TDI with 130k miles, would you recommend it?

While quite a few members have 2005 Golfs and Jettas, hardly any have Beetles this age. So I'll try to field this one.

My overall impression of VW diesels of this vintage is that they often require repairs, yet at the same time many people keep them on the road for over, even well over 250,000 miles. They especially make sense for people willing and able to perform your own repairs. In general VWs tend to be reliable until they turn six, and after that are likely to require a repair at least once every year or two.

If you can tolerate the occasional repair to have a car she really likes, probably go for it. If you're really hoping for no repairs, and any will upset you, probably not.

I would be VERY very careful about buying a used Beetle. We had a 2004 gas fueled Beetle that needed (per the dealer) a $5000 replacement of the transmission at only 33,000 miles. It constantly had electrical problems - power windows had a mind of their own, blown headlights, needed new McPherson struts (again by the dealer), fuel pump replaced, thermostat, bits of interior hardware broke itd snf and on and on

We practically had to give it away. I kept the exterior and interior washed and waxed and changed thE oil regularly. We had to dump it for $2000 to the dealer as a trade. The tdi version may be more reliable but my wife and I would never look at another VW again. VW corp was no help for the transmission as the car was out of warranty at 33,000 miles. All this for a guy who has had 5 VW's - 3 Scirocco's, a Golf and an original 71 Super Beetle. (my first car)