Disel passat

my son wants to buy a 1997 disel passat with 200,000 miles for $3000. Is this price good, bad, ridiculous? what problems can he expect? should I tell him I’ll disown him if he buys this car.

$3,000? 200,000 miles? Don’t be ridiculous!

can you say more than it’s ridiculous. I think so too, but my opinion has no value since I have no
knowledge about cars. thanks

Any 12 year old car with 200,000 is a small step away from a major mechanical problem. And older VWs are, if anything, worse than average for repairs, diesels included. Looking at cars.com, there are lots of newer cars with less miles for about the same price.

This is a $900-$1200 car…

thank you for your response

VWs of that era are money pits. A Passat should do better than a Jetta, but not by much.

The diesel engines will last forever, it’s the electrical systems, climate control, things like that that fail.

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/volkswagen/passat/

There are worse cars out there, but the reviews are not pretty.

Copwood; even if your son received this car as A GIFT!, it would still be a bad deal. As others point out, the first major repair, and it will come soon, will amount to several thousand $$ and he will be perpetually in a money pit.

The owner who is selling it knows EXACTLY what costs he will be in for very soon, that’s why he is looking for a sucker to buy it.

As a private sale, it is worth $1300 if it is in excellent condition. If it is in average condition (some work required but no major problems) it is worth about half that. You probably can’t offer $500 and expect to enter a negotiation, so you might as well walk away.

Assuming your son and you will continue looking, it’s worth while making http://www.kbb.com/?trid=20&psid=1-566-15371-4860-19-3&gclid=CNb10N7-954CFR9M5Qodkxbh9g a bookmark for your reference.