They are a very good quality engine ( and there is nothing wrong with vw diesels. VW has a long history with diesels especially through their MAN truck division )It just requires about $500 inspecial tools for timing belt changes,to get the job done correctly, or pay about $3-450 to have it done , which somepeoplefind tobe too much, although when compared to a t-belt job on most modern vehicles, it's not overpriced.

on most, the rings start getting sticky aand loosing compression around 200,000 miles or so. Factory oil change interval was 7000 miles, which was about 5500 miles too much for a diesel in the US with our lousy fuel and standard lubricants, leading to stuck rings. In most cases they can be cleaned up with a treatment of auto-rx

don't ever put cheap crappy oil in one (how do I know???)
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-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel