[chittychittybangbang]

I have seen 2 ads for 96 passat TDI wagons out there, one is in the classifieds right now, one is expired and deleted. Both were under $2000. One was sold in 1 hour, one got so many bids that he opened it up for bidding.

IMO, its a free market so they have the right to bid up the price. If you have the time to search the various classifieds out there, you could find a good deal.

 

[jon applespeed]

Yeah, but you have to be in the right place at the right time. That guy is having a silent auction! Great for the seller, lousy for the buyer, but such is a fair market.

I would still pay above bluebook for a well maintained TDI. Ultimately, you pay what it's worth to you.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

I check the classifieds often for a project car so I put what I find in the classifieds. I am too far for those other 2 cars, but the one which sold in 1 hour was listed for I think $1300. Market value for a running mk3 passat TDI wagon is about $5000-9000. Of course, if one were to sell it, there's nothing else out there which is comparable in price, manual shift, TDI....and 1000 miles/fill up!

 

[buggy9]

I would rather make sure that the car is in good shape and pay a little extra.

 

[Tomspassat]

Simple economics, supply and demand. If there are enough buyers who are willing to pay x price, then sellers will charge as much as the market can support. The passat wagon is worth a lot to the right buyer. To someone who doesn't know the passat wagon's benefits, the car isn't worth anything.

 

[jon applespeed]

I just saw a jetta TDI for sale, $1000 with broken transmission. For that price you could part it out and make money or fix it up with a new transmission and have a nice car!