I have a 1985 1.8L auto Jetta bought used in 2002. It has something
over 200.000 miles on it (odo hasn't worked for about a year and I've
been too lazy to take it out of the car and fix the pawls again).
It's a daily driver, and my seventh VW (Type 3 squareback, three type
II's, two other Jetta 2's). The car came with a newly professionally
rebuilt transmission, and an engine out of an 87. The body is
undinged, but the paint's a little dingy.

Since I bought this car, I've solved the starter heating problem with
a relay, stopped up the leaks in the doors and trunk, rebuilt the
front and rear suspension, put in a new exhaust, replaced the injector
o-rings, replaced the water pump and thermostat, replaced the entire
fifth injector system, redone the front and rear brakes, replaced a
shot wheel brake cylinder, and replaced the in-tank pressure pump
(which the previous owner had removed!). It's also had a new passenger-
side wheel bearing on the front, and a new seal on the driver's side
rear. The headliner sagged down a few months back, so I replaced it
with a cut-down headliner out of a wrecked 85 Golf.

I own a 1987 parts car, a spare engine, and have a five-speed I've
thought about putting in the '85 if I pulled the clutch, etc. out of
the '87. I also have a pile of Jetta 2 parts from several other
"donor" cars - the 85 Golf, a 90 type 2 we wrecked in Montana, and
others along the way

I take a tuition-free class through the local university which gives
me access to a complete shop facility every Friday night, and I work
on the cars there. It has five lifts and every auto tool known to man.

But lately, I've been wondering if I should trade up. The 85 (and my
other old cars) eat up most of my Friday nights at the shop, and parts
for all the cars are running around $4-500 a year. My wife suggested
we could be spending that on loan payments on one newer vehicle, and
we'd be able to go out Friday nights.

I'm 6'2" tall, and the VW fits me nicely. I love the seats in the
Jetta 2's. I have never found a Japanese car that I'd consider
comfortable to sit in. Every one I've ever gotten into has given me
the feeling that the seat ought to go back another two or three
inches. I've ridden in comfortable American cars, but mostly larger
than the VW.

I also like handling in a car. I'm not a racer, but the VW
feels...well...confident on the road, and the similar-sized Japanese
cars (Honda Accords, Toyota Tercels, Subaru wagons) all feel less so.
The VW suspension system feels right when you take a corner a little
faster than prudence would dictate. The Japanese cars I've driven
don't. I haven't driven a lot of American iron recently.

If I did trade up, I'd keep my 93 Ford Aerostar van, since it has a
new engine (25,000 miles ago), a new transmission (50,000 miles ago),
and we rebuilt the front end last fall. It stays parked most of the
time, until we need to haul a few sheets of plywood and some 2x4's
someplace, or it snows six inches overnight here in Juneau. However,
if we went down to two cars, I'd be driving the Aerostar to work.

So here's the question. I could actually put the 87 parts car together
and sell it, the 85, and our 93 Subaru Loyale, and buy something about
5-8 years old. If I were to do that, is there a later VW that gains
anything over my '85? Is there some other 2000-2003 car I should be
looking at?