Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:59:02 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: VW FOX - Been driving one since Feb. but have not seen one
other than mine. Why?
In-Reply-To: <006701c7cfee$8b28ee30$6401a8c0@TOSHIBALAP>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I have an '88 Fox that I obtained in March of '04. It had 14,470 miles on
it. I got from the original owner. She gave me the original window
sticker, purchase receipt, and a 2" stack of repair invoices including
warranty work. Wheel cylinders, noisy brakes, and grind reverse were her
common complaints. It now has almost 50K on it. Fuel economy seems dismal
for what it is. 27-31 mpg is about it. Even on a highway trip I only got
31 out of it. Otherwise, it runs really well. Always starts and the AC is
still working. It had the recall for exploding heater core done. Basically
a set of temp valves to limit flow to the core when the coolant gets hot.
I just did the brakes last week and the timing belt and water was done
after the tensioner seized. Burns no oil. It needs paint due to chronic
red fade. The '88 only has a 4 speed and e-cis fuel injection. It just
runs and runs.
The engine is a de-tuned 1.8l with the choke and puke exhaust manifold.
Going through the gears at runs out of breath quickly above 4,500 rpm.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Scott Daniel - Shazam
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 9:36 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: VW FOX - Been driving one since Feb. but have not seen one
other than mine. Why?
Yes, I guess so.
The important thing is that the owner's of these little cars enjoy them
and
love them.
And mostly, they 'just go.' ...like they keep on truckin'.
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Jake de Villiers
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 6:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: VW FOX - Been driving one since Feb. but have not seen one
other than mine. Why?
They must have done a better job in Brazil because there are lots of VW
Foxes around here and zero Audi Foxes.
On 7/26/07, Richard Golen <rgolen@umassd.edu> wrote:
>
> The VW Fox was actually the old VW Dasher/Audi Fox from the late
> 70s/early 80s. The tooling was shipped off to Brazil and they then
> produced them.
>
>
> At 05:54 PM 7/26/2007, Scott Daniel - Shazam wrote:
> >The VW Fox - the boxy one, the one made in Brazil( not the Dasher fox )
> ...?
> >
> >Great if you love your fine little ride.
> >I haven't seen one of those alive around here ( southern Oregon, and
west
> >coast in general ) for a long time.
> >No offense but they are considered a real POS.
> >
> >One thing I can tell you, you DO NOT want to do a clutch cable on one.
> >Possibly the most nightmarish and impossible thing to deal with up
under
> the
> >dash I've ever seen, and that's from someone who has worked on
thousands
> and
> >thousands of cars of all makes just about.
> >( well, OK, I haven't worked on a Tatra......you got me there. )
> >
> >You can pick up VW Fox's inexpensively, that you can say for sure !
> >
> >You probably could get 5 for 1,000 bucks and stay in a set of wheels
> until
> >they don't have gas and normal car driving anymore.
> >We are in a very lucky age of automobile history......and we are near
the
> >end of the 'era of practical, and fully driver-controlled cars."
> >
> >Pretty soon, if you are on a freeway in heavy traffic at high speed,
and
> you
> >tell a hyper modern car to do a sudden lane change at full throttle,
the
> >car, due to built in intelligence, just will not do it.
> >You command full right steering lock and 100 % throttle...the car would
> just
> >say 'nope, not doing it."
> >Probably get a display that says 'Invalid Input Command.' And it would
> >continue on in its lane, spaced properly from the car in front.
> >Seriously, I'm reading on cutting edge car technologies.....
> >You figure with throttle by wire, the engine still does what you tell
it
> to,
> >right.
> >Not on the soon to be here ones,
> >You command 100 % throttle at the pedal, the car does what it deems to
be
> >the right thing with that information.
> >
> >If it's running on 4 our of 8 cylinders at the moment, for efficiency,
> and
> >you input 20 % throttle for light cruise, it knows that 70 % throttle
on
> the
> >4 working cylinders is more efficient, and will net you the result you
> asked
> >for ......
> >The direct link between the car's systems and the driver is being taken
> >away, most definitely. No burn outs, no power slides, ...durn shame.
> >The dumbing down of *everything*
> >
> >Heck...get this, ( sorry to go on ) in Nascar for some tracks the even
> >dictate what rear end ratio you MUST run, or give you a choice of two.
> >Traditionally, race cars are controlled by engine size, weight,
> dimensions
> >etc...
> >And as long as you stay within those limits, how you get around the
track
> >the fastest is up to the car's builders.....and gear ratio has always
> been
> >tradionally 'free' thing....
> >They're taking away individuality and creativity.
> >Durn shame.
> >Scott
> > www.turbovans.com
> >if wanting to comment and not use up bandwidth here, can continue on
> >http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/turbovans/
> >
> >comments on *anything* are fine there.....well maybe not sex with
minors
> >...but you know, politics all that , is all fine. sdf
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of
> >BJ Feddish
> >Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2007 1:52 PM
> >To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> >Subject: Re: VW FOX - Been driving one since Feb. but have not seen one
> >other than mine. Why?
> >
> > >> Do you suppose that most VW Foxes went to the junkyard
prematurely?
> I
> >mean people ,ect didnt know to buckle the shoulder belt? Just
wondering
> why
> >I never see another Fox.Rust? <<
> >
> >Search the archives on my rant about the Fox. Had VW pushed this car,
> which
> >came out at the same time as the Hyndai for only $1K more, and
advertised
> it
> >they could have sold a bundle. Instead they pushed the Jettas on
> everyone.
> >
> >If it's any consolation I see allot more Foxes than I do Vanagons here
in
> >SE, PA. Especially the little wagons. My last Vanagon sighting was a
few
> >weeks ago.
> >
> >Bryan
>
--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
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