To Buy or Not to Buy

[JKR]

I'm looking for advice regarding a 1997 Passat I'm considering purchasing. I travel about 50,000 miles/year for work and am looking to cut my fuel bills in half. I'm reimbursed for my mileage but the thought of actually making money on my reimbursement is very appealing. I've never owned a TDI, so I'm not up on the maintenance that's required. I think the seller has been pretty upfront about the repairs that are needed to this car. The instrument panel isn't working (along with the window actuators) but he thinks there's about 140,000 miles on it. He purchased it from the original owner 18 months ago (96 y/o man) in FL and it had 95,000 miles. My big sticking point is that the seller hasn't changed the timing belt and from what I've read, this can cause significant damage. Also, I've heard that the belt should be changed every 60,000 miles and it can cost between $600-$800 to have done by a mechanic. This seems like a lot of money to me...kind of eats into my fuel savings.

The car needs new shocks, possibly new struts. The interior is pretty rough, most likely from the FL sun. He's asking $4000...does this seem reasonable to you all? His reason for selling is that he's been transferred and has three other vehicles. He doesn't want to have to cart all 4 vehicles to his new location. Any and all advice is appreciated!

[Keithuk]

Welcome to the forum.

Originally Posted by JKR

The instrument panel isn't working (along with the window actuators) but he thinks there's about 140,000 miles on it.

Well if you have to change the instrument panel then your going to need the SKC code which you can't easily get unless you fancy a trip to the dealer and pay them.

Is this the only car you can afford?

[JKR]

Thanks for the reply! Since this will be a 2nd car for me that I use just for my work travels, I really don't want to spend more than $5,000...and older VW TDIs are hard to find in my area. It sounds like the instrument panel failure is a pretty common problem on the '97 Passats, I'm just not sure how much it's going to cost to repair it. Don't think I can drive as much as I do without it. I'm more concerned with the timing belt issue, however. Makes me a little nervous...

[Keithuk]

Well if the motor is showing 140k before the instruments stopped working and your not that sure of the service history then its passed its second belt change so it would be safer to renew then you know its been done. I would also consider a water pump change at the same time?

Passat (96-00) 1,9D TDI PD 1998-00 Engine code: AJM

Timing belt - Renew Every 40000 miles or 48 months
Timing belt tensioner - Renew Every 40000 miles or 48 months

Passat (96-00) 1,9D TDI 1996-00 Engine code: AFN

Timing belt - Renew Every 60000 miles or 48 months

There are threads on instrument cluster and panel if you do a search on here.