[Big Dave]

Those IDI engines are loud. I drove a 6.2 GM diesel for 17 years. It’s a wonder I’m not deaf as a post. The racket is normal. The blue smoke says “wear.” It has an oil leak somewhere.

VW diesels are so hot on the market that if you can get one it is worth it even if you have to drop $1500 in repairs. You are looking at a 45 MPG vehicle with no mods.

Diesels offer a whole world of alternative fuels. Old Benzes (similar engines to yours) run straight waste vegetable oil (WVO for short), but it’s a bit of a ceremony. You have two fuel systems – dino diesel and WVO. You start on dino diesel and run til the WVO is warm enough to pump. When you get to your destination, you switch back to dino diesel to get the injection system full of the low viscosity dino diesel so it will start the next time. You can also refine WVO into biodiesel (B100). Good stuff but like WVO gels at a fairly warm temperature.

Diesels will run nicely on used lube oil. Big thing these days is what is called W85. You take waste lube oil and filter it down to 3 microns and mix in 15% (by volume) RUG to make it flow. They tell me it works well with unit injectors (like the pompa dusa injectors on mid 00s VWs.) I’ve added 10% waste lube oil to my dino-diesel but haven’t tried waste oil and RUG. They tell me WVO is getting hard to come by but every oil change shop in the country is up to their ears in waste lube oil.

Unless it is an unmitigated rust bucket, buy the car and fix the engine if necessary. Much cheaper than an old Insight with a played-out battery.