Where to find Mk 4 tdi's?????

[dieseldude]

Hi all
Im after a 90 model tdi golf or whatever (not vans!) just wondering if anyone knows of a good place to track em down in VIC??Driving me nuts trying to track one down!

Cheers

[brackie]

Personal imports

Welcome. Good to see another enlightened user

Very few Golf 3 diesels were exported to Oz by VAG. They're around but mostly unavailable 'cos their owners just don't want to part with them. Having said that, it may be trade-up time to a Mk 5 for some owners so alert your ever-helpful local stealerships that you are looking.

Mk 4 diesels were only imported personally and mostly from the UK and SA. I've never seen one.

So, good luck! I was looking for one for quite some time with no success.

[dieseldude]

Thank you
I was hoping that answer would be different!! Any idea how much it would cost to bring one over from UK?? They drive on the same side of the road yes??No right to left conversion needed?
My brother is over there at the moment would be good time to think about bringing one over.

Cheers

[Golf Loon]

You have to own the car for a year and use it overseas, or it has to be older than 88 model. Look up the import regs on the Australian Govt website. Its sobering reading.
I think there are 5 or so Mk3 Diesels in Oz. I have seen 3 and I have never seen a Mk4 diesel.
Import an engine and convert and existing petrol car maybe the easiest, or buy a Mk5.

[dieseldude]

Bloody hell!! importing is out of the question... so what 90 model diesels are out there?? Been looking at ML270 mercs some arnt to high in price 25 g's with hagling i recon and 2 grand trade in.
Im thinking of running a bit of bio diesel and have heard the new golfs are no good on the stuff.
Might be a good market out there to start importing container loads of mk4 tdi golfs!!With fuel prices to hit 2 bucs by christmas I recon youl have a waiting list.
Motor transplants can be a costly exercise. How about ecu and fuel lines ****e theres alot to it, vic roads compliance!!

I dont really want to end up going for a 4x4 i have no need. What else is there????

[GoLfMan]

there is a Polo TDi.... I highly reccomend it and its $23g's

[gldgti]

i've seen 2 mk4 tdi's around newcastle in the last couple of years.... they are around. infact, i htink i remember seeing one in a paper advertised a year or so ago....

why 90 model? our 1974 mercedes has 240D has:

working A/C, power steering, 4-wheel disk brakes, over 400,000km and still more solid than any car we've ever owned, inc all the VAG ones. perfect original paint in most places....

if you get a turbo 300D (5cyl) you'll have the most solid car ever, and you'll be gulping down as little as 45mpg. plus, you get luxury.

if you look around, you can find a good one.

plus, you'll be doing the environment a favour - anyone here care to guess the impact of building a new car, energy resources wise????

[brackie]

Merc diesels

Having owned 2 300Ds I can vouch for them. The major drawback is that all imports were slushboxes, and although the 'box is a good one (as long as you look after the vacuum lines ) it's not nearly as good as a manual. I had a '78 300D South African personal import with a 4 speed and it had perfect gearing for getting away...much better than the auto. Having said that it was still slow and cumbersome. We sold it to a friend (who already had a 300D owned from new) before we moved to Tassie and my mrs laments the day.

So yeah. Great cars...but I prefer my Golfs

[dieseldude]

Thanks guys for your comments
I was looking at 190d mercs but found out from reading they are quite the 4 wheeled slug. dont 300td only come in a station wagen?? 300d are also slow from what ive heard, i want something with abit of pep not a race car but not painfully slow.
How about audi's same story as vws??
I also was looking at current model polos, a tad small for me which i could live with but its not bio compliant.I know im rambling on about bio but did you guys catch the stuff about fuel on tv the other day!! f me dead.

Cheers

[gldgti]

the biodiesel question is a good one...

i can tell you that pretty much all the vw diesels score 5 out of 5 stars in biodiesel compatibility (unofficially), but the new generation tdi's arent well represented in the biodiesel user community because of their age - just havnt been around long enough for anyone to try it much.

if its warranties your worried about, i dont know. however i would say that there should be absolutely no technological issue with running bio in a new vw diesel engine - they are ULSD compatible so bio certainly shouldnt be a problem...

[gldgti]

ULSD - ultra low sulfur diesel

come to think of it, my car is too