Good car for going to school...

[ShApE]

89 honda prelude SI, 4 wheel steering is pretty cool if u ask me!

[boygenius]

I'm headed off to look at VW's tomorrow. I found a few low mile GTI's in my price range. Best part is that one dealer is also a porsche dealer so I can get my chassis hardware that I need. It is a win win situation for me.

[boygenius]

OK I was thinking about the milage I wiil be driving and the price of gas and the TDI is starting to look very good. Now I am thinking of either a Golf TDI or a Jetta TDI. What are some things I should know about a diesel car before I buy one. My freind keeps warning me about "BAD" diesel and there is only 2 places in my town to get "GOOD" diesel. Is there such a thing as bad diesel or is it just the fact that he had a 1982 mercedes with 200K on the odometer. What type of maintainence is involved with this type of car. I heard things like I have to run injector cleaner through it every couple of thousand miles. What is the real story with VW TDI maintainence. And what are some real MPG numbers I can expect to see. 60% highway and 40% city driving is what I will be driving most of the time.

[oasis]

Originally Posted by boygenius

Is there such a thing as bad diesel or is it just the fact that he had a 1982 mercedes with 200K on the odometer. What type of maintainence is involved with this type of car. I heard things like I have to run injector cleaner through it every couple of thousand miles. What is the real story with VW TDI maintainence. And what are some real MPG numbers I can expect to see. 60% highway and 40% city driving is what I will be driving most of the time.

Maybe there is such a thing as "bad" diesel, but I've never encountered it. I owned an '81 Pickup LX for five years (wish I still had it ) and I've owned the aforementioned Golf for two years.

TDI info: My wife drives very little highway and she gets 38-43 MPG routinely. Our best is 50.1. Doing 60/40 in Florida with the a/c on half the time should net you 43-47 MPG in my opinion based on our figures. Running the a/c makes a difference, but so does highway driving with the windows down.

Maintenance: Nothing special as far as time intervals are concerned. Obviously, there are differences. The biggest difference is you must use synthetic oil with a TDI. Forget the injector cleaner stories. Routine maintenance every 5000 miles with the Pickup netted me trouble-free driving from a 78k odometer reading to 152k.

Frankly, I wish my Cabbie had a TDI, but we didn't get such things in the states. Regardless if you look at a Golf or Jetta, just make sure it was owned properly previously.

[boygenius]

OK what is the power like with TDI. Is it enough to pass a truck on the highway without taking too long. Which engine has more pep, the TDI or the 2.0???

[NO_H2O]

My wife loves her TDI, it has plenty of power and if you chip it it will realy go. Many people have to do a clutch upgrade after chipping. The last road trip she went on was to Moragntown WV. and it got 48mpg. Remember her car has an auto-trans. A 5 speed will be 2-3 mpg more than an auto.
BAD FUEL = OLD FUEL. Get your fuel from a station that goes through lots of fuel.

Here is a great site for TDI info.
http://www.tdiclub.com/

[boygenius]

Thanks for the link NO_H2O... There is so much information there it will keep me reading for hours...

[craazy Cooter]

Just buy a used post 93 civic. No hyundais or kias. You want to GET to school right?

[LOAF]

If weather is an issue, and reliability is a factor.. go subaru..

for about 10k, you can get a post 2002 2.5 RS which is functional, cool and has a flat four.. for a little more a 20002 WRX, which is all the above and fun..

Just be careful, you will find yourself modding the Rex instead of the VW...

Had it for over 50k and find it to be reliable, and efficient.. as long as you stay off the accelerator..

Just my 2 cents and putting another option out there..

Alex

[boygenius]

Thw WRX is out of the question. I have no self control with a turbo car. My freind is a WRX guru so I would go NUTS with performance parts. I have never been in a civic that wasn't RICED out so I don't know how well they ride or how comfortable they will be to drive 1,000 miles a week. Is the Boxster not a reliable car??? I have decided against the 911 after looking at a few maintaince items...