1981 Dasher

[Zoso16urey]

I’m new to the site so I’m not sure if this is the right place or not. I have a 1981 Dasher Diesel with a 4 speed and 34 thousand miles. It needs tires but otherwise runs and drives. The body has very light surface rust in a few small places. Does anyone know what it’s worth or who would possibly want to buy it. Thanks for any help.

[TDCTDI]

Sedan, Wagon, or Coupe?


It's worth exactly what someone will give you for it.


These were good cars but not very sought after due to rather homely looks, abysmal performance, & difficulty to source parts for.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


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An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[EverettB]

Hard to say.

About 11 years ago my neighbor had a similar car.
It was a 4 door hatchback if I remember right
Near perfect condition, low mileage, all original.
West coast car so no rust

They were selling it for... $500.
It might even have been $400.

I seriously almost bought it as that seemed cheap but I wasn't sure if I could make any money on it without holding on to it for a long time.
I thought maybe it was worth maybe $1000 MAX

I seriously don't know if they are worth more now.
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[Zoso16urey]

It is a white sedan.

[TDCTDI]

Pictures & location would be helpful.
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[sgnimj96]

craigslist
Might take you 3 months, but eventually some freak will buy that thing. Put whatever price you want, you'll find out what people will give.

[Butcher]

Dashers are not desirable therefore they are not worth much.

Buying good tires for it would total it.

[sgnimj96]

I had a 80 dasher diesel. That 4-speed transmission wasn't geared for today's interstate, but it was a great surfmobile for me. I drove it to Mexico a few times, never stranded me.
Working on it would take some creativity, but not too bad.
Finding any replacement glass is near impossible, but if the interior is nice it would a sweet town car.
Never understood why people pay so much for the old air-cooled vw's. The Dasher was way better, in my opinion. That model was sort of a luxury car for vw, at that time.

[vwjunkie3]

Any pictures of the Dasher?

[crukab]

[WestyPop]

Given that all '81 Dashers in N.Amer. were 1.6L diesels, it's got a greater chance for survival/reliability than the earlier 1.5L diesel models, as well as noticeably better torque. NOT high performance cars, but can be improved fairly easily, as sedan is only around 2100Lb curb weight & wagon is c.2250Lbs.

Sedan with stock tires & 4-speed put 60mph right at 3,000 rpm, for about 56-58mpg on long trips, with 43-45mpg in mixed city driving. Bump to 70mph & it's still around 53-54mpg. Towing a 2400Lb trailer, our wagon still kicks out 33+ mpg. Sedan beats wagon on trips by c.2mpg, likely due to aerodynamics at the rear.

Good layout allows either Dasher to carry a lot, with convenient rear loading & fold-down rear seat; wagon holds a bit more for camping, etc. Decent handling was frequently mentioned by early reviewers, as Dashers were really Audi 80 clones.

A 5-speed transaxle from a Quantum 4-cyl (gas or turbodiesel) fits & really changes the nature of a Dasher, especially on road trips. The TD's 5-speed has closer ratios than the long-legged Quantum gasser 5-speeds (83mph @3000rpm in 5th!).

Like any of these old krautwagens, it's worth saving if it meets one's needs, tolerances & temperament. Have fun.
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(+ others)

[vwoldbug]

To me it's the rust that will make it worthless.

[sgnimj96]

36000 miles ? really sweet there, but yea it's kinda of one shot deal
no body parts like front glass will ever be found, and that 4-speed is a highway turd
but it would be a cool car in the right place, short trips, might even have a/c
be worth saving, fix the rust, slather underside with a lot of corrosion inhibitor

[sgnimj96]

I think the biggest problem is that it's in an area of mountains. If you live far away, to get it and drive it out of there would be a BIG crapshoot - odds of overheating and/or brake failure in the mountains are high. A lot of work would have to be done on-site, or bring a trailer. The cost of trailering it would be a big one.

[TDCTDI]

Since you seem to be so interested in it to keep digging up a dead thread, you can find it here...

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=Zoso16urey
_________________
Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[oprn]

Interesting! The Dasher here was very short lived '75 and '76 maybe if I recall correctly and I never saw a diesel one.

[sgnimj96]

VW put some love into those cars, built like little tanks. The 80' wagon diesel I had never stranded me. I drove it for a long time, then to mexico where it lived on the beach for 8 years and rusted away. I din know how to fix much back then.

[Rome]

I think many of us are projecting our experiences with modern cars from the '90's and later onto this Dasher Diesel. Truthfully it was probably one of the 5 slowest cars sold in the USA at the time.

I bought a well kept '80 Dasher 4-door sedan/hatchback in summer 1983, first as a daily driver. Had about 25,000 miles, the 48 hp 1.5 liter engine and the 4-speed. "Slow, but it gets you there". Immediately installed some 5.5 x 13 Centra "Cup-style" alloy wheels that I first bought in Germany back in 1980 and had on my '81 Scirocco, '82 Golf GTi and '82 Passat there. When I accepted a job and got a company car 2 years later, I kept the Dasher as a "utility" and winter/snow car. In late 1983 I drove it 10,000 miles around the USA, often camping in it. Back seat folded flat, I easily fit diagonally lying down. On that USA trip the car gave me 0 problems. "Out west" I could tickle the car up to, and slightly beyond the 85 mph speedometer. In the early 1990's I carried 3 complete Beetle engines in the back to a VW meet in Litchfield, CT easily pushing them into the flat-floored trunk on a long 2x6 board propped on the rear bumper. Also flat-towed my '77 Beetle that I bought in '92. And with 4 snow tires it was a monster to punch through fresh snow. I did not replace the timing belt as preventive maintenance at ~ 110,000 miles so when it broke in 1999, the engine was crapped. There was rust developing in the body, and water ingress through the floor so I just had it taken away to the local yard.

A well-tuned stock 1600 Beetle would be much quicker than that Dasher was, but it had excellent heat, good handling, and was really practical. We made do with such "slow" cars.