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Date:         Mon, 1 Aug 2011 23:31:03 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: TDI engine value
Comments: To: BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

Oh hi.. I get what you are taking about Ben.

well ... what I was alluding to is .. I find many used vw diesel engines needing 'everything' .. and in this case I was advising the buyer.. I'm a consumer advocate ... so want to help the buyer not throw money away. I'd probably advise you the same way ..be careful in buying used vw diesel engines - many are rather worn and not maintained much.

and indeed ..another poster said fine with him, he's going through the engine in any case. that's where I was coming from.

With out knowing the mile son it knowing how it looks ..or even how the rest of the car looks.. Sometimes you see the car is pretty trashed, and you know the owner likely did not get anything done on the engine as long as it ran. heck ..I just took a Tiico engine apart in a 91 GL .. it clearly had lubrication failure, and it's believed the DPO, who also did things like break off the front seat arm rests, like bust them in half ...like one would have trouble figuring out how to do even .. it appears that engine probably ran two years, easily, with no oil changes. Finally just spun a rod bearing, then blew the rod itself to shreds ....most likely lubrication failure from old, dirty, low, and worn out oil .. point is .. some people do not take care of things at all. And there isn't much incentive to do much on a newish car ...it just seems to be happy usually ..so coolant doesn't get changed.. oil just sometimes, and so on.

On this Passat hard to know if it's a pretty decent engine or a very tired one. ..( without more information )

I have had a rash of very tired vw diesel engines lately .. every one of them was quite worn out .. including one sold as a good used engine. Had to go through the whole engine .. and even though it ran .. it couldn't have for very long the way it was. They often get quite abused.

there is a correlation between cheap people and cheap cars. In the bargain priced new cars ..say small mazda's ... those are often bought by people who aren't going to take care of them much as long as they work .. and any new car will do 60K to 80,000 miles with zero repairs and barely a few oil change.. and in the gas of diesel cars that get quite good mileage.. often the people that buy those 'just drive them.'

clearly ..the 'good used engine' I mention above .. it was ........really ........clearly 'just driven.' Likely in Europe. Coolant *never* changed, I'm quite sure. Very rusty throughout .. including .......rather than head gasket corrode .....it's the multi -layer steel type .. extremely durable metal ..the corrosion was on top of the cast iron block ...bad pitting there. Something that should never happen with a cast iron block engine. the turbo had probably been replaced ............looked to be non-original.. that also is sign that it was likely not maintained much .. so whoever owned and drove that engine .. did nothing ( except a few oil changes probably ) .........and only repaired it when it broke . no maintenance at all. the person who bought that engine in good faith for over $2K ended up putting at least that much more into it to end up with a viable engine.

so I am saying be careful ... and I am suggesting the guy should not automatically assume it's a fine engine ..

and tdi engines wear out too. One well known tdi guru turns out only fully rebuilt and upgraded tdi engines in his conversions - . for a reason............that's the only real way to assure that they'll be good for a decent amount of time into the future.

it's all good, random fruition, Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: "BenT Syncro" <syncro@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Monday, August 01, 2011 8:56 PM Subject: Re: TDI engine value

If somebody offered me a TDI for $500 even without the aforementioned parts, I'd but them all day long.

Doesn't your pricing philosophy apply here? Someone buying a TDI for $500 probably won't take care of it, eh? LOL... I can't tell when you're coming or going. Are TDI cores that cheap in Oregon? Maybe it's time for me to start shopping up 'nawth'. ;-)

BenT

sent from my electronic leash

On Aug 1, 2011, at 8:06 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM> wrote:

> how many miles on it ? > I have heard of, and seen, too many very worn out vw diesel engines, > including tdi's. > > $ 500, say ? > >


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