I bought my car in April of this year for $2900 (1.00 $Cdn = $0.02 US) What a deal! To pass the safety check I had to get the muffler, centre pipe, front coils and safety belts fixed. The coils didn't cost anything since they were under recall.
However, since then I have had to replace a bunch of other stuff. I guess I didn't have to replace the cup holders (Ford has upgraded the part to a single cup holder from a dual cupholder) nor the instrument bezel (it was clouded) but the other stuff was quite necessary. I hope it will end soon as my wife is ribbing me mercilessly for all the money I "saved" by replacing my 1990 Civic Si (which was perilously close to its last legs) with this 1996 Mercury Mystique GS.
All this said, this car handles better than any VW I've had (1988 and 1990 Jetta GTX 16V, 2 x 1991 Passat GL) and is very nice looking to boot. I upgraded the 185/70R14 all-season rim protectors that it came with to 205/60HR15 performance rubber. The paint glows, the interior is spotless and it runs like a charm.
Stuff Replaced:
Exhaust
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muffler
centre pipe
catalytic converter
Engine
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timing belt
idler pullies
tensioner pully and spring
water pump
Electrical
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bulb in CD head unit
bulb for instrument panel clock
2 x bulbs for high mount brake light
3 x bulbs for illuminated inside door handles
Miscellaneous
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cup holder
instrument bezel
rear driver's side belt buckle assembly
Suspension
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both front coils (under recall)
RR coil and strut
Total Cost: $2600!
