This page chronicles the mileage milestones my 1987 Golf GL has achieved.  Click on the links to the left to see some of the details of these historic moments:
     She passed the 400,000 mile mark on July 18, 2002 at 4:08pm.
     She passed the 500,000 mile mark on December 31, 2004 at 2:10pm.
     She passed the 600,000 mile mark on January 23, 2007 at 9:12am.

     On April 21, 2008 she pulled into my driveway for the last time, ending up at 654,005 miles.  In 11 1/2 years of driving her for a living I put 492,111 miles on her.  I sold her for $1000 to a young lady who was drawn to my ad because she drove a '87 Golf in college.  I think she went to a good home because when I told the prospective buyer that the car had 654K - she was down right giddy.  Thought that a car with that many miles was the coolest thing ever.

     I bought her back in August of 1996 when she had a mere 161,894 miles. The seller was a local used car dealer which means I had no records or information on her prior history. I did a test drive, liked the way she drove and took a gamble that she'd go the distance for me.
     I drive her in my job as a small-package courier to the tune of 40-50,000 miles a year so reliability is my main concern.  After some teething troubles in the first few months of ownership, she has been dead solid reliable.  Only five times in the 492,000 miles I've driven her have I had to call a tow truck to get us home (2 snapped clutch cables, main fuel pump, alternator and transfer fuel pump).

     The key to this reliability?  Three things: Maintenance, Maintenance and more Maintenance.  Regular, fanatically obsessive maintenance.  Maintain a VW according to the dictates of Mother Volkswagen and she'll last forever.   

     Now, I have had to replace just about everything mechanical on the car, including a full engine rebuild at 360,000 miles. Transmission, all suspension bushings, brakes, entire cooling system have all been completely redone. Due to my need of absolute reliability I tend to replace or rebuild items before they completely break and strand me.

     I only paid $2000 for her so I think I've got my money's worth. Of course, that doesn't include the $27,000 I've spent on parts which means I had a 21-year-old, $29,000 Golf.  Yikes.  The exact total is $27,534 on maintenance and repairs (all labor done by me) in the 492,000 miles I've owned the car, that's about $0.055 per mile.  The 5.5 cents per mile cost has remained steady over the last 5 years or so.

     I addition to the 492,000 miles I've driven the Golf I also have 268,000 miles on my 1986 Volkswagen GTI which I bought brand new.  That's more than 750,000 miles I've driven in Volkswagen's A2 chassis cars.

     She had has a few niggling little problems, but hey, that's what we old-car owners just call "character"!