Used Car of the Day: 1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

The forums I pick the UCOTDs from are littered with project cars on this January Monday. I nearly picked a 1969 Opel Kadett that needed a lot of work -- and I still could for tomorrow if y'all want -- but instead I am bringing you a 1998 Volkswagen GTI VR6 that also needs work, if not quite as much.


There are almost 150K miles on the clock and the engine has a Vortech supercharger. The body needs work, mostly from rust and rot on the rocker panel. The interior leather also needs to be repaired. The seller also expresses some concern that the brakes might be too soft but says the engine is "strong" and the car is quick.

There's a manual transmission.

The price is $6,500 and the car is for sale in Pennsylvania.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 46 comments
  • CEastwood CEastwood on Jan 09, 2024

    I agree with everyone else - this POS looks like it belongs on a Murilee junkyard find article . It also reminds me of one of the many motorcycle/car/truck finds on facebook marketplace that looks like it needs a little TLC then you read the description to find out it hasn't run in years and has no title .

  • Fed65767768 Fed65767768 on Jan 09, 2024

    This heap is a junkyard find that hasn't been hauled away to the junkyard yet.

  • Wolfwagen Am I the only one who thinks that this car should be saved and resto-moded with an early 2000's VTEC? Perhaps go a little crazy and swap in the power train from an S2000?
  • Ger65690267 Well, the TFL guys who have a Cybertruck with even more miles have noted their tires still look fine. They drive all sorts of terrain and situations, and they haven't seen the wear, which means that guy is running his truck probably rather hard more than he cares to admit.
  • SCE to AUX "EVs tend to chew through tires in a way that surprises many new owners". That hasn't been my experience. My EV has 210 ft-lbs of torque on 16-inch tires, 3100 lbs curb weight. Tire life has been just like a gas car, which varies according to driving habits. So I agree with the "big surprise" headline.
  • 1995 SC Led me down a rabbit hole to see what the OEM tires were. I was curious if they were using some sort of ultra high. performance summer tire (didn't seem to be). However it does look like you need that specific sidewall design or part of the wheel cover won't fit. Not a "feature" I'd want.
  • Cprescott I used to love spy shots when cars changed so often. No point now in even paying attention to them since cars barely exist and the lard butt CUV/SUV's clog up our roads
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