Just called the seller. Not sure if I am feeling better or worse.

The guy is not a dealer, just someone who buys a lot of cars he finds interesting, keeps em for a while, then sells. I have done the same thing myself. This car allegedly had one owner who he knows and bought it from.

I am not certain if he knows much about diesels (or is just BSing me) as he was telling me that this one "does not have glow plugs" which is the only reason it sometimes takes a 2nd or 3rd try. I said, "huh, how can it not have glow plugs". He replied that he does not see a glow plug light like on other diesels when he turns it on so he figured it does not have glow plugs.

OK, so we now know that the glow plug light is not working. What would be the likely cause of this? If something simple it could be a good sign in that he is just not waiting for them to cycle. On the other hand could it be inidicative of a bigger problem. Thoughts?