Anyone care to help me convince my brother to buy a TDI?

I've given him some readings on this forum as well as on myturbodiesel.com which I feel are pretty unbiased. I have a Jetta myself that I got for a good deal but I had to do plenty of things to get it in top shape like timing belt, injection pump, alternator pulley, shocks, gear oil, oil changes, filters, removing a useless muffler, rad fan and other things that I think would frighten many people from getting a TDI. But I learned a lot from the jobs I did do myself and I'm in it for the long run though so I expect this car will last a long while, that and I can't imagine driving without that clak clak clak

So, any experiences to share? I think a 5spd 2001 would be a solid car and would be cheaper to own overall. How do I fight this idea that diesels are more expensive to repair and horrible cars to own that I hear from general mechanics when I heard nothing but good things from the owners I talked to before I bought mine?

I learned a hard lesson a long time ago. Never "persuade" anyone to buy a car because you like it. If someone isn't convinced after having a casual conversation with them, you ought to let them make their own decision. Believe me, you don't want that person to always come back to you because "you told them" to buy it. Just my 2 cents.

You make a very valid point... I was actually worried about that if things start breaking like the turbo or timing belt snaps on him...

Did your lesson involve a VW perchance?

unless, you plan on fixing it every weekend.

Car choice is a personal decision. Providing information once is fine, but never try to convince someone to buy a car they don't want.

Vic, it sounds horribly wrong

Yeah I realize that now

You guys are awesome though, good on ya for pointing out my foolishness

Done and done. No convincing shall be done. You get so caught up in the idea of sharing parts and such that you forget. You guys must have recommended diesels to friends no?

In my case, I saw a pristine 87 Jetta diesel with all maintenence records. It was $1000. The body on the car itself could have won car shows. I wanted it for myself, but a family member needed a vehicle at the time. So I suggested it to this person, and they looked at it, test drove it, over and over and over. They kept asking me if it was a good deal etc etc. I said sure, it's a used car that will surely need a couple of things to get it perfect, but it runs really well. Well, we got the car home and the nonsense began. Whats this noise, this bolt hole is stripped, why is this not positioned properly, it needs a fuel filter. To make a long story short, the car was 20 years old at the time, and ran well. If I had bought it, I would have changed a window regulator myself and gave it a new alternator and all would have been perfect. But this person looked for problems to make the car perfect, complained to every family member that I had suggested it, and then to really piss me off, sold the car without letting me know. I wanted that car.