Good car for going to school...

[boygenius]

There is one major problem with the TDI though... Finding one for sale at a reasonable price. I guess since the price of fuel went up the the demand for TDI's went up also. I might just get the 2.0 with a 5 speed. They are about 5K cheaper for the same year car...

[NO_H2O]

They have always been more $$$. Just a little more now because of demand.
Hmmmmm... same milage as a "Hybrid", cheaper fuel that you can get anywhere and more power.
I would like to have a 5 speed Golf TDI with some mods, BUT I'm an Air-cooled guy.

[undecided]

with a little work, you can make a TDI just as fast as 1.8t or even a VR6. and (assuming you don't lead-foot it all day long) you won't sacrifice too much mpg. and it's a VW, so it looks good. or you could go for a mkII GTI. find a killer 20v and it'll suit you just fine, and they still look good.

just my 2-cents.

[boygenius]

There are so many options out there I'm having trouble deciding on 1 car to buy. I could just finish the beetle and drive that, the solid engine mounts and the loud straight through Ti muffler should keep me awake on the long boring drive to and from school. Or I could get the 2004 Yamaha R-1 I have been keeping my eye on. Over 160 whp and it gets 40mpg. Did I mention it goes 108mph in first gear. It is basicly a street legal GP bike...

[oasis]

TDIs passing trucks in stock form? No problem. They have nearly the same torque as a 1.8T in stock form and they achieve it at 1900 RPMs. They live for third, fourth and fifth gears.

At 35 MPH, I'd rather accelerate with my TDI than my 2.0. At a stop sign? Reverse answer.

TDIs can be chipped. 2.0s can be supercharged. In the end you might spend the same on either if you're inclined to modify. However, the TDI's mileage won't fluctuate much whereas the 2.0's mileage may suffer 2 MPG depending on which s/c you go with.

Hybrids have been coming under serious fire for not delivering their listed MPGs as compared to petrol and diesel cars.

[boygenius]

I found a nice looking 2001 Golf 2.0 for sale.. $8,500 is what the dealer is asking. I has about 40,000 miles on it and it looks really clean. Silver with black interior. Best part is that the VW/Porsche/BMW dealer is right across the street.

[Poor Realist]

My 2 cents...

If you really are looking for a car for school, I would highly suggest the TDI if you can afford it, or any diesel for that matter. I've never owned any water pumpers, but here's why I say to do this:

Depending on how much driving you do and what climate you will be in, you will save lots and lots of money. Basically, you can get your fuel for about $0.10 per gallon by adding a T-valve, some hoses, and a vegetable oil tank. It's a common conversion with many kits on the market. With your TDI and the conversion, you can run dinodiesel, biodiesel, and veggiediesel. Why? Mr. Diesel designed his engine to run on peanut oil. You just have to be willing to gather waste vegetable oil form restaurants and filter it so you don't get french fries in your fuel tank. My next car will be a diesel engine no matter what the price of fuel is.

Check out these links:
www.greasel.com
www.greasecar.com

There's plenty more info out there...