If this was a CRX of that era, maybe. There are enough CRX fans still out there to keep the flame alive. But Accord hatchbacks? Not sure.

CRX, pretty much any Si model, maybe even a prelude. Or perhaps if it were a manual that had spent it's life in a more friendly to old cars environment. You will very rarely get your money out of such a project, but I do like to be less upside down than I'd be in this. Might be fun to leave the exterior alone and throw in one of those K series motors with all of the boost though, but that as with any swap will be far from cheap and you still have the NY/NJ issues lurking

@Art Vandelay - I have no idea what's feasible with an 84 Accord hatchback, but if by some force of nature a K-series engine would fit and you can get decent enough brakes, tires, and shocks in there, this car would be an absolute riot to drive. These were so light, the 200-ish HP and 2023-era rubber and springs...mmm...damn you man, now you have me looking at heading to New Jersey!!! 😁Pull up to a new VW GTI with an 84 Accord hatch and scorch that driver at the next green light.