what ones are good to buy?
right now my wiefy have a 2004 chevy cavalier.

we thinking about getting a new used car next year some time.
we are looking at getting a standard this time. gettin a bit sick of autos.

we had a 94 vw jetta.. i have always liked vw's but this one was a lemon!

what do you guys think of the mid 90's and up vw diesels?
whats the weak points?

 

Theres some good info here:

https://www.dieselbombers.com/vw-diesels/139-tdi-questions-ask-away.html

 

Much like other [ Cummins ] I am not wanting to drive a computer , but a truck , then its a mater of fast or not [ non turbo , or turbo ] , point being , what area-yrs your wanting to look into .
For my interests , its diesels are simple , until they get newer with lots of electronics , & things you can not open & fix .
Then I also try to avoid paying for new shinny stuff .
I'm trying to remember but about 90s there was an eng that had the turbo for emission reasons [ no help with power ] .
I'd like to see a brake down list under maybe 3 headings , non-turbo , turbo , electronic .

 

All V-dubs have there own personal little quirks about them. You need to decide on how new you want to go. You also need to remember that the older you get, the higher mileage it's going to have.

-1992 and down are going to be non-turbo, smaller diesels 1.6L (77 & 78 use the 1.5L)
-1985 and up is when VW started using turbos, smaller diesel 1.6L
-1993 and up are all going to be turbo and they will be the larger 1.9 TDi, beginning of the electronics
-1998 and up heavier electronics and I believe they started using a variable vained turbo. This is when VW started requiring synthetic oil in the engines.
-2004 and up have the new Pumpe Duce TDi engine (each injector has it's own little injection pump) fuel is supplied via a lift pump to the injectors. These engine require special 505.01 oil

Hope this helps! Let me know if there is anything else.

 

I'm shopping for one too. I'd really like a wagon so I use it to drive to the inlaws cabin with the wife and dogs.

What is exceptable for mileage? Is 255K too much? I'm looking to spend about $3000.00 or hopefully less.

 

If you want a wagon and only want to spend $3g's then you'll probably end up with a Dasher or Passat.

 

Yeah those are fine. I've been looking at a Dasher here for a couple days. The guy had it on ebay and it got sold. I really liked it. I know they're slow but I think they'd be handy.

Also looking at this one:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/car/518898561.html

Think the miles are OK?

I'm also looking at some older Mercedes too.

 

Mechanically it seems sounds. It may only have another 70k left in it before it will need rings, guessing. These VW diesels will run and run. If taken care of the rings will where out over time and the engine will loose compression. Throw some new rings in there and your off and running again. I don't think it's worth $2400? I'd probably offer $12-1500 depending on the interior.

 

I was thinking the price was a bit high too. I emailed him so we'll see. I hate to beat the kid up but I don't want to get stuck with something either.

Thanks Tye.

 

No problem Buddy!