miamimike do you have a picture of your car that you could post?
It sounds neat...
If you don't wanna post of the forum you can email it to me or something
I am curious...what can I say
Thanks

Brandon
brandon314@gmail.com

[QUOTE=coldwar]One major advantage in ditching ANY new car, TDI or otherwise in favour of an old MB Diesel is that the old Benz will probably never be worth less than it is today. This was my main reasoning to convince myself (and my wife) that I needed to sell my 2000 Focus ZTS and buy the '76 300D. The Focus had not given me any major problems, although I could "feel" a few coming on, but in 3 years of ownership, it had depreciated over $4500- far more than what I paid for the Benz in depreciation alone.

Previous to the MB, I had owned nothing but VW, the last one being a '91 Passat 16V gasser, which was without a doubt the worst car I had ever owned in terms of repairs needed, even if it was one of the nicest in terms of ride, handling, power, etc. Before the Passat, there was a string of 4 or 5 80's VW Diesels, which were simply amazing cars. I'm hoping my experience with the 300D, even though it is 29 years old, will be somewhere in between that of the VW Diesels, and the trouble-prone VW "Pass-the-hat".


You got that right about depreciation--my Beetle cost around $19K New in 99 and to think when I bought it a few years later in 2003($6K) it had lost close to 2/3rds of its value. Man you can keep those old MB diesels running for a long time with that kind of money($13K) when I was first looking for VW diesels anything decent was going for at least $2k-So when I saw this beetle pop up for $6K on eBay(from a local seller and eBayer who I knew was straight shooter) I made him a cash offer and he ended the auction. Told me later he probably could have got another $1k had he let the auction run its course. He ended the auction in the last 6 hours and usually all the hot bidding takes place in the last hour of the auction. Actually in the last 5 minutes most of the time. So I got my Beetle, for better or worse. Like my first wife. At least with the beetle-I can shut it off any time I want-couldn't do that with the Mexican wife.

[quote]I am always very cautious about interpreting a small but vocal group as statistical evidence of a widespread problem.

You got that right !
Look at our own forums ( fori?)
The incentive to post is often due to some kind of problem. There is little reason to post in order to say," No problems again today"
I also frequent a Ford Pickup Diesel Forum. If you simply read the threads on the powerstoke, you'd think that they are all having problems. Its just the nature of the forum.

Don't give up on your TDI, you didn't had any problems.. why get rid of it ?
I had some minoir issues with my Jetta almost sold it for a W124 (glass faling inside the doors, MAF and N75 went dead in the same time $, wiper transmission went bad, but that's it )
It has 115k km and runs and pulls great. Yes there are a few bad apple but that's part of the risk of owning a car.
I'm part of TDI club and yes there are a few problem cars and there are a few trouble free cars also, and when you have a trouble i know i can get help on tdiclub ( sometimes even for my old panzer).
Oh and the fun part is that i can blow almost every Onda or yoyota out there..... i leave them in black cloud of shame be afraid of the TDi dark side

__________________
___________________________________________
2001 Jetta TDI .205 injectors + Upsolute "Fast car"
1983 MB 300 SD "Ze Panzer" SOLD
1997 MB 230 C

Doubt you would take my honda.......2,085 lbs 200hp.......you will beat it in MPG, but not in acceleration or handling.

but I am seriously considering the Golf or Jetta TDI.....but would avoid the excessive power options to reduce the chance of buying a lemon.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

You woul be surprised how well it handles
accelaration you may beat me... for now...
summer 2005 i will re-upgrade my jetta with bigger pump + new turbo+ intercooler
My friend has a similar setup he dyno his car @ 172hp and 364lb of torque

__________________
___________________________________________
2001 Jetta TDI .205 injectors + Upsolute "Fast car"
1983 MB 300 SD "Ze Panzer" SOLD
1997 MB 230 C

Oh, I plan to tweak the VW if I get it......but they are far heavier than the Honda I have...which only the body shell is stock.... Still the VW is a nice car, only wish it had the reputation for being reliable as they once had. The choice would be far easier to make. THe drivibility, the Mileage, and the reasonible cost is what has me considering one.....Will keep the Benz but this will replace the Saturn, adn may even sell the Honda to some gearhead kid who knows what is in it and is willing to pay a fair price for it.....

2 cars and a truck are cheaper to insure than 3 cars and a truck.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

[QUOTE=MS Fowler]To tell the truth I see few on the TDICLUB planning to sell their TDIs--these are the real diesel aficinados-for many run of the mill diesel owners when something malfunctions they hit the dealer shop-get it fixed, end of discussion. These TDIERS are another breed-if something is wrong they hash and rehash it over and over and of course everyone who has had a related problem throws their .02 in--I like it becuase I like Diesels-another typical car owner would find it boring.WE have SO many old mercedes diesels running around here in Miami yet most owners see them ONLY as a car where we would view them as the Treasures they are. For the most part, the dieselheads in my area are the Haitans, jamacians and the latinos from central & southamerica and the Carribbean. They LOVE diesels because of the large numbers found in their respective countries and some (not all) really keep their old MBs in great shape. Its too bad we here in the US have become victim of what I refer to as the "Bic-Lighter" mentality(I still use a "Zippo"). When something is broke-we throw it away(well I don't-packratting is in my blood). In other poorer countries-when something breaks-be it a car, Refrig washer,ect. it doesn't get tossed to the curb. In these poor countries-they will tear it apart and actually repair the part, having no components to simply swap out. Have a good day

I found myself recently at a VW dealer, curiuous to drive one of the Jetta TDi's they had on the lot. I was pleasantly welcomed by the gurgle gurgle like noise and light diesel fumes as I turned the key.... felt so familiar, yet so different at the same time. I definitely liked the power the car had... although I did miss the commanding view that I was used to having behind the wheel of my 300DT, and the quirky driving mannerism of the 5cyl. turbo engine from 20 years past.While I vow to never part with my w123, i must say the VW was a very peppy little diesel, and considering how many other manufacturers offer diesel engines here in the states, I think I would glady pilot a VW TDI rather than another gasser compact. Electronic faults or not, im willing to put up a fight. After we returned from the (45minute long) test drive, my eye was drawn to somthing I hadnt seen yet... the 2005 Jetta GLI. Tasteful body kit, 18in BBS style wheels, extremely handsome Recaro sport seats... i was drooling.... i could go on and on. At least VW has somthing going for them, if not customer service or reliability.

__________________
Nate

1995 E420
1992 BMW 525i
1984 300D Turbo sold
1993 Volvo 244 sold
1995 Volvo 944T R.I.P!


"The details are not details. They make the product."
-Charles Eames

www.cbs.nu

We had a 2002 VW Jetta TDI, loaded to the gills! Bought it in the fall of '01. For the first 45,000 miles we had nothing but great service out of it but... at 46,000 it fell apart in the road(almost). Everything electrical went haywire. The trans, the windows, the ABS, the clock, the preglow system, and it developed a terrible popping noise in the front suspension.

Get this! When we took it to the dealer they fixed it since it was still under warranty (had a few thousand miles left on the warranty) and said that some of the problems were interrelated but that most of it wasn't. They replaced the ABS pump $$$ and could not figure out the trans for several days. After a week in the shop I told my wife to get used to the SD because she would soon be driving it. The Jetta sold about a month later and I ended up buying my wife a nice little 190D. NO CAR PAYMENTS NOW!

Kevin

Good reason to buy the factory extened bumper to bumper warranty when offered with a new car at the dealer.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Well, you could total it, collect $$ from insurance, buy it back cheap, sell it to me for my TDI swap.. Then buy another MB...

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K

Hey Wolf-see you got 2 Caddi Diesels--my buddy had one new back at that time and it wasn't a bad car-at least his wasn't. I had a volvo 240 wagon--84 what a great car-sold it due lack of parking space. On the VW-not into totaling 'em but if it ever happens by accident I'll give you a shout !!