Re: NON-ROC Canadian Rabbits

["John Campbell" <johnca100@hotmail.com>]

>A guy I work with used to be a partsman at a VW dealer when they were
>building the Rabbits at the Westmorland factory. He says the reason VW got
>rid of that factory is because the RAbbits that were coming out of there
>were pure junk.  He told me they were prematurely rusting in places that
>were etrimental to the survival of the car and that VW decided to scrap the
>whole idea.

Interestingly enough, I've owned four of these things(83-84 Rabbit GTI's), 
only one was rusty.  That one spent it's life on the water in New England - 
literally - it's parking space was in front of a cable that separated the 
parking lot from the beach.  At high tide, when I picked the car up, I had 
to run the windshield wipers from the spray; it was a sunny day.

The second one was also a New England car, but not on the seashore(Boston).  
The third came from Colorado, fourth from Illinois.  Only the first one was 
rusty - and still not unsafe, actually looked reasonable(the rust was on the 
underbody/underhood).  New England salts roads, not sure about Illinois, 
Colorado does not. The first one also had the highest mileage, by a long 
shot(140k in 92).



>
>PS. Every WEstmorland Rabbit up here on the soggy West Coast I've seen
>generally has gaping rust holes everywhere, rocker panels seem to be the
>hardest hit spot.
>
>Again, his words, not mine :) If he's wrong, I'll personally smack him
>(something I would love nothing better to do).  :)

I don't know that he's _wrong_, necessarily, but I think it is a bit 
exaggerated.  I've heard all the "US Rabbits suck" stories, "fit and finish" 
being poor, electrical problems, etc.  My experience has been the exact 
opposite, beyond "fit and finish," as I find it hard to judge build quality 
on a car that has travelled 80+K miles:).  I never looked at a brand new one 
with that in mind.  Electrically, mine have been great, they've all been 
stone reliable, etc.

Dunno.  I have no idea _why_ they closed Westmoreland; probably because it 
would have cost much more than it was worth to start producing Golfs in 
America.  I've not seen any real evidence that it was a quality issue.


JohnC



>
>Marie
>
>
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