2002 Jetta Totalled - How to Replace?

__. Last night a drunk driver doing over 100 MPH (running from police) hit my 2002 Jetta. Rolled over at least once but it did a wonderful job of protecting me; I'm fine, just a couple of small bruises and scratches. There was no intrusion in to the passenger comparment (except the roof being caved in a couple of inches at the top of the windshield) and at least both doors on the right side opened and closed (didn't try the left side - up against a ditch bank). She took care of me but my Jetta is now a Golf!

__. Does anyone have any ideas on how to replace it? I'm happy with the idea of looking for a good '02/'03 (I'd prefer to avoid PD A4's) or going new (although there's the PD thing again).

__. Unfortunately, the job of finding a good car in either category scares me pretty badly.

__. Any suggestions? I'm really bummed. 127K miles, over 57 MPG lifetime, nearly 90K on the first set of tires, never cost me anything but sched maintenance and a set of glow plugs.

__. Thanks, Mr G

Talk to IBW. Perhaps he would be willing to sell one of his fleet!

mrGutWrench - sorry about the misfortune - hope you find another ride quickly , at least your car protected you and you're OK to tell us about this.

Wow. Glad you're OK. These little cars do a great job of protecting the occupants. Good luck on your quest
for a new car.

wow! I am really glad you are ok. A woman was killed here yesterday morning (6 am) by a drunk driver, so your post gave me a chill.
good luck finding a new ride.


dang, gern and i must have the same brain or something. i thought i double posted.

Sorry to hear about another TDI leaving us. You've got to love the structural integrety of the body though. The A4's are tough, and I'm glad you make it through OK.

I assume you have looked through the classifieds here on the forum.

Mr G- my condolences and I'm glad you made it with minimal damage to yourself. Sounds like the Jetta did a great job with its most important duty!

If you are looking for pre-PD vehicles, my guess is to look here first, because you'll have a better indication of its maintenance history, and have a good chance of a tdi fanatic taking care of it.

There was a nice looking white Jetta for sale a couple of weeks ago by a member who's name escapes me at the moment.

I'm glad you are okay, the sweet spot on these cars is about 50,000-60,000 miles, it is still possible to find ones with less than 30,000 miles. Just keep looking around, and asking people you see driving TDIs if they know where you can find one (or possibly sell theirs). You would be surprised.

Expect to pay about 13,000 - 17,000 for one with less than 50,000 miles

here is another great link - it scans Craigslist for Diesels and then you can search through your browser for VW

http://greasyriders.com/find_diesel/#198

i'm sorry to hear about your car, we're all glad you're alright. i've sent you a PM which might help you find a new TDI.

I know that you may not want a PD, but do not discount one that has a documented service history with RIGHT oil. Even if you find one that has not been so, I bet you could jiggle off an amount off the price knowing this fact. My dealer has a 1999 Jetta TDI, with 103k on the clock. 5 speed. They want 14k for it. I bet you could get 'em down. Motorville in Sheboygan, Wisc. They also have V10TDI Tourareg on hand, should you want or need more torque That one is only a mere 71k list...

Few... glad your OK. If it is totaled and there is no frame damage, and you love the car, why not take the money from the insurance company, buy it back from them for cheap and have the car restored...yes it will carry a salvaged title, but if you plan to keep it for many years who cares.

As everyone else,sir, glad you are mostly safe and sound.
I am always amazed after hearing here of accidents how little damage is done to the occupants, which is of course the way it is supposed to be, but unfortunately rarely is with many other manufacturers.
I'm with you, btw, regarding not wanyting the PD.

Have you spoken with Harvieux about looking for a car?
I don't know where he is in relation to you, but I sure read a lot of good things about him over the 18 months I've been here. I'm sure you already thought of him as you are a much longer-lifer here then I, but it's always just worth throwing out ideas.

On a side note, how much damage was there, if any, to the rear seat area? We carry precious cargo ( a 2 year old and a 12 year old ) back there, and just wondering how safe any rear passenger would have been in the same situation?

Glad your ok.... my VW sales rep has a picture of one of his customers that got "T" boned by a semi.The car was totaled but she was ok. Anyway tell your insurance co that you want the car to be repaired. If it can't be then you want the car replaced. See what happens. I went though something similar to this. Wet roads.. traffic stopped..his car going to fast..I got rearended. I was unhappy about the settlement. And they offered to replace the car...but I took the money anyway. Good luck, let us know what happens.
And do yourself a favor.. tell your lawyer about this. Because the the guy that hit you is telling his lawyer about this. And the "fun" is just begining.

Kayakkermit said:

(snip) On a side note, how much damage was there, if any, to the rear seat area? We carry precious cargo ( a 2 year old and a 12 year old ) back there, and just wondering how safe any rear passenger would have been in the same situation?

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__. Thanks for the kind message. I would have liked to have been able to open the rear seat backs (it was very difficult to remove things from the trunk due to the accident damage to the trunk lid, rear fenders,etc.,) but they were jammed solid aside from this, there was no intrusion into the rear area at all. There was nobody sitting back there, but as far as I can tell, there's very good protection. And, on the drivers side, if you were to drop a straight-edge and walk toward the car with it, the tire on that side is the first thing that you'd hit. It's literally destroyed behind the rear wheels (there's a little crumpled structure behind the right tire but only a little).
__. Unfortuantely, Harvieux is in CA and I'm on the Eastern seaboard.

Thanks.

MrGut, I'll be willing to keep an eye out for any TDIs in Wilmington, k?
I understand you wanting another ALH. Gonna part out the car? I can use a manual tranny!

I did a quick search. No manuals, one automatic 2002.
If you keep searching and find one with 50 miles of Wilmington I'll take a look at it for ya.

MrG, Sorry to hear about your TDI. Glad she kept you safe.

It seens like a lot of used ones come out of Georgia for some unknown reason. I almost think my son has picked up some corporate VWs down there that came north for resale. Will ask him when he calls again.

Sorry to hear of the misfortune but I'm glad you're okay!

whoa! glad to hear you are ok! sorry about your car!!! good luck in finding a replacement.

Have you found a replacement yet?

alphaseinor said:

Have you found a replacement yet?

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__. Yessir! I found a cosmetically perfect '03 wagon for a couple of hundred over NADA book and bought it on Friday. It has a couple of issues (turn signal clicking occasionally and heater/ac only runs on 4) but mechanically it seems very good. Tires are new, brakes close to new, new timing belt (last 10K miles, anyway).

__. And, yes, I got raped on total value of my car by my insurance company. But, then again, Mr. Diaz is looking down both barrels of an actual damages and personal injury lawsuit. So, maybe I'll come out OK overall.

Now all you need to do is update your sig (lol)... and you'll be all set...
Glad you were able to find a '03 wagon that suits your liking... such a hard car to find!

mrGutWrench said:

And, yes, I got raped on total value of my car by my insurance company. But, then again, Mr. Diaz is looking down both barrels of an actual damages and personal injury lawsuit. So, maybe I'll come out OK overall.

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I hope you have the ALL the names from all his IDs. I traditionally see at least three different named IDs when I have patient contact with Hispanic gentlemen. They will actually give me a name, and then remember that they want to use a different name when monetary considerations are present (ie ambulance bill).

And, NO, this is not a slur. Just simple fact.

mrGutWrench said:

__. Yessir! I found a cosmetically perfect '03 wagon for a couple of hundred over NADA book and bought it on Friday. It has a couple of issues (turn signal clicking occasionally and heater/ac only runs on 4) but mechanically it seems very good. Tires are new, brakes close to new, new timing belt (last 10K miles, anyway).

__. And, yes, I got raped on total value of my car by my insurance company. But, then again, Mr. Diaz is looking down both barrels of an actual damages and personal injury lawsuit. So, maybe I'll come out OK overall.

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A little piece of info . I don't know how it works on your state but when I used to live in PA, the isnurance companies push for the "limited tort" option which basically prohibits you from suing for pain and sufferring
UNLESS the driver at fault was drunk or drugged. Then automatically it reverts to full tort . my wife's - girlfriend at that time - 99 TDi got T-boned at a major intersection by a drunk friver. She had brain swelling, two broken ribs and major brusing. the drunk driver was paralyzed and she even got 2 months in jail . My wife got way more money from the lawsuit after lawyerrs fees than for the car. If I were you I would be courting a nice lawyer . Screw the insurance companies

paramedick said:

I hope you have the ALL the names from all his IDs. I traditionally see at least three different named IDs when I have patient contact with Hispanic gentlemen. They will actually give me a name, and then remember that they want to use a different name when monetary considerations are present (ie ambulance bill).

And, NO, this is not a slur. Just simple fact.

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__. Since the gentleman is under the care of the local constabulary, I'm not worried about this (when you decide you're going to have a fist fight with the police who have chased you down after you ran away from your crashed car, they keep an intense interest*). Also, he was driving an Enterprise rental car and their insurance has also called me, verifying that he's covered by insurance.

(* Also, he's facing felony DUI, felony evading and eluding, felony reckless endangerment, felony hit-and-run, speeding in excess of 100 MPH, reckless driving, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer -- and the prosecutor was looking at what else they could throw at him. He's going to be involved with the local justice system for a long time -- and even if he disappears to his home country, his insurance is on the hook for him.)

Damn - just read this - glad you are ok. I am tired of drunks to, I try not to be out at night especially around bar closing. They say 10:30 am Sunday is the most dangerous. We all pay for this guy's mistake, in our insurance rates. I had one accident in 1976 and it was not my fault, 3 tickets and none since 1980, full coverage on my jetta is 578 a year. Since then I have paid about 18k for insurance and never a claim, except a cracked winshield, 110 in 1979. The bummer is that we maintain to high standard so we have the luxury of driving a PAID for car that is still running like new and looking the same and some irresponsible person does this. I hope you do get well compensated for this accident, pain and suffering also. The rental car company should be more through in who the rent to. Another subject is chasing people, I wonder if its really neccessary. Once they ID the car let them go and get them at home. I knew a guy killed by a police car chasing a joy rider.

The wagon sounds nice Godd luck to you.

wjdell said:

<snip>I am tired of drunks to, I try not to be out at night especially around bar closing. They say 10:30 am Sunday is the most dangerous.

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the most dangerous time here is about 12:05 pm sunday when the baptists are heading out of church and to the the restaurants for dinner.... (and no this is not a slur either )...

do you have the option of buying the remains of your old wrecked car from the insurance for a nominal fee? thats what i did with my car when some numbnuts rearended it. not long after the engine was rebuilt and I done an lpg dual fuel conversion on it, i bought the salvage for £100 and made £670 selling the various parts (engine, transmission, interior, lpg kit, front doors, bumper, headlights, radiator, fuel pump, catalytic converter, airbags and airbag ecu)

Techgeek said:

do you have the option of buying the remains of your old wrecked car from the insurance for a nominal fee? thats what i did with my car when some numbnuts rearended it. not long after the engine was rebuilt and I done an lpg dual fuel conversion on it, i bought the salvage for £100 and made £670 selling the various parts (engine, transmission, interior, lpg kit, front doors, bumper, headlights, radiator, fuel pump, catalytic converter, airbags and airbag ecu)

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__. That's good idea, only it's over 300 miles from home. I guess I could buy it and then sell it on to someone with the understanding that the buyer would have to collect it from the insurance lot within a certain period of time. But a 300 mile tow charge would be a killer. I'll look into that, though.

volmaniac said:

the most dangerous time here is about 12:05 pm sunday when the baptists are heading out of church and to the the restaurants for dinner.... (and no this is not a slur either )...

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Those Baptists have to beat the Presbyterians to furrs cafeteria... I just stay away from restaurants during the day on Sunday, and away from the bars at night on Sunday....