looking at a 1998 jetta tdi
 

I am looking at picking up a 1998 Jetta TDI. It is going to auction next week, and unfortunately has a salvage title. I can not imagine why, as it is in better shape than some cars with clear titles that I have worked on. Anyways, the car has 120,000 miles on it, and it looks to be in good shape, and just needs a couple dents pounded out and a new bumper.

So, the question is, how long should I expect to be able to drive this thing? People say that diesel engines last longer than gasoline engines, and I have driven cars past the 150,000 mile mark. I think that with proper care I should be able to do this with the Jetta as well. Anyone have any experience with the TDI line of Volkwagen cars and can attest to their longevity (or lack thereof)?

Since it is old, and it does have a salvage title, I expect to be able to pick it up really cheap. I highly doubt it will hit the $1000 mark. $500 worth of parts and it should be 100% driveable, barring any mechanical problems, or regular maintenance that it needed before the wreck.

Well, I've seen TDIs for sale with 200-300k+ miles, and heard of IDIs hitting 500-1000k+ miles with a rebuild, so I'd say it could last you at least another 100k miles with religious maintenance.

for that cheap buy it!! will you run biodiesel with it

omg: Thank you for the info. I figured that the TDIs could hit high numbers like that. What is surprising though is how you say, "I've seen TDIs for sale", emphasis on the 'for sale' part. In other words, people would buy them and then put on even more miles! I wonder what they end up being junked at, or if that ever happens?

Hockey: I will probably get it, as long as my dad gives the ok after he goes to the auction to check it out. It looked alright in the pictures, but I still wouldn't buy an auction car (or any car for that matter) without visually inspecting it. As for biodiesel, I am undecided. If I do anything with it, it will be making biodiesel myself from stuff that I can salvage from restaurants. I have not studied up on this enough to make a decision yet though.
As for the price of the car, remember that AFTER buying the car I will have to work on it. BEFORE driving it, I may have to put in about $500-700 and up to 8 hours of intense work.

Oooo, is it a salvage title because of flooding? If so, you might end up with lots of electrical problems... Anyway, best of luck.

Yah, good luck! But do find out why it's a salvage title, flooding is bad!

The car has only been hit in the front, and a little bit in the rear quarter panel. It just needs new parts, and some buffing out of small dents. There is definitely no flood damage to it. The auction that I use rarely has cars come through with water damage. Sometimes the front or rear windshield is blown out and the interior gets rain or snow in it. That is about it.

So the Jetta is still good to go.

Consider reading up a bit on these A3 bodied VW diesels over at www.tdiclub.com . These 1997 to 1999.5 Jetta TDI have some known issues that need to be considered before purchase. Don't be surprised if it goes down at the gavel for 3 or 4 times your $1000 estimate. Even at that it will still be profitable re-sell for the winning bidder.

Lug Nut: Yeah, I have been reading up on it at www.tdiclub.com for the past few days. Do you know of any threads in particular that I should be sure to read? The main thing I noticed is that (as with all diesels) it needs to be religiously cared for. Especially the timing belt.

I have since checked resale values on the car, and realized that my original estimate was probably quite a bit off. I am prepared to buy at $3-4k. Keep in mind though, I do live in Michigan, so many people are biased towards American cars. There are actually import-targeted crimes here, and are not all that uncommon. Point being, import cars usualy go REALLY cheap. I got a Nissan 200SX for $700 that I lated resold for $2500 after driving it for 2 years. This wasn't a rare sought-after diesel though...

Woo Hoo!!!! I Got It!!! Yee Haw!!!!!

There is actually a funny story that goes along with it too.

So my dad woke up at around 7 in the morning (early for him) and jumped into his porsche after having his square meal consisting of a cup of coffee. he probably tried racing everyone he met on his way to the auction. He sometimes gets a bit excited and thinks that everyone on the road wants to race him. I don't try to spoil his fun. Anyways, so he gets to the auction at around 8 in the morning, an hour before it starts. He buys his ticket to enter the selling floor. Unfortunately, it turns out that this location only accepts dealers and dealer guests onto the floor. They failed to mention this when he bought his ticket. Frantically searching for someone to act as a guest of, he was able to track down a middle eastern man. After a few quick exchanges they were on their way onto the selling floor.

My dad quickly went over to the Jetta and gave it a look over. It passed his visual inspection, so he called into his buyer (a mexican gentleman that we always deal with), to tell him to go ahead with the bid. Now, our buyer was unable to go to the actual auction, so he was bidding from the internet back at his "office." I am surprised that the place even HAS an internet connection, but that is besides the point.

The bidding starts on my car. My dad, having already told our buyer our limit, watches the car selling price start to rise. He looks to the side of him, and realizes that the middle eastern man who he had come in with was bidding against us!! Of course, my dad just stood there silently, hoping that the guy would give in. The price kept getting bumped from this friendly (and now, under the circumstances, evil) man standing next to my dad. Each bump was met with an internet bid. Finally, at $2300, the guy couldn't take any more. He threw his hands up in the air in defeat. I personally would take this as a sign that he wanted to bid again, but I guess that the auctioneer saw that he was giving up. Going once, going twice, sold to the internet bidder #XXXXXX... and the car was mine.

All said and told, it should work out to $3000 after the auction fees, buyer fees, towing costs, repairs, license fees, and whatever else might come my way. I will be sure to post lots of before and after pics when I go home to visit this summer.

Until then, I will just have to study up on TDI-specific driving techniques.

Too funny. Congrats!

I never thought of 1998 as old for a car, even less so for a diesel as long as it's not rusted, and that the frame is straight, as stated befor make sure to keep an eye on the timing belt! also don't be suprized if the shifting linkage gets sloppy and needs the plastic linkage replaced, the struts tend to wear out quickly, and cv joints, at least on the older ones tended to wear out quickly, but as long as you change the timing belt on a TDI every 80,000 miles or whatever it is now, and keep it's fluids full the engine will last the rest of your life.

Ryland: How often would you say that the shifting linkage needs to be replaced? How about the CV joints and struts?

As for the rest of my life... shoot man, I plan to live until I'm at least 90! Think the engine could keep up with that kind of longevity?!?

Yeah, I will definitely watch the timing belt like a hawk... and treat it like a lamb.

most of those parts seem to wear out around every 70-80,000 miles in my expearince, VW's in my mind are heavy cars, thus more stress on the cv joints, and more stress on the struts, the shift linkage wears out mostly with use I think, and it's not hard to change, just another thing that has to be done.
It wouldn't suprize me at all to see an engine like that last 300,000 miles befor needing a head rebuild or replaced, and 600,000 befor needing a compleat overhaul, but diesels tend to turn slower, and the fuel also acts as more of a lube then gasoline, so there should be less wear, and then they are higher compression so everything is built like a tank, between those things, the engine just lasts longer.

Nice buy! Now that you have a diesel, you can convert it to SVO and dumpster dive your fuel. How cool is that?