Blown Engine - A Sad Postscript

[Deeceer]

A few weeks ago the normally aspirated 2.4D engine in my 1998 T4 blew due to water pump/timing belt failure. After finding out that an engine rebuild would cost $7900 plus $1500 fitting, I tried to find just a running used motor. None to be found. A national wreckers thought they had one - $2250 plus fitting. Hopes raised - then they discovered the replacement was shot too. I found a running unregistered 2.4D '95 T4 locally on eBay - $2500 for the whole vehicle. But there was oil in the coolant and maybe some noise at the bottom end so I gave it a miss as too risky, good money after bad and all that. Not an AAB/AJA type motor to be found and, I'm reliably told, a number of people around Oz chasing after them to replace their own blown donks. Thought about fitting a later TDi but even more money wanted for secondhand units and cost of conversion once again tooks it around the $9-10K mark. Petrol? Roughly the same after factoring in all the additional gear needed.

I bought the van two years ago. It was one previous owner with a decent service history and it ran great til the day it died, took me and the missus on a lot of great camping trips, and had a body so straight and rust-free, and paint so fresh people were amazed it was 12 years old. Unfortunately I couldn't warrant a repair bill equal to or greater than the cost of the van in the first place so today I sold it for parts.

[brasstinman]

That is a sad story. Sorry to hear that Deeceer.

[van quish]

The more I read the threads on this forum the more I doubt my desires to bring a Transporter with me when we move to Vic.

The service and repair costs that people talk about make it sound financially impractical.

I'm lucky at the momemt cos I have a brilliant garage which I trust unconditionally and do a great job for a great price. Going rate in Australia seems a tad steep and reliable vw garages few and far between.

Am I being overly fearful or should I really being looking at Toyotas for cheap motoring?

[Deeceer]

The more I read the threads on this forum the more I doubt my desires to bring a Transporter with me when we move to Vic.

The service and repair costs that people talk about make it sound financially impractical.

I'm lucky at the momemt cos I have a brilliant garage which I trust unconditionally and do a great job for a great price. Going rate in Australia seems a tad steep and reliable vw garages few and far between.

Am I being overly fearful or should I really being looking at Toyotas for cheap motoring?

High costs for certain imported things are part of life in Australia, I'm afraid. It's what comes from living on a big island that's a fair distance from a lot of places.

Although I didn't see it coming, I guess it's only to be expected that replacement engines are few and far between for an ageing vehicle that maybe only sold a maximum of 3000 a year (at an optimistic guess) in all configurations and even fewer in the engine config of my van.

Things can be easier and cheaper where there are locally made options and sometimes it can leave you scratching your head at the seeming injustice of it. For instance, my wife and I used to own a number of Ford Mustangs (a 1970, a 1973 and a 1979) which were virtually never sold in Australia. But there wasn't a mechanical part on any of them that couldn't be sourced locally because everything was interchangeable with local Fords. For instance, we replaced the V-8 engine in my wife's '73 Mach 1 for under $1000. Yet here we are scrapping an otherwise good van that actually sold in numbers in this country because those kinds of options aren't available.

I guess when it comes to older vehicles and whether or not to continue with them in the face of significant mechanical problems you've got to decide whether you're going to make decisions with your heart or your head.

[njg02]

Deeceer, sorry to hear. Will you try and get another? Auctions? or do you feel you've been a tad burnt?
Neil

[Deeceer]

Deeceer, sorry to hear. Will you try and get another? Auctions? or do you feel you've been a tad burnt?
Neil

Thanks Neil. I'm thinking about the answers to those questions. I certainly would be cautious of touching an older diesel again, I had no idea they could go bung so quick. Got a few ideas where to go from here, should know in the next few days. I've got to admit it's been an abrupt reminder why I didn't miss owning older vehicles the past 10 years or so!

I was also going to say it's the first time I've experienced a near total loss on a vehicle but it recalls a time many years ago I was selling a rattly old Kawasaki 400 bike and hoping to get 200 bucks to deposit on something better. I waited with this kid's dad while the young fella took it for a spin. He pushed it back 20 minutes later with the clutch literally sticking out the top of the case and I got $25 for it from the bike wreckers the next weekend.

You've got to laugh, haven't you?

[Deeceer]

Well, I - or should I say 'we', being my wife and I - have decided on a way forward but unfortunately it doesn't have a VW badge on it. The more we discussed it, the more it became obvious neither of us felt that happy about pouring another dollop of cash into an older vehicle and maybe facing a similar situation within another couple of years so we decided to bite the bullet and look at brand new. Ironically, we might have afforded a base model T5 if we'd had the T4 as a trade-in but with it being a near total loss, we needed to come in cheaper and the Fiat Scudo won at $30K on the road with a 3 year, 200,000km warranty.

It's been a great couple of years owning the T4 - literally the best fun I've had with motor vehicles for many years - and we were sure we'd run it for maybe another four or five years then get a T5. Who knows, maybe we will yet but in the meantime we'll be in another camp(er). Thanks everyone for your help and assistance, and a particular thanks to jmac (Jimmy) for his face to face help and phone assistance in recent weeks. I can't speak highly enough of that guy!

And if you'll forgive a Fiat owner from making comment occasionally, I do intend to keep lurking on this forum cos it's just such a nice place, goshdarnit.

[Seano]

As a diesel driver for a while now I'm under no illusions that if the engine develops a major cooling failure then it could be a total write off in a few minutes. Unlike many a petrol engine....I recall losing coolant in Landrover V8 at Joll's Bridge on the Sydney-Newcastle freeway at freeway speed - with the temp gauge nudging MAX, I made it to Hawkesbury River Railway Station in time to see the last dregs of coolant boiling out of the crack on the bottom hose spout - all I did was take the radiator out right there in the car park, take it up to Hornsby on the train for a re-core, re-fitted it and drove away without out any problems....in a VW TDi I'd not have made it past the freeway exit.

If my TDi engine expires......then it'll be replaced come what may. A new dual cab approaching the VW's capability would set me back 35 to 50K new or at best half that for a decent used version. I've owned it since new so I've already taken a 70% depreciation hit......what's another ten grand? (he asks with a demented giggle)

[jets]

[QUOTE=Deeceer;529775]. After finding out that an engine rebuild would cost $7900 plus $1500 fitting, I tried to find just a running used motor. None to be found. A national wreckers thought they had one - $2250 plus fitting. Hopes raised - then they discovered the replacement was shot too.

These stories are quite disturbing, I feel for you. It seems these days you buy new & take extended warranty & then move it on at an enormous drop in value or you have to do all your own repairs. There doesn't seem to be any in between.
The cost of spares, labour prices, complexity & time to repair things are all working against us. This is confirmed by a walk around any wrecking yard. Near new cars/vans with what appears minor accident damage is written off. Some have no sign of damage are there too. They obviously have mechanical trouble like Deeceer has experienced.