And Umm.... Why the F*** Can't I Buy This Car Here?

[megaladon6]

some of the TDI's seem to have some odd features like individual injector pumps for every cylinder driven off the cam

except for the newest vw's they don't use the cam for fuel pressure. i believe the "injector pumps" you're thinking of are just the injectors. they are setup so that they won't spray without proper pressure. go to http://forums.tdiclub.com/index.php.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

404 error on that link. Anyhow, that was what I had read-that it was the newer ones for increased efficiency. I just wish they were affordable...like $1500 kind of affordable...lol I may be able to spend that much in a month or two.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Well, after reading enough bad things online I am a little spooked by the VW's as they don't seem to last a lot of miles for many people. I may just revert to something I know and buy a 1991-94 2 door 5 speed Sentra. 32mpg in the city ( in my personal experience) and I love the styling. Nice and boxy. And cheap. Plus, I have some parts I never got to install on my last one that I can now put to good use.

 

[megaladon6]

are you reading about diesel vw's or gasser vw's. the gassers are crap. i've never heard someone complain about their TDI.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

A little of each, actually. I was surprised to find quite a few people on a number of different kinds of boards that seemed to dislike them for reliability and cost of repairs. While I would NEVER take a car to someone else for servicing, the price of parts was nonetheless disconcerting. I am going to put up yet another thread related to this with a poll. I welcome your thoughts there as well. I also was disappointed in the fact that some models are not even rated at 40mpg city as this was one of my main justifications for purchasing one. That and, let's face it, the newer ones are just damn cool in a number of ways-especially the gauge cluster back lighting. ( Sounds petty, but it's a selling point when you are going to spend 8-12 hours a day in a car for a few years)

 

[KrisW]

First off, the reason you can't get the cool euro diesels here doesn't have ANYTHING to do with safety. That stupid SMART car from Mercedes will be here next year. It is a bubble with wheels. I have seen horrific pictures of death in europe of those things. Safety means exactly JACK in this matter.

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT ENVIRONMENTALIST WACKOS ARE THE REASON!!

The reason that the Kyoto treaty and every other worldwide environmental thing is such crap is that our EPA here in the US is MORE RESTRICTIVE on emissions than anyone else in the world. Diesels have almost been legislated out of existence. If you read about the hoops that diesels have to jump through to be sold in the US, you'd see why.

My wife is from europe and we go there some. I usually rent a VW when I am there. I personally wouldn't drive a polo, again. I rented a Polo Classic the first time and it is a little smaller than an early 90's jetta. Not too bad, I guess. My favorite is a TDI Passat. Not the American export version with the little 1.9 engine; mine had a 2.5 TDI V6! It still got a zilliion miles to the gallon and had awesome power. Add the sunroof and the alloy wheels with the 6 SPEED transmission and it was killer! That engine doesn't pass the US EPA standard...

Then I got a Toyota Avenisis with a D4D Toyota turbo diesel. 2.4 liter, I believe. Another killer car with 18" wheels, sunroof hood scoop, spoiler, NOT AVAILABLE BECAUSE IT WON'T PASS EPA!!

That's the reason Toyota says they won't do diesel here; it's cheaper for them to go hybrid for mileage.

You ought to see the hoops my company has to jump through; I work for Detroit Diesel. It's unbelievable! It's the same for Cummins and Cat as well. The diesel emission standard is so tough for 2008 that now there is no Jeep Liberty diesel anymore. Only Mercedes and VW are willing to pay the money for the special crap to run diesels here. In the future they will get my business for this. You can also get a Jeep Grand Cherokee now, with Mercedes running gear under the hood.

On another note; don't fear the TDI VW. It's probably the best car I've ever owned. Mine was a 97 Jetta and it got 54 mpg on the highway and always 40's in town. I was looking for one when I got the old Prius. I just couldn't find one. That TDI engine is computer controlled fully (similar to the power stroke ford or duramax GM system) and you can even buy tuner parts and reprogrammed ECM's to make them faster!!

If you call the guys here in Lakeland at Central Florida Eurocars, they will call you when a used TDI comes in. It took too long for me (6 weeks) so I had to get something else. They DID call, though, as soon as they got one.

Good luck!!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, Kyoto scares the crap out of me. It basically would blame the west for all of the ills of the planet and let the biggest polluting country in the world ( China has surpassed us) China, get away with no restrictions. India is another big polluter and would get off as well. The US, however, would be so restricted that we would lose industry and jobs to China, India and Mexico- to name a few. Sign Kyoto? Not if you value your political career! It is one of the reasons I was so vehemently against Al Gore when he ran and why I fear Democrats regaining power in the next election.

 

[KrisW]

Don't worry about Democrats signing Kyoto; the dirty little secret is that they won't. You may not know this, but Al Gore was the main champion AGAINST the Kyoto treaty during the Clinton administration...

They are just pandering to the wackos for primary votes when they say stuff like that. Now, domestic policy? There's a Democrat train wreck waiting to happen!!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, I can't think of a single good thing the Dems stand for or that I actually agree with. I am all for civil rights, but their solutions all involve my money given to someone else who has not worked for it, or amnesty for criminals who are not legally allowed to be in this country. Or giving illegals free this or that. Some of them want to give illegals driver's licenses, but the dirty little secret is due to "motor voter" laws this would also give non-citizens a voter registration card. Does something need to be done? Yes. Will we ever be able to deport every single illegal who has come to our shores or crossed our borders from the north and south? no. But giving a free ride to anyone who comes to our shores no matter how they do it is suicide for our economy and country and will further burden those of us who are legal citizens.

I also do not want higher taxes or additional government entitlements like health care or stricter environmental laws. We have the strongest pollution control laws in the world now, lets insist they catch up to us before we go any further.

Not to say I am in love with the Republicans right now because I am not. They too have gotten too socialist for my taste in a bid to keep power, and their border policies and lack of clear leadership are mind boggling. I feel they need to go on the attack and not just leave it to talk radio hosts who reach a limited number of politically savvy individuals who pay attention to political thought. The great unwashed rarely are exposed to these programs because most of them never want to think too hard about their government until their lives suck, then they care. That's the problem with American democracy--too few people are responsible enough to pay attention to their government and stay up to date on what is going on.

 

[KrisW]

And that is why we have survived so long; we are a representative constitutional republic, not a pure democracy.

Pure town hall style democracy where mob rules are the rule of law are a disaster because of the majority of non caring people. That's why the people we elect need to take us back to the beginning. No more progress, we have had enough...

AND THAT IS WHY YOU CAN'T GET THE CAR YOU WANT HERE!!