After graduating from high school, a football buddy of mine went off to college and became a cheerleader for the school’s men’s basketball team.  He took a lot of abuse for that.  To make matters worse, he then went out and bought himself a red convertible VW Cabriolet almost exactly like this one for sale here on Craigslist in Albany, New York.  He sure was a glutton for punishment!  After a few years he traded the VW in on a ‘Vette but by then I think his chance for redemption had passed.  As for the Cabriolet, a lot of drivers regard them as quick little cars that handle well and are truly fun to drive.  I never drove my buddy’s but I remember two things about riding along as a passenger: 1) I tried my best not to be recognized and 2) my buddy seemed to be having a blast driving and didn’t have a care in the world. That was years ago and I wonder if he misses his VW? I might just reach out to him and let him know that for $3,400 he can relive his glory years.

There are a lot of things about this ad that has me curious.  For starters, the pictures show the car has just been pulled out of a storage unit.  The seller gives no information as to how long and why it’s been in storage but mysteriously provides a picture showing a 1999 Pennsylvania registration sticker.  I suppose it’s safe to assume that’s the last time the car was registered and on the road.  If so then what’s the story explaining how a PA car ended up in storage in Upstate New York for 19 years?  The body of the ad gives us no information other than simply repeating what we already know from the title: “1993 VW Cabriolet Automatic 75,000 miles.”  Is the price too good to be true?  The seller did take the time to indicate “excellent” in the condition prompt of the ad, and the car does look pretty nice with the exception of a huge crack in the driver’s side corner of the front bumper.  Upon closer inspection, was the hood left ajar or does it not latch properly?  The round headlamps were a signature look of 1st and 2nd generation Golfs, but oddly we aren’t shown a picture of this car’s front end.  Is there more damage?

This is a really nice, clean, close-up photo of the 1.8 liters, 4 cylinder engine with the optional 3-speed automatic.  Uugh!  I can hear the collective groan of Cabriolet aficionados everywhere as the 5-speed stick is much preferred and a primary reason these cars are so much fun to drive.  Things look pretty well kept and as they should given the car’s condition and reasonably low mileage.  I wonder though, does the car run?  I have to assume so since the seller doesn’t mention otherwise.  Are there any issues from the car sitting so long in storage or was it started and ran routinely over the past 19 years?  One would hope the seller can answer those questions.

’93 was the final production year of the 2nd generation Golf and subsequently, the Cabriolet’s trim package was dubbed by VW as “Classic.”  Leather interior, AC, power everything, alloy wheels, a sportier suspension, and a driver’s side airbag were standard in the Classic edition.  All in all these little cars were pretty loaded.  Photos reveal the white leather interior to be in fairly nice condition, although I think I see a couple of tears in the door panel just above the passenger side armrest.  It would be nice to see pictures of the back seat as well.  Reliability isn’t the best with these VW’s and they are known to be prone to some electrical issues.  But if one can look past the 3-speed automatic, is this 2nd generation sorority girl Uber worth the $3,400 asking price?