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Greetings from the Canada!


oprn
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I was told that a used back glass was located in England, purchased, shipped and would be here in 10 days. That was a week and a half ago so time to rattle the cage and see what shakes out. Thanks for your interest!

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Yes there is finally some news! We went looking for the car a couple weeks back, found the address of the business but being after hours it was locked up. No business name on the door to be found nor was there a Lupo to be found. I called the fellow the next business day and he told me he no longer has that place of business and has teamed up with another fellow at a different location and that is where the car is now. I was told that the rear glass was now on order as they previously could not find a shipper that would handle glass. Hmmm....

At any rate the glass has arrived since and is installed but this new company wants to do some work before it goes for inspection. New battery - old one not holding a charge and low voltage they say is the reason for the oil light issue, new timing belts, new brakes all around - old ones are rusty. 

Battery and timing belts are reasonable maintenance in my view but not so sure about the brakes. One would expect them to be rusty from sitting for sure but a couple stops normally fix that. and at 90,000 km … ? They promised me to save the old ones so if they really are not that bad I will have spares.

My wife actually got to see the car so it does exist!

 

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Could be that the lower clips/pegs that lock into the bumper have snapped off. It is made of cheapo abs or polystyrene plastic. Happened to me on one of my SDIs...

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  • 1 month later...

Got it home finally! Not a good experience this time getting it inspected. I will not be dealing with those people again another time, I do not enjoy being taken for a fool and worked over in the pocket book like that!

 

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You really have been through the mill with this project!

But at least you now have a very rare, fully operational lupo in canada. Worth it just for the uniqueness if it all. Cool.

Not sure if you have your roads salted over winter where you are, but if you do, I'd very much suggest you have the whole underside, sills and around the wheel arches pressure wax treated/undersealed. You need to remove the wheel arch inner plastic covers and pressure wash first. Well worth it if you're going to hang on to it for a few years :)

 

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Good idea! Not only do they use salt, they also use calcium chloride which is worse! The latter is used not just for ice in the winter but for dust control in the summer on gravel roads. When it rains it turns to slime, is very slippery and hard to wash off.

Yes it has been a real struggle to get this car registered here. The fellow that did the work to make it compliant is a real rip off artist. He insisted that the car needed all new brakes. I questioned that it could possibly have worn out brakes at 68,000 km. He said they weren't worn out, they were rusty. I told him that was normal on a car that has not been driven for a while. Take it around the corner a couple of laps and it will be good. No - he insisted they had to be changed. I told him to save the old ones as I would keep them as spares and use them up later. Then he had a song and dance about electrical problems with the window on the left side, but they found the problem. Next it was the headlights. They were the articulated type that rotate when you turn a corner and that is not allowed in Canada and is very difficult to disable. Well I called male bovine rectal excrement on that one. Then he said it wouldn't pass because it had no side marker lights on the rear. Whatever!

Well guess what? When we went to pick the car up there was no brake parts, no articulated headlights and he gave us another version of the electrical problems. He charged us $2500 for his efforts and the next day he phoned the Missus asking for more money because he forgot to charge the out of province inspection. He expected her to give him our credit card info over the phone! She said no, phone my husband. 

I was looking over the bill last night and he charged us twice for the brake parts, charged for the rear widow installation which should have been paid by the shipping company, charged us for two fill ups of petrol and put 270 km on the car!

All quiet - no call yet which is good as I have a few choice words for him now that we have possession of the car!!

When we imported the Forester the total charges including the inspection was about $500. Same mileage on both cars.

Edited by oprn
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Seeing as these cars have the same bolt pattern as the older Rabbits, Jettas and Foxes I spent some time trying on wheels left over from days gone by.

From a VW fox, Pirellis, '92 Jetta, and a set of wheels bought for our Daihatsu. That leaves a set of aluminum turbines still to try but they presently have red background paint so would clash horribly with a green car. I also have various stock steel rims including a set from an Audi Fox complete with hubcaps with the Audi symbol on them that fit this car too!

 

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These are the wheels that came with the car and I assume they are not VW factory wheels as they have two different bolt patterns to choose from.

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You have been through the mill with this one. Is that an orange side running light they have added to get it legal to drive in Canada?

I like the white 7 spoke wheels - are they Fox alloys?  I suspect having very regularly seen the Pirrelli P slots & teardrop wheels on Mk1 Golfs back in the day - to me makes them look a little out of place on anything else, but still great wheels. No comment on the last Daihatsu ones!

I dont think the multi-fit 5 spoke wheels are OEM VW,  if they are there should be a part number on the back. They look good too, look like a few Speedline styles of wheel merged into one

 

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I like the silver seven spokes the best, but that's my personal taste. Need a refurb though....

with that compliance guy, is there any authority who regulates or licences him to go to 'ask for advice' about being ripped off? I mean come on, yeah ok, so he's been to college to learn the rules and stuff; he's probably an experienced mechanic and has worked in the industry for quite a few years... but any mechanic can change service items for peanuts (brakes wouldn't cost more than a few bucks at a regular garage). You just have to question what his day rate or hourly rate must have been... I feel really mad for you if that's any consolation. Grrrr! 

Also he is wrong on the headlights. They do not and can not rotate. They do have a levelling mechanism the avoid blinding people when the back of the car is fully loaded up. Also, depending on local rules, there may or may not be a 'kick up' on the main running headlights. I know the US has no kick. In Europe they will either kick up to the left in the UK, or right in mainland europe. Easy to change by changing the light bulb. 

No mention of glass standards, mirrors, side collision bars, seat belts, demisting systems, fog lights or number plate lights.

If it were me, I'd itemise all the different items and their related costs. Get two written opinions from other garages locally- offer to get them a bottle or something for their effort, then approach the regulating authority. Then go back to the chap and ask for some money back or see you in court for ripping me off... with the threat of speaking publicly about the way he treated you in the media. That usually works. then start writing formal letters. This makes me so mad!

Edited by mk2
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I am not the vindictive type and am not fond of confrontation but this guy, as my 20 year old daughter so aptly expressed, is greasy! I believe in the old saying "Screw me over once - shame on you. Screw me over twice - shame on me!" . 

My daughter looked up his place of business on "the net" and it has a lot of glowing 4 and 5 star reviews. There were 2 bad reviews however, one of which the writer stated that he felt like he needed a shower after having been in the place!  I expect the good reviews were written by family members and friends. After I cool down a bit (don't want to say anything in anger that will get me in court) we will sit down and write a review too. I also know a number of folks in that city as I grew up there so will get the word out on the street. I have contacted my auto importer to let him know for the sake of other customers but have not heard back yet. I will phone him if I haven't heard soon.

As far as getting money back - I chose to pay him off to get the car. Otherwise he could hold it ransom for who knows how long and I could have been out the price of the car in court costs in short order.

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Back to the wheels. I am torn between the Fox ones with their whitish silver finish (add some matching stripes or graphics to the car) or the teardrop Jetta wheels. We are missing one center cap on this wheel set and they need refinishing badly. My wife says she likes the ones it came with best but the Daihatsu rims have brand new winter tires on them so she may have to live with them once the snow flies.

The Pirellis have some very good aggressive winter tires on them too. I suggested we could get them studded and keep them to use just for the ice racing season. Response: Rolling eyes and groans! 😒

Edited by oprn
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I'd keep it stock standard, but simply add a big vinyl slash right across the car that had VW LUPO cut out of it? I could hear many people looking at the car while you're driving past going "what's that...?!".

Or even add some of the green colour to the rims... Hey just thought- there's people on here who could do you a few photoshop effects before changing anything.

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No major changes planed here, just dreaming at the moment. I have no idea what wheels it would have had from the factory. I am just having fun looking at all the option I have on hand. Here is the turbine style I mentioned earlier. They are color co-ordinated to my '76 Rabbit (which I still have) but would look quite nice done up in green.

 

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For striping/graphics it most likely will stay as is but I do picture in my mind's eye a black and white checkered flag complete with pole starting on the left side of the bonnet with the flag material tapering over the right wing widening down the right door and finishing just short of the rear wheel with the back edge following the curve of the wheel arch. Then on the left side a depiction of a road starting narrow high up on the wing swooping down, widening again to cover 2/3 of the door, then tapering up to finish at the tail light. This road would have the white dotted center line and white solid lines on the edges.

What to you think?

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That sounds amazing. Yeah, you have to do it. Wax the car first so in future it'll be easier to remove in future.

If you were local, I'd buy those wheels off you. "Turbine" wheels are rare here. I think the combination of black tyre, silver rim with green centre would be very cool. Turn up at any local VW show and you'd be centre stage in Canada.

what condition are the headlamp lenses? They do fade, but are easy to restore.

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I am generally not short of ideas for paint schemes but to get permission from the Missus to do it on her car is one thing and to find the time is quite another!  One headlight has turned milky and I took some rubbing compound to it and it is now almost as good as new. This tells me that the car has had reason for a bit of coachwork on the front. The bottom radiator grill, tow hook and the plastic bit below it are painted and should not be as well. That confirms that is has been in a bit of a smash up. Nothing serious as the bonnet has original paint, the wings look stock and no stress shown in the engine compartment. The left door also shows a slightly darker shade of paint so this car has been around some. 

I bought those turbine wheels for my Rabbit back in about 1978 and I have only seen one other set like them. They were on a Beetle and it was a photo on a VW forum in the USA. Originally they were all bare aluminum but when they got a bit corroded I polished the rims and blasted and painted the centers.

To answer an earlier question, yes those little amber lights by the tail lights are apparently needed for compliance to Canadian standards. Seems a little silly to me so they may disappear in a bit.

Edited by oprn
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There's a trick to restoring the headlights... remove, then hand rub back with wet 240 grit to get all the original laquar off. Then when a nice even milky colour with no old yellow laquar bits left, rub back with 400 till nice and even. Rinse off with deionised water then dry. Dont touch with fingers and keep clean. Then mix up some 2k laquar and spray a few very thin coats (i do 3) at 15 min intervals. Allow to harden. Done. That'll last about ten years. They'll look like brand new again. With the very first laquar coat, the milky finish will instantly go crystal clear as the laquar melts into the surface. :)

 

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