No spark
Replaces coil on my 1987 vw Jetta but don't got no spark at all, I got power and ground going through but no spark, could it be a bad ignition control module?
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1987 Volkswagen Jetta Reviews, Pricing & Specs
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A budget compact sedan, available as a 2-door or 4-door, the Jetta easily conquered the U.S. market, winning over customers with its blend of optimal performance, reliability, safety, and price. With great gas mileage and few repairs, the Jetta adds up to a practical family car or personal sport compact.
The biggest change in the 1987 Volkswagen Jetta is a new and improved and more powerful engine in the performance-oriented GLI. It gets a 16-valve, double overhead cam 1.8, with 123-hp. Coupled with the already supportive Recaro racing seats in the front, the family sedan Jetta becomes a true road rocket. The 1.8, 4-cylinder, 85-hp engine in the base and GL sedans remains the same.
What makes the 1987 Jetta stand out from other compact sedans is the Volkwagen engineering that combines stiff suspension with tight cornering and an engine that never quits. Combined with the light weight of the car, it handles breezily, but stays firmly planted on the road. Owners of all Jettas, not just the GLI, praise its performance and how fun it is to drive. They also mention the spacious trunk, and that it's very easy to do your own repairs or modifications. Mostly, those who have owned their 1987 Jetta for almost 20 years now are amazed how neither the engine or the exterior ever shows how hard it's been driven. Drawbacks include the plain styling, cheaply-made interior materials, and an uncomfortable driver's seat.
Published Aug 9, 2022 by CarGurus Editorial Team
User reviews for 1987 Volkswagen Jetta
Write a reviewUser rating:
by Christopher W
Apr 22, 2012
What a good old car!
Performance- Well, it was an 87 jetta with an inline 4...so it was not by any
means fast, but it got where it needed to go and would power through rain and
any depth of snow with ease!
Build Quality...it lasted 317k miles....enough said
Appearance was butt ugly. It was maroon in color with faded black plastics,
small rust starting, and looked like a box...but it did it's job valiantly
Cost of ownership got more expensive as it aged due to failing old parts, but
for the most part, each part was cheap! Every part I bought combined barely
equaled a clutch job on my new audi...haha
Fun factor. This car rocked! It was mine...it was a stick...and the engine was a
tank! It took everything a new driver could throw at it and just kept loving it! Apr 22, 2012
by Ekim F
Feb 26, 2011
I bought this car in 1990 from EERO VW, Anchorage, AK for $9000. Since then, I have driven it all over the world. It probably has over 500,000 miles (odometer stopped working in 1996) and is still going but starting to show its age. Very fun to drive; gas miliage is great; can haul a lot of stuff; driver seat is very comfortable for long trips and holds you in place when cornering. Only two minor repairs so far, 5th/reverse shift lever ($1.34) and drivers-side window regulator ($25.00). Still has the original P7000 tires!Feb 26, 2011
by Miloš P
Aug 18, 2010
For its age and strength it is excellent. It's a bit hard to drive as it has no ABS nor
Power steering. But it is cheap and excellently made. It's not expensive to maintain
and it does not spend too much petrol. Not very fun to drive though...Aug 18, 2010
User rating:
by Christopher W
Apr 22, 2012
What a good old car!
Performance- Well, it was an 87 jetta with an inline 4...so it was not by any
means fast, but it got where it needed to go and would power through rain and
any depth of snow with ease!
Build Quality...it lasted 317k miles....enough said
Appearance was butt ugly. It was maroon in color with faded black plastics,
small rust starting, and looked like a box...but it did it's job valiantly
Cost of ownership got more expensive as it aged due to failing old parts, but
for the most part, each part was cheap! Every part I bought combined barely
equaled a clutch job on my new audi...haha
Fun factor. This car rocked! It was mine...it was a stick...and the engine was a
tank! It took everything a new driver could throw at it and just kept loving it! Apr 22, 2012
by Ekim F
Feb 26, 2011
I bought this car in 1990 from EERO VW, Anchorage, AK for $9000. Since then, I have driven it all over the world. It probably has over 500,000 miles (odometer stopped working in 1996) and is still going but starting to show its age. Very fun to drive; gas miliage is great; can haul a lot of stuff; driver seat is very comfortable for long trips and holds you in place when cornering. Only two minor repairs so far, 5th/reverse shift lever ($1.34) and drivers-side window regulator ($25.00). Still has the original P7000 tires!Feb 26, 2011
by Miloš P
Aug 18, 2010
For its age and strength it is excellent. It's a bit hard to drive as it has no ABS nor
Power steering. But it is cheap and excellently made. It's not expensive to maintain
and it does not spend too much petrol. Not very fun to drive though...Aug 18, 2010
by Anonymous
Apr 06, 2010
Accelerates like new. I replaced the clutch and it drives like a champ. Minor repairs and oil changes every 3 months keep it healthy. It drives like a sportscar, I can't believe it's an 87! I have never had any major issues. I hate to sell it but know it will make someone a great, reliable little car for years to come. Apr 06, 2010
by Chris H
Nov 29, 2009
My wife got me hooked in VWs when I started driving her Jetta - the first month with stick must have been hell with her, since I drove it like I was playing Gran Turismo.
I found that it was really fun to drive, and you got an appreciation for 'precise' shifting since you couldn't just slap it in gear like the early Honda Civics of the same era......
I was really impressed that we did a day trip to the Toronto zoo and back from our Apt on the East mountain in Hamilton on a 1/4 tank!
It was a sad day when the years of Hamilton road salt got to the frame and condemned it to a slow passing...Nov 29, 2009
by Angel T
Oct 31, 2009
Yeah i love my beauty, its all solid steel, simple and rocking. 18
engine, so it has power too. and i love the paint job on miss
henrjetta tobin, the decepticon cat-car who is carrying my ass
from here tothere, and back. Oct 31, 2009
by Alex E
Oct 19, 2009
Old skool, No power steering, no abs, nothing eletric! just Good old handling car. This space isnt big enough to fit all the modds into most of them are hardly noticeable :P Puts a smile on your face everytime you get in.Oct 19, 2009
by Ruslan Ş
May 24, 2009
Really good engine! Works very well even at the age of 22!
Very solid structure! Great quality! Really fun for me to drive and smoke the taxi drivers with some new cars. Doesn't look perfect, but it's ok to drive =)May 24, 2009
by Anonymous
May 21, 2009
I got my jetta for $300 october 2007, I use it for work getting all around the city and drive it 200 mile round trip once every 3-4 weeks only had to replace rear break system and struts. The odometer reads 174000 when i got my car and has never worked, overall its a great and i plan on getting a new one of the same engines that is in my car and restoring my jetta.May 21, 2009
by Rasmus S
Oct 20, 2008
LOOOOOOOVELY car.. wrum.. Diesel at it's best, it's small, a bit ugly, but Damn it runs like a kitten..
Facts:
1600 turbo diesel
75 hp
133 Nm
20 km/L (very eficient)
top speed 180 km/h (not that fun to drive at that speed)
0 - 100 (km/h) = 30 min, just kidin'Oct 20, 2008
by Robert R
Aug 15, 2008
My first car, and used to thrash it back and forth to work.
X-Reg red jetta, and a bloody ugly cloth interior, well that was the eighties for you!!
Problems..Mmm..Oil leaks, bloody nightmare to start in the morning, Oh, and a small matter of the Cylinder Head Gasket blowing..Big job managed to rectify, but never the same again, sadly scraped in Scunny on my leaving these shores for Deutchland.Aug 15, 2008
by Dietrich B
Aug 13, 2008
What can I say? Classy styling. A little sluggish but outhandles just about everything else on the road. Plus I can't complain about a car I got for about $400. Definitely has the "Lego factor." Way easy to work on, you can take things apart and put them back together. Fun and easy to work on, and modify. I can even begin to list all the Frankenstein parts from other cars I've put into my Jetta. There's cars that I want more, but for now, I love this one!Aug 13, 2008
by Anonymous
Jul 08, 2008
volkes 2 door body was build to high standard. It was made better by
having abs, and a 2.1 16v motor with a lot of performance stuff. No ac.
But tilt and slide roof.Jul 08, 2008
by Anonymous
Apr 13, 2008
good car to drive, bad car to fix, but runs good when it does.Apr 13, 2008
by Brian G
Apr 02, 2008
Fun on windy roadsApr 02, 2008
by Anonymous
Mar 19, 2008
This was my first in the nineties. Loved it. I killed the trasmission...Mar 19, 2008
by Jory H
Mar 12, 2008
its lowered all the way around.. 4 wheel disc brakes, short shift kit, custom cat back exahust, ngk plug wires and plugs, neuspeed cams, rims, steering wheel, system, act clutch... a bunch more crapMar 12, 2008
by Kent C
Feb 29, 2008
It was my first car, so I had no basis of reference. But for a 13-year old car (at the time) and sloshy 5-speed and no radio, it was a damn good car.Feb 29, 2008
by Anonymous
Jan 01, 2008
Fantastic car a force to reckon with, As there is no resale value I would like to convert it to a tourer.Jan 01, 2008
by Hingle M
Dec 20, 2007
same as the blue oneDec 20, 2007
by Anonymous
Aug 28, 2007
I just want to write a testimonial to my car. It has taken me all over the West coast and back and forth to work for 20 years. I have kept service on it up to date and it has not failed me. It has been the victim of 3 accidents just to the body and it keeps on keeping on. The last accident my insurance company totaled the car but I retained it and had it repaired and it is getting 43 mpg on the highway and 38 in town. Just got back from a trip to SunValley, Idaho and it ran like a charm. Thanks for letting me expound on my 1987 blue jetta.Aug 28, 2007
What users have asked
Car turned off while driving
Got a 1987 vw Jetta 1.8 Car has around 200k miles Manual trans But still drives well when it would fire up, 3 weeks ago I was driving my car perfectly fine everything worked perfectly, car stopped acting weird 2 days after a mission/long 2 hour drive, while driving about 30 or 40 mph slowing down coming to a light car would sound like it wants to turn off while slowing down or going down a steep hill, didn't really turn off tho it still kept running, another 2 days later while driving on 3rd gear or 2nd or 1st going 30mph or 40 the car would shut off on me and wouldn't turn on after a coople 10 seconds while driving. Next day it turned on right up but 10 min later after driving the car would stall and turn on and off and on and off like 5 times and backfire also sins I had it straight pipped, got home turned the car off and next day wouldn't turn in no more, would crank but not start, thought it could be the mass airflow sensor because it was very dirty and has never been replaced got a different one from the a all German junk yard, on the next two days the car turned on on the second time but wouldn't rev over 3000rpms and stall, cranked it again and it turned on and reeves it slowly till it got up to its max Rpms idk if that was wrong to do because after that the car stalled on me and it wouldn't start up again, and yes I did use lots of mass air flow sensor cleaner on the part, Anyone know what the problem could be? Is it still the mass air flow ?
795 views
Conversion of Sedasn to Tourer
I want to convert my Jetta Sedan to a Tourer. Can any one help me with the details of the structural members to be strengthened before the Top can be removed ?
31 views
87 Jetta Turbo Diesel 5sp Trans not engaging
I was working on my car and had it Idling for a bit and when I went to move it, it wouldn't engage. Cltuch and trans were working fine and both have been replaced a couple of years before. I can hear the gears moving thru with shifter, clutch cable is fine and all worked great and just quit. I wasn't working on or near anything up front or underneath. It's as if the clutch just burnt out while idling w/o any smell. Any answers??????
114 views
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1987 Volkswagen Jetta Pricing
Original MSRP
$9,910 to $10,660Price range
N/AAverage price on CG
N/AYoY price change
N/ATrims & specs
Audio System
AM/FM radio
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: cloth
Audio System
AM/FM radio
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: cloth
Audio System
AM/FM radio
Seats
Front seat type: bucket · Upholstery: cloth