Dark Day... selling the Altima

[dremd]

Originally Posted by zjrog

Does the VW use the same oil and filters you buy for a gas car? Or do you need special supplies? Will they cost more and offset your savings in fuel? One of my neighbors just sold his Dodge Cummins and replaced it with a year older Hemi. Almost equal mileage, but the cost of an oil change is about a thrid of that for the diesel. Also, replacement engine items (if needed) are a lot cheaper for the Hemi than the Cummins. Thats part of the total cost of ownership...

TDI Oil chages are CHEAP
Example
Blue Rotella T Oil Walmart $16/ gallon + Wix filter (6$) Capacity is 5 qts. So $4 a quart for oil *5 Qts + $6 = $26 oil change. Recommended OCI is 10,000 miles many do 20k. That is cheaper than MOST gassers.

TDI parts are cheap (ish) if you are willing to do the research and wrench yourself they are prety darn cheap cars to own.


Also bear in mind that 98% of the people who had the injection pumps replaced for$2000 simply had a mechanic with no knowledge.

Timing belt cost are similar to a gasser.

No spark plugs/ wires.

Nozzles good till ~200,000 miles

But do bear in mind that they are quirky. small electrical issues/ squeaks can drive you nuts.

Most of all DON'T BRING IT TO THE DEALER $150 oil changes are the norm and many recommend 3,000 mile OCI; about 50% of the time they run the wrong oil. It is bad. If you can find a tdi club "guru" around you can save $; or wrench yourself (not hard once you "understand" german engineering).

My 2 cents.

[IndyIan]

Also if you are really serious about getting a more efficient car, a 2001 5spd echo sedan is hard to beat. A nice grey one with black bumpers, with no AC if you can handle it, the uglier the better! $5000-6000, and will last for 10 more years.
You should come out ahead on money and atleast match a TDI in mileage and beat it in cost of a fill up with the cheaper gas vs diesel.
Granted its not a Jetta in terms of ride and handling, but its not a Jetta when it comes to maintenance or problems either. Also it fits 6 footers in the back seat without to much complaining.
One of my friends at work has a 180km total commute and ended up with an echo instead of a TDI, at the time a 2-4 yr old TDI with 150000km cost far more than a new echo...
Ian

[cwarnar]

After running all the numbers and doing some test drives on Corolla's (No Echo's for Sale in Sask right now) I have decided to drive my Alti until it is dead. Right now it is mechanically flawless which means low maintenance costs. The main issue with a TDI right now is everything is my price range has 200,000-250,000 and I do want to get stuck with a load of bills for repairs or maintenance.

I added a temp upper and lower grill block and got 35 mpg on a 165 km trip to Regina last night.

My water temp was up 10 or so degree's but hopefully with that and a belly pan and the lowered car (hoping to change springs and strums this summer) I can get 36-38.

The other issue is monetary, as we are planning to buy a house next spring and I should be debt free if I keep the Alti... can't complain with that

[IndyIan]

Well there you go, you've almost beat my heap already. I did get 5.1L/100km last night going home but then I was late for work this morning and got 6.7L/100km...
Looks like I've got start thinking about implementing some mods soon...
Neon Powa!

[dremd]

Agreed; TDI Purchase prices are Very Very high. You have to "want" one to justify the initial cost. 200~250 k

[cwarnar]

Thanks for the kind words. I am hoping with a belly pan, grill block, full moon hubcaps and possibly a rear deck lid spoiler I can hit the ultimate goal of 40 mpg.

Plus i enjoy a world where I do not have to make a car payment.

[landspeed]

Swap in a manual gearbox for huge savings! (this is what I am doing in my Bluebird (Altima))

Or, if you have spare cash, get a manual SR20DET swap, and you will have economy and performance

[cwarnar]

I will look into the manual swap as well, just got 33.9 mpg on my last tank with the grill block in. Things are looking better!!