new ride / tdi / mpg / etc

[thejimrose]

with a  nod to tony, the tdi's are crazy $$ in the used market, esp here in
sf. you could probably do a nice business bringing them in from other parts
of the us and marking them up. mk4 vw's with 1-200k are going for 10-15k.
serious. bananas. where a 2.0 is 3-5k.

i would stay very far away from a c4. tempting as cheap but IMO it's the
typ44 part deux. then again i would say the same about a highly modified
b5s4 and i just bought one so.... do as i say not as i do.

the mk4 gti's definitely had a rep for turdyness and shoddy build. i would
still consider one as a cheap runner. honestly if i were advising the most
car for the least $ with good mpg's id look at a 2.5 mk5 rabbit. my
brothers gets the better of 30mpg in mixed driving and i think was about
$12k nearly brand new. similar golf tdi would be high teens / low 20's
here. i see rabbits w/ reasonable miles here way under 10k.