93 VW diesel Jettas any good?

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I'm planning on taking a look at a 93 diesel VW Jetta that's for sale. It's about 90 miles away so it would be about 1.5 hours drive. I think my 96 Sunfire is showing signs of distress, lol. It's constantly running hotter than normal, the tranny pops out of reverse if you drive in reverse at anything over idle speed, it seems to be pulling to the right a bit more than normal, etc. Anyway, so does anyone have any experience with old diesel VW's? This one has the turbodiesel engine. Are they reliable? What's their fuel economy like? Are they really as slow as everyone says they are? The ad for it reads:

excelent powertrain,got new floor put in new brakecylinders in rear and new shoes and new brakepads in front ,needs some frontend bushings and heatercore replaced, selling cheap,make an offer.

Tell me what you think. Here's a pic

n723565013_614985_6021.jpg
 
I just recently bought a Jetta and have been very impressed. Solid, good handling, excellent brakes, no squeaks and rattles. Anyway, I don't know any particulars about this vintage diesel, but you might want to look here:

www.vwvortex.com

I did a quick search and didn't turn up anything major. In fact, some people were making comments that this engine was "just broken in" at 180K miles...

You'll want to take a look at the timing belt. If it's like my 1.8T, it takes about 1 minute to remove the timing belt cover.

Manual tranny? If yes, that's a good thing.

This could be a good deal! Good luck.
 
I would check out tdiclub.com for your research.

The mileage is incredible on these however the maintenance is a bit high with a timing belt every 50k (verify).
 
Just make sure that when you research this car look under the appropriate engine code. This year if vehicle should be an AAZ 1.9 diesel engine. I am pretty sure these were never released in the USA only in Canada. The more common diesel motor in an MKIII (1993 - early 1999 VW)was only available in 97' and 98'and is a AHU 1.9 TDI (direct injection) turbo diesel. I am not familar with AAZ motor but I can tell you that the AHU motor runs a long time but maintenace costs are high. Both the sites mentioned above have lots of good info.
 
a) Floor replaced?
b) Do diesels have timing belts?
c) The engine might last forever, but I'd look very closely at the rest of the car. VW isn't known for their reliability.
 
New floor and new brake cylinders? Flood car?
I would never wish an old VW on anyone, but I like diesels. Don't settle for less than a hatch.
 
Whewwweeee! Those little VW diesels are sweet. This particular car should be powered by a 74 HP, 1.9 liter turbodiesel, engine code AAZ. It's not really in the same league as the newer diesels nor is it in the reliability league as the old 1.6 IDI diesels. If any of you remember the U.S. version of the ECO diesel then this car would be a familiar face.

Engines are OK,, but crankshaft problems were common. I'd comb it out like a thick haired cat with fleas before you buy it.
 
Wow, apparently the whole entire dash including the steering wheel has to be removed to replace the heater core. I've read a few people's comments that they were quoted from 10 to 13 hours labor to replace the heater core
shocked.gif
____, if it weren't for that I'd be all over that car..gas is $4.10 a gallon in Canadian money, diesel is 3-4 cents per liter cheaper right now.
 
Haggle him on the price using that as leverage, find yourself a weekend, and get yourself a project
smile.gif
. I'm sure removing the dash is just a bunch of screws/bolts that need to come out.

Just make sure everything electrical on the car works fine before you buy it.
 
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I went up and looked it over today. It doesn't look too bad at all. There's a hole on the left front fender about the size of a golfball and the left rocker panel needs touching up. The engine runs great, that cold start handle thing is gonna take some getting used to. No smoke at all when it started up and I was surprised that the exhaust didn't stink at all. The gearshift was a bit hard to move, I guess it's a bit sticky but it freed up by the time I got back from my little test drive. The clutch pedal is really light and the clutch itself seems to be good. Shifting into reverse is really going to take some geting used to, press down, left from first and up. The interior is in good shape, all electrical things work although the dial for the fan needs a thump before it works. It's going to need the left front caliper replaced (it's sticky), parking brake cable, passenger door mirror and a foglight and a small bit of bodywork. Not too bad at all.
 
I brought the car home today. It's got brake problems, the left front caliper has a stuck piston and I don't think the other one is much good either. They're only about 25 bucks used so I think I'll go that route. I think there's a bad wheel bearing too on the right front wheel. It really runs nice, sure feels like more than 75 horses under the hood. I filled up as I was bringing the car home and I filled up again when I got home. 95 miles and it took 1.7 gallons to fill back up. That's about 55 miles per gallon! Unfortunately the crank pulley does seem to have a bit of a wobble though.
 
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