PD150 Buying advice

[Scott]

After a long while of looking I have found a decent PD150 for sale for sensible money.
What should I be looking out for when I go to view it?
Are there any things that particularly go wrong with PD150's? (Its a 2002 model).

[nrgizerbunny]

check the condition of oil! it will usually be black but if its got any water in it steer clear. also open the oil filler and check for mayonaisey kind of yellowy white stuff.

mechanically from my experience, make sure the dashboard doesn't rattle at low (1000-2000) rpm as this is an expensive fix.

can't think of anything else at the mo.

have a nice day

sanj

[frosticles]

Make sure it's a genuine 150 first!!!!!! Should have the engine code "ARL" Check to see if the turbo seals are ok as these are known to cause problems. Check the front tyres for abnormal wear as these can be very heavy on front tyres. If it's a 2002 model, Check to see if it's an import as this can affect your warranty. Other than that, ENJOY!

[Scott]

Well, found a good PD150 for sale at a good price, went to look at it on Friday morning, bought it 30mins later!

2002 PD150, Jazz Blue, 5 door, 20,000 miles, VW roof spoiler

Well chuffed with it, and thanks for the advice, checked all suggested bits, still has 1yr VW warranty left though so should be OK.
Bloody Mk3 Gti broke down again (see cutting out threads all over the place) on way back from bank to get money for PD150!!! So glad to be getting rid of that thing, and it is soooo slooooowww compared to the PD, which pulls like a train and makes the best noises after 14k revs!!!

Its a whole new world or whooshing and hissing and 50mpg!!! and I love it!!!

Incidentally, the car is badged simply as a Gti on the back, no red GTTD badge - seller said this was a factory option??? anyone know if this was?

And on the whooshing and hissing front: does the 150 have some sort of built-in dump-valve, I have heard mutterings of an EGR doing similar things, just sounds very dump-valve-like on gear changes under hard accelleration (not that I'm complaining mind!).

Also, for fellow oil-burners, check out biodiesel! 69p/L legal (40p/L if you make it yourself in the garage!!!). Not to mention the environmental bennefits etc...

www.biopower.co.uk

[Danr]

makes the best noises after 14k revs!!!

wow my mk1 only goes up to 7k revs  

[Doug W]

congrats on new purchase. think the PD150s all were simply baged GTi - shoot me down if wrong fellow forumites

[frosticles]

Do you have the all silver "GTI" or the red "I"? Mine's the all silver one. Could be either.

All the noises you can hear come from the EGR Valve and the Turbo. Does sound kind of like a dump valve but very pleasing.

Glad you're impressed with it. Wait till you want more power............................Re-map, here you come.

[nrgizerbunny]

i've got an all silver badge and its a 150pd

have a nice day

sanj

[Scott]

Yes, badge is all silver 'Gti', looks like its the right one for the PD150 after all!

However, my 4 days of ownership have already turned sour.....

On way home last night, got a beep and a flashing glowplug light with the error message 'Engine Workshop!', anyone know what this might be? the manual is pretty vague and just says it may be an 'engine management error'. Cardiff Volkswagen are going to try and look at today (under warranty thank god!).

Also, anyone got rattles from the centre of dash/heater controls etc? I mentioned this to CVW and they said it would need 2 days in to have the dash out!!! Seems a bit extreme, or is this a known fault?

[nrgizerbunny]

the dashboard was a bit of a pain in the backside, grimsby vw had the car for a whole day and managed to put some rubber things to "dampen" the sound but after a bit it got worse.

so next time i took it in for something else i asked them to have a look and they said i would need a new dashboard. i don't know if its a common fault or not but my friend who works at the motor factors in bath said a number of golf/bora's had rattly dashboards.

anyway its still not fixed, but its like a rattly noise coming from behind the heater controls.

hope this helps

have a nice day

sanj