[[OT]Buying a

[drew@scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca (Drew MacPherson)]

On Wed, 19 Feb 2003 joshhignight@techography.net wrote:

> So, any other suggestions? How are the A3 TDI's as far as reliablity
> issues and such?

When your post came out yesterday, I was actually going to suggest an A3 
TDI, but then I held off for some reason.  Guess I'll do it now.

We're really please with our 99 (A3) TDI.  It's mainly my wife's car, I
don't drive it on a really regular basis, but all the same.  It's end of
the line for the A3 platform, and represents a tried and true design from
that standpoint.  We haven't had any issues related to the car's quality
of assembly, handling etc. etc.  The car is roomy, the trunk is cavernous,
and the factory sound system is very fine.  For us (family of four, kids
aged 5 and 2) it's perfect - at least until we can afford the Jetta Wagon
(TDI of course.)

As far as the TDI itself goes, it's great. 90HP and 145ft-lb of torque at 
1900rpm (down a bit from the A4 models, which get an extra 4 ft-lb due to 
the variable nozzle turbo (or VNT.)  It gets great mileage (expect 50mpg 
US) and can be tuned /chipped for dramatic increases in power (ask Cathy - 
she's run a chip in her TDI NB)  If you've never driven a passenger car 
diesel before it will take a bit of getting used to driving by torque 
rather than HP (might be easier for your wife-to-be to get used to 
this, unless she drives with her foot in it all the time.)  The V6 torque 
is more than adequate for moving the car around even when fully loaded.  
The HP leaves a little to be desired if you're one for overtaking in short 
order, however on the thruway it's generally not an issue.  Again, a chip 
can help dramatically here.

As far as overall reliability, ours has (knock on wood) been very good.  
The serp belt was replaced at about 60,000km, and the front brakes at
about 85,000km.  The rear muffler's outer casing is rusted off (thanks to
our salty roads,) but it's not leaking, and will likely last another few
months before I put a straight pipe on.  Everything else has been routine
maintenance.  It's coming up on it's 96,000 service, which includes a
timing belt change, which is the most expensive (and critical) scheduled
maintenance for the car, running about $400 CDN parts and labour.

Only downside is that you may not be able to find a decent used one in the
price range you're looking at.  If you're looking at an A3 Jetta TDI, then
it's a 97.5, 98 or early 99.

Good luck!

Drew

> 
> Joshua
>