Hey people, I believe I have bitten by the Swedish Automobile Bug. I came upon a 1981 245 with 228k on the clock. It is a dark green DL Wagon, 4 speed w/ OD, A/C, manual windows, and its $600. This car was brought to my attention by my bike-crazy cousin because it would be a great mountain bike hauler, and it looked like a good car. I'm into mountain biking, but im not as crazy about it as my cuz is. I started out more into tuning up older water cooled VWs. I have had 3, a 92 Jetta 8v, a 95 GLS Jetta, and im on my 3rd, an 89 GLi which was a former race car in the scca. It is loads of fun, but is not a good college car which is what i will be needing. It has far too many little problems, and too many expensive parts on it. I need a tough, reliable, somewhat simple, roomy, tank-like vehicle to drive for the next 2 years at least, and this is appealing. I am a car guy, 1st off, and I love getting to know different cars, and im not afraid of doing work on it. I have worked at 3 dealerships, and right now im at a VW store. So, i guess what im trying to say is that Im in a good situation to have a car that needs a little, plus technicians who are willing to help if i need it.(i'm a reconditioner.) The GLi like I said is fun, but it has no power steering, A/C,has rock-hard suspension, it needs rings, and valve stem seals, and its not necessarily reliable. Its also fragile, and is cramped. The 245 seems the opposite, and i like the sound of it. The GLi also gets me in trouble so i think the 245 would ween me off going fast...er....well I suppose it would be more like quitting cold turkey, but whatever. Anyways, I checked the car over, and there is no rot, just some surface rust on the bottom, it was resprayed except for the roof which is weird... it looked very straight, no foamy sludgey junk underneath the oil cap, it just had a new cap, rotor, plugs & wires too. The interior is crappy as quite a few of them tend to be; cracked dash, & center console, yucky stained carpet etc. The headliner in well and intact though. It does need however a few things that the guy gave me on a list which includes reverse lights, a brake light, right license plate bulb & lens, a rear muffler, and a left axle seal. I'd do both i suppose though. Thats all he "said"... i bet theres more but im not to too worried. Along the roof rack rails where they connect to the roof, there is a little surface rust but no rot anywhere on the car. Now if youve actually read this far of my ongoing blabber, give a shout so i can gather some opinions. Any and all will be appreciated. --Brandon--