How many 97 JIII TDI's out there?

[Steve Addy]

How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

Hey all
I'm kind of curious about the number of 97 JIII TDI's in NA running around out there. I dont know the production numbers for this model alone but since it was the first year for Jetta I'm kind of curious.

thanks!
steve a

 

[dzcad90]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

97 Jetta TDIs are a rare breed indeed. They were introduced late in the model year AFAIK.

The gentelmen I bought my car from had indicated to me that the car was ordered before they were available and he had been waiting to take delivery for a while. The original Varta battery had a sticker that said the car passed through some port (Houston maybe?) in 5/97. My buddy has a 98 Jetta TDI that has a manufacture date of 10/97, so the introduction of the TDI and the end of the 97 MY was pretty close.

 

[Clay]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I don't have production numbers but the do seem pretty rare. I had a 97 Jetta TDi. It was the first one the dealer here got. I bought it on 8/27/97, the build date on the car was 7/97.

 

[CB]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I have one, would be interesting to know how many are running about. Fortunatly, many parts are available and compatable from later models..

Regards
CB&Stoker

 

[Steve Addy]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I checked and mine was built in 06/97, late in production as well. It would interesting to start a registry of VIN numbers to see how they fall in production sequence. When I had a RX-7 convert I joined a registry and it was cool to see who had what and when it was produced. It's also interesting to see what colors are running around. I haven't seen too many JIII's in my color, memory red pearl, and I assume that there are even fewer TDI's of that color.

I finally took some pics today, I'll be posting them as soon as I have a little time.

Here's my car, fresh from the car wash!

thanks all for responding!

Steve A

[ December 15, 2002, 23:25: Message edited by: Steve Addy ]

 

[20ValveT]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I'm running a 97 TDI. Over 300000k on the odometre. As I posted before on this site when my odometre hit 299999k it rolled back to zero. So all A3ers you know what to expect.

 

[Greendragon]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I have got one too, it is Dragon Green and has 94,000 mls on it and still looks as good as new.
Mine is a UK spec one as i live in the UK (funnily enough) but over here this shape came out in 92 and was stopped in 99 to make wy for the Bora.

Will post pics when its clean.
(could be a long time though as its winter here.)

 

[Diesel Dude]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

My 97 Jetta is Seqouia Green and was also built in 7/97. The original purchaser bought it in November 97 and I bought it in June 2000. I have not seen any 97 TDI's that had power windows, but several 98's do. I believe that there were very limited options in the first year of the TDI in the U.S. and Canada. Metallic paint, premium sound, sunroof and ABS are about all I have seen. If anyone has any further information I would find it interesting if they could share it. In this part of the world, TDI's are really catching on and every other VW I see seems to be one. (May be because I look for the TDI logo's) Enjoy

 

[Stephen P]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

97 jetta with 130k miles. I love the car but mine is totally gl. No power anything but I got cruise control.

 

[steve b]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

count me in for a green 97 model. For some reason I got mine a little cheaper because I was willing to buy a car that needed work from the dealer. the car had 45k on the odometer, but the previous owner had a battery explode. It killed the alternator and power steering pump. These items were replaced by the dealer before I purchased it. I had to repaint a few things under the hood and change some vacuum hoses. The car also had a new premium radio for some reason. I tend to think the previous owner was tough on the car because it seems to burn oil.

 

[VWannabe]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

I just got a '97 Jetta TDI with 124,500 miles. I love it! It is all black, inside, outside, and windows. It has a sunroof and alloys as options, no power windows. I had a '95 Honda Civic before. Nice car, but NO torque, which this thing has in abundance. It is stock right now, but hopefully not for long. I will need to check and possibly clean the intake manifold, intercooler, and MAF. I have come back from the dark side!

 

[Jersey TDI]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

Hey Steve what kind of wheels are those you've got there? I'm shopping for new wheels since my stock wheels are mounted with snows. It looks to me like those are Mille Miglias, am I right?

 

[Nige]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

If you mean a Vento then I have one as well !
However as I called it a Vento you'll see that I don't live in NA so does mine count ?
Anyway its gor 150K miles, original injectors,goes well does about 55mpg ( that's with proper gallons).
However I think it has the worst suspension ever.The car is too light and tendds to bounce ! Yes, I've changed all the schocks.It is very sensitive to tyre pressures,It actually rides better with 4 up !
And the paint work is a purple/blue metalic. It is not that good either ! Rust in strange places and easily is damaged by bird crap .However with 90bhp and a light car it does go well !

 

[Steve Addy]

Re: How many 97 JIII TDI\'s out there?

Hey
Yes they are Mille Miglia wheels. 15x6.5 if I remember right. I puchased a package from Tire Rack a year or so ago for my Golf III and when I sold it and bought the TDI I kept them. I think they look pretty nice for a fairly inexpensive wheel. The tires are Kuhmo Ecsta Supra 712's and are crap on snow. I have 97 Jetta GT alloys with m&s tires for winter that I'm running now.

They're not the Mille Miglia Spyders, which I like too, but then again they weren't priced like the Spyders...and since TR was discontinuing these I picked up a 5th just in case something happened.

I liked these because they maintained a stockish look while moving to a 15. I got some VW decals to cover the center caps and even the salesmen at the VW dealship think they're VW wheels!

steve a

[ January 20, 2003, 23:47: Message edited by: Steve Addy ]