I am going to be driving over 100 miles a day soon so thats why I am looking at a TDI and I cant really afford a new car at the moment

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Then look for a 2000, 2001, or a 2003

-J

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

I sold my '98 Jetta TDi for $4,000 about three years ago.

It had 262,000 miles on it and a dent in the driver door.

I bought it one year earlier for $3,800 and put 26K miles on it in the interim.

I replaced all four shocks, rubber bushings with urethane and tinted the windows while I had it.

I got 38mpg in town with about 75 pounds of tools/crap in the trunk and driving it like a bat out of hell in stop and go traffic.

I would get 43 while driving 75-80 on the highway with the same load of stuff in the trunk and the A/C on.

They guy I sold it to weighed about 400 lbs but only drove it 55 and he got 48 mpg with it, at over 262K miles.

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1993 W124 300D
-297K on the clock as I type this.

Just wait until you have to put a timing belt in one of those things. Open the hood and see how crowded things are at that end of the engine. Your knuckles will start to bleed while you're just standing there looking at it.

I'd rather have the belt then the chain! And its really not that bad, the only bummer is the motor mount that has to be removed.

-Jason

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1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

ive done a timing belt on a tdi its not bad at all. I also agree they are more convient than a chain since you dont need special tools to do one

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Really???? How will you adjust timing?? You need VAG-COM. The reason TDI's are trashed is because of the botched timing belt job. So you go 80 MPH on highway and belt snaps then bye bye engine.

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1993 Mercedes 300D 2.5

1987 Mercedes 300D 3.0

2000 Volkswagen JETTA TDI diesel 5 speed

2002 Lexus ES300

2006 Lexus GS430

WHAT!!!

What POSSIBLE reason could anyone prefer a belt over a chain? The belt in the TDI MUST be periodically replaced. In an MB, the double row chain seeing proper oil change intervals will outlast the engine. Also, on most MB's you can roll in a chain without dismantling the front of the engine. Have you ever tried "rolling in" a timing belt?

There are some TDI models on which they modified the belt life to 40,000 miles. NO diesel engine is NOT an interference engine which means that you had BEST replace the belt as recommended.

Someone that prefers a belt over a chain.... UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!

They make a 100k belt for the ALH and of course you should be replacing everything else in the belts path ie; upgraded water pump, idler etc

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1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily

My timing belt is good for 90K miles.

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

No special tools?
really? I thought you still needed the cam lock tool and the alignment bolt kit...
my 85 Jetta still gets 45+mpg, but um, kinda hard to call it's driving style spunky...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I did the timing belt without the special tool. Theres always more than 1 way to do something

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Luckily that is not my TDI because there is ONLY ONE RIGHT way. No wonder a lot of TDI's are trashed.

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1993 Mercedes 300D 2.5

1987 Mercedes 300D 3.0

2000 Volkswagen JETTA TDI diesel 5 speed

2002 Lexus ES300

2006 Lexus GS430

fyi I didnt have the vagcom but I had a a few thousand dollar snap on scan tool to do the job. I put the car back together and it ran fine. Funny you bring it up because I had to do the belt since the owner tried to do it himself and well screwed up and damaged the valvetrain, destroyed a few hydraulic lifters.

I ended up rebuilding the valvetrain, putting the head back on and doing the belt.

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1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

... the "right" tool is only about $20... you have a multythousand$$ tool that's preferred to using the "right" tool? how is that better than the special tool you need to change the MB's chain?

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!