used vw tdi's - post dieselgate

[iamdonquixote]

asking for a friend,
hes retired on fixed income looking for a good used car budget around 10k , wants a hatchback. He doesn't want to go to a mechanic every month I don't think. I told him mazda 3, honda fit, toyota prius. But he keeps asking about golfs, I told him "maybe" on the 2.5 5 cyl. He is interested in the tdis. I see they are making them available now with a warranty. I dunno, I still gonna tell him 'no' but I told him I'd do some research, so here I am
let er rip.

[Erik G]

I'm shopping them now. My boss sued and kept her TDI passat, it gets the same mileage as it did before, but she travels over 100 miles a day. She loves it and prefers it over her new diesel Jag

a friend turned his in... and is buying another one. loved it.

I'm thinking about a sport wagen model, but VW's just don't have any resale value at all. as long as your friend is ok with that and that they take the blue fluid stuff, they seem to be a good deal
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[Chad1376]

The 2.5 is considered one of VW's most reliable gas engines. I had one in a Mk5 Golf and had zero issues. It's a reasonably sporty engine (the latest version makes 170hp). It's torquey and pulls very strong up to about 5,500 rpm, but no more. It's downfall is poor mileage for it's size.

All off the other aforementioned cars feel very cheap. The Golf's have a much more solid feel and higher quality interior.

I don't know what VW may have done to correct the emissions issue on the TDI's (if anything at all.) Personally, I would be more worried about the stigma behind it, more than the reliability. People can get weird at times.
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[obus]

Am i wrong or do all of those recalls have a "lemon law" title? So trying to ever resell that in a title state would be difficult,no? I see a bunch here in NJ that have under 5k miles and are dirt cheap
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July 1959 Mango Standard Bus aka Obus L346 L347 https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256592&highlight=
June 1973 Pumpkin Orange Thing aka Othing L30H
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1960 Paprika Red Karmann Ghia Convertible aka Schatze L452 built 5/20/60
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March 1956 Beetle convertible L41 Black

[iamdonquixote]

thanks for all the helpful comments.

as far as the aforementioned models feeling cheap, well since he is on a fixed income its more important that the is car IS cheap than feel cheap.

dunno about the lemmon law thing, but I don't think he is concerned about resale.

good point about adding the "blue juice" don't think that will be something he will want to do.


are they reliable?

[skills@eurocarsplus]

lots of issues with these especially in the NE....

DPF issues, DEF tank heaters just to name a few.

I wouldn't do it if he's on a fixed income. he's be better off in a honda honestly.
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[Chad1376]

[iamdonquixote]

yeah I told him the golf will drive much nicer than the others,

I think the mazda3 would be next in terms of drive quality.

[raygreenwood]

[TDCTDI]

The dual mass flywheel was an issue with their dual clutch transmissions (automatic) also.

There are issues with one fuel pump (whichever craps out first) taking out all of the pumps & injectors.

The retrofitted cars have been spontaneously combusting.
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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]

[vwracerdave]

I would never own any water cooled VW. Honda and Toyota make a much better product. Get over your brand loyalty thing about VW's just because you own an old air-cooled VW. Ask a professional mechanic that works on all brands of cars any they will point you in the right direction.
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[Zundfolge1432]

X2 on that ^^^^^^^^ I’d have to go with consumer reports recommendations which are more closely aligned with real world conditions. You need to balance purchase price to frequency of repair to resale value. Put it all together and the VWs come out near the bottom. Honda,Toyota,Subaru, Lexus. Ck it out. As for asking a mechanic here about VW, the ones here seem to be brainwashed too.

[oprn]

You have got me tagged completely wrong! I walked way from VW in the late '70s when they no longer offered a family car in the working man's price range. I came back to VW for the TDI because of it's reputation for dependability and cost effective operation and we were truly impressed.

There is nothing on a VW dealership lot today that I would even consider looking at! They lost my loyalty when they discontinued the diesels. That has been the only car VW has produced in years that stood out above the crowd.

[gt1953]

{[hes retired on fixed income looking for a good used car budget around 10k , wants a hatchback.]}
Subaru. The have hatchbacks all wheel drive reliable and you will not see the mechanic very much at all. Finding a pre owned one is tuff. They last and last. Less $$ then Honda or Toyota.
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Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[oprn]

Lets see... in 3.5 years driving the Forester we replaced the radiator, thermostat, clutch, drive shaft, shocks, rear brakes, plugs twice, battery, timing belts twice, tie rod, rear wheel bearings three times, and the exhaust system is needing to be done. Bought it with 60K km on the clock and now has 255K km. That and it gets 25 to 27mpg compared to 55 to 62 mpg in the TDIs.

So no, it has NOT come even close to being as maintenance free or as cheap to run as our TDIs have been.

[mark tucker]

I was driving around today in my roadster...and the thought hit me....shit! it sure wood bee nice to have a vw turbo diesel instead of gass.the vw I rented about 7 years ago was freeky fast&awesome millage.hell I think I went across & down the state and back and never put fuel in it...and better power than the bigger citron I rented in Italy and drove around Italy&Switzerland last year and never put fuel in it either..... my roadster wood bbe nice with much more tq&power than gm put in it. and 3x the mpg too!!!

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Chad1376]

[skills@eurocarsplus]