diesel or petrol kms?

[marcusmucus]

hey all.
New to this forum, was great to discover some local knowledge!.
Were are looking into a transporter swb van with a quiet tight budget, ideally <$6500. I always wanted a diesel as i used to drive one but due to the apparent price and lack of options on the market currently we are looking into going fuel inject.

we are curious about the kinda life one would expect from a mid 90's diesel compared to say the same petrol. Is it worth the investment?

also, how do people feel the 1.9 diesel will go fuel wise with a 600 - 800 kg generally short distances... not that much concerned with accelaretion as long but more about needing to over work the engine/clutch at start.

thank you all very much in advance, anyone know someone looking to sell?? ; )

[gldgti]

the t4 diesels are harder to find and fairly pricey still as you knw, I don't think you'll find anything reasonable for the amount you want to spend.... i.e if you find one for that much it'll probably have much more than 300,000km on it.

the 1.9 is a great engine, very tough and reliable. not a lot to go wrong and quite efficient. The 2.5 TDI's are much faster but are more work maintenance wise, but are certainly great engines.

there is the 2.4 5 cyl non-turbo diesel aswell... these are also dependable and long lived but again, you wont find one with low km's.

the transporter gearbox always has a short first on the low powered models, so you shouldnt have too much trouble getting it moving.

if you can stretch to 10k, you'll find a much nicer one, but you can probably find an alright petrol 2L for the price your talking.

[marcusmucus]

hey,
Thanks for answering, yeah I have been considering the finances..
There seems to be a lot less on the market than about this time last year? Would you know of any good tips in finding them? just been crawling the online car sales sites.

When you say the 1.9 is pretty decent were you reffering to the diesel or both versions of the engine?

Would a diesel's life span on average last alot longer than a petrol equivilant in your mind?

anyway
thanks for the reply.