Opinion wanted on ‘03 Jetta w/ 240k

Looking for opinions - I know you all have them

Thinking about buying an 03 Jetta wagon with 240k. New clutch, transmission,glow plugs, shocks, struts, cleaned intake and more. The vehicle has had one owner and been very well maintained with supporting documentation. I checked and the TB was done twice at each 100k interval. Drives really nice.

Here’s my concern. The car books for $4k and he’s asking for $5k. I got him down to 4500, but still seems high for the mileage, but I understand why he’s asking the price he is.

My main concern is engine power. It didn’t seems as peppy as the 05 golf TDI I had a few years ago and I’m wondering if it’s a compression issue. Then again, I’ve been driving nothing but 6 cylinders for a couple of years now.

Thoughts?

-Lee

$4500. Is very good price for an 2003 Alh tdi wagon. The 05 pd tdi has 10 more hp so there is a difference, but at 240k an Alh tdi shouldn’t have any compression issues at all, you said yourself the car was very maintained.


Bajan

Even though the ALH has less total power, it should drive very similarly to your BEW. Is the turbo origoinal? If so I'd suspect the actuator is tired or it has a vacuum leak. Neither are major repairs. If you have access to VCDS you could run a boost log and find out for sure.

I agree that $4,500 is a good deal for an ALH Wagon if it's cosmetically clean. Any rust? Check the lower corners of the rear window, bottoms of the front fenders, and the rocker panels at the jack points. If all look good and the interior is clean (including the headliner clean and intact) I'd pay that for a good ALH. Mileage isn't a big concern if the car's been cared form.

Reply

Thanks for the feedback! Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t acting irrationally due to the high mileage. Planning on buying the car tomorrow.

-Lee

Lee, you can find high mileage cars that are in a LOT better condition than low mileage ones. What matters is how well something has been taken care of/maintained. Good maintenance records are a must (if you're serious about getting a good vehicle).

While they can be replaced, I think that little things like the HVAC bezel is quick gauge as to how one of these cars have been treated. Cars well taken care of tend to have very lightly scratched bezels. Also look around the ignition bezel: pretty hard to replace these bits; clumsy folks will jam their keys all over the place, scratching them up pretty good.

UhOh said:

Lee, you can find high mileage cars that are in a LOT better condition than low mileage ones. What matters is how well something has been taken care of/maintained. Good maintenance records are a must (if you're serious about getting a good vehicle).

I believe we all in agreement here.

While they can be replaced, I think that little things like the HVAC bezel is quick gauge as to how one of these cars have been treated. Cars well taken care of tend to have very lightly scratched bezels. Also look around the ignition bezel: pretty hard to replace these bits; clumsy folks will jam their keys all over the place, scratching them up pretty good.

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This is nonsense. Really guy !
Are trying to up your post count ? HVAC, ignition bezel, actually let me add a few more like driver window panel, door grab handles, cup holders, light switch, emergency brake handle, seats, and all other wear items. Last I checked the mk4 Platform is roughly 19 1/2- 20 yrs old. All soft touch parts will wear.

I am in and out of these cars every day, the "wear" items on the interiors vary greatly, and the amount of numbers in the odometer do not necessarily have anything to do with that.

Some people just trash the interiors (and exteriors) of their cars. Some people treat them like a holy place. Some people will not tolerate the soft touch coming loose on the driver's door handle, and will gladly pay me to replace it. Others will have the door panel and door pull held together with screws and tape, and won't care one bit.

To the OP's question: lots of items can cause a less-than-ideal level of power on an ALH, some of which may simply be a perception thing. Meaning, there is nothing "wrong" with it, it is just not very fast to begin with.

There are a few data points to investigate but to rule out subjectiveness it is often helpful to either drive another one or have someone who owns one take yours for a spin.

Timing, vacuum leaks, MAF issues, intake health, injector nozzle health, can all cause a low power issue... and they can 'stack' to make an engine that only has 90hp to start with feel downright lethargic. Fortunately, the ALH engine proper is pretty robust, so it is doubtful that it is anything serious. And if it IS otherwise in good working order, it is easy and inexpensive to add a little pep to one that will make it feel more like or better than the 100hp BEW.

red16vdub said:

This is nonsense. Really guy !
Are trying to up your post count ? HVAC, ignition bezel, actually let me add a few more like driver window panel, door grab handles, cup holders, light switch, emergency brake handle, seats, and all other wear items. Last I checked the mk4 Platform is roughly 19 1/2- 20 yrs old. All soft touch parts will wear.

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I've mentioned this elsewhere and have agreement by others.

And your looking to, once again, jump on my A$$, only shows that it is YOU trying to bump up some (mythical) post count. I'm really tired of your attacks.a Grow up!

UhOh said:

I've mentioned this elsewhere and have agreement by others.

And your looking to, once again, jump on my A$$, only shows that it is YOU trying to bump up some (mythical) post count. I'm really tired of your attacks.a Grow up!

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I’ll grow up one day, just not today.


Bajan

Purchased!

Picked up the Jetta Wagon today . Thanks for the input, y’all!

Glad to be back in the club

-Lee

leegravel said:

Picked up the Jetta Wagon today . Thanks for the input, y’all!



Glad to be back in the club



-Lee

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Congrats ! Any pics ?


Bajan

Congratulations! You have a Jetta TDI ALH wagon!