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vader1

Don't own one, friend does. He has over 150,000 and no major problems. He does complain it will start to chug a little when the glow plugs need replacement, which he does every 60,000 miles and $600 at the local dealer.

Christople

Wouldn't that negate the savings you made on the fuel costs?

vader1

not if you can do it yourself or find it cheaper.

cdelena

The glow plugs are only $20 or so a piece so that is no big deal, so if the dealer truly charges $600 for a replacement they must be terribly hard to get to.. or one guy was really ripped off.

I have driven a TDI VW and was impressed and understand that nominal engine life of 200K is expected although like any car there will be repairs along the way. The two cars I am aware of have provided good service (especially mileage) but have not been trouble free.

One issue for me is the fact that fewer stations carry diesel so there is an inconvenience factor.

lyndon_h

its a shame that the promise of diesel has never really caught on in the states....

steve c

There is a downside to the emissions ...

RE: TDi. Solid vehicles, good sightlines, great torque (you can take your foot off the gas going up hill in second at around 5MPH and it will actually acellerate. Very reliable in my experience. Ours sits for months at a time and always fires right back up.

Shinigami

You'll do well over 300k miles without an engine rebuild. That could be a factor.

jah

some down sides to diesel ownership:
- in some states there are additional emission requirements (higher costs)
- fuel costs mey be higher than standard gas
- fuel filter and maintance may be hi
- maybe a bitch for starting in the winter, in my area.



i looked at the VW Golf TDI and decided on a 92 honda civic vx with >100Kmiles. it took awhile to find one in primo condition. since this car was the ultimate in gas savings per the avaliable technology at the time and the n. american market was going to larger and larger cars at the time there were few vx and cx's imported. i paid more than expected for the car but it was only $2.3K. inexpensive parts are avaliable i am familiar with the engine. i did a full maintance on it before putting it on the road, replace all belts, filters, ignition, fluids and battery.

these 5th gen civics were made 92-95 and the 2 that have the best gas milage were the vx and the cx. during this time period they had maybe 10 types of civic, another one i liked was the del-sol which was built up to 97, more of a sport drive.

make no mistake i got the vx bacause ot its gas milage but it does not have an outdated look for a hatchy. the engine runs smooooth and even at its milage and age it still has the honda reliability.

vader1

If I understand correctly, diesel takes a couple less steps in the refining process and is generally cheaper to produce than gas. Most times you will find it to cost less than gas, but I have on several occasions noticed it was higher, I guess due to low market supply.

As for starting in the winter, newer diesel blends will not gel above 20 degrees below 0 farenheit which shoul not be a problem most places and I think the newer tdi's have some gizmo that gives you more insurance. It can be more difficult to find diesel depending on where you live but I find most stations off any highway exit carry it for truck traffic.

I know you are looking at a used one but the newer 1.9 tdi's seem to be an even better version of an already good design.